Subject: Re: Interview with Congresswomen Wasserman Schultz
From: Marcia Soto Pirani <[email-masked]>
To: "Banfill, Ryan" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "P. Aikowsky" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 May 2016 16:55:25 -0400

Thank you Ryan, it may take you 3 days to read, but you are in
communications!

From your google blurb, I see music is your passion . What do you play?
Music is my son's passion as well, drums, guitar and piano.  I wish I had
some talent that could bring more beauty to my life, unfortunately it
skipped a generation.  Now I rely on my drummer boy to keep things fun.

Best,

Marcia

On Wed, May 4, 2016 at 4:48 PM, Banfill, Ryan <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Thank you for the email and the video link.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 4, 2016, at 1:27 PM, Marcia Soto Pirani <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> 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
>
>
>