High School Program: The Art & Impact of Diplomacy

Description

The Los Angeles World Affairs Council is proud to partner with our co-host, The Difference Engine at Arizona State University, for a special high school program, "The Art & Impact of Diplomacy", on Friday, February 6 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at the ASU California Center in Downtown Los Angeles. 

Thanks to our generous sponsor, this program is free for high school students and their chaperones—teachers or parents—who can provide transportation to and from the venue. Lunch is provided to all attendees. 

If you are a teacher, educator, or parent interested in bringing students to this program, please contact Krista Seitz at kseitz@lawac.org or (424) 258-6160.

Learn more about our co-host The Difference Engine here.

Panel:

Consul General Raffaella Valentini

Consulate of Italy in Los Angeles

Raffaella Valentini was born in Rome, on October 28, 1975. She graduated in 1999 in Political Sciences at La Sapienza University in Rome and in 2001 she received a Post-Graduated Degree in European Union Law and Business at the Economic Department of the same University.

At the end of 2003 she joined the diplomatic career within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After five years at the Directorate General for Development Cooperation as Deputy Head of MENA region and Balkans Department, she served from 2008 to 2013 at the Italian Embassy in Tirana, where she was the Head of the Economic and Commercial section. In March 2013 she moved to Egypt, where she served as Political Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in Cairo. In 2016 she returned to Rome, where she was posted, until March 2023, at the Office of the Diplomatic Adviserto the Italian Prime Minister. In this capacity, she dealt with: Global issues, International Organizations, Sub- Saharan Africa and G7-G20 dossiers.

Deputy Consul General Seoung-ho Francis Cho 

Consulate of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles

Seoung-ho Francis Cho is the Deputy Consul General at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles. He has served in Seoul at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Advisor to the Minister, Press Director, and Director of the North America Division 1.  

He has also served at the Republic of Korea’s diplomatic missions in London, Amman, Washington, D.C., and San José (Costa Rica), and was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).  

Honorary Consul General Jaak Treiman

Honorary Consulate of Estonia in Los Angeles

Our panelist, Jaak Treiman, has served as Estonia's Honorary Consul since 1986. Jaak received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he studied international relations.

After serving two years in the United States Army, he returned to Los Angeles to establish his own law practice. He has written or co-authored three books, the most recent being “Carried by a Magic Fan: Memoir of an Estonian Refugee Family.” He has also written a number of magazine articles and op-ed pieces, including those that have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, the Wall Street Journal (European edition), and the Los Angeles Times. 

Jaak was the former Board Chair of the U.S.-Baltic Foundation while USBF administered a 3-million-dollar “Democracy Network” grant from the United States Agency for International Development for the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Moderator:

The Honorable Michael Postl, Ph.D.

Former Austrian Ambassador & Consul General in Los Angeles

Michael Postl is a senior Austrian diplomat with more than 30 years of experience in international diplomacy, economic relations, and public international law. He most recently served as Consul General for the U.S. West Coast (Los Angeles, 2021–2025).

Previously, he was Ambassador of Austria to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam and Head of the Department for Multilateral Economic Relations at the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs. His diplomatic career also includes ambassadorial postings to Iran, Armenia, and Georgia, and senior roles covering, inter alia, the Western Balkans.

In parallel with his diplomatic career, Michael Postl has been a lecturer in public international law and international relations at the University of Innsbruck since 2004. As of January 2026, he has held the position of Executive-in-Residence at California Lutheran University.