“... [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 the international visitors an opportunity to experience how we live in the United States. Having a meal and spending time with the hosts are 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.
Hosting opportunities include:
- Hosting dinner for an international visitor
- Hosting a small reception for a group of 4-15 international visitors
- Meeting a group of international visitors out for dinner
- Spending time with international visitors at museums, local parks and attractions, or sporting events
- Sightseeing: lead a small group in your car or by foot; join a chartered tour bus for larger group
Who Can Host?
Hosting opportunities are open to local San Francisco Bay Area individuals and families.
How to Host
- Hear from other host families; watch host videos and read host stories to find out what it's like to host an international visitor.
- Fill out an online application and send it to cgrekin@diplomacy.org.
- Receive a response from the local IVLP coordinator.
- View the monthly Visitor Arrival List (PDF) to find international visitors traveling to San Francisco.
- Meet your international visitor(s)! You will be matched with an international visitor based on your criteria, interests and availability.
- Make your international visitor feel welcome and help them adjust to their new surroundings.
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.
Upcoming Events
April 9, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Media Literacy: Promoting Civil Society through New Media
Past Events
March 22, 2013
Special State Department Briefing on US-India Education Collaboration
March 21, 2013
Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change
March 12, 2013
Roundtable Discussion with Dr. Josephine Obiajulu Odumakin
March 8, 2013
IIE Community Mixer: Celebrating International Women’s Day
March 7 and 8, 2013
Partner Event: WorldAffairs 2013: Transition, Disruption and Innovation
December 13, 2012
Exploring U.S. Foreign Policy
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.
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