This month the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion had the opportunity to host a group of ten international visitors from Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. These visitors were invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program as a Regional Project for the Near East and North Africa. While in the United States the program participants explored the topics of the Rule of Law and the U.S. Judicial System. Their program was arranged by CRDF Global. Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at the Utah Global Diplomacy generously invited UCLI to host the group for an afternoon.
On June 26, 2023, Mary Anne Davies and her colleagues at the Disability Law Center welcomed us into their beautiful facility and provided a tour of the building and a brief presentation about the Disability Law Center’s mission. We then met back in the boardroom and Kaitlyn Pieper, UCLI Executive Director, provided a demographic overview of Utah and Utah’s legal profession. Following this, we heard from a panel of experts including Jon Wayas, Associate Director at the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion; Michelle Oldroyd, Director of Professional Education & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Utah State Bar; and Jon Puente, Director of the Office of Fairness, Equity, and Accountability at the Administrative Office of the Courts. The panel was interactive and responded to many audience questions, including questions about bias and discrimination in the court systems and racial dynamics in the United States.
UCLI was honored to host such a distinguished group of legal professionals who are doing such incredible work to move justice forward in their home countries (names and home countries of participants listed below). Thank you to Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at Utah Global Diplomacy for making this connection and to Mary Anne Davies and the Disability Law Center for hosting us at their lovely venue.
Egypt, Mr. Mohanad Mohamed Rasheed Elkholy
Egypt, Ms. Fatma Serageldin Khalil Mohamed
Israel, Ms. Nareman Shehadeh Zoabi
Lebanon, Mr. Youssef Diab
Lebanon, Mr. Roland El Chartouni
Palestinian Territories, Mr. Kanan Alsourani
Palestinian Territories, Mr. Majdi Rabei
Qatar, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Sulaiti
Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdulrahman Rafea Alamary
Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdullah Mohammed Algar
