The Power of Citizen Diplomacy:

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The Power of Citizen Diplomacy The U.S.
Department of States International Visitor
Program and NCIV
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What is Citizen Diplomacy?
Citizen Diplomacy is the idea that, in a
democracy, the individual citizen has the right
indeed, the responsibility to help shape U.S.
foreign relations, as our members phrase it, one
handshake at a time.
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Being a Citizen Diplomat
One of the most effective ways to be a citizen
diplomat is to host participants in the U.S
Department of States International Visitor
Program and other exchanges.
It is P.R. for Uncle Sam in the best sense of
that term.
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Citizen Diplomacy
Educational exchange can turn nations into
people, contributing as no other form of
communication can to the humanizing of
international relations.
Senator J. William Fulbright
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The U.S. Department of States International
Visitor Program
What is the purpose of the International Visitor
Program? The International Visitor Program is
designed to bring emerging foreign leaders to the
United States to experience our society
firsthand.

• What are the goals of the International Visitor
  Program?
• to provide participants an in-depth exposure to
  their professional fields and opportunities to
  interact with their U.S. counterparts
• to send these leaders home with a better
  understanding of the history and the heritage of
  the United States.

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Participants in the U.S. Department of States
International Visitor Program

• International Visitors are
• Current or emerging leaders in government,
  politics, the media, education, labor relations,
  the arts, business, and other fields
• Nominated by American Foreign Service Officers
  stationed at U.S. Embassies and consulates
  overseas
• Invited to visit the United States for 2-3 weeks
  by U.S. Ambassadors.

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Alumni of the U.S. Department of States
International Visitor Program
Among the thousands of distinguished individuals
who have participated in the International
Visitor Program since its inception more than six
decades ago are more than 200 current and former
Chiefs of State, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers,
and many other distinguished leaders from the
public and private sectors. The following are
some of the distinguished alumni of the program
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair1992, 1986 IVP
Participant
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Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi1961
IVP Participant
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai1987 IVP Participant
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What is NCIV?

• The National Council for International Visitors
  (NCIV), founded in 1961, is the professional
  association for nonprofit volunteer organizations
  around the country who are engaged in citizen
  diplomacy and are the private sector partners of
  the U.S. Department of State in administering the
  International Visitor Program.
• NCIV is comprised of 96 community member
  organizations around the United States, 15
  program agency members, and individual and
  corporate members.
• NCIV members design and implement professional
  programs, provide cultural activities, and offer
  home hospitality and homestays for foreign
  leaders, specialists, and international scholars.
  
• Approximately one-third of NCIV member
  organizations are all-volunteer. Each year more
  than 80,000 volunteers are involved in NCIV
  member activities. In 2001, Senator Arlen
  Specter nominated NCIVs citizen diplomat
  volunteers for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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The Mission of NCIV

• The mission of NCIV, a membership network of
  individuals and community organizations in the
  United States, is to bridge cultures and build
  mutually beneficial relationships through
  person-to-person international exchanges.
• NCIV serves its members in three primary ways,
  by
• Building their leadership and management skills
• Developing their capacity to organize high
  quality professional programs for foreign
  leaders
• Orchestrating their collective efforts to educate
  Congress on the value of the International
  Visitor Program and other exchanges.
• NCIV also provides training programs and
  opportunities to share best practices through
  national conferences, regional meetings,
  publications, and other services.

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Public/Private Partnership Individually tailored
programs for participants in the International
Visitor Program are created jointly by the U.S.
Department of State, National Program Agencies in
Washington, D.C., and NCIV Community Organization
Members throughout the United States.
U.S. Department of State Office of International
Visitors
National Program Agencies (e.g., Institute of
International Education, Meridian International
Center)
Community Organization Members (e.g., Rochester
International Council)
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NCIVs 96 Community Organization Members form a
Nationwide Network
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NCIV Community Organization Members are Located
in 42 States

• NCIV Community Organization Members in
• New York
• Buffalo/Niagara WorldConnect, Inc.
• International Center of Syracuse
• International Center of the Capital Region
• Rochester International Council

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1965 Secretary of State Dean Rusk on the
International Visitor Program
The government simply cant do what you are
doing. It cannot render that kind of
individual, sensitive, and personalized service
such as you do in your communities. This
voluntary spirit is the keystone in the
understanding which other people may have of us,
an asset beyond price.
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2002 Secretary of State Colin Powell at the NCIV
National Meeting
When you open your homes, when you open your
communities, when you open your hearts to
visitors from around the world, you give your
guests a chance to see America at our best, to
see our warmth and our base for diversity, and
our conviction that searching discussion and
sincere exchanges of views can yield tangible
results.
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What Motivates NCIV Citizen Diplomats?
Citizen diplomats volunteer in order to 1)
Promote the education of their children 2)
Improve the image of the United States abroad 3)
Help Americans better understand and communicate
with people from other cultures 4) Build
commercial ties in the global economy 5) Promote
democracy in places that had been trapped in
Communist ideologies and command economies 6)
Make a difference
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How You Can Help

• NCIV Community Organization Members need
  volunteers to serve as
• Professional Resources (you meet from time to
  time with groups of international visitors who
  have a professional interest in your field)
• Homestay and Home Hospitality Hosts (you invite
  international visitors into your home for a meal
  or an overnight stay)
• Drivers (you welcome international visitors at
  the airport and take them to a reception or their
  first set of professional appointments)
• Contributors (every volunteer organization needs
  funds to cover administrative costs)
• Board members and other organizational leaders
  (to sustain a strong community organization)

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I Want to Know More!

• What you can do to become more involved in
  citizen diplomacy
• Call Rochester International Council at
• [phone] or send an email to
  jw_at_rifc.org.
• Join NCIV as an Individual Member. Membership
  entitles you to
• A monthly subscription to the NCIV Network News
• Reduced rates for NCIV Regional and National
  Meetings
• Free copies of NCIV publications
• Have your company join NCIV as a Corporate Member

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• You welcomed a stranger you sent home a
  friend.
• Madhura Chatrapathy, former participant in the
  International Visitor Program and Trustee
  Director of the Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial
  Initiatives, Bangalore, India, with NCIV
  President Sherry L. Mueller

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National Council for International Visitors
(NCIV) 1420 K Street, NW Suite 800 Washington,
DC 20005 Phone [phone] Fax (202)
289-4625 www.nciv.org