The Tucson Council for International Visitors serves participants in the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program and other exchanges, building person-to-person relationships "one handshake at a time."
The International Visitor Leadership Program run by the U.S. Department of State annually brings to the United States approximately 5,000 foreign nationals from all over the world to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience America firsthand. The visitors, who are selected by American Foreign Service Officers overseas, are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other fields.
Among the thousands of distinguished individuals who have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program since its inception almost seven decades ago are more than 290 current and former Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, 2,000 cabinet-level ministers, and many, many other distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors.
International Visitors travel to the U.S. either as individuals or in group projects. The group or thematic projects focus on a particular issue such as the U.S. economy or electoral system. Group projects can bring together colleagues with similar professional interests from particular countries, geographic regions or worldwide.
The International Visitor Leadership Program relies on the commitment and skills of volunteer-based community organizations across the U.S. whose members offer professional program assistance and home hospitality. These volunteer organizations are known as Councils for International Visitors (CIVs). There are currently more than 90 CIVs in 45 states.
Mission
- to promote excellence in “Citizen Diplomacy”. The basic goals are to provide Visitors with an in-depth exposure to their professional fields and opportunities to interact and exchange ideas with their Tucson counterparts
- to design and implement custom-tailored professional programs, provide cultural activities and offer dinner home hospitality for foreign leaders, specialists, and international scholars
- to provide short-term professional and cultural programs for visitors from around the world--prominent leaders in business, academia, the arts, science, agriculture, politics, and the media
- to bring foreign leaders and specialists to Tucson for firsthand exposure to their professional counterparts and the area society
- to send these leaders home with a better understanding of the history and heritage of the United States and the common human aspirations we all share
The International Visitors Program is described by U.S. Ambassadors as one of the most effective foreign policy tools of American diplomacy
