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Rick - very good \ well done update. Great work!

Bonnie E. Raquet
Mobile: 612-562-0380
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-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Leach <RLeach@wfpusa.org>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:32:53
To: Abbey Trebilcock<atrebilcock@ofwlaw.com>; Anne Marie Person<amperson@rosemontseneca.com>; Barbara Belmont<barbara.belmont@gmail.com>; Bonnie Raquet<beraquet@aol.com>; Carl Stern<carl.stern@gs.com>; Dan Glickman<dglickman@bipartisanpolicy.org>; David Novak<david.novak@yum.com>; Donna Hughes<donna.hughes@yum.com>; Dr. Derek Yach<derek.yach@pepsico.com>; Dr. Marsha Dubrow<madubrow@comcast.net>; Frank Corso<fmcjrsba@aol.com>; George Economy<george.economy@gmail.com>; Hunter Biden<hbiden@rosemontseneca.com>; Joan Peugh<jpeugh@rosemontseneca.com>; Jonathan Blum<jonathan.blum@yum.com>; Josie Kummer<josie.kummer@pepsico.com>; Kathryn Johnson<kej1@comcast.net>; Khaliah Ali<diversitybykali@aol.com>; Kimberly Schmid<Kimberly.schmid@yum.com>; Laura Huber<lhuber@albrightstonebridge.com>; Marshall Matz<mmatz@ofwlaw.com>; Matthew J. Harrington<matthew.harrington@edelman.com>; Pat Walton Butcher (pat.walton@aspeninstitute.org)<pat.walton@aspeninstitute.org>; Rachel Reeve<rreeve@russellgroupdc.com>; Randy Russell<rrussell@russellgroupdc.com>; Rick Leach<RLeach@wfpusa.org>; Samuel \"Sandy\" Berger<sberger@albrightstonebridge.com>; Shannon Hiskey<SHiskey@wfpusa.org>; Tripp Brown<Tripp.Brown@edelman.com>; Victor Latino<victor.latino@gs.com>; Glickman, Dan<Dan.Glickman@aspeninst.org>
Subject: Update

Dear Members of the Board,

The following Update describes (1) our efforts to help address malnutrition in Guatemala, (2) steps taken to implement the Roadmap recommendations, (3) enhancement of our communications operation and (4) the status of our annual Awards Ceremony. It has been a busy summer at WFP USA.

Helping Guatemala Address Child Malnutrition

* The 1000 Days Initiative. In follow-up to meetings with key political and private sector leaders in Guatemala, we have been helping the government develop a nation-wide initiative to address chronic childhood malnutrition. Guatemala has the 6th worst child malnutrition rate in the world (the highest in Latin America) and it ranks 3rd in prevalence of stunting (after Yemen and Afghanistan). We urged these leaders to focus their efforts on the first "1000 Days" - from pregnancy through age two - because of the irreversible physical and cognitive damage that results from malnutrition during this period. The international community has identified the specific interventions that can be implemented to treat/prevent malnutrition during this 1000 Day period.

* Political and Private Sector Commitment. In subsequent meetings/discussions with the Guatemalan President, key government ministers and private sector leaders, they expressed strong commitment to the 1000 Days Initiative. President Perez agreed to issue an Executive Order that commits funds and directs all relevant ministries to participate in full implementation of the Initiative. Based on this commitment, we have been engaging the USG and private sector to participate. WFP-Guatemala will play a key role in helping the government implement the initiative. In addition to addressing malnutrition, the initiative provides an important tool to help enhance the government's operational capacity.

* The Clinton Global Initiative. Through the efforts of Sandy Berger, the Guatemala 1000 Days Initiative will be announced at the upcoming Clinton Global Initiative meeting in NYC (on September 24th). President Clinton will participate in the announcement along with President Perez, private sector leaders, Ertharin Cousin and WFP USA. The CGI announcement has played an important role in ensuring the commitment of necessary funds, defining the roles of the public and private sectors, and in building momentum for the initiative. It is possible that Cargill will also make a commitment to the Initiative and participate in the CGI announcement.

Moving Forward to Implement the Roadmap Recommendations

* Roadmap Launch. On July 24th, we launched the Roadmap for Continued US Leadership to End Global Hunger at an event in the U.S. Senate (Hunter - thank you very much for participating in the event). In addition to our coalition partners, over 200 people attended the event, including Members of Congress, administration officials, and business and NGO leaders (50 organizations have endorsed the Roadmap). As you know, the Roadmap for Continued US Leadership assesses progress achieved since the initial Roadmap document was released in 2009 and provides new recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of USG global hunger programs.

* Meetings with the US Government. Our Roadmap coalition has begun a series of meetings with USG representatives to discuss implementation of the recommendations. The first meeting was convened on September 5th and included senior administration officials from the agencies involved in addressing global hunger (including representatives from the State Department, USAID, USDA, Peace Corps, OMB and Treasury). The USG officials were very interested in the recommendations and we agreed upon a list of specific items to be discussed at the next meeting/work session.

* Legislation to Ensure a Coordinated and Comprehensive Strategy. One of the Roadmap recommendations involves coordination of existing USG operations, which currently cut across many agencies, around a common/integrated strategy. In furtherance of this objective, we drafted legislation that would establish a Global Food Security Council with a Coordinator to be appointed by the President. The legislation was developed with input from our Board's Public Policy Working Group, administration officials, congressional staff and other experts. We have distributed the draft bill for input from NGO partners and plan to introduce it next year.

Enhancing the WFP USA Communications Operation

* Communications Leadership. I am very happy to announce that our new Vice President of Communications and Special Projects, Meighan Stone, joined the WFP USA team on July 16th. She previously served as the Communications Director at ONE and most recently ran her own communications firm which focused on branding, digital content and key influencer engagement strategies. Her clients included the FIFA World Cup, Shakira, Angelique Kidjo, Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation and the Global Partnership for Education. She has worked extensively with the UN, CGI, World Economic Forum, heads of state, the White House and Congress.

* Global Festival Concert. WFP USA is one of a limited number of principal partners participating in the upcoming "Global Festival" concert, to be held in New York's Central Park on September 29th (during CGI and UNGA activities). The show features top-tier talent (such as Hugh Jackman and Matt Damon). WFP USA was integrated into the concert's web platform - driving social media, email signups and donations which has already resulted in more than 8500 new supporters added to our database.

* Celebrity Outreach. WFP USA has a new celebrity supporter, actress Minka Kelly. She has agreed to attend the Global Festival concert as our representative and has already participated in a pre-concert Twitter Party with other participating celebrities, resulting in @WFPUSA being mentioned on Twitter over 500 times in the following 48 hours (average pick up is less than 10 times a day). In addition, we have expanded collaboration with the Creative Artist Association and are working with them to identify additional celebrity supporters.

* Message Development/Focus Groups. We engaged the leading research firm Hart Research to conduct a series of qualitative focus groups to help with development of our branding, issue messaging, fundraising and campaign approaches. The focus groups were conducted across age/demographic groups in three cities in late August and early September. We will present a report on the findings at our October Board Meeting.

Award Ceremony

* Program. Our annual Award Ceremony is scheduled for the afternoon of October 3rd in the Franklin Room at the State Department (the Office of Global Food Security is co-hosting the event with us). We are very happy to be honoring David Novak and Christina Aguilera for their leadership in addressing hunger. We are also paying special tribute to Secretary Clinton for her unprecedented efforts to mobilize the international community around a global hunger agenda. Frank Sesno, former executive producer at CNN, has agreed to serve as the event emcee.

* Sponsors. We have generated $323,000 in sponsorships. Sponsors include: YUM! Brands ($100,000), Monsanto ($100,000), Cargill ($50,000), UPS ($25,00) Campbell's Soup ($10,000), DSM ($10,000), Geodis Wilson ($10,000), US Infrastructure ($10,000), Sealift Holdings($5,000), Congressional Hunger Center ($1,000), North American Millers Association ($1,000), WISHH ($1,000), Edelman (TBD) and Abbott (TBD). We hope to secure $600,000 in sponsorships.

* The Award. I am happy to inform you that the sculptor of the bronze statue that we have presented to honorees over the last few years, has offered to donate the awards to us.

I look forward to seeing you at the Award Ceremony and Board Meeting. Thank you very much for your dedication and commitment to the mission of WFP USA.
All the Best,
Rick


Richard Leach
President & CEO

World Food Program USA
1819 L Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
T 202.530.1694
F 202.530.1698
rleach@wfpusa.org<mailto:jcorum@wfpusa.org>