Our Advisory Board brings decades of experience to the Cultural Diplomacy and Development Foundation (CDDF).
Diana Cohen Altman
Advisory board member
Diana Cohen Altman is the former executive director of the Karabakh Foundation (a cultural organization focused on Azerbaijan and the Caucasus) and a longtime advocate for cultural diplomacy. Her professional experience includes a lengthy tenure as a Smithsonian exhibition editor, several years as director of the B’nai B’rith National Jewish Museum and Archive, and an extended appointment as editor-in-chief of the magazine later acquired by the American Alliance (now known as Exhibitions). She has published in popular media about a broad range of cultural
topics.
Paul Michael Taylor
Honorary Advisory member
PAUL MICHAEL TAYLOR, a research anthropologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, is head of that museum’s Asian Cultural History Program, and serves as Curator of Asian, European, and Middle Eastern Ethnology. He has written or edited many books and numerous scholarly articles on the ethnography, ethnobiology, languages, and art (or material culture) of Asia. He has also curated twenty-one museum exhibitions (including five on-line virtual exhibitions). Outside his Smithsonian work he previously served as Senior Consultant to the World Bank Inspection Panel for social safeguard policies; and also as the Director of Ethnographic Film Development for Essential TV (Overseas) Ltd to develop twelve documentary anthropological films. During his studies of rural social, ecological, and poverty-alleviation issues, and his work on documentary films, he lived for over four years in small tribal or rural villages of Southeast Asia. The recipient of numerous international grants and awards, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Asian Studies, and has been a longtime member of the Smithsonian’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Committee. He has worked closely with many individuals and community organizations to establish “Heritage” projects at the Smithsonian, including the Smithsonian’s Sikh Heritage project, Korean Heritage, Heritage of Thailand, Taiwan Heritage, and others.
Dr. S. Frederick Starr
Advisory board member
Dr. Starr is the founding Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies program, a transatlantic research center between Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Institution for Security and Development Policy. Dr. Starr was also the founding Chairman of the Kennan Institute and was involved in planning the University of Central Asia and the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. He has conducted extensive research and published both articles and books on the history, development, and domestic situations of greater Central Asia, as well as on US policy in Central Asia. Dr. Starr furthermore writes about the region for media outlets and journals.
Lutful Kabir
Advisory board member
Lutful Kabir is a multi-lingual professional and had held numerous senior leadership and management positions with UN Systems for about 12 years, about 21 years with International NGOs (CARE, SCF-UK, Plan International, SCF-USA and IMC) and 7+ years with Academic Institutions, in South Asia, South-east Asia, Africa, South Caucasus and Central Asia. He has undertaken numerous consultancy assignments, successfully established several country/program offices, trained national and international staff of numerous organizations and managed large program and operational budgets. ODM (Organizational Development & Management), Resource Mobilization, Civil Society Development and HICD (Human & Institutional Capacity Development) are some of the courses Lutful regularly taught. On numerous occasions, Lutful had worked as advisor/trainer for WB, ADB, USAID, OSCE, EU, DRC, NRC, numerous INGOs and UN agencies on various aspects of their works.