ADVISORY BOARD  Sir George Alleyne Chancellor,  UWI    H.E. Richard Bernal Chief  Trade Negotiator CARICOM RNM  Dr. Anthony Bryan North South Center University of Miami  Hon. Edwin. Carrington Secretary-General, CARICOM  George Dalley, Esq. Office of Congressman Charles Rangel  Chris Gardiner CEO, Gardiner, Kamya & Associates   H. Stephen Halloway Former US Director,UNIDO  H.E. Patrick Lewis Ambassador of Antigua & Barbuda to the U.N.  Hon. Shirley Nathan Pulliam Member, Maryland House of Delegates  Walker Williams CEO, Education Africa            BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ambassador Carlton Masters Chariman  Claire A. Nelson,Ph.D. President  Glenn Joseph Executive Vice President  Gabriel Christian, Esq. Ian Edwards Nsombi Jaja Claudia Pharis Elizabeth Stanley, Esq. Robert Walker Jeffrey Watson

April 10, 2007    Dear Friend of the Caribbean:    RE: CARIBBEANVISIONS 2020 – SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2007  On June 19-21, CARICOM Heads of State and Ministers of Government will converge on Washington DC for meetings with the US government.  They will also host a one-day Caribbean Diaspora Forum.  In order to prepare a shared Caribbean American perspective for presentation to the CARICOM Heads of Government, ICS will coordinate a one-day participatory Brain Trust on the future of the Caribbean, entitled, CaribbeanVisions 2020, on Saturday, April 28, in Washington DC, 8:30 am-5:30 pm.  CARICOM has endorsed this event as a pre-cursor event to June.   The objective of CaribbeanVisions 2020 is to bring together community leaders and experts to work collaboratively to accomplish the following specific goals: The articulation of a vision for Caribbean in 2020 by the Caribbean diaspora; The articulation of shared vision on the potential role of the Caribbean diaspora in promoting the sustainable development of the Caribbean region.   Why a Visioning Process? Joel Barker in 'The Power of Visions'  stated that 'A positive vision of the future is the most powerful motivation for change'. Citing the research done by Fred Polak on the success of nations, it has been found that the successful nation when they began their climb did not have the right resources, did not have a critical population base and they didn't even have any strategic advantage. What they all had in common was a positive vision of their future. The people then acted in concert and made their vision a reality. The message here is that circumstances do not determine the outcome, only vision does.  As such, ‘Caribbean Visions 2020’ is a community stakeholder dialogue consultation in the form of a conversation on the future of the Caribbean.  Each participant is presumed to have the knowledge necessary such that the  process will unleash our collective wisdom.  The  ‘Caribbean Visions 2020’  process  will result in a Report for presentation at the Conference on the Caribbean on June 19-20.   ‘Caribbean Visions 2020’ is based on a structured methodology designed to ensure maximum participation.  For more details on process, see attached.  We are still seeking organizations to serve as event Co-Hosts and Partners.  For more information, please call me at (202) 907-6140 or send an email with an expression of interest, to icsdcorg@gmail.com