2022/2023 UNA CHAPTER OF EXCELLENCE –SFV CHAPTER Speech——Revised 5/162023

As America’s first chapter we have been dedicated to advocacy and service since our very beginnings.
Our dear friend and a past Chapter President Lyn Harris Hicks was just a child when she joined her
mother who was American’s 1 st female delegate to the UN at its’ founding session. Lyn & her best friend, also a Past-President, Dorothy Boberg, have led our advocacy for years. Lyn recently passed, along with past-president Actress Marsha Hunt who advocated for Refugee Resettlement for decades and is the subject of the Hollywood Documentary Sweet Adversity. In the same tradition our current board has stood strong as leaders and friends, and this year focused on Women’s Rights in Iran with a program of brave women speakers on their human rights, planned by our Vice President Dr. Soraya Fellah. We presented a top Voice of America Journalist (VOA) Sirwan Kajjo , author of Nothing But Soot , who covered the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey and its impact on women and children. He also spoke
about many relief organizations including Red Cross Heyvasor, the Kurdish Red Cross & the UN and our
partners helping to meet the needs of refugees and asylees. We educated on the work of UN Agencies
and NGOs like Red Cross on the ground in Ukraine after Russia’s aggression. Our Young Professionals
leader Richard Nitze led our program on Animal Rights are Human Rights and as 2022-2023 Chapter
President, I led and moderated our nationwide webinar on COVID-19 Explained covering presentations
by Bill Gates, Dr. Fauci and others and attended by chapters across the country and members of the
National Council. We partnered with Habit 4 Humanity to educate on their role in National and
International Disaster Relief. Our Vice President Ginny Hatfield, former Chair of the UNA-USA So. Cal.
Regional Council of Organizations led our advocacy with the U.S. House of Reps and U.S. Senate. Ginny
also produced our program on Food Insecurity: Are We Meeting The Challenge for United Nations Day.
What has kept us strong is our passion to educate and inspire our community to support the vital work
of the UN, to advocate and be more than leaders but mentors proud of our past, dedicated today, and
ready for the future that looks bright thanks to all we do as part of the UNA-USA. Thank you for recognizing our chapter members and leaders with the 2022/2023 National Chapter of Excellence Award. –David Tuckman