Mary Jean Eisenhower

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Mary Jean Eisenhower, the granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, has worked to develop and expand the mission of People to People International [PTPI]. Eisenhower became the Chief Executive Officer of PTPI in January 2000 and still holds this title.

[edit] Early life

Mary Eisenhower was born in Washington, D.C. during President Eisenhower's first term and was christened in the Blue Room of the White House. She grew up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the Eisenhower Farm, where President Eisenhower retired after his time in office. Ms. Eisenhower attended Westtown School in Pennsylvania until her father, John Eisenhower, was appointed Ambassador to Belgium. She lived in Belgium from 1969 to 1972. Eisenhower began her career working on Capital Hill and then managed an engineering firm. She also has served as a Fellow at Stanford University.[1]

[edit] Work with People to People International

During her work with People to People International, Ms. Eisenhower visited Morocco to represent her family to the King on the 50th anniversary of the Casablanca Conference. She also traveled to the beaches of Normady to meet many of the veterans who served with her grandfather on the D-Day invasion. In the last six years, Ms. Eisenhower has left US soil over 70 times and visited over 40 countries. Missions have ranged from meeting first families to distributing foodstuffs in developing countries to cultural and humanitarian exchanges.

Inspired by an orphanage she visited in Morocco, Ms. Eisenhower launched the People to People International Friendship Fund in 1999. The Fund is designed to enable individuals to support the service-oriented facilities they visit throughout the world and to provide a mechanism through which the network of PTPI Chapters can assist one another. To date, the fund has supported causes ranging from the Global Humanitarian Eradication of Landmines, Children's Mercy Hospital in London, England, earthquake relief in India, disaster relief to victims of September 11, 2001, and their families, support of underresourced schools in China and Sri Lanka, a home for leukemia victims and their families in Cuba, to a library project in Vietnam and the Friends of Egypt organization. One hundred percent of all funds received by the International Friendship Fund are allocated in support of the projects specified by donors.[2]

After the September 11th terrorist attacks, Ms. Eisenhower became intently focused upon bringing young people from around the globe into contact with one another in order to expose them to diverse cultures and conflict management tools that might facilitate the amelioration of long-standing disputes. Her vision came to fruition with Peace Camp 2003: An Evolution of Thought and Change and the Global Peace Initiative. Both the Peace Camp and the Global Peace Initiative brought participants from over 30 nationalities together in Egypt to discuss contemporary issues and gain nuanced insights into the varied and unique cultures represented among the participants. H E Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt cohosted this event.