We know our Network just loves to take pictures! Click through to see this year’s winners. These photos were recognized for capturing the power and impact of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and demonstrating that citizen diplomacy and international exchange are key tools in building a more peaceful, prosperous world.
First Place Winner: “Trick or Treat Diplomacy”
Submitted by: Brittany Lynk, International Visitor Liaison
At a special Halloween home hospitality in Arlington, Virginia, visitors from Myanmar and Indonesia eagerly run to the door when the doorbell rings to hand out candy and take selfies with ballerinas and Spidermen.
Project Name: Political Activism, Community Organizing, Lobbying and Campaigns
Second Place Winner: “Rainbow Diplomacy”
Submitted by: Brittany Lynk, International Visitor Liaison
Proudly streaming his rainbow flag in Seattle Pride, Hakan from Turkey celebrates with an LGBT legend who marched in the first ever U.S. Pride in 1970 after the NYC Stonewall Riots.
Project Name: Human and Civil Rights for the LGBT Community
Third Place Winner: “Shared Herstories”
Submitted by: Cameron Campbell, International Visitors Council of Los Angeles
IVLP visitor Maria R. Gunazon from the Philippines met with 102-year-old Marilee Scaff and the League of Women Voters of Claremont during a weeklong project to observe the US Presidential Election. The women quickly formed a bond when Maria learned that Marilee had lived in the Philippines to do missionary work during WWII. She was later captured by the Japanese and was placed into internment camps. In a unique set of circumstances, they discovered that both women attended the University of the Philippines and speak the same dialect, Tagalog.
Project Name: 2016 Presidential Elections
Honorable Mention:: “Making Bread”
Submitted by: Felecia Maxfield-Barrett, Utah Citizen Diplomacy Council
An NGO Management Visitor group learned how the LDS Church runs their Welfare Square, which makes bread and other groups for church members.
Project Name: NGO Management in the U.S.