The Institute of International Education/West Coast Center enables citizens and businesses in the greater San Francisco Bay Area to help promote cross-cultural understanding while forming lifetime relationships with international leaders. Through local administration of professional exchange programs, such as the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, we actively pursue the promise that, in a robust democracy such as ours, ordinary citizens have the right—even the responsibility—to play a role in the foreign policy of our country.
Community supporters and IIE members are called “Citizen Diplomats” and they promote international understanding through person-to-person interaction with emerging foreign leaders from around the globe. Through direct contact with these visitors, members have an opportunity to share unique aspects of the Bay area and/or their professional field, while increasing the visitors’ understanding of local and national culture and institutions. In the past 53 years Citizen Diplomats have had direct dialogues with tens of thousands of emerging international leaders from more than 145 countries.
IIE is a member of the National Council of International Visitors (NCIV). In 2001, Citizen Diplomats of the NCIV network –representing over 90 organization in 44 states—were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for their work promoting the exchange of ideas, contacts and perspectives across borders. Every year more than 3500 individuals, professionals and business people, routinely host IIE international visitors in professional and social settings; over 100 volunteers are actively involved in all aspects of our programs.
IIE receives only partial funding from the U. S. State Department for its work with citizen diplomacy and relies on the generous support of the local community—members, foundations, individual donors, businesses and corporations—to continue its work promoting citizen diplomacy in the Bay Area “one handshake at a time."
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." —Mahatma Ghandi