International Visitors
International Visitor Leadership Program
The International Visitor Leadership Program brings foreign opinion leaders to the United States to meet directly with their American counterparts. These current and emerging leaders from overseas travel to communities throughout the United States for face-to-face meetings with their professional colleagues. The exchange enables the foreign leaders to obtain first hand knowledge about the United States, its people, policies and culture. Lasting business, cultural and educational contacts with prominent professional overseas often develop.
Colorado Springs participates in the International Visitor Leadership Program through the Colorado Springs Committee for International Visitors, a local volunteer group. These volunteers make local arrangements for IVLP participants and often accompany them to their meetings. The volunteers also make sure that visitors are offered an opportunity to enjoy a meal in an American home.
If you would like to be part of the Committee for International Visitors, please contact George Boutin at the Colorado Springs Office of International Affairs by phone at 719-575-4314, by e-mail at internationalaffairs@cscc.org, or by mail at:
Colorado Springs Office of International Affairs
6 S. Tejon Street, Suite 700
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
CSWAC members may also be interested to meet visitors sent to Colorado Springs under the Open World Program which is sponsored by the Library of Congress. These visitors stay in volunteers’ homes during their visit and participate in professional meetings during the day.
Muslim Journalists Hosted by CSCIV
Six Muslim journalists, participating in the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), were hosted on June 22 by members of the Colorado Springs Committee for International Visitors (CSCIV). The CSCIV is a subcommittee of the Colorado Springs World Affairs Council (CSWAC). The journalists were involved in a Senior Journalists Seminar with the objective of Building Understanding between the United States and the Asian Muslim World. This seminar is an annual program run by the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their visit to Colorado Springs was coordinated through the city”s Office of International Affairs.
Left to right: Anne Galbraith, Rasheed Khan Safi, Tom and Renee Wise, Artie Kensinger, Devianti Faridz, Edmund “Edd” K. Usman, Brent Talbot and Whitney Galbraith
Joining Whitney and Anne Galbraith for dinner were Rasheed Khan Safi, Bureau Chief, Daily Jinnah Islamabad, Peshawar, Pakistan; Edmund K. Usman, Reporter, Manila Bulletin, the Philippines and Devianti Faridz, Producer of Indonesia Now, Metro TV, Jakarta, Indonesia. Also hosting with the Galbraith's were CSWAC president Tom Wise and his wife Renee, Brent Talbot, CSWAC Vice-president for Programs and Associate Professor of Military Strategic Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Artie Kensinger, friend and foreign traveler. Committee members Jim and Marty Keene hosted dinner at their home for Tomi Soetjipto, Deputy News Editor, Al Jazeera English, Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, Chairul Fahmy Hussaini, Correspondent, Berita Haria, Singapore and Riyaz Wani, Principal Correspondent, The Indian Express, Srinagar, India.
The six journalists were nearing the end of their two week tour of the United States that also included Honolulu, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Denver. All were eager to describe the state of journalism, politics and history in their home countries and were quite motivated and appreciative of being included in the visitor program. Their brief stay in Colorado Springs included visits to New Life Church and Focus on the Family and a meeting with representatives from the Colorado Springs Diversity Forum, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Springs Office of International Affairs and the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation.
The mission of the International Visitor Leadership Program melds closely with that of the Colorado Springs World Affairs Council which is dedicated to the study, discussion and public participation in international relations. The Council, one of some 82 local councils in the U.S., has nearly 500 members and is committed to the principle that public opinion is the basis of sound foreign policy and that public understanding and involvement must drive policy formation. The Council hosts distinguished U.S. and foreign speakers at monthly luncheons at the Broadmoor Hotel. More information, including membership application, can be obtained at www.csworldaffairs.org.
