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MEDA convention to link human rights and business If you want to talk about human rights, where else do you go than to the site of a new stateof-the-art human rights museum? That museum, which opens this fall, happens to be located in Winnipeg, a MEDA heartland. MEDA’s annual convention — Nov. 6-9 — will take advantage of the proximity for a unique exploration of how human rights issues connect with business and economic development. The theme: Human Dignity Through Entrepreneurship. Veteran businessman and humanitarian leader Arthur DeFehr will open the convention Nov. 6 by making a “Business Case for Human Rights.” The new Canadian Museum for Human Rights, venue for one convention session. DeFehr is CEO of Palliser Furniture, which employs over Global Education and also the ganize the emergency “unofthe west, and remains active 2,000 people in Canada and educational attache of Pakistan in food security, development ficial” cross-border Landbridge Mexico, and a founder of variprogram to provide supplies and immigration issues. DeFehr in its consulate in Birmingous educational and humaniham, England.U.S. network to Cambodia at the end of was a member of the World tarian organizations. the Khmer Rouge period. He Economic Forum and is a direc- journalist Laura Ling will speak He served as United Nations spearheaded links between Saturday evening on her “Jourtor of the Pearson Peacekeephigh commissioner for refuney of Hope” as a captive in church-related entrepreneurs ing Center. gees in Somalia and helped orNorth Korea. In 2009, while in the former Soviet Union and Friday evening’s session will reporting on the trafficking of feature a prominent global promoter of human rights and North Korean women, Ling women’s education, an area of was arrested and held captive specialty for MEDA. The speak- for 140 days. Pastor/businessman Jim Miller will be Ziauddin Yousafzai, er will speak Sunday morning father of Malala Yousafzai, the ot a to share? on “Faith Without Veneers.” activist teenager who survived We’re collecting nuggets of faith and He is founder and CEO of JMX being shot in the face by business, and we’re inviting your help. Brands, parent company of extremists for protesting the We’re looking for short (100-200 words) DutchCrafters, the world’s largTaliban’s limitation of educabits of business/faith wisdom, something that helped est web-only retailer of Amish tion for Pakistani girls. Media or enlivened your daily work. reports have called Malala “the furniture and home goods. Take a few minutes to jot it down, then send it to Miller served as pastor at Covmost famous teenager in the us. If we get enough, we’ll put them in a book. Maybe world.” Time magazine named enant Mennonite Fellowship in we’ll call it The Marketplace Book of Business Wisdom. Sarasota from 2012-2014. her one of “The 100 Most InA pre-convention tour on fluential People in the World.” Or something like that. Ziauddin is currently the United Nov. 5 will take visitors to Don’t be shy. Send to wkroeker@meda.org Churchill, Man., to see polar Nations Special Advisor on
Send us a memo “faith memo”
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The Marketplace September October 2014
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