Douglas Layton

Douglas Layton is the founder of several International humanitarian organizations, an American author, businessman, and champion of human rights and religious freedom in the Middle East. He is an adviser to various social and political groups including the Kurds of Iraq. Layton is also an artist and avid patron of the arts.

As a high school student, Layton held a variety of leadership positions, including Student Body President of the 4000 student Alhambra High in Phoenix, Arizona and was Ambassador Plenipotentiary from France to the Model United Nations. He was named Outstanding Senior Debater, was a varsity Letterman in track and field and was named ‘Best Supporting Actor’ by the Thespian Society for his role in Oklahoma. In his senior year he also received the prestigious William Danforth "I Dare You Award for Outstanding Leadership". This award was first offered in 1941 by William H. Danforth founder of the Ralston Purina Company, who dared young people to achieve their highest potential and to influence others through lives of service.

From 1968 – 1970 Layton attended United States International University in Point Loma, California (now Alliant University) where he studied political science and communications intending to enter the field of International Law or diplomacy. He later attended Southwest Bible College Arizona Christian University and in 2002 he received a Th.D from the Phoenix University of Theology with the honor of Summa Cum Laude with a distinction in Islamic studies.

Layton has lived overseas most of his adult life in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He currently lives in Florida. He has two children, three granddaughters and one grandson.

Layton founded Shelter Now International in 1977, a relief and development organization working in Afghanistan with offices in Germany. The organization was propelled to international attention when five of its members including Layton’s successor were held hostage by the Taliban for 18 months.

Layton founded Servant Group International (SGI) in 1992. SGI was initially established to assist Kurdish refugees in Nashville, TN and later established medical and relief work in Kurdistan of Iraq where 95% (4500) of the villages had been destroyed by Saddam Hussein. SGI established the English language Classical School of the Medesin January 2001 in the city of Sulaymaniyah, 2002 in Dohuk and 2003 in Erbil the Capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Layton was Iraq Country Directorof the US State Department funded Health Care Partnerships (HCP). During this time he administered grants to 22 nongovernmental organizations and established a regional health care communications network linking all medical facilities by satellite. HCP initiated the first major medical curriculum revision in Kurdistan in over 30 years, working hand in hand with East Tennessee State University.

From 2006 – 2008 Layton served on the Board and was Iraq Country Director of the Kurdistan Development Corporation a public private partnership with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), an investment holdings and trading company with offices in London, Berlin and Erbil, Kurdistan.

Layton is the co-founder and General Manager of The Other Iraq Tours LLC, the first inwardly focused tour company in Kurdistan of Iraq. The region was named by National Geographic Traveler as among the top 20 Adventure Tour destinations in the world for 2011.

Beginning in 1992 Layton championed the Iraqi Kurdish cause in the United States through contacts on Capitol Hill and through the media. In 1995 Layton testified as an expert before the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs regarding the genocide against the Kurds by Saddam Hussein.

Layton coined the term Kurdistan:The Other Iraq now widely used by media outlets referring to Kurdistan. He helped concept the very successful PR Campaign which was executed by Kurdistan Development Corporation and aired on CNN, FOX, CBS, BBC and most major news outlets in the USA.

While Layton was director of Servant Group International he was widely recognized as a key catalyst in securing religious freedom for the Evangelical Church of Kurdistan. This was acknowledged by his detractors. After a friend of Layton’s was assassinated in Erbil (Mansour Hussein Sifer) by an Islamic Fundamentalist and after repeated threats and attacks on the Evangelical Church, Layton mounted an International campaign to end religious persecution in Kurdistan. He ultimately mobilized the leaders of over 100 major Christian organizations including the National Association of Evangelicals and the Vatican to assist in resolving the issue. The campaign met with a favorable response and the Government of Iraqi Kurdistan(KRG) has since stood staunchly for religious freedom for all faiths including the Evangelical Church. The KRG often publicly expresses its commitment to religious freedom in spite of the turmoil and unrest in other nearby Muslim countries.

Layton is an associate member of the Next Century Foundation based in London, England. The object of The Next Century Foundation is to promote conflict resolution and reconciliation, principally in the Middle East. They have been the primary source of reliable daily information on the crisis in Syria. Layton hosted a delegation from Next Century Foundation including William Morris, the General Secretary and son of the founder on a fact finding tour in Kurdistan in 2006.

• Grandpa Charlie: The Untold Story of Whitey Bulger. World Impact Press LLC, September 2015 ISBN 978-0-9962667-9-6
• Kurdistan Tour Guide, World Impact Press LLC/Kurdistan Iraq Tours LLC, May 2015, ISBN 978-0996266703
• Our Father's Kingdom: The Church and the Nations, World Impact Press, LLC., December 2000, ISBN 0970424302 (Forewords by George Otis, Jr., P. Andrew Sandlin and Dr. George Grant)
• Deceiving A Nation-Islam in America, World Impact Press, LLC., 2002. ISBN 0970424310(Foreword by Dr. Stephen Mansfield)
• Searching for Democracy, (co-authored by Dr. Stephen Mansfield - Forewords by Senator Fred Thompson and Lt. Gov. John Wilder)
• Kurds in the Bible, English, German, Kurmanji, Badanini, Sorani. Rutledge Hill Press (Subsidiary of Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, TN) January 1, 1994