Texas Impact recently had the opportunity to host a meeting of French Muslim leaders in our office. We shared information about our work, and the role faith communities play in Texas and U.S. public policy development.
The delegation was in the US under the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. Professional meetings reflect the participants’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.
Each year nearly 5,000 International Visitors come to the U.S. on the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). More than 200,000 International Visitors have engaged with Americans through the IVLP, including more than 500 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government. The program has been in existence since after WWII. Famous alumni include Gordon Brown, Queen ‘Mamohato Seeiso, Tony Blair, Anwar Sadat, Margaret Thatcher, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hamid Karzai, Indira Gandhi, Felipe Calderón and Mikheil Saakashvili just to name a few.
Texas Impact has the opportunity to interact with IVLP participants through our partnership with Global Austin, which serves 400 international dignitaries from over 90 countries annually. On topics range from agriculture to zoning and bring in emerging leaders from government, non-profits, academia, journalism and the private sector, Global Austin helps international visitors gain valuable perspectives and builds global community.
