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50 MASA participants from the Building Future Leadership Seminar Series (BFL) were invited to share the stage in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres during the opening ceremony of The Presidential Conference -- Facing Tomorrow. The participants joined 50 other MASA participants, 13 current or former heads of state (including President George W. Bush and

and former Prime Minister Tony Blair) and 3,500 distinguished guests for a three-day event initiated by Mr. Peres for the purpose of  "examining, confronting, and responding to three intertwining  futures: the  global  tomorrow,  the  Jewish  tomorrow,  and  the  Israeli tomorrow." Attendees chose from a wide variety of lectures, panels, and discussion sessions lead by prominent figures in the academic, political, religious, scientific, business, technological and Jewish world covering a diverse range of topics.  "It was something I never thought I would experience," commented Deborah Laks from Costa Rica.  "Getting to see such prominent people up close.  It gave me the insight that anyone can achieve what they have if they have the ambition. Peres has made clear that the development of such ambition was one of the desired outcomes of the conference as a whole. More than generating "talk," Peres writes, the conference strove to drive "action" by "encouraging practical initiatives intended to positively shape our future."

Deborah Laks with President Peres

Sabrina Falicoff, Henry Kissinger & Carolina Meyer

Visit the Conference web site at  http://presidentconf.haaretz.com/