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The Northern California World Trade Center is proud to be a partner of the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program.  Working together with the State Department and the National Council for International Visitors, the WTC provides local hosting and programming services for high-level foreign delegations visiting the U.S. We are currently seeking volunteers in the community who are interested in meeting with delegations consisting of international Members of Parliament, European Union officials, foreign Cabinet members and staff, university professors, journalists, business leaders and more.  Click here to read about some of the NorCalWTC's recent IVLP visitors.

Northern California World Trade Center Recognized for Accomplishments in Citizen Diplomacy:  The State Department on International Visitor Leadership Programs (IVLP) has selected the Northern California World Trade Center to participate in a pilot project designed to show the future benefits and past accomplishments of citizen diplomacy through the IVLP. The project will involve filming the NorCalWTC’s Associate Programmer discussing a program that was facilitated a year ago for a group of Bee Keepers traveling from Uzbekistan to the Sacramento region. The video will not only tell the story of the global visit, but will reflect the importance of creating overseas relationships and the positive impacts on the lives of all involved in the IVLP program. The NorCalWTC was selected based on the following writing submission and will be a part of the filming while they are back on the East Coast for the National conference in February.  Click here for full story.

"The IVL Program offers priceless opportunities to understand the United States and the American people through direct experience, and to make valuable contacts...I am immensely grateful for the insights into the U.S., which this exchange scheme provided.  I have drawn on them regularly since then."

~Tony Blaire, former British Prime Minister

 "We need not only the professional diplomats who serve in our foreign services and represent our countries to one another. We need citizen diplomats."
- Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (India , July 20, 2009)    

ALUMNI: Over 250 IVLP alumni are current or former Heads of Government or Chiefs of State.  Alumni include:

• President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan

• President Alvaro Uribe Velez of Colombia

• President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya

• Prime Mimister Ehud Olmert of Israel

• Prime Minister Helen Clark of new Zealand

• President Nicolas Sarkozy of France

• Prime Minister Gordon Brown of The United Kingdom

NATIONWIDE NETWORK: The WTC is a Community Organization member of the National Council of International Visitors.  As one of over 90 centers for International visitors, we are committed to bridging cultures and building mutually beneficial relationships through international exchanges.  Visit the NCIV website to view a directory of programming agencies across the United States.