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William Tarpai

Click here for Letter of Recommendation

I am a retired UNHCR professional officer, with considerable international experience with cities in more than a dozen countries. I am currently service on the Riverside County Grand Jury (which allows me to attend sister city events.   I was an official delegate at the UN Sendai Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in my sister city in 2015.  I have made 5 visits there, including officially representing my city at their half marathon.  I remain active with the World Bank Group, and the United Nations.  I was an ‘civil society observer’ representing SOCAL at UNGA high level meetings on Peace Building and Sustaining Peace (April 24-25, 2018).  I have been advocating as a member of the SOCAL Board of Directors to create a Community of Practice to allow our members to get active in Agenda 2030 – the UN Sustainable Development Goal challenge efforts.  Delivering specialized services to cities and countries to facilitate economic growth, promote linkages that help achieve national SDG plan aimed at ending extreme poverty and hunger by 2030 is something I would like to assist SCI to get involved with in a more formal way.  This will allow us to help our students and young professionals to gain the skill sets and experience to be competitive for international postings in their careers.  My recent experience in Guadalajara was key to moving that goal forward.

Statement of Interest

The 15-year United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) challenge helped the world understand that when citizen diplomacy institutions and organizations are global and can work together, they can accomplish great things crossing transnational borders. With the US Government and the United Nations, I worked for more than 3 decades, always keeping Riverside as my home of records.

NGOs like Sister Cities International and its extensive networks of regional and local actors are innovative peace-builders. We can do things differently, and that supplement government to government bi-lateral, or multi-lateral collaborations, especially in regions where deep-seated mistrust between neighbors has existed for decades.

I have learned as a Director with Southern California Sister Cities International (SoCal). It is a region filled with gifted, well-educated professionals, as well as high level students with a proven record of performing good works that lead to development. Our ability to access and efficiently use technology and platforms provides us with an over-arching advantages to help achieve successful Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) outcomes during Agenda 2030.

I would now like to bring that idea from concept to reality at a national level. SCI is an organization I am well qualified to provide leadership to its future efforts.

Skills and Assets

I can communicate in a number of other languages. Able to utilize ‘Knowledge Management Hubs’. Wide, global, diverse geographic ranges of experiences. Admin, Logistics, HR recruitment and training, skills and experiences at high levels. Able to connect, engage, and collaborate with WBG-UN colleagues to serve the needs of various communities. Peace-Building, Sustaining Peace, Able to lead transitions for groups in diverse locations, promoting peacebuilding, small business development, and stronger educational links across borders.