Shadi Martini, Director of Humanitarian Relief and Regional Relations - Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, joins host Janeane Bernstein to talk about his up-coming event Sunday December 3 and more!

SHADI MARTINI

Director of Humanitarian Relief and Regional Relations

Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees

As it has with so many other victims of this crisis, the Syrian war turned businessman, Shadi Martini, into a refugee, an activist, and an advocate for greater cooperation across faith and cultural lines.
Now, as the Director of Humanitarian Relief and Regional Relations to the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, the nation’s leading interfaith response to the Syrian crisis, Mr. Martini travels throughout the U.S. and abroad raising awareness of the crisis, encouraging greater public engagement, facilitating partnerships between organizations focused on addressing similar issues, and planting the seeds for future stability in the region by fostering people-to-people engagement.

He frequently provides briefings based on first-hand knowledge of the crisis to government officials, civil society leaders, the media, and various secular and faith-based organizations. He was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria and graduated from the High School Aleppo Scientific College. Martini attended college in Lebanon where he received his BA from Beirut University College in 1993. After graduation, Martini went to Bulgaria and formed his own manufacturing company. In 2009 he returned to Syria to run his family’s business.

In March 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on those providing aid to anyone suspected of being in the opposition, Mr. Martini, then the General Manager of a hospital in Aleppo, and his comrades worked covertly to provide aid to wounded and ill civilians. This secret network was discovered in mid-2012, forcing him to flee his country.

Soon after, Martini began organizing assistance for Syrian refugees from a neighboring country. He was elected by Bulgarian NGOs to serve on the Bulgarian crisis commission to help overcome the obstacles to aiding and integrating refugees. He then served on the executive committee of the national change party (Syrian opposition) in charge of foreign relations, but left the party in late 2013. He co-founded the “Republic Party” (Syrian opposition) and was elected chairman of the General Assembly, but left his post and the party, and resigned all political activity when he joined the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees in Jordan.

In 2014, Martini founded Refugee Support Group, a humanitarian aid organization based in Bulgaria. For the past several years he has partnered with numerous faith-based organizations in the U.S. and abroad, which led to his involvement with the Multifaith Alliance. In that capacity, he continues his work in the Middle East and also coordinates major relief efforts for Syrian refugees flooding into Europe.

Martini is fluent in Arabic, English and Bulgarian. In April, he became a very proud United States citizen, in a ceremony he described as “An event I wish everyone could experience to understand the meaning of being a citizen of this great country.” On November 8, he voted in his first U.S. presidential election.

Orange County Interfaith Community Concert

Support the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees
Sunday, December 3, 2017 ~ 2pm - 3pm

Performance by the Marbella Trio
featuring Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2

Presentation by Shadi Martini
Director of Humanitarian Relief & Regional
Relations for MFA
Martini is a Syrian refugee, forced to flee
for secretly aiding the injured.

Dessert reception immediately following concert hosted by the Interfaith Council of Laguna Beach.

Funds raised by this event will enable MFA to ship containers of life-saving humanitarian aid for distribution directly to Syrian war victims in southern Syria.

To adopt a container or donate, please visit: multifaithalliance.org/oc

RSVP: http://bit.ly/OCmultifaithalliance

Make it a Day of Giving:
Visit NCC’s annual “JOY OF GIVING” BOUTIQUE
from 11am-2pm.

Find sustainable one-of-a-kind gifts from around the world, and opportunities to honor loved ones who appreciate making the world a better place.

Neighborhood Congregational Church
340 St. Ann’s Drive, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

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