Each year, the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council works with U.S. Department of State-sponsored leadership projects for teens. One of these programs is the Youth Ambassadors of Brazil. It’s hard to describe everything a youth project incorporates. Take some inspiration, mix it with energy, throw in some training and cultural exchange, and you have the...
Last fall, ten visitors from Algeria, the Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Haiti, Morocco, Senegal, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe visited Pensacola as a part of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on a project titled “Women as Political Leaders.” One purpose of their visit was “to explore how leaders increasingly...
What kind of meetings and activities take place in northwest Florida for a group of International Visitor Leadership Program participants from Nigeria who are focusing on Substance Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation? Between professional meetings, hospitality efforts, and volunteerism, the recent itinerary for such a group was packed with experiential goodness and opportunities galore for mutual...
In November, a group of twelve visitors from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project titled Young Leaders RISE (Renew, Inspire, Serve, and Empower). The goals of the project included examining leadership strategies, looking...
Seven visitors from Pakistan arrived in Pensacola last November as part of an U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program project titled Improving Pakistan’s Ease of Doing Business. The goals of this project included to “provide exposure to new and growing businesses, focusing on business opportunities created by business-friendly tax policies…[and] explore the role of small...
Coastal and Marine Management was the name of a recent U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program for two visitors from the People’s Republic of China. The visitors examined the topic through a series of site visits and professional meetings. These were complimented by informal interactions with locals, starting with a warm welcome at...
In November, ten visitors from Tunisia arrived in Pensacola as part of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program. Their project, Anti-Corruption and Accountability in Government, focused on “the role and structure of ethics in government in the United States.” Its purpose also included to “explore best practices underlying transparency and accountability; to...
When women succeed, communities succeed. A group of eight visitors from Bahrain, Belize, Burma, El Salvador, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, and Sudan explored this topic in northwest Florida through an International Visitor Leadership Program project titled Women in Entrepreneurship. For their first meeting, they met Marny Needle who spoke about IMPACT 100, a non-profit organization whose...
In the autumn of 2017, 13 Members of Parliament from the Central African Republic arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project titled U.S. Government and Institutions. Its purpose “to examine U.S. federal, state, municipal, and grassroots efforts to formulate policies and communicate effectively with constituents...
In October, a group of four visitors from Kazakhstan arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project titled Teaching STEM in English. The professional objectives were “to explore best practices in multilingual and STEM education models for students grades Kindergarten through 12th; to learn about extracurricular programs...