In November, four visitors from Bhutan arrived in Pensacola as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) under the title State and Local Government. They were welcomed by City Council Executive Don Kraher who gave an overview of Pensacola’s history and city government. Following the welcome orientation, the visitors discussed the administrative functions of...
What does an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) titled Building Civil Society: Strategies for NGO Growth and Sustainability look like in a community the size of Pensacola? Eleven Brazilian professionals discovered this as they met with their counterparts to share best practices, challenges, and tips for success. FAVORHouse Executive Director Sue Hand and Director of...
When visitors come to northwest Florida as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on projects titled U.S. State and Local Government, what do they examine? Our community found out this past autumn and winter when two different groups headed our way. First, 19 visitors from Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Burma, Canada, Czech Republic,...
Citizen Participation in Transparent and Accountable Government was the title of a recent International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) for Ukraine. Their time with us included a community coffee with locals and dinners in the homes of Leigh & Kent DeSantis and Liz & Basil Yelverton. They also visited Pensacola Catholic High School where Guidance Director...
An internship with the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council allowed me to participate in the building of a cultural bridge between the United States and Mexico through hands-on, active, and stimulating work. During my time with the Jóvenes en Acción program, I established life-long bonds with foreign visitors and met the leaders and entrepreneurs of...
In August, five visitors from Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam arrived in Pensacola as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program titled Land Rights: Protecting Communities and their Rights. They met with City Council Executive Don Kraher to discuss the city’s history and environmental issues, and took a site visit to Project Greenshores with...
This summer, five visitors from Haiti arrived in Pensacola as part of an International Visitor Leadership Program titled Youth and Civic Activism. City Council Executive Don Kraher started their project with an overview of Pensacola to help orient them to the area. A volunteer experience at First United Methodist Church was next, and it focused...
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. More than 100 members & supporters came together to mark the occasion along with 19 International Visitor Leadership Program participants from 19 various countries. Celebrants stuffed a memory box full of their perceptions of citizen diplomacy. These are too joyful to keep to ourselves! My...
This June, six visitors from Russia traveled to Pensacola for eight days as part of the Open World Program. Their focus was on women in entrepreneurship. While in Pensacola, they stayed with host families Leigh and Kent DeSantis, Larisa Reyes and Tim Chandler, Wendy and Chris McCullar, JoAnn and Ken Roberts, Faye and Robert Robinson,...
This spring, we received a small group of visitors from Libya who traveled to Pensacola on a U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) titled Women in Leadership: Drivers of Political and Social Change. While they were in town, they met with several locals who described the opportunity to interact with them as...
