Daytona Beach, FL – The Hungarian American Coalition was proud to support the first ever Hungarian Summit held on May 12-14, 2022 in Daytona Beach, FL. The 3-day conference was an unprecedented gathering of Hungarian and American leaders in business, culture, sports, art, community and education. The Summit was created by Piros Pazaurek, founder of HungarianHub and Coalition Board member.
The community track, led by Coalition President Andrea Lauer Rice, featured many Coalition members as presenters and workshop leaders, among them: Csilla Grauzer, Dr Ágnes Virga, Piros Pazaurek, Emese Varga, Gabi Vajtay, Ildikó Nagy, and several organizations: Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF), Hungarian Scouts in Exteris, Hungarian House of New York. Many other Coalition members were in attendance. The detailed agenda and information on the Summit is available at the conference’s website here.
In many ways, the Community Track portion of the Summit was a continuation of the HATOG (Hungarian Americans TOGether) conference series, organized by the Coalition over the past 15 years. For HATOG, the Coalition partnered with a local member organization in cities across the US to host regional networking opportunities and professional development seminars in: Washington DC, Cleveland, OH, Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, San Francisco, CA, Sarasota, FL, New Brunswick, NJ and New York, NY.
Hungarian American leaders from across the US, many of whom are members of the Coalition, spearheaded panel discussions and workshops across the three-day conference.
Photo courtesy: HungarianHub
“We were delighted to help lead the community section of the Summit. We’ve been hosting zoom calls for the past two years to keep that all-important community connection during Covid. The Summit was the first time several of us had the chance to meet in person. And we’ve really never had the chance to meet so many leaders across so many areas at once – business, education, sports, culture and community. That’s what made the Summit such a unique event and opportunity.” according to Lauer Rice. Her full interview in Hungarian by Bocskai Rádió at the event is available here.
The Hungarian Summit Community Track consisted of three panel discussions on Thursday, May 12. “State of the Community” was led by Lauer Rice and included presentations from Petra Kovacs, Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF), Bernadette Czettisch, American Hungarian Schools Association (AMIT), Irén Dala, Hungarian Association of Scouts in Exteris, Emese Varga, Boskola, Rev. Péter Pál Bodor, Hungarian Christian Church of Sarasota and Pastor Emese Asztalos, Putnam Memorial Presbyterian Church. “Bridging the Language Gap with non-Hungarian Speakers” was led by Gabi Vajtay, ReConnect Hungary, with Katalin Petreczky, AMIT, Viktória Butala, MákVirágok Hungarian School in Orlando and Melissa Katko Pepin, American Hungarian Foundation. “Success Stories in Fundraising, Marketing and Programming” was led by Csilla Grauzer, Minnesota Hungarians, which touched on new approaches, technologies and challenges from Reka Vicsacsán Nagy, Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix, Ildikó Nagy, Reka Darida Foundation, Patrícia Margit, nonprofit advisor, Andrea Lauer Rice, Georgia 1956 Statue project, and Dr Ágnes Virga, Hungarian Medical Association of America.
On Friday, the Community Track consisted of a series of workshops on topics such as: Family Outreach and Community Building by Judit Regős, Parent’s House, Non-Profit Management by DJ Lebo, CEO of Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia County, Grant Writing and the Community Mindset by Piros Pazaurek, HungarianHub and Patrícia Margit, grant writer and Advocacy 101, presented by Petra Kovács, HHRF.
One of the presenters, Coalition Board member and Vice President Csilla Grauzer said: “Hungarian Summit provided a wonderful opportunity for community leaders from across the US to meet in person, share new ideas, discuss best practices in business, education, creative initiatives, enjoy arts and cultural experiences and express hopes and wishes for the future.”
The conference featured cultural performances, wine tastings on Thursday and Fridays evening, and ended with an expo, festival and film screenings on Saturday, including a screening of the 1956 documentary “Memory Project: 1956-2022,” by Reka Pigniczky and Lauer Rice.