“... [E]ach of you can be proud of your own contributions to this dynamic program. Your warm hospitality and spirit of volunteerism have made lasting, positive impressions on countless participants, reflecting the finest qualities of the American character. Welcoming these international visitors to your community with open arms, you have helped foster important intercultural exchanges between people of different lands, and our nation is richer for the experience.”
- President Bill Clinton, September 8, 1997
IIE San Francisco’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) develops tailored cultural programs for visiting international leaders, professionals and scholars, with members of the local community through our Hospitality Program. Over 150 members and local hosts actively contribute to this program each year.
Local Hospitality
Local Hospitality offers our international visitors an opportunity to experience how we live in the United States. Having a meal and spending time in hosts’ homes is often the highlight of the visitors’ time in the United States and is an essential component of a valuable, well-balanced exchange. Many of our hosts provide traditional hospitality by sharing a meal in their homes, often inviting friends and family to share in the experience.
Become a Local Hospitality Host (630 KB, PDF)
Sightseeing Tours
Sightseeing is another popular component of the Hospitality Program. Hosts commonly take international visitors sightseeing in two ways: For a single visitor or a small group, the host may take the visitors sightseeing in the host’s car or lead a neighborhood walking tour. The alternative is to be a “step on” guide narrating a tour on a chartered bus. Sightseeing is a great way for local hosts to share their love of our city with international visitors.
Examples of Hosting Opportunities
- Dinner (cooked or order-in) at your home with family members and friends (1-4 visitors)
- Small Receptions (Drinks & Appetizers) with friends & community members (4-15 visitors)
- SF Arts (take visitors to museums, performances, Opera, Symphony)
- Wine tasting, picnics or other destination activities: Golden Gate Park, Angel Island, Sausalito, Tiburon, etc.
- Sporting Events
- Sightseeing: lead a small group in your car or by foot; join a chartered tour bus for larger groups
Get Involved
Meet with International Visitors
View the Winter International Visitor Arrival List (779 KB, PDF)
“Home hospitality in San Francisco was amazing. The hosts were so warm and the food was excellently prepared. It was a pleasure because we discussed such important information in an informal, honest manner.”
– Russian IVLP participant, Youth Activism & Youth Civic Engagement
IIE San Francisco hosts a variety of events throughout the year. Our events highlight scholars, emerging professionals, and established leaders as they explore current issues in international affairs.
To receive notifications of our upcoming events, please sign up for our Mailing List.
Past Events
October 10, 2012
Protecting Human Rights for the International LGBT Community
Monday, June 25, 2012
Women Impacting Climate Change
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Member-Only Lunch with IVLP Environmental Issues and Climate Change Group from Italy.
Speaker Series
April 17, 2012
Ms. Jessica Buchleitner, Founder and Author,
The 50 Women Project
IIE hosted a brown bag lunch with Jessica Buchleitner, Author of “50 Women” which features the life stories of 50 women from 30 countries. She led a lively discussion on the importance of advocacy journalism and how personal stories can shed light on the human experience.
April 3, 2012
Ms. Clémence Pinaud, Fulbright Fellow
Ms. Pinaud is a Fulbright fellow and visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies of UC Berkeley from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She has spent two years in South Sudan, where she worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as a lead investigator for a multi-agency survey on protection and gender-based violence issues. Ms. Pinaud discussed her doctoral dissertation in History on the impact of war on women in South Sudan with members of the IIE San Francisco community over a brown bag lunch.
Visit the Events Archive to view our past events.
IIE San Francisco's Bay & Beyond Program
IIE San Francisco's Bay & Beyond Program provides a wealth of opportunities for Fulbright grantees in the Bay Area to take an occasional break from studies for a group activity. Continuing the Fulbright vision of mutual exchange, IIE hosts ongoing events that connect grantees with the local community and the Fulbright network. Each event serves to welcome the students into the diverse community that comprises the Fulbright family, while offering them the chance to experience one of the United States' most culturally rich metropolises.
Past Bay & Beyond events have included:
- San Francisco Opera dress rehearsals
- A breakfast gathering followed by a tour of Mission Dolores, San Francisco’s oldest historical building
- A picnic lunch at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, combined with a winery tour
- A welcome reception at IIE preceded by a short orientation session for new grantees
- A trip to Angel Island by ferry
Current Fulbright grantees studying in the San Francisco Bay Area, please write to wcoast@iie.org for more information on Bay & Beyond events.
Bay Area Hospitality
IIE San Francisco provides opportunities for Fulbright Students to interact with the local community.
To learn more please visit the Local Hospitality and Global Voices programs.
“It is invaluable to get a chance to meet so many talented people and it establishes a very strong network of like-minded people.”
-Fulbright Scholar, Ireland
Fulbright Enrichment Seminars
Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education (IIE) organize a series of three-day enrichment seminars in selected U.S. cities to enable Fulbright grantees to examine topics of international consequence and lay the foundation for global problem solving.
Since 1989, IIE San Francisco has hosted one of many prestigious enrichment seminars that bring together several recently returned U.S. Fulbright alumni and 140 first-year foreign Fulbright graduate students from all over the world.
The enrichment seminars are an integral part of the Fulbright experience, exposing participants to a diversity of viewpoints concerning issues of global significance. They provide the foreign Fulbright students studying at universities throughout the U. S. with an outstanding opportunity to convene and share with one another their unique experiences, challenges, and successes. Moreover, the enrichment seminars support the Fulbright Program objective of promoting mutual understanding between people in the U.S. and the people of Fulbright partner countries.
Past Topics Have Included:
- Global Challenges, Local Solutions: Fostering Change Through Social Entrepreneurship
- Greening the Planet: Global Challenges Local Solutions
- Investing in the Future: Corporate Leadership, Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship
“It was a fantastic opportunity for me, especially because the schools that we visited showed an interesting variety of strategies that I feel I can use in my classroom too. I can’t tell you how excited I feel because I really want to share all that I learned here with my colleagues in my country.”
– American Language program, Dominican Republic
Global Voices
The Global Voices Program brings distinguished international leaders into local Bay Area classrooms, offering a unique and invaluable learning experience for students and teachers. International Visitor Leadership Program participants and Fulbright scholars from around the world meet with students from our network of over 100 Bay Area schools, ranging from grades K – 12, with a particular commitment to outreach in diverse and underprivileged institutions.
Global Voices provides rich opportunities for citizen diplomacy. These exchanges enhance students’ understanding of current international affairs while creating awareness of world cultures, geography, and languages. In turn, international visitors have the opportunity to observe the U.S. educational system and engage in dialogue with students in an interactive and personal setting.
Get Involved
Host international visitors at your school (345 KB, PDF)
Sign up for Global Voices updates and opportunities
“Students anywhere have few opportunities to meet people from other lands and cultures. It’s a great way to raise awareness of global concerns and issues. It puts the flesh and blood into the textbook.”
- Teacher, Media Academy High School, Oakland, CA