International Visitor Programs
Through professional and cultural exchanges, International Visitor Programs connects emerging global leaders with DFW citizen diplomats to exchange ideas, share cultures, and build lasting relationships.
International Visitor Hub
Click the button to access the International Visitor Hub – your one-stop shop for hotels, restaurants, and cultural activities in the metroplex.
International Visitor Programs
The mission of the International Visitor Programs department is to help bridge cultures through person-to-person international exchanges.
The Council’s International Visitor Programs Department coordinates international exchange programs, including the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange, the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Working with an extensive team of local volunteers, businesses and community leaders, the program plays a key role in building public diplomacy and international connections for the region.
The IVLP offers the opportunity to experience American culture firsthand, cultivate lasting relationships, and inspire solutions to global challenges through the exchange of ideas and best practices. IVLP participants are nominated by U.S. embassies across the world, and alumni include more than 500 current and former heads of state and government and countless industry and civil leaders.
The International Visitor Programs facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge. When IVLP visitors return home, both visitors and and their American counterparts come away with a deeper knowledge of foreign cultures and an expanded understanding and view of the world leading to the strengthening of international relationships.
Read the letter from Ambassador Candace A Bond discussing how important citizen diplomacy is vital to community, and how the “impacts of this (IVLP) program have already been felt in the Port of Spain.”
The World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth is a proud member of the Global Ties U.S. Network.
“Citizen diplomacy represents a grassroots effort to allow people to interact in a comfortable surrounding sharing food and drink. Home hospitality creates an environment where everyone can relax and let their true selves shine through.”
– Brian and Kristi Erickson, Home Hospitality Hosts
Upcoming Events
International Visitor Groups
Individual International Visitors
Participating Countries
Home Hospitality Dinners Hosted by Volunteers
International Visitor Groups
Individual International Visitors
Participating Countries
Home Hospitality Dinners Hosted by Volunteers
Expand Your World
International Visitor Programs welcomes hundreds of international visitors each year. Your participation – whether you are a professional, volunteer or student – helps support our mission to promote international awareness. We invite you to expand your world by joining the World Affairs Council and our network of citizen diplomats!
Host a Visitor
The International Visitor Programs department hosts international visitor groups who visit the U.S. at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State to explore topics related to our country’s foreign policy and strategic objectives around the world.
When groups visit the DFW area (virtually or in person), we arrange:
- Meetings with professional counterparts
- Cultural experiences
- Home hospitality events
Special Thanks
The success of International Visitor Programs could not be possible without the generosity of local organizations and individuals. Special thanks to the following 2024 International Visitor Program resources:
- 24HourDallas
- A21
- AgriSafe
- Arlington Independent School District
- Association of Certified Financial Crimes Specialists
- Better Block Foundation
- Big Thought
- Bonton Farms
- Cafe Momentum
- CASA of Tarrant County
- Cedars Union – An Incubator for the Arts
- Center for Transforming Lives
- Center for Women in Business, Texas Woman’s University
- Cien.ai
- City of Dallas
- City of Dallas Office of Economic Development
- Dallas CASA
- Dallas County
- Dallas County District Attorney’s Office
- Dallas District Office: Congressman Marc Veasey
- Dallas Doing Good
- Dallas Entrepreneur Center
- Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
- Dallas Independent School District
- Dallas Police Department
- Dallas Thrives
- Dallas/ Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council
- DFW Airport, Environmental Affairs Department
- DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom
- Downwinders at Risk
- Emmett J. Conrad High School
- European American Chamber of Commerce Texas
- Faith Forward Dallas
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
- First Amendment Clinic, SMU
- Fort Worth Report
- Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas
- Games for Change
- Gendercide Awareness Project
- Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support
- George W. Bush Institute
- Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas
- Golden Seeds
- Good Foundation of Texas
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
- Her Texas
- IDEA – Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship Academy
- Interfaith Council of Thanks-Giving Square
- International Trade Administration
- Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School
- Islamic Association of North Texas
- John Peter Smith Hospital
- Junior Achievement of Dallas
- KERA
- Liveable Arlington
- MedCognetics
- Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County
- Mosaic Family Services, Inc.
- Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
- North Central Texas Council of Governments
- North Texas Area Community Health Centers
- North Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking
- Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs
- One Safe Place
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science
- Plug and Play North Texas Fintech Program
- POETIC
- Region 10 Education Service Center
- Rutgers University
- SMU – Human Rights Program
- Society of Professional Journalists- Fort Worth
- Southern Methodist University
- SPARK Arlington
- SpinSci Technologies
- Stomping Ground Comedy Theater
- Sunrise Movement Dallas
- Tarrant County’s Sheriff’s Office
- Tech Titans
- Televisa Univision
- Texas Blockchain Council
- Texas Department of Public Safety – Texas Rangers Division
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas Impact
- Texas Muslim Woman’s Foundation
- Texas Native Health
- Texas Women’s University
- Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub
- The Dallas Morning News
- The Welman Project
- Traffick911
- US Attorney, Northern District of Texas – Dallas
- Unbound North Texas
- University of North Texas
- University of North Texas Health Science Center
- University of Texas at Dallas
- UNT Mayborn School of Journalism
- Vickery Trading Company
- YouCanFreeUs Foundation
- Yumlish