Before they became world leaders, Nicholas Sarkozy of France, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Tony Blair of Great Britain came to the United States under the auspices of the United States Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program. They had an opportunity to form their opinions of the United States firsthand.

Over 200 current and former Heads of State, 1500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector are also alumni of the US Department of State program.

In addition to providing mutually beneficial professional exchanges, we are seeking to improve participants’ perceptions of the United States and our people, customs, and government. These are exactly some of the long-lasting effects of this program. It’s working.

Each year, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, and various National Programming Agencies CDCSD brings over 600 of these professionals from over 130 countries to San Diego. Since we began in 1979, we have brought over 13,000 emerging leaders from around the world to our city.

How are participants selected?

The visitors, who are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, and other fields, are identified and nominated by American officials in our U.S. embassies around the world. After nomination, the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs selects participants and begins the planning process between the embassies, participants, and National and Regional Program Agencies. 

Where do they go while here?

While in the U.S. for  a total of three weeks, their first week is spent in Washington DC in meetings. Following a week in Washington, DC, visitors depart for various city stops throughout the United States in order to see the diversity of our 50 States. San Diego is often, though not always one of these city stops where the visitors remain for anywhere from 3-5 days.

What do they do here?

Once professional objectives are narrowed down, our professional programming staff scours the town to find the perfect experts for the visitors to meet. Programs average two to four professional appointments a day in order to successfully maintain a balance between professional and cultural objectives.

We have had the pleasure of designing programs on such varied topics as Avian Flu, State and Local Government, Deaf Community Resources, Teaching English as a Second Language, Business Development, Human Rights and many other topics.

All work and no play is not what America and especially San Diegian culture is all about. Therefore, we balance their professional meetings with visits to famous San Diego attractions such as the Zoo, Sea World, symphonies and other cultural events.

And  finally, while they are here our members welcome these visitors into their homes for ‘dinner-table-diplomacy’. Dinner hospitality is a great way for our members to interact with our visitors and is typically a highlight for all!  By the evening’s end, misunderstandings shrink and mutual understanding expands.

That, is precisely the point of it all.

For more information on Dinner Hospitality, contact Alexa Talbot (Alexa@SanDiegoDiplomacy.org).