In late October 2017, a group of six visitors from Indonesia arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project titled Maritime Economic Development and Environmental Protection. The professional objectives of the project were “to assess the effect of federal and state laws regulating the commercial fishing...
Hidden No More: Empowering Women Leaders in STEM was an U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) which brought women in science to the United States in the fall of 2017 to explore innovation, STEM education, and scientific research. Eight visitors from Australia, Bermuda, Chile, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, South Korea, and Spain came...
Dear Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council: Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the 2018 Emerging Leaders Program at the 2018 Global Ties U.S. National Meeting in Washington, D.C. To be amongst 20 other Emerging Leaders, over 70 ambassadors, and more than 1,000 exchange makers was truly an extraordinary experience. When I...
This autumn, six Nicaraguan visitors spent time in Pensacola as part of a U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program titled Building Small Business Development Centers. The goals of the project included “to introduce participants to the U.S. Small Business Development Center model…to examine the economic, political and social factors that influence and encourage the...
Last September, four visitors from Indonesia arrived in Pensacola as part of a U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program titled NGOs and Social Services. The purpose of this project was “to learn about the role of NGOs in providing educational services for children with disabilities, to explore how NGOs provide programming and opportunities...
On September 28th four visitors from Australia arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program project titled Modern Communities: Efficient Engineering and Resource Management. The purpose of the project was “to explore green building standards certification systems, examine construction industry trends, assess the economic effect of environmentally friendly...
How do you explore international trade in northwest Florida? Last autumn we worked with four visitors from Oman and did just that through a series of site visits and discussions focusing on local efforts to attract foreign investment and trade. At the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of Public Affairs Todd Thomson, City...
Recently, a group of eight visitors from the People’s Republic of China arrived in Pensacola as participants of a U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) focusing on disability issues. The purpose of the project was to examine federal, state, and local laws and programs intended to improve the quality of life for...
This past month I had the great honor and privilege to participate in the inaugural meeting of the Youth Diplomats program of the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council. This was one of the greatest experiences I have had in high school. We were able to learn about cultural assimilation and got to experience this through...
In late August and early September, a group of ten visitors from Nigeria arrived in Pensacola as part of an U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project titled Interfaith Leadership and Human Rights. One of their first activities was attending a community coffee discussion to meet informally with locals. Some of those present...
