10th Annual Conference Program

June 20 - Policy Day
1st Amendment Room of National Press Club

9:00 AM         Registration

10:00 AM       Welcome and introductory remarks

• Ms. Caroline Doss, Esq. – Acting President, Coptic Solidarity

10:15 AM  Reducing Institutionalized Discrimination in Egypt

• Moderator: Nina Shea – Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute
• Nadine Maenza – Commissioner, US Commission on International Religious Freedom
• Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou – Associate Professor, Tufts University
• Dr. Gabriel Sawma – Foreign Policy Adviser, POTUS

11:30 AM Ambassador Sam Brownback or Knox Thames - State Department

11:45 AM Mariam Ibraheem  – Human rights activist; former prisoner of conscience in Sudan imprisoned and given death sentence for apostasy

Noon  Lunch

1:00 PM  Egypt’s Cost for Radicalization of Society and Marginalization of Copts

• Moderator: Dr. Mark Eid  – Board Member, Coptic Solidarity
• Dr. Sarah Yerkes – Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Bahey eldin Hassan – Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
• Ambassador Alberto Fernandez – President, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.

2:15 PM   Mr. Yigal Carmon – Founder & President, The Middle East Media Research Institute

2:30 PM  Members of Congress Drop by to Share Remarks

• Annual Leadership Award  – Rep. Brad Sherman (D – CA)
• Rep. French Hill (R – AR)
• Congressman Danial Donovan  -– Former U.S. Rep. (R-NY)

3:00 PM  Collusion and Absence of Law Enforcement

• Moderator: Professor Ryan Mauro - Director of the Clarion Intelligence Network and national security analyst for the Clarion Project
• Dr. David Pollock – Bernstein Fellow, The Washington Institute
• Dr. Patricia Karam – International Republican Institute
• Kurt Werthmuller: Policy Analyst, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

4:30 PM New Hopes for the Copts in Egypt
Dr. Ashraf  Sadek – Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Coptology, Limoges University France & Founder, Le Monde Copte Review

June 21 - Key Bridge Marriott
1401 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22209

9:00 AM Welcome and Announcements

• Dr. Michael Rizk – Board Secretary, Coptic Solidarity

9:15 AM Coptic Identity Revival: History, Education, Culture and Language

• Moderator & Speaker: Dr. Ashraf Ramelah - President & Founder, Voice of the Copts
• Dr. Fatin Moris-Gurguis – Professor, Polk State College
• Dr. Ashraf  Sadek – Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Coptology, Limoges University France & Founder, Le Monde Copte Review

10:15 AM Congressman Frank Wolf

10:30 AM Tina Ramirez –  Founding President, Hardwired Global

10:45 AM Year in Review – Lindsay Griffin, Director of Advocacy & Development, Coptic Solidarity

11:00 AM Radical Islamic Institutions in Egypt: Can they be reformed?

• Moderator and Speaker: Raymond Ibrahim: Author and Public Speaker
• Imam Mohammad Tawhidi
• Brother Rachid
• Rami Aziz – Researcher, Political Analyst, and visiting fellow at the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas, Dallas

12:15 PM Lunch Break

1:00 PM  Worldwide Persecution: Personal Testimonies

• ​Moderator: Mr. Gary Lane  – International News Director & Senior International Correspondent, CBN News
• Dr. Darlington Akaiso – Educational Leadership Program, University of West Indies & Author
• Pastor Dr. Faisal Daniel Babar – Anchor and Producer for Urdu Life Show
• Mariam Ibraheem  – Human rights activist; former prisoner of conscience in Sudan
• Juliana Taimoorazy –Founding President, Iraqi Christian Relief Council & Senior Fellow, Philos Project

2:45 PM Coffee Break

3:00 PM Future of Coptic Advocacy: Intergenerational Perspectives

• Moderator & Speaker: Ms. Caroline Doss - Acting President, Coptic
  Solidarity
• Dr. Nabil Mikhail  – Faculty,  George Washington University
• Dr. Samy Gerges: Senior Program Officer, Freedom House
• Matthew Gundy – Political Science Student at University of California, San Diego

Closing remarks and announcements

• Dr. Michael Rizk – Board Secretary, Coptic Solidarity

Gala Dinner

5:30 PM Reception   

6:30 PM Dinner

• 10th anniversary slide show
• Awards ceremony for Pioneers and Heroes of the Faith
• Keynote Speaker: Pastor Andrew Brunson

Conference Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Michael Rizk – Board Secretary, Coptic Solidarity

Book Sales - Several guest speakers will have their current books for sale throughout the conference. You will have the opportunity to purchase and have your copy signed by the author.  

Join the Premiere Annual Coptic Advocacy Event!

Despite some cosmetic changes, Egypt’s Copts continues to suffer daily systematic persecution at the hands of both the government and the radicalized society. The government has also continued its severe crackdown on freedom of the press, freedom of association, among all other major civil liberties.  Attacks against Copts by Egypt’s fanatic Islamists have increased dramatically in the past several years, in addition to the arbitrary church closures and grinding daily discrimination that has rendered Copts second-class citizens in their own country.  This year we will be focusing on prospects of achieving equality for Copts in Egypt’s currently radicalized society and ways to achieve such equality.

Confirmed Speakers
Keynote Speaker for Gala Dinner on June 21 - Pastor Andrew Brunson 
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Mr. Knox Thames: Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South/Central Asia; Bureau of DRL, State Department
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Ms. Nadine Maenza: Commissioner, US Commission on International Religious Freedom 
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U.S. Rep. French Hill: (R-AR)
Hon. Frank Wolf: Former Congressman & Sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act
Hon. Daniel Donovan: Former Congressman (R - NY)
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Dr. Darlington Akaiso: Educational Leadership program, University of West Indies. Author, Misunderstanding Boko Haram
Mr. Ramy Aziz: Rearcher, Political Analyst, and visiting fellow at the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan: Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Mr. Yigal Carmon: Founder & President, The Middle East Media Research Institute
Ms. Caroline Doss, JD: Acting President, Coptic Solidarity
Ambassador Alberto Fernandez: President, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.
Dr. Samy Gerges: Senior Program Officer, Freedom House
Dr. Fatin Moris Guirguis: Professor of English- Polk State College
Matthew Gundy: Political Science Student at University of California, San Diego
Mr. Raymond Ibrahim: Author, Public Speaker, and Middle East and Islam specialist
Ms. Mariam Ibraheem : Human rights activist; former prisoner of conscience in Sudan, imprisoned and given death sentence for apostasy
Dr. Patricia Karam: Regional Director, MENA; International Republican Institute
Mr. Jeff King: President, International Christian Concern
Professor Ryan Mauro: Director of the Clarion Intelligence Network and national security analyst for the Clarion Project
Dr. David Pollock: Bernstein Fellow & Director of Project Fikra, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou: Visiting Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, Tufts University
Dr. Ashraf Ramelah: President & Founder, Voice of the Copts 
Ms. Tina Ramirez: Founder & President, Hardwired Global
Brother Rachid: TV Anchor; Islamic theology scholar
Dr. Ashraf Sadek: Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Coptology, Limoges University France & Founder, Le Monde Copte Review
Ms. Juliana Taimoorazy: Founder & President, Iraqi Christian Relief Council; Senior Fellow, Philos Project
Imam Mohammad Tawhidi: Australian Muslim Scholar, Publicly Ordained Islamic Authority, Thinker, Educator, Speaker, and leading voice in the global movement of Islamic reform
Mr. Kurt Werthmuller: Policy Analyst, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 
Dr. Sarah Yerkes: Fellow, Middle East Program Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Coptic Solidarity
P.O.Box 1450
Centreville, VA 20122

Get in touch!  coptadvocacy@copticsolidarity.org or 801-512-1713