The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

36 DECEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Looking to the Future Jennifer Clinton (left) is president of Global Ties U.S., an implementing partner of the Depart- ment of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Jelena Putre is senior program manager for Global Ties U.S. and a former public affairs specialist for U.S. Embassy Belgrade. IVLP’s partners and stakeholders are examining the challenges ahead and exploring ways to renew the program to ensure continuing success. BY J ENN I F ER CL I NTON AND J E L ENA PUTRE F or the past 75 years the International Visi- tor Leadership Program has been the flags hip exchange program of the U.S. government, helping increase international understanding of American decision-making and foreign policy goals. The program has fostered positive perceptions of the U.S. government and the American people. IVLP embodies a “whole of society” approach. It “takes a vil- lage,” indeed, to run this program that brings 5,000 participants to the United States each year—including U.S. embassy person- nel around the world who identify up-and-coming leaders for the program, 90 State Department employees of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Office of International Visi- tors who manage the program, seven Washington, D.C.-based implementing partner organizations and some 94 entities based in 44 states, known as community-based members. These local groups deploy about 40,000 individuals, mostly volunteers, to ensure the program’s success. Whether they are career diplomats or political appointees, U.S. ambassadors often describe IVLP as one of their most effec- tive high-level relationship-building tools. The cadre of alumni speaks for itself. The initiative is responsible for a global network of leaders and professionals who have shared their American experience with their colleagues, families and friends at home. An untold number of partnerships have been created, thanks to the contacts which began as encounters between IVLP partici- pants and their American counterparts. When we look at the International Visitor Leadership Pro- gram in the rear-view mirror, we see a strong and respected pillar of public diplomacy. Things seem a bit less clear on the road ahead. The roller coaster effect that implementing partners in Washington and across the country have been experiencing year in and year out in a very uncertain budget climate has made administering IVLP a greater challenge than it should be. How does a tried and tested program like the IVLP evolve and meet the ever-increasing demands of the U.S. government in a world where “better, faster, cheaper” is the new norm? This high- touch, relatively high-cost and labor-intensive initiative must be able to combat a rising American sentiment described recently by Donna Oglesby in The Foreign Service Journal (“Diplomacy Education Unzipped,” January-February 2015): “Americans are far less interested in managing international relations through perpetual systemic engagement. They want to either avoid or fix FOCUS THE INTERNATIONAL VISITOR LEADERSHIP PROGRAM