New fallout in Atlanta Nobel summit; supporters vow to find resolution

March 19: Reed notifies Mohammad Bhuiyan, CEO of Yunus Creative Lab, that he’s withdrawing the city’s participation in the event due to conflict with Bhuiyan over event management.

April 9: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus resigns from Yunus Creative Lab, the nonprofit he began with Bhuiyan and Bhuiyan’s wife, Shamima Amin.

May 3: The Permanent Secretariat issues letter to Atlanta summit organizers, warning local leaders that the event could be held elsewhere unless they resolve conflicts in about a week.

May 8: Jason Carter, Willis Potts and Laura Turner Seydel resign from the Yunus Creative Lab board.

The future of the Atlanta Nobel peace summit remains in doubt after the resignations of three board members from the nonprofit tasked with hosting the event.

Jason Carter, grandson of President Jimmy Carter, and Laura Turner Seydel, daughter of media mogul Ted Turner, cited conflicts with the embattled head of Yunus Creative Lab among their reasons for resigning from the board on Friday.

Willis Potts, former chair of the Georgia Board of Regents, also left the board. In his resignation letter, Potts described the conflicts as “downright disgusting,” but said that his decision is “without malice” toward anyone involved in the effort.

Mohammad Bhuiyan, the nonprofit’s CEO and event’s lead organizer, issued a press release stating that the trio’s terms on the board expired on May 7 — a day before their resignations. Bhuiyan lashed out hardest at Seydel, accusing the longtime Atlantan of launching a “smear campaign” against him.

Just last week, the Rome-based organization that spearheads annual gatherings of Nobel laureates, told local leaders to resolve ongoing conflicts, or risk losing the event to another city.

The resignations are the latest chapter in an already long and tumultuous story of Atlanta's quest to host an international peace summit for Nobel laureates and humanitarian organizations this November.

The summit, announced in late 2013, quickly drew support from President Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ted Turner and prominent business and civic leaders.

But it has been in peril since Mayor Kasim Reed, and several others, decided not to participate in the summit due to disagreements with Bhuiyan over how it should be managed.

Muhammad Yunus — a 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner who founded Yunus Creative Lab with Bhuiyan and Bhuiyan's wife, Shamima Amin — also resigned from the YCL board because of the turmoil.

Bob Hope, a volunteer spokesman for the effort, expressed confidence that a resolution is still within reach, adding that talks are underway to transfer management of the event to Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Atlanta.

While many Atlantans involved in the summit are “frustrated” by the saga, “others are very positive that there’s a route in which it can be done and that there’s a timeline that’s very reasonable to deal with. And they believe it’s well worth the effort,” he said.

Those involved are working to resolve those issues by the end of this week, he added, roughly the deadline given by the Permanent Secretariat of The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

On May 3, the organization said that, unless Atlanta leaders find a compromise soon, the event will be moved elsewhere. The secretariat could not be reached on Monday for comment.

The secretariat’s organization, which is not affiliated with the Nobel Foundation nor the Norwegian Nobel Institute, awarded the 2015 summit to YCL in 2013.

Carter and Seydel were among those working to get the summit back on track. But in 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 on management, among other issues.

They said Bhuiyan has alienated a long list of Atlantans who had volunteered for the summit. And 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 said that Seydel and Reed negatively influenced the Permanent Secretariat’s organization.

Potts blamed no one for his departure, but noted in his resignation letter that “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 for nearly two years.

“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.”

Bhuiyan also said the remaining members of the YCL board will now assess their options for the summit.

“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 said in the press release.

Bhuiyan, a former college administrator, has said the criticisms against his leadership have been 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.”