National Council for International Visitors

history

The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1961 to promote excellence in citizen diplomacy. It is based in Washington, D.C., in the United States.

NCIV members include individuals, program agencies, and more than 90 community organizations throughout the United States. NCIV members design and implement professional programs, provide cultural activities, and offer home hospitality opportunities for foreign leaders, specialists, and international scholars participating in the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program and other exchange programs. More than one third of the community members are staffed by volunteers. Each year the aggregate efforts of NCIV members involve more than 80,000 volunteers.

History

Founding

After World War II the International Visitor Program (IVP) brought in an annually increasing number of foreign visitors to the United States. As it became difficult for the Department of State to facilitate the research and logistics of the program, they turned to private sector organizations such as the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Governmental Affairs Institute (GAI). These national program agencies (NPAs), funded by the Department of State, would work in collaboration with more voluntary, locally established centers for international visitors (CIVs) to map out an itinerary for incoming international visitors.

A number of issues became evident as these private organizations functioned together. The NPAs and CIVs had been working in poor communication and coordination—both among and within themselves—resulting in a stifled exchange of skills and information and therefore programming capacity; and it was not clear as to how those organizations should be funded.

Representatives from relevant organizations held many discussions to address these financial and communicative issues. On February 11, 1957, the Interim Council for Community Services to International Visitors (ICCSIV) was established to help sustain the growth of the IVP and its local organizations. The ICCSIV, whose membership reflected both private and public organizations, served as a sort of Board of Directors to coordinate the efforts between NPAs and CIVs.

Members of the ICCSIV agreed to establish the National Council for Community Services to International Visitors (NCCSIV) on November 30, 1960, a first step toward creating an official organization. NCCSIV adopted the acronym COSERV in April, 1961, and officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1965. COSERV changed its name to the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) on October 1, 1979, to reflect its central role as a coordinator for CIVs and other programming agencies for the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Nobel Peace Prize nomination

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) nominated the NCIV and its volunteers for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

Mission

The mission of the NCIV is to promote excellence in citizen diplomacy. Under the leadership of Sherry L. Mueller and the policy guidance from a 16-person board of directors, its seven staff members are committed to assisting and training its members:
  1. to build their leadership and nonprofit management skills; and
  2. to develop their capacity to arrange high quality programs for foreign leaders, specialists, and students.

NCIV advocates for international exchange and citizen diplomacy, conducts education and training programs and conferences, serves as a clearing-house for information about the network, publishes resource materials, and develops standards for its network.

Members

NCIV has over 90 community based organizations, called Councils for International Visitors (CIVs), throughout the United States. The role of these organizations is to organize programs for participants in the IVLP.

Midwestern Region

Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska Northa Dakota Ohio South Dakota
  • Dacotah Territory International Visitor Program
Wisconsin

Northeastern Region

Connecticut Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont

Southern Region

Alabama Arkansas Arizona Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas

Western Region

California Colorado Hawaii Idaho
  • Idaho Center for International Visitors
 Montana Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Washington Wyoming

Citizen Diplomat Award

NCIV distributes five awards in recognition of excellent citizen diplomacy, the most inclusive of which is its Citizen Diplomat Award. NCIV presents the Citizen Diplomat Award to any individual or institution that it perceives to have "achieved a recognized standard of excellence in furthering the cause of international and mutual understanding".

{| class="wikitable" |+Past Recipients || ! Year !! Recipient !! Title |- | 2009 || Rick Steves || Author and Founder, Europe Through the Back Door |- | 2008 || Garth Fagan || Founder and Artistic Director, Garth Fagan Dance |- | 2007 || Keith Reinhard || Founder, President of The Stanley Foundation |- | 1993 || Maya Angelou || Poet and Activist |- | 1990 || John Richardson, Jr. || Assistant Secretary of State, ECA
Founder, U.S. Institute for Peace |- | 1987 || J. William Fulbright || Senator (D-AR) |}

Board of directors

References

Articles

External links

home | This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. See full license termsIt uses material from the Wikipedia article "National_Council_for_International_Visitors ". | compliance | March 18th 2010