Stuart W. Holliday is president of Meridian International Center, a premier public diplomacy organization based in Washington, DC that promotes international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts. Born in Malawi and raised in Europe and the Middle East, Ambassador Holliday's early appreciation of other cultures led him to pursue his accomplished career in international affairs and foreign policy. He has served as ambassador to the United Nations for special political affairs-one of the youngest people ever to be appointed as a US ambassador. Before his appointment to the UN, he was an assistant secretary at the US Department of State, coordinating global information outreach efforts. He also served in the White House as special assistant to the president for presidential personnel. After graduating from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, he served as a Naval Officer and received an M.A. in International Affairs from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ambassador Holliday has delivered dozens of speeches to global audiences at the UN Security Council and the General Assembly on key foreign affairs issues. Additionally, the US Department of State Speakers' Bureau sent Ambassador Holliday abroad to Paris, Geneva and Rome as a private sector speaker to address public diplomacy and UN issues. Ambassador Holliday is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations; the education chair of YPO's Global Diplomacy and Policy Group; and on the Board of Directors for both the Council of American Ambassadors and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). He is also serves on the National Advisory Board of Public Insight, LP. website