Pacifica Institute had its first luncheon forum in Irvine. Mr Taylor spoke about Welcoming Diversity as a Path to Peace. He said how the government of New Zealand from the late 19th century until now coped with the ethnic groups and mentioned his family’s personal experience of diversity.
Right after the new year, on the 3rd of January LA County Sheriff Lee Baca spoke at the Luncheon Forum-LA about the Leadership in the Age of Diversity. As he is heading the world’s largest police department with 18000 officers, Lee Baca is also directing the activities of Homeland Security of California Region I. Today as the Pacifica Institute had its first luncheon forum in Irvine, Mr Taylor spoke about Welcoming Diversity as a Path to Peace. He said how the government of New Zealand from the late 19th century until now coped with the ethnic groups and mentioned his family’s personal experience of diversity. He added how the people of New Zealand shifted their approach during a relatively short period to being one of the most ethnically diverse societies with more than over 200 ethnicities. It is necessary to mention that Mr Taylor started his speech with one of the main native languages in New Zealand. Rob Taylor was appointed as the New Zealand Consul-General, Los Angeles in April 2004. The Consul-General is responsible for governmentto-government and government-to-business relations between New Zealand and the economies and governments of the western United States. In conjunction with the New Zealand Embassy in Washington DC, the Consul-General deals with most bilateral political, consular, trade facilitation and economic relations between New Zealand and the United States. Rob Taylor also talked about the economic success of his government in the recent years and during the Q&A session, he gave more information about the economy and the government. The Consul General reminded the audience of the link that had formed between the New Zealanders and the Turkish people 93 years ago with the War of the Dardanelles and some of the experiences shared by the two nations. The luncheon forum came to an end with the announcement that next February on the 26th of February, Irvine Mayor be the next luncheon forum speaker in Pacifica Institute-Irvine.