By Southern California Division President Barry Simon

Southern California Division President Barry Simon

Greetings - I am Barry Simon and I am honored to have been elected President of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), Southern California Division at the recent annual meeting. Let me first thank outgoing President, Judith Harris, for providing extraordinary leadership during her terms as President. Thank you Judith! I look forward to your guidance, love and support going forward.

The Southern California Division is composed of a dozen local grass-roots chapters from Santa Barbara and the San Fernando Valley to San Diego and Beverly Hills to Hollywood to Pasadena and the Inland Empire. Included are a few college campus chapters as well!

The chapters are all engaged in holding meetings/events that focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of a strong UN-US relationship. Particular attention has recently focused on the refugee situation and climate change. Although gender equality, human rights, sex trafficking and other issues remain major areas of chapter attention as well.

I invite you to get involved. You can start by checking the Calendar of Events on the web at www.una-socal.org. Whether your interests are in the Adopt a Future campaign that supports children in refugee camps, or the Nothing-But-Nets program of the UN Foundation, all funds raised by our chapters goes to work, locally or globally, contributing to a better world for all people.

For further information feel free to contact me anytime. Email: barrysimonuna@gmail.com or by phone 310-699-2180. Communications may also be sent to our new mailing address: UNA-USA Southern California Division, PO Box 827, Santa Monica, CA 90406.

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you creating a stronger and more impactful UN Association and thus a more united, compassionate, productive and cleaner world for all!

Isabel Treidl is Chair of Young Professional at the Southern California Division. She is also chair of Education of the United Nations Association - Orange County Chapter Young Professionals. Isabel works with developmentally disabled people at NALAS ARF. In 2015, she attended the UNA annual meeting in Washington D.C where she represented the Orange County Chapter.

Since she was young, Isabel has been motivated by social issues and has worked to improve the quality of people’s lives. During college, she participated in several conferences, seminars and national publications that spearheaded the development of cheaper prosthetics to replace the knee. She worked with the Colombian Army to help veterans who had lost their limbs due to land mines. She won local and national awards for biomedical research and entrepreneurship. In 2008 she received a scholarship from the Inter-American Development Bank National Young Entrepreneurs Award for a cultural mission to China in order to enhance her entrepreneurial skills. In 2009 she started working as a consultant and developed projects for the Colombian Government and private companies, and became a member of In-Nove, a Latin American consulting firm.

Isabel Treidl has a Bachelor’s degree in Product Design Engineering, a Master’s in Business Administration, and currently is an administrator certified by the Community Care Licensing Division to work with developmentally disabled people in California.

The United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), a program of the United Nations Foundation, today announced that Chris Whatley will join the organization as Executive Director. In this role, he will lead UNA-USA's nationwide membership, educational, and human rights programs, at the heart of the movement of Americans who support the important work of the United Nations.

"Chris is joining us at a pivotal time in the history of UNA-USA and the UN Foundation, when the opportunities to actively support the UN are greater than ever," said UN Foundation President & CEO Kathy Calvin. "His years of experience in international affairs and dedication to powerful grassroots advocacy will help take UNA-USA to even higher levels of engagement and effectiveness in the years to come."

Whatley will lead UNA-USA’s national staff in Washington, D.C. and New York, and will head up the Association’s efforts to increase membership, advocate on behalf of the UN and UN causes, and educate the next generation of UN supporters in the U.S. through UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms Model UN program. He will also be responsible for the close coordination of UNA-USA with other programs, initiatives and activities of the United Nations Foundation and its sister organization, the Better World Campaign.

"As someone who has experienced the critical importance of UN peacekeeping and the work of the specialized agencies firsthand, I look forward to working with UNA-USA members and staff to continue the Association’s strong legacy and further build the UNA-USA network to help ensure a positive U.S.-UN relationship for the future," said Whatley.

Before joining UNA-USA, Whatley served as Deputy Executive Director and Washington Office Director of The Council of State Governments where he served as a voice for U.S. states in Washington, D.C. and oversaw the Council’s federal advocacy and international outreach. He began his career as a field-based program officer for the International Republican Institute running democracy assistance projects in Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Whatley holds a B.A. in Government from Angelo State University and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.