News Releases
Schiff Hardin LLP's Dana D. Rice Serves In Leadership Role For Chicago-Casablanca Sister Cities Committee Literacy Effort
Will Meet w/ Senior U.S. Diplomats, Representatives of King Mohammed VI, and the Mayor of Casablanca
March 09, 2006
12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
Schiff Hardin LLP Counsel Dana D. Rice will meet in Rabat, Morocco on March 23 with U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Thomas T. Riley, and representatives of Morocco King Mohammed VI's foundation, and from March 24-27 in Casablanca, Morocco with U.S. Consul General Douglas Greene and Casablanca Mayor Mohamed Sajid. These meetings are in conjunction with the Chicago-Casablanca Sister Cities Committee, which is one of the most active of Chicago's 27 sister cities. For the past two years, Ms. Rice, a member of the Committee, has co-chaired a literacy initiative in Casablanca.
Literacy - one of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals - is a huge challenge in Morocco, especially among women. The literacy project that Ms. Rice co-chairs is based on the results of a sociological study conducted by Morocco sociologists in three impoverished urban areas in Casablanca and addresses the needs of the 15 to 24 year-old population with low or no literacy skills. The three year literacy program was designed by Ms. Rice and Dr. Mohammed Chtatou, a world renowned literacy expert in Morocco.
The March 23-27 meetings in Morocco will focus on securing funding for the literacy project. In addition, activities will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sister City program. It is based on President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "people to people" approach to improving international relations. The Sister Cities International Program was founded in 1956, and currently represents over 2,100 communities in 121 countries around the world.
President Eisenhower's granddaughter will attend the ceremonies which highlight the many successes of the Casablanca-Chicago Sister City Committee. This is not the only recognition the Chicago-Casablanca Sister City has received. In fact, the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes Report found the Chicago-Casablanca Sister City Committee to be "among the most successful non-Federal government activity projecting Morocco and the U.S. as equal partners with common interests."
Ms. Rice commented on her Chicago-Casablanca Sister Cities literacy project:
"At times like these, any positive views held by American and Middle Eastern people of each other is reassuring, if not cause for celebration. For the past two years, I have co-chaired a literacy initiative in Casablanca, Morocco. My efforts have used skills I didn't recognize I had and fulfilled me in ways I could not have imagined. I fell in love with Morocco and its people through my involvement with the Chicago - Casablanca sister city committee. Although I was not (and am still not) a literacy expert, my many years as a corporate lawyer working on large international deals provided me with the ability to evaluate organizations, create project budgets, timeframes and staffing plans and negotiate with local and national governments in the U.S. and Morocco. These tasks are essential for the literacy program's success.
"Establishing and maintaining relationships is essential and something I've found to be fun and rewarding. I have always been interested in education - specifically the education of women and girls. For the past 5 years, I have been an active member of the Board and executive committee of The Young Women's Leadership Charter School - the only all-girls public high school in Chicago. I have mentored 3 girls over the past 5 years and learned much more from them than they probably learned from me. They have made me more aware of the unacceptable conditions in this City under which many people live and the significant obstacles that stand between undereducated, underemployed people and full participation in our society.
"It is important to me to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged people - both here in Chicago and globally. It is essential to recognize that health, education, safety and decent living conditions are goals - actually, rights - shared by all."
