Visitor Programs

Community Connections

The Community Connections program, funded by the United Stated Agency for International Development, Bureau of Education Growth and Trade (EGAT)/Office of Education, brings international visitors from countries of the former Soviet Union to Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

The broad public diplomacy goal of the Community Connections Program is to contribute to economic and democratic reform and to promote mutual understanding through exposure to U.S. society and personal connections with Americans and participant countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Through local community host organizations in the United States, like the World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana, men and women entrepreneurs, local government officials, legal professionals, and civil society organization leaders are provided a three-week home-stay based practical training program in the United States, tailored to their professional interests. The World Affairs Council is responsible for programming site-visits, meetings, host-family placements, local transportation, interpretation, and Experience America activities.

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International Visitor Program

The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders. These visits reflect the International Visitors’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States. There is no application for this program. International Visitors are selected and nominated annually by American Foreign Service Officers at U.S. Embassies around the world. International Visitors are current or emerging leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other key fields. Over 4,000 International Visitors come to the United States from all over the world each year. Since its inception in 1940, thousands of distinguished individuals have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program, including more than 290 current and former Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, thousands of cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors.

There are many opportunities for Americans to get involved. The goal of the International Visitor Leadership Program is to promote mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations around the world. To participate in the IVLP program, please simply contact the World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana.

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Open World Program

Since its founding by Congress in 1999, the Open World Program has enabled more than 14,000 current and future Eurasian leaders to experience American democracy, civil society and community life; work with their American counterparts; stay in American homes; and gain new ideas and inspiration for implementing change back home. Some 6,000 American host families and their communities in all 50 states have partnered with the U.S. Congress and Open World to make this ambitious public diplomacy effort possible.

The program’s short but high-intensity exchanges emphasize hands-on practical activities - such as workshops, job shadowing, and site visits-related to the delegates’ professional or community work. Other key features of Open World are its large size, competitive selection process, emphasis on young regional and local leaders, homestays, lack of an English-language requirement, and focus on fostering mutual learning, partnerships, and long-term results.

Participating Countries: Open World currently operates exchanges for participants from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.

Objectives: Open World’s goals are to build mutual understanding between the United States and participating countries, to create a network of emerging Eurasian leaders dedicated to effecting positive change in their home countries, and to connect these leaders with their American professional colleagues and hosts who are interested in post-visit cooperation and collaboration that will generate concrete results.

Delegates: Open World delegates come from all levels of government, NGOs, the media, and the private sector. Past participants include members of parliament and local legislators; Supreme Court justices and justices of the peace; senior civil servants and young NGO activists; and election committee officials and political party organizers, to provide just a few examples.

In addition to targeting decision makers and opinion leaders - especially those at the regional and local levels - Open World recruits delegates who are relatively young (the average age is 38), and politically, ethnically, and geographically diverse. Women have made up 51 percent of Open World delegates over the life of the program.

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Young Leadership Exchange

Youth Leadership Programs foster greater understanding and respect between the youth of the United States and other countries and also help to develop a sense of civic responsibility among teenagers and young adults.

Exchanges are three to six weeks in duration. All projects include activities related to civic education, leadership development, and community service. They also address specific themes, ranging from conflict resolution to media literacy and student government, to leadership and youth empowerment. Projects may involve one-way travel of foreign students to the United States or two-way exchanges.

Programs are primarily for high school students, and most include adult participants who are high school teachers or community leaders who work with youth. Participants improve their sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community development. Participants develop relationships with teenagers from different ethnic, religious, and national groups and engage in building bridges of understanding and respect among the people of the United States and other countries Alumni use their newly-acquired skills and knowledge to transform their communities and countries. All Youth Leadership Programs include a competitive participant selection process and comprehensive orientations leading into the exchange.

During the exchanges, students and educators participate in:

• workshops
• community service activities
• dialogues, simulations, role plays and other activities related to project themes
• team building exercises
• school visits
• meetings with community leaders
• leadership development
• discussion groups with instruction
• site visits related to civic education, leadership, tolerance and respect for diversity, and community activism
• homestays
• social and cultural activities

Upon their return home, alumni implement projects that promote the themes they explored during the overseas program.

The Youth Programs Divisions sponsors the participation of approximately 1,275 international and American high school students and teachers in exchanges under the Youth Leadership Programs umbrella.

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