We are proud to announce the selection of our May Virtual Book Club book: The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power. Ambassador Samantha Power is the Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel ’61 Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School.

In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?" and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official.

From 2013 to 2017, Power served as the 28th U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as well as a member of President Obama’s cabinet. In this role, Power became the public face of U.S. opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria, negotiated the toughest sanctions in a generation against North Korea, lobbied to secure the release of political prisoners, helped build new international law to cripple ISIL’s financial networks, and supported President Obama’s path-breaking actions to end the Ebola crisis.

Our Virtual Book Club Meetings 

We will meet twice in May and early June to discuss the book with fellow Pacific Council members and staff. 

1st Meeting (finish first half of book): Friday, May 22, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. PT

2nd Meeting (finish entire book): Tuesday, June 2, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PT 

• First hour of meeting will be a special event with Ambassador Powers (details forthcoming). After the event, the book club will meet for a final 30-minute discussion. 

Why Join

1. Get to know and interact with fellow members through lively book discussion. 
2. You know you want to start reading books during quarantine! Start here with people who will keep you accountable. 
3. Once you finish the book, we will have a live virtual event with the author herself, Ambassador Samantha Power. Pretty neat! 

How to Get Involved 

If you would like to register for our May Virtual Book Club or moderate/host a virtual book club meeting, please email Ilyssa Padrid-Dykman at ipadrid@pacificcouncil.org. 

Purchasing Your Book 

We encourage you to shop via www.bookshop.org to support your local bookstores. If you need your book quickly, The Education of an Idealist is available on Kindle and other virtual platforms.  

Questions 

Do you have additional questions about how our virtual book club works? Or do you have suggestions for books for our next book club? Please direct to Ilyssa Padrid-Dykman at ipadrid@pacificcouncil.org.