Blogs

The Boulder Council of International Visitors and its Role in the International Visitor Leadership Program

Every year, thousands of professionals from around the world are invited by the US State Department to visit and explore the United States. From Kosovo to Kurdistan, international visitors are brought from around the world and toured across the U.S. to not only engage in professional education programming and immersive experiences in their fields, but to learn about and experience American culture. 

Known as the International Visitor Leadership Program, or IVLP, the State Department’s premier professional exchange program plays a critical role in bringing together current and emerging leaders from various global fields to engage in professional development while getting to explore and learn more about American culture firsthand and create lasting relationships with their American counterparts. 

However, the State Department can’t manage the monumental breadth of such a complex program by itself. That’s where the Boulder Council of International Visitors comes in. The BCIV is one of the many community organizations across 44 states that collaborate with the IVLP. From the start of an IVLP trip to the end, programming, travel, and accommodations are put together by organizations like the BCIV as a visiting group travels across the country.

So, what makes the IVLP so vital to global cooperation and stability? Let's delve deeper into it.

People-to-People Diplomacy:

By nurturing one-on-one exchanges, the IVLP significantly contributes to international understanding and peace. The unique blend of professional meetings and cultural visits fosters lasting relationships between international visitors and their American counterparts. These interactions facilitate mutual understanding, create common grounds, and promote dialogue between different nations [1].

Empowering Leaders:

The IVLP identifies and empowers emerging leaders from various sectors worldwide. More than 200,000 leaders, including 500 current or former heads of state or government, have been involved in the IVLP. By broadening their horizons, these leaders can positively influence their home countries and beyond [1].

Promoting Cross-Cultural Understanding:

By involving interpreters who serve as cultural bridges, the IVLP not only facilitates language translation but also promotes cultural understanding. Such understanding plays a pivotal role in enhancing peaceful relations among nations, fostering a sense of unity despite diversity [2].

Transforming Global Challenges into Opportunities:

Through the recent initiative of IVLP Impact Awards, IVLP alumni get an opportunity to implement innovative projects addressing challenges in their home communities. With grants of up to $5,000, these projects focus on key foreign policy priorities, such as countering disinformation, advancing climate solutions, addressing democracy, peace, and security challenges, and more. This initiative transforms global problems into opportunities for collaboration and progress [3].

Boulder Council's Role:

The Boulder Council of International Visitors (BCIV) plays an instrumental role in bolstering the reach and impact of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Serving as a vibrant hub of commerce, tourism, and industry, Colorado is a critical node in the United States' economy, hosting an array of companies with expertise spanning from aerospace engineering to innovative agricultural practices.

Colorado’s rich diversity renders it an ideal destination for participants in the IVLP, with the unique array of industries and cultural experiences offering a multifaceted perspective of American life. Over the years, the BCIV has adeptly facilitated this program for numerous IVLP visiting groups, welcoming hundreds of international participants.

By forging connections between these global visitors and Colorado's industry professionals, the BCIV plays a pivotal role in promoting 'people to people' diplomacy. This process fosters a broader international understanding of American culture, lifestyle, and business practices, demonstrating the vital importance of BCIV's contribution to enhancing global relations.

• Become a BCIV member
• Make a one time donation
• Join us for a BCIV event
• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
• Join our Newsletter

It’s been a little over a year since Boulder landed the 4^th spot in the “best city for hippies” ranking by the magazine Estately. And while Boulderites will have a divided opinion about that, few would disagree that hippies are intimately linked with the word “peace.”  Boulder has its own history of peace activism, especially with the protests against the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. Some of those activists may have considered themselves hippies; some may not have… but the article did not mention this history of peace activism, focusing instead on Boulder’s love of marijuana. So what does it even mean to be a hippie? What does it even mean to really desire peace?

It’s this word “peace” that has become almost a laughingstock – a tie-dyed peace symbol you’ve stared at so long it’s lost its meaning, or something shouted by barefoot, drugged out people that will never ever happen.

If we’re keeping peace only in the houses of hippies and within the ambit of a 1960s counter-culture, we’re doing it a major disservice.  This is the message that’s been coming out of an organization here in Broomfield, One Earth Future, which has been producing research and interviews of thought leaders on the subjects of peace and conflict. What is needed to make us stop thinking of peace as an unattainable utopia, and apply this concept to a practical agenda?

For one thing, we can’t be kidding ourselves that the mission is to evaporate all forms of conflict. “We need conflict,” says William Ury, co-founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project. “Wherever there’s injustice, you need to engage it.” But injustice can be engaged through nonviolent forms of conflict that are more effective in the advancement of humankind.

For another, there are some seriously underutilized resources and attention out there that can be harnessed for the cause of peace. As Sanam Anderlini, the co-founder of International Civil Society Action Network points out, a silent majority actually does want peace, and it’s not the hand-holding, altered-mind state, but the practical existence of nonviolent action. We just need to elevate and learn from these voices – especially women. Women in particular can be powerful negotiators, says Swanee Hunt, and bring a different perspective and knowledge base to the peace process.

And let’s remind ourselves that peace is not represented only on your uncle’s John Lennon poster. Like psychologist Steven Pinker says, our mindsets towards peace should change so that it becomes a practical, solvable problem, not about whether or not you sing the right folk songs.  We no longer consider dueling, slavery, or human sacrifice fashionable practices, and norms about war may be going the same way.

Voices like Ambassador Charles Stith caution us about the scope of the challenges, especially existing levels of discontent. Lack of fairness makes for violent people, as he says, and we have only to look to Ferguson, MO for proof that underlying grievances are far from vanishing. But we can also look to some inspiring examples – like the Civil Rights movement – for confronting anger and conflict in nonviolent ways.

There is a little referenced distinction between inequality as represented by World Bank stat sheets, and a person’s own sense that they are being treated unfairly What if we were to get better attaking the sense of a people’s inequality into account along with the other statistics? What if, like Ury suggests, we treat war and violent uprisings more like common health ailments – predictable and preventable? What if we stop giving in to a narrative of spiraling unrest and danger and start paying more attention to some of the astonishing positive global trends that have taken place?

Whether or not Boulder is a haven for hippies is beside the point. Hippies and non-hippies alike, we have a lot of practical problem-solving ahead of us.

You are invited to an Open House at Boulder Country Day School on Thursday, November 4 beginning at 9 am.

Situated on a picturesque, safe and private 5.5 acre campus, Boulder Country Day School is a small, independent pre-K through 8th grade school.

Boulder Country Day students come to school ready to learn. Small class size means teachers can give students individualized attention.

Boulder Country Day School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), is a member of the Association of Colorado Independent Schools (ACIS), and is an Approved Middle Years International Baccalaureate School.

Discover the difference at Boulder Country Day School!

RSVP with Patti Lemlein at 303.527.4931 x248

Please preview our Viewbook and visit our Website!

We invite you to the Middle School Experience at Boulder Country Day School

Thursday, December 7 beginning at 5 pm.

Middle School is a critical passage. We make it a journey of exploration. Our International Baccalaureate Middle Years curriculum, experienced faculty, and small class size allow Boulder Country Day School students to find their passion in the classroom and in the world.

Situated on a picturesque, safe and private 5.5 acre campus, Boulder Country Day School is a small, independent pre-K through 8th grade school.

We welcome prospective families to tour our campus and meet our faculty, students, parents, and administrators.

Boulder Country Day School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), is a member of the Association of Colorado Independent Schools (ACIS), and is an Approved Middle Years International Baccalaureate School.

Discover the difference at Boulder Country Day School.

RSVP with Patti Lemlein at 303.527.4931 x248

Please preview our Viewbook and visit our Website!

You are invited to a Middle School Open House at Boulder Country Day School on Tuesday, March 15 beginning at 9 am.  RSVP for the event online.

Middle School is a critical passage.  We make it a journey of exploration.  Our International Baccalaureate Middle Years curriculum, experienced faculty, and small class size allow Boulder Country Day School students to find their passion in the classroom and in the world. Come tour our campus and meet our faculty, students, parents and administrators.

Boulder Country Day School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), is a member of the Association of Colorado Independent Schools (ACIS), and is an Approved Middle Years International Baccalaureate School.

Discover the difference at Boulder Country Day School!

RSVP with Patti Lemlein at 303.527.4931 x248

Please preview our Viewbook and visit our Website!