Subject: Re: Interview with Congresswomen Wasserman Schultz
From: Marcia Soto Pirani <[email-masked]>
To: "Banfill, Ryan" <[email-masked]>, Steven Paikowsky <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 May 2016 16:26:56 -0400

My prior email with the videos was returned as it was too large. I will
send the videos via the drive.

Hi Ryan, it's nice to hear from you. Thank you for your quick response!
Congratulations on your new position as Communications Consultant.  Your
reputation precedes you, so  I trust you will make sure  Madam Chair is
re-elected and continues her phenomenal work.  Steve, thank you for your
part in getting Ryan's attention!   A short introduction to our community
follows.

We are the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim community.  The Shia Imami Ismaili
Muslims of the USA, generally known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia
branch of Islam and form part of a global community that includes people
from many different cultural traditions.   Ismailis live in over 25
different countries around the world, mainly in Central and South Asia,
East Africa and the Middle East as well as in the United States, Canada,
Australia and Europe.  In Florida our community resides mostly in Miami,
 Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Ocala. In Florida, our community has a
 wonderful relationship with Mayor Buckhorn (he even graced one of our
issues with his photo throwing a football at our National Sports
Tournament), Mayor Rick Kriseman  (yes don't we all love his tweeting
ability!) and his Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin, who recently attended one of
our events at USF and together with her family joined us for dinner.

Our spiritual leader is  His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, the 49th
hereditary Imam and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.  His
Highness, a graduate of Harvard University, succeeded his grandfather Sir
Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan in 1957 and has guided the community through
major political and economic changes for over five decades.

Under His Highness’s leadership, the Ismaili Community has established
schools, hospitals, health centers, housing societies and a variety of
social and economic development institutions for the common good of all
citizens, regardless of their race and/or religion.  These institutions
have today earned wide recognition for their effectiveness in improving the
lives of the poor and underprivileged populations of developing nations in
Asia and Africa.  They form part of an international network of
institutions, known as the Aga Khan Development Network
<http://www.akdn.org/> (the “AKDN”) and are involved in fields that range
from education, health and rural development, to architecture and the
promotion of private sector enterprise.  The AKDN, founded by his Highness
the Aga Khan, who also serves as the chairman, is the largest private
development agency of its kind, with projects and collaborations that span
the globe.  The AKDN has forged numerous key alliances and partnerships
around the world.  In the United States, the AKDN partners with
governmental institutions, private foundations and educational
institutions, including the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), the  Department of State, The Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I am attaching to this e-mail a short video that will tell you about the
impact of the AKDN. One of the  agencies of the AKDN, The Aga Khan
Foundation USA <http://www.akdn.org/our-agencies/aga-khan-foundation>, has
offices in Washington DC.  Please take a few minutes to learn about the
work of the Foundation.

His Highness' most recent visit to the United States was in November 2015,
where he delivered the Jodidi Lecture at  Harvard University.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MABS8niTWqU> In 2014 he was asked to
address the Canadian Parliament
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNckjlWk1g>. The Ismaili Imamat has
entered into Agreements of Cooperation with the state of Illinois,
California and Texas. The Imamat has also signed numerou Agreements of
Cooperation with academic institutions and countries. The Most recent
Agreement was entered into with the Republic of  Portugal.
<http://www.akdn.org/event/historic-agreement-establishes-global-seat-ismaili-imamat-portugal>

Our community publishes "The Ismaili Magazine" twice a year.  I gave a copy
of our last issue  to Steve, but would be happy to overnight you a copy so
you can see the quality of the magazine. I assure you it is of the highest
quality. The magazine is distributed at a national level not only to our
community, but to many of our partners which range  from  academics at top
Universities, to NGO's to Museums, to politicians.   It has a tremendous
reach.

The theme of our next magazine is "Civic Engagement". Our community is
built and thrives on service. We give of our time, knowledge and
resources.  From the age off 8 our children are taught  that giving back to
our communities, globally and locally is our ethical duty. At the age of 8
the children are given the opportunity to become official uniformed
volunteers and are involved many volunteer endeavors.  We would like to
interview Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz  on her views  on civic
engagement and the impact civic engagement can make in our communities.
Our magazine has an internal editing team but it is all run by volunteers.
If you agree to the article,  it would be written by Annisa Karim
<http://www.annisakarim.com/>. Annisa is the Chairwoman  of the Democratic
Committee in Collier County and is a member of the American Muslim
Democratic Caucus.  She is a conservationist that attended the University
of Florida and was inspired to run for a commission seat in Collier county
as a result of her interactions  with "Debbie" as she often insists to be
called (I simply love her warmth and humbleness).

We have a large community in Pembroke Pines as our Jamatkhana (place of
worship) is  in Miramar.  We also have a second Jamatkhana near Atlantic
Blvd and  75.  Many of our members reside in Weston as well and they will
all receive the magazine which comes out mid to end of July.  We can send
the magazine to anyone you request or provide  you with copies if you would
prefer to do it yourself.

 The President of our local council, Zahra Hayat Daya, ( Zahra is employed
with Microsoft where she  leads the Business Planning and Operations Team
for Latin America, focusing on landing Scorecard and Strategy), wrote a
letter to Madam Chair  which I hand delivered to her when we spoke at the
Democratic Ethnic Committee meeting a couple of months ago. I also gave her
a copy of the magazine.   We again spoke at a recent fundraiser at Dr.
Jaffer's home.

Unfortunately, my deadline for the article is in two weeks. The article
will be about a page and it will focus on her thoughts about the role that
civic engagement can play in  improving the qualify of life of  our
communities. As this is a human interest story, we would want to know  what
inspires her passion for civic engagement. There will be nothing
controversial in  the article.

Ryan, I apologize for the long and informal e-mail. I am running out to a
meeting to prepare for a court hearing tomorrow morning, and therefore, had
little time to edit this email. However, due to the time constraints
discussed herein, I wanted to get this out to you immediately  We are happy
to accommodate your schedule and meet Madam Chair on a Saturday in Weston
or Pembroke Pines, travel to DC or simply conduct the interview  by phone.
Although we would much  prefer an person meeting as you can capture so much
more to the story in that fashion.

I would love to speak to you and answer any further questions you may have,
the nature of an email does not always convey what a face to face meeting
does.   My cell number is 786-281-9298, this is the best way to reach me.
If you happen to be in the South Florida area I am happy to meet you for a
cup of coffee.

 Please don't forget to watch the attached video, it is only 4  minutes
long.

With warm personal regards,

Marcia

On Wed, May 4, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Banfill, Ryan <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Marcia,
> I received your information from Steve Paikowski and he asked me to follow
> up on your interview request.
> Will you please send me some information regarding the publication, its
> audience, the topics you're looking to cover, the deadline for a decision,
> expected date of the article and the name of the journalist who would do
> the interview?
> Include any other information you feel is relevant.
> Thank you again for the request.
>
> Ryan Banfill
>
> Sent from my iPhone