Boards and Committees

Day-to-day operations are supervised by the Executive Board.

Honorary Board is comprised of current and former first ladies.Honorary Board Members support ICAF's advocacy of the importance of children's creativity and art.

Advisory Board is comprised of influential artists, educators and cultural leaders. Advisory Board Members direct ICAF's educational and cultural programs and policies.

Youth Board is comprised of some of the most creative and imaginative children and young people in the world. They advise ICAF’s Executive Board on matters relating to programs and events, aesthetics and education. They
write for ChildArt magazine and serve as spokespersons at events. They advance ICAF’s mission by promoting creative development and arts education in their communities.

Honorary Board

H. E. Alma Adamkiene, First Lady of Lithuania

H. H. Sheikha Hala Bint Daij Al-Khalifa, Kingdom of Bahrain

H. H. Sheikha Mozah Nasser Al Misnad, First Lady of Qatar

H. E. Beverley Arthur, First Lady of Barbados

Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady of the United States

H.E. Lilla-Irene Clerides, Former First Lady of Cyprus

Mrs. Elizabeth B. Ford, Former First Lady of the United States

H. E. Nasreena M. A. Gayoom, First Lady of Maldives

H. E. Dilbar Gulyamova, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan

H. E. Zineb Yahya Jammeh, First Lady of The Gambia

Mrs. Sharon A. Kitzhaber, First Lady of Oregon

H. E. Marguerite Midjo-Kerekou, First Lady of Benin

H. E. Sara Alpisovna Nazarbayeva, First Lady of Kazakhstan

The Honorable George E. Pataki, Governor of State of New York

H.E. Lorena Clare de Rodriguez, Former First Lady of Costa Rica

Lady Gloria Williams, First Lady of Grenada

Advisory Board

Mr. Igor V. Babailov, MFA, Portrait and Figurative Artist, USA

Professor Robin E. Clark (retired)

Mr. Chuck Close, Artist, New York

Professor Mark F. Cooper, Boston College, Massachusetts

Professor Marietta Dantonio-Fryer, Cheyney University, Cheyney, Pennsylvania

Portia Davidson, U.S. Army Headquarters, The Pentagon
Robin F. Goodman, Ph.D., A.T.R, Psychologist and Art Therapist., New York, NY

Mr. Ali Fracyon, Technology Advisor, Washington, DC

Mrs. Claire Ryle Garrison, The Whole Child Initiative, Berkeley, CA

Mrs. Alla Goldin, J.D., International Museum of Children's Art, Oslo, Norway

Mr. Bakhtiar Mikhak, MIT Media Laboratory, Massachusetts

Mrs. Lydia C. Moore, Naval Services FamilyLine, Washington, DC

Mr. Miha Pogacnik, Violinist and Cultural Entrepreneur, Hamburg, Germany

Mr. George Rodrigue, Artist and Author, New Orleans, Louisiana

Professor George Szekely, ED.D, M.F.A, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky

Mr. Peter J. Tichansky, President, Business Council for International Understanding, New York

Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California

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Notes:

1GAP = First Global Arts Program that lead to the festival in Washington in June/July 1999
2GAP = Second Global Arts Program that lead to the festival in Washington in September 2003
1998F = ICAF’s very first national festival, ChildArt USA held in Washington in Sept 1998
1999F = ICAF’s first international festival held in Washington in June/July 1999
2003F = ICAF’s second international festival held in Washington in September 2003
Ut = Utopia Station Exhibition in Munich, Germany in October 2004
2006F = ICAF's European Children’s Festival held in Munich in May 2006
(country) = The country of birth or country of citizenship in contrast to country of residence

Executive Board

Katty Guerami, Secretary

Ashfaq Ishaq, Ph.D., Executive Director

Peter N.G. Schwartz, Member

Harriet Mayor Fulbright, Chairman Emeritus

Her educational and professional backgrounds are just as diverse. Her fascination with the sciences and physiology led her to a B.S. degree in biology from the George Washington University, where she also gained significant laboratory experience working in botanical and microbiology research. Later she joined the School of Health Services Administration and Policy at GWU as a graduate student. She earned a MHSA degree in marketing and strategic planning and policy from one of the top programs in the country. She has developed marketing plans as a consultant and advised on strategic planning in the health services sector. Since the founding of ICAF, Ms. Guerami has worked as a volunteer. She has helped develop ICAF�s programs and provides marketing and planning oversight to ICAF.

Dr. Ishaq has a diverse professional background as entrepreneur, economist, educator and civil society leader. He opened his first business at the age of thirteen. He embarked on his career as an economist at the World Bank and later joined the economics faculty at the George Washington University. He was also occasional lecturer at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. Dr. Ishaq has a Ph.D. in economics from the George Washington University, Masters in Public Administration from the University of Punjab, and BA in economics and statistics from Government College, Lahore, Pakistan.

Dr. Ishaq is a pioneer in placing children’s creativity and art on the global agenda. He is a featured speaker at major international conferences on children issues and creativity. A multidisciplinary thinker with a global perspective, his writings have appeared in diverse publications including Finance & Development, the Institutional Investor, the Education Standard, SchoolArts, Journal of Conflict Resolution and most recently, The Lancet. He is co-author of Success in Small & Medium Scale Enterprises, Oxford University Press, 1987.

In 2001, Dr. Ishaq received the Hesselbein Community Innovation Fellowship from the Peter Drucker Foundation (now Leader to Leader Institute). ICAF was awarded the World Culture Open 2004 award for Exemplary Humanitarian Service. In 2004, Dr. Ishaq was also bestowed the prestigious American Muslim Achievement Award.

Dr. Ishaq serves as senior advisor to the Business Council for International Understanding BCIU) and is advisory board member of the Global Child Mental Health Campaign, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, and the Whole Child Initiative. He is program committee member for the 12th Annual Cybertherapy 2007 Conference and holds memberships in the World Economic Forum’s Technology Empowerment Network, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

More than 5 million children in 100 countries have benefited from lesson plans and art competitions he developed and organized. His monthly newsletter Sketches currently has over 22,000 subscribers. In 1998, he hosted the first-ever children’s art festival in the United States. He produced two international festivals in Washington, DC in 1999 and 2003, directed the planning of the European Children’s Festival in Munich in May 2006, and is currently planning the World Children’s Festival to be held in Washington, DC in June 2007.