Fraternity-Testvériség, 2010 (88. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2010-04-01 / 2. szám
I Summer 2010 HAC’s President is a Proud HRFA Policyholder By Kathy A. Megyeri Max and Wendy Teleki with former New York Governor and Mrs. George Pataki A s the Hungarian American Coalition (HAC) in Washington, DC approaches its 20th anniversary, it is only fitting that we examine its success and accomplishments, particularly under the leadership of its current President, Maximilian Teleki. Since his election in 2004, Max fulfills his role as President with energy and finesse, and it’s no easy task. His mission has been to promote fellow Hungarians, advocate on behalf of Hungarian causes, and steer complex fund-raising activities. Meanwhile, he is a devoted family man as he and his wife Wendy have three young children (Tibor 5, and twins Ava and Naoma who are 3). The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America is proud to have Max and his children as fraternal members of our organization. Some readers may not be fully aware of the Hungarian American Coalition’s mission which has been to identify and promote the concerns and interests of the Hungarian-Amer- ican community, to foster interest and appreciation in the United States for the history, literature, arts, scientific achievements, and culture of Hungary, to encourage cultural and educational interaction between the two nations, and to protect and preserve the human and minority rights of Hungarians throughout the world. This umbrella organization’s membership, counting both individual and organizational members, totals more than 30,000. HAC enjoys close cooperation with the HRFA as two HRFA Board members, George Dózsa and László Hamos, currently sit on HAC’s Board of Directors along with HRFA’s President Leslie László Megyeri. Based on 20 years of tireless efforts by Coalition leaders, HAC is recognized among decision-makers in both the U.S. and Hungary as a reliable advocate for Hungarian-Americans and the causes important to them. Among the Coalition’s recent efforts, Max is proud to cite: • Extension of the U.S. visa-waiver program to Hungary (to ease restrictions on Hungarians seeking to visit the U.S.) • Promotion of property restitution for Hungarian minority communities whose school and church properties were widely confiscated under Communist rule • HAC’s internship program which enables young, future Hungarian leaders to work in Congressional and nongovernmental offices in Washington, D.C. • HAC’s submissions and initiatives on many fronts to urge revocation of Slovakia’s discriminatory language law. Recently, Max and László Hamos accompanied former New York Governor Pataki to Slovakia to speak out against the language law. Max’s tenure with HAC has been a long one. He began as a student intern while in graduate school and was HAC’s first White House Intern. He then joined the Coalition as a member. He then served as Board member for five years and was on the Executive Committee for four years. Max also serves as board member for the International Center for Democratic Transition (ICDT) and the Constellation Energy Institute. As Board member for ICDT, Max serves alongside a distinguished group of fellow directors, including Madeline Albright, Former Secretary of State; Janusz Onysz- kiewicz, Former Polish Minister of Defense; Kim Campbell, Former Prime Minister of Canada; Dr. Janos Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary; and a host of other distinguished ministers, ambassadors, and corporate leaders. Their mission is to collect the experiences of past democratic transitions and share them with other nations following that path. Max is a native of northern California but has lived in the Washington, DC region for nearly twenty years. He also lived in South America and Europe for many of his formative years. Max is passionate about Hungary’s traditions and culture, and he’s true to the traditions of his name which is derived from an ancestral Transylvanian family who served Hungary over hundreds of years in various public capacities. Also, as a member of HRFA, he personifies the values and traditions of our organization. 6
