Conference Programs

Sunday, June 7 - Royal Sonesta Dupont Circle

1:00 PM Light Lunch in Hirshhorn Room

3:00 AM General Assembly Meeting

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, June 8 Policy Day - US Capitol Visitor Center, Room 201
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM 

Speaker: Caroline Doss JD - President, Coptic Solidarity
Welcome & Opening Remarks

Speaker: Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako -  Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad (video participant)

Speaker: Lindsay Rodriguez - Director of Development & Advocacy, Coptic Solidarity
Year in Review

Speaker: Amy Fallas, PhD - Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Davis

Speaker: Mariah Mercer - Acting Principal Deputy to the Ambassador and Acting Office Director, State Department

Session: Indigenous Heritage Under Threat: Protecting Sacred Sites and Cultural Identity in the MENA Region

• Chair: Raymond Ibrahim  - Author, Public Speaker, and Middle East and Political Islam specialist
•  Richard Foltin - Fellow for Religious Freedom, Freedom Forum
• Pari Ibrahim - Executive Director, Free Yezidi Foundation

Lunch Provided

Session: Copts and the Egyptian State: Law, Society, and the Coptic Question

• Chair: Mark Basta - Public Affairs & Policy Advisor, Coptic Solidarity
• Raed Jarrar - Advocacy Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
• Mona Oraby, PhD. - Associate Professor of Political Science, Howard University
• David Scheneker - Taube Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Studies

Keynote Speaker: Nancy A. Dahdouh - Director for Counterterrorism, Global Jihadi Movement-Sunni Threats,National Security Council 

Session: Egypt’s Theocratic Turn: Implications for Citizenship, Rights, and Stability

• Chair: Lindsay Rodriguez -  Director of Development & Advocacy, Coptic Solidarity
• Danny Burmawi - Chief Executive, Ideological Defense Institute
• Joe Adam George -  Research Lead, Middle East Forum
• Brother Rachid - Author & Host of With Clarity Weekly TV Program
• Nissar Hussain - Apostate Survivor, UK

Session:  Protecting Freedom of Belief: Global Hotspots and Policy Solutions

• Chair: Hayvi Bouzo - Co-founder & Executive Director, Yalla; Co-founder & Executive Director Middle East 24
• Sean Nelson –  Senior Counsel, Global Religious Freedom, Alliance Defending Freedom International
• Loay Alshareef – Peace Activist and Abraham Accords Peace Advocate
• Tom Harb - Co-Chair of American Mideast Coalition for Democracy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, June 9 CoptWatch Launch Briefing - Cannon House Office Building, Room 440
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM 

This interactive event will introduce attendees to Coptic Solidarity's newest project, CoptWatch. CoptWatch is an open-source, public database that aims to record incidents of anti-Coptic hostilities in the last few years. This event features a presentation on the database, an audience demonstration of how data is collected and recorded, and a conversation on the importance of incident documentation to advocacy.

Guest Speakers: 

• Kyle Wisdom, Ph.D. - Deputy Director, International Institute for Religious Freedom
• Dylan Schexnaydre - Policy Analyst, USCIRF
• Grace Gerardi - Legislative Assistant, US Rep. Jim McGovern Co-Chair, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

Briefing Presenters:

• Mark Basta - Public Affairs & Policy Advisor, Coptic Solidarity
    
  Coptic Solidarity Interns - Spring Cohort
  • Astrid Castro - Data Analysis Intern: B.A. in Economics, Minor in Data Science; Lake Forest College '26
  • Larissa Lenkey - Policy & Advocacy Intern: B.A. in Political Science, Concentration in Arabic Studies; Clark University '26

Lunch Break (attendees can purchase food at the Longworth Cafeteria)

 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM Legislative Meetings
Conference attendees are encouraged to join these meetings as they are a good opportunity to connect with other supporters and to learn more about advocacy. Our team will take care of scheduling meetings with your U.S. Senators and/or Representatives’ offices. To join these meetings, please fill out this application. Once approved to participate, you will receive more information and an invitation to join an Advocacy Training Session designed to prepare you to speak confidently and effectively about the issues that matter most to the Coptic community.