Join us for a very special program focusing on “Soft Power” and the opportunity to network with our educational & cultural attaches.
Date and time Friday, September 13 · 9:30 – 11:30am EDT
Location Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Rotunda) 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Rotunda Washington, DC 20004
RSVP through Eventbrite only. Space is limited and our WECAA events sell out quickly. If you are unable to attend as planned, please cancel your reservation through Eventbrite so that we may add wait-listed guests. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
International Educational Cooperation featuring H.E. Jacques Pitteloud, Ambassador of Switzerland to the U.S.A., and Phil Noble, Founder, World Class Scholars.
The inaugural meeting of the Washington Educational and Cultural Attache Association was held on Mar 31, 2023, at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and International Trade Center. Our guest speaker was Ms. Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Traditional Jaipongan dancers and a performance featuring the angklung—a bamboo instrument played for centuries by the Sundanese people of Java—marked the May 25 inauguration of the Washington Educational & Cultural Attaché Association (WECAA) at the Indonesian Embassy.
Nearly 100 people attended the event, including 56 officials of 45 embassies ranging from Albania to the Philippines. Besides the host, three ambassadors were present: Ali Serbini of Brunei Darussalam; Ashikbayev Yerzhan of Kazakhstan; and Manasvi Srisodapol of Thailand.
“Today, Indonesia is honored to be chosen for the launching of the WECAA,” said the country’s ambassador, Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, noting that for the first time, Indonesia also holds the rotating presidency of the G20. “Universal education and cultural diplomacy are a key part of our efforts, and we will continue to work closely to promote mutual understanding and friendship within the diplomatic community.”
Indonesian Ambassador Rosan Perkasa Roeslani and his wife Ayu Heni Rosan, with DC Secretary of State Kimberly Bassett. (Photo: Embassy of Indonesia)
The organization, three years in the making, is the brainchild of Popy Rufaidah, education and cultural attaché at the Indonesian Embassy. A former professor of marketing and strategic management at Bandung’s Universitas Padjadjaran, she is WECAA’s president and one of its three co-founders.
The other two co-founders are veteran public relations consultant Jan Du Plain and Victor Shiblie, publisher of The Washington Diplomat.
“This association has been a dream of Popy’s for years. You’re the reason we’re here tonight,” Du Plain said. “We have almost 200 embassies here in DC, and what you do here makes a difference all over the world. It’s the cultural and educational attachés who make this town’s diplomatic community come to life.”
She added: “I, like many of us who work in the field, had thought about putting an association together. But it’s one thing to think about it, and another to make it happen.”
The three co-founders of the Washington Educational & Cultural Attaché Association are, from left: Jan Du Plain, Victor Shiblie and Popy Rufaidah. (Photo by Patricia McDougall)
WECAA, which consists of cultural attachés, schools, businesses and universities, was incorporated earlier this year and is awaiting 501(c)(3) status as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Its stated purpose is to encourage professional and cultural ties, as well as strengthen relationships with the US government.
The three-hour gala featured traditional Indonesian dance performances by Alya Lawindo, Allesia Weintraub and Stephanie Lee Paendong, as well as an interactive angklung demonstration led by Ari Peach in which the entire audience participated—each person playing a bamboo angklung tuned to a specific note on the musical scale.
In addition to the embassies, several dozen organizations will be active in WECAA, including George Mason University; the Future Teachers Institute; US Institute of Peace; Meridian International Center; Smithsonian Institution; the Asian American Music Society; George Washington University; International Student House; and Cultural Tourism DC.
The event kicked-off with a traditional Indonesian welcoming ceremony. Photo: Embassy of Indonesia
State Department official Ethan Rosenzweig is deputy assistant secretary for academic programs within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. He assured his audience that “the exchange of ideas matters.”
“If we can touch people emotionally, we can touch lives as well,” he said. “Are we making an impact through what we’re doing? I can assure you we are. Meeting with students, seeing the doors of the world reopen as we navigate covid—that’s what this is about.”
Added Kimberly Bassett, secretary of state of the District of Columbia: “It’s your duty to increase exchanges of academics and culture between the US and your respective countries, fostering greater understanding of one another. For your work, we are so thankful. The resources of my office are here at your disposal.”
Fuad Sahouri of Sahouri Insurance speaks with one of the dancers who performed at the Indonesian Embassy’s May 25 inauguration of WECAA. (Photo by Patricia McDougall)
Launching: On May 25, 2022, the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. hosted the Diplomatic Reception of the Launching of the Washington Educational and Cultural Attaché Association or in short as WECAA at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Speeches at the event were delivered by: a. His Excellency Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, Ambassador of Indonesia to the United States b. Ethan Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, Bureau of Education and Culture, US Department of State; c. Kimberly Bassett, Secretary of the State District of Columbia; d. WECAA Founders and Board of Directors: Jan Du Plain, CEO and President of Du Plain Global Enterprises, Inc., and Victor Shiblie, Founder and Publisher Washington Diplomat.
