The organization’s stated goal is to promote diplomatic engagement to overcome shared global challenges, which it achieves through a wide scope of exchange programs.

[3] Aside from his diplomatic work, Holliday has been deeply involved in politics, having served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel.

Later, during the 1992 election, Holliday joined the president’s re-election bid, where he worked under John McCain, who was chair of veterans for the Bush campaign.

[8] Thereafter, he worked for the U.S Department of State, as Coordinator for International Information Programs and later Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.

In a 2024 op-ed, Holliday described the concept as “a new decentralized approach to diplomacy,” leveraging untraditional diplomatic actors like local government and private sector leaders.

Holliday also engages in the management of historic properties at Meridian, which occupies two 19th-century houses designed by John Russell Pope.

He has contributed at a plethora of live events at international conferences and other convenings, both as a guest speaker and as a moderator of roundtable discussions.

[14] A few months earlier in March 2024, Holliday appeared on CNN with Jim Acosta to discuss the gang attacks in Haiti.

[26][27] Holliday also produces content for Meridian, including his podcast, cultureXchanges, in which he interviews diplomatically relevant individuals, such as chef and TV personality Pati Jinich, and artists Hank Willis Thomas and Jeff Koons.