USMEI staff attended the 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum, hosted by the Brookings Institution and the State of Qatar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC.  It was the first time in its 8 year history that the Forum took place in the United States.  The Forum brings together leaders in the realms of politics, business, media, academia, and civil society from across the Islamic world and the United States.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address at the opening dinner.  Rob Fersh noted that the speech "laid out a very good overview of how we need to both promote better relations between the countries, promote growth and development there, but also not undertake more than what’s appropriate for us as Americans."  See the rest of the interview here.  Aakif Ahmad presented before the entire Forum at the closing plenary session, delivering the report from the working group on "The Role of Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in U.S.-Muslim Relations".

On January 30, 2011, USMEI Leadership Team Members Aakif Ahmad and Rob Fersh presented before the Washington, DC chapter of the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN).  The presentation centered around the need for a civil society effort like the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Initiative to focus on the U.S. and Pakistan.  They were especially pleased to announce the imminent launch of the U.S.-Pakistan Leaders Forum in Lahore, February 17-19, 2011.  Also presenting were winners of the 2010 MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan Business Acceleration Program, Mr. Tanveer Sharif of Vopium and Mr. Faisal Khan of OvexTech.

Peace through Moderation, a project of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, hosted an event to highlight the work of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Initiative (USMEI) as it prepares to launch the U.S.-Pakistan Leaders Forum.  Held at the Harvard Club in New York City on September 22, 2010, around 60 guests listened to USMEI staff, the Honorable Wendy Chamberlin, and Riaz Siddiqi as they underlined the importance of this initiative amidst heightened US-Pakistan tensions and the urgency of flood relief in Pakistan.  To read more about this event, please read the Huffington Post article describing it in greater detail here .