Global Ties U.S. powers individuals, communities, and nations to build trust and advance peace and prosperity through international exchange. As international exchange professionals, we follow the Congressional mandate of the 1961 Fulbright-Hayes Act, which requires that our work and programs include individuals and resources who represent “the diversity of American political, social, and cultural life.” It is our responsibility to share the United States of America as it is and has been and to include and amplify voices traditionally marginalized and excluded from international engagement.
We believe that:
- Building and celebrating a more diverse workforce that includes a balance of perspectives helps to spark trust while fostering inclusion and community. Consistent with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State, we define diversity to encompass a range of social and ethnic backgrounds, including race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, geographic origin, socio-economic status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
- Listening to one another — not just to the foreign leaders we host in the United States but to members of our communities — is essential for international exchange programs to be meaningful and effective.
- Public and citizen diplomacy seeks to build relationships founded on trust between people of different cultures, countries, circumstances, and perspectives. To do so authentically, we must be committed to sharing the actual lived realities of people in the United States, in all their complexity and diversity, with people from around the world.
Our commitment to more intentionally approach diversity in the international exchange field extends to two parallel efforts:
- Within Global Ties U.S., we commit to attracting diverse talent and continuously building a team that brings together a range of backgrounds and experiences to our programs, member services, and communications. Our internal committee addresses concerns within the organization and supports training on issues such as implicit bias and microaggressions to understand better how our words and actions impact one another.
- Within the Global Ties Network, we support a Global Ties Network Community of Practice for Diversity, which convenes representatives from member organizations across the country to include individuals and resources that represent the diversity of U.S. communities, especially those that have been historically under- and misrepresented. You can read more about the Community of Practice’s mission statement HERE. Members of Global Ties U.S. can access resources HERE (login required).
Putting diversity at the center of international exchange programming is essential to building the trust with individuals, communities, and nations that our mission demands. Together with our Network members and partners, we are committed to breaking down barriers for a genuinely open and inclusive society and we are committed to changing norms to ensure that all people in the United States know they play an integral role in contributing to the success of international exchange programs.