<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-ea749fb6-71f2-5a5b-a33e-3c45246bc0d8"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br class="gmail-kix-line-break"><br class="gmail-kix-line-break"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">February 24, 2017</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">SOFT LANDING MISSOULA PRESENTS ITS THIRD LECTURE: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“ERITREA: THE COUNTRY, CULTURE, AND CIRCUMSTANCE”</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Missoula, MT, February 24, 2017</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> — Soft Landing Missoula will present “</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/243363232782354/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Eritrea: the Country, Culture, and Circumstance</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">” on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the University Center Theater, located on the 3</span><span style="font-size:6.6pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:super;white-space:pre-wrap">rd</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> floor of the University Center on the University of Montana (UM) campus. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“We are so excited to offer this third talk in our lecture series as a way to better understand and welcome new neighbors to our community,” said Mary Poole, executive director. “Missoula has been blessed with the arrival of seven Eritrean families; people whom we have found to be incredibly warm, kind, and engaging. We are honored to be able to share what we have learned from them and so grateful for the experience and knowledge our speakers bring to this event.”</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Sponsored by </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">UM’s African-American Studies Program, UM’s Political Science Department, and Montana Model UN, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">this presentation will feature two distinguished speakers: </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kimberly A. Maynard, Ph.D. and Solomon M. Gofie, Ph.D., and will be followed by a Q&A period.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dr. Maynard's journey has taken her from smoke jumping in Missoula to work in natural disasters and, ultimately, war zones. Her fieldwork includes 30 years as a practitioner in crisis management, conflict recovery, and peacebuilding. During 20 of these years, she worked in the Horn of Africa’s war-torn regions. She began by providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons and then went on to study the drivers behind forced migration and the means to transition from crisis to peace and renewal. Dr. Maynard holds a doctorate in International Affairs and has worked with the US Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the Red Cross, World Bank, and non-governmental organizations in conflict zones around the world. Dr. Maynard is currently UM’s Mansfield Fellow in International Affairs and works part time with USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br class="gmail-kix-line-break"></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dr. Gofie is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. His areas of research include state, society and human rights, migration and transnational involvement in the Horn of Africa, conflict resolution, citizenship and political communities in the Horn of Africa; he has recently published scholarly articles and book chapters on these topics. Dr. Gofie is currently a visiting adjunct faculty at UM’s Department of Political Science, teaching courses on human rights and politics in Africa.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br class="gmail-kix-line-break"></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br class="gmail-kix-line-break"></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is the third public lecture in the </span><a href="http://softlandingmissoula.org/past-newsletters?category=SLM+Presents" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Soft Landing Missoula Presents</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> series. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Soft Landing Missoula recommends arriving to the University Center Theater early as past lectures have filled to capacity. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Soft Landing Missoula is a group of dedicated citizens, business owners, and non-profit organizations who have come together with the goal of opening our city, arms, and hearts in a sustainable way to refugees from around the world.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We help Missoula, Montana, be a welcoming, supportive and informed community that can assist refugees to integrate and thrive. For more information, visit </span><a href="http://www.softlandingmissoula.org" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">softlandingmissoula.org</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">###</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Media Contact</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Mary Poole, Soft Landing Missoula</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="mailto:info@softlandingmissoula.org" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">info@softlandingmissoula.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Office: (406) 493-0504</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Cell:</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">(406) 239-4609</span></p><div><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div></span></div>