Talks to save the Atlanta Nobel peace summit aren’t going peacefully.
Three boardmembers of the local nonprofit tapped with hosting the planned summit resigned Friday. Jason Carter and Laura Turner Seydel cited conflicts with the nonprofit’s controversial CEO, Mohammad Bhuiyan, as reason for leaving the board.
Willis Potts, former chair of the Georgia Board of Regents, also resigned, but said his decision is “without malice” toward anyone involved in the effort.
In turn, Bhuiyan, the event’s lead organizer and head of Yunus Creative Lab, has issued a press release stating that their terms on the YCL board expired on May 7 — a day before their resignation.
Their departures are the latest chapter in an already long, complicated and tumultuous story of Atlanta's plans to host an international peace summit for Nobel laureates this fall.
The news comes just days after the Rome-based organization that spearheads annual gatherings of Nobel Peace Prize winners gave local leaders a week to sort out conflicts.
The Permanent Secretariat of The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates said earlier this week that unless Atlanta leaders find a compromise soon, the organization will move the event elsewhere. The secretariat’s organization, which is not affiliated with the Nobel Foundation nor the Norwegian Nobel Institute, awarded the 2015 summit to Yunus Creative Lab in 2013.
The event has been in peril in recent months after Mayor Kasim Reed, and several others, decided not to participate in the summit due to conflict with Bhuiyan.
Bhuiyan and his wife, Shamima Amin, founded YCL with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has also resigned from the effort because of the discord.
Carter and Seydel have been working to get the summit back on track, efforts that include finding an organization to take the helm of the summit. But a lengthy letter to Bhuiyan, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday, they said they are resigning because of his refusal to reach a compromise, among other issues.
“As a Board, we found ourselves in a position where the Mayor of Atlanta, the Secretariat, and Mohammad Yunus himself had all indicated that they would not participate in a summit where you played an organizing role,” they wrote to Bhuiyan, describing ensuing efforts to find a new organization to help throw the event.
“Despite the hours of work that we and others have put into this project, you have personally rejected every proposal that we have placed before you. You have also refused to articulate any alternative plan for how YCL can hold the event or gracefully step aside as the sponsor,” Carter and Seydel wrote.
They said Bhuiyan has alienated a long list of Atlantans who had volunteered for the summit, a list that now includes them. But they pledged to continue working with other community leaders in hopes the summit can still move forward.
In a press release issued Saturday, Bhuiyan described Carter and Seydel as “trying to negotiate matters on their own outside the board.” He also accuses Carter of failing to get involved until after Yunus resigned, and suggests that Seydel negatively influenced the Permanent Secretariat.
Potts’ resignation, according to a letter provided to the AJC, struck a markedly different tone. Potts blamed no one for his departure, but noted: “The personal allegations made in this sad situation are incredibly unprofessional and to me, downright disgusting. In clear conscience, I can no longer be a part of any of this.”
He also called for Bhuiyan and Amin to be compensated for their “tireless efforts” on the summit. The couple has said they’ve offered their services pro bono at the request of Yunus.
“They both left very responsible positions in Academia to do this,” Potts wrote. “Call it a labor of love; call it what you may. They most certainly deserve financial remuneration, even though it can never match the sacrifice they have made.”
In response, Bhuiyan thanked Potts for his service and described him as “truly an independent and honorable person who is not afraid of standing up for the fairness and justice.”
Bhuiyan also said the remaining members of the YCL board are “assessing the options for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and will make a statement once a conclusion is reached. Our only goal is to do what is best for our city, the donors, and the Laureates. This is a very complex and sensitive situation. We remain open to any reasonable approach.”
Bhuiyan, a former college administrator, has said the criticisms against him are unfair. He said Reed withdrew because Bhuiyan refused to award business to a friend of the mayor’s — a charge Reed said is false.
Bhuiyan, who is Bangladeshi, also believes that some of the complaints raised by others are racially motivated and have nothing to do with his competency.
Despite mounting criticisms, Bhuiyan has maintained his desire to remain involved. But on Saturday, Bhuiyan wrote that if the Secretariat’s organization and Reed wish to hold a separate event, “they can certainly move forward on their own with any organization. They do not need YCL.”
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