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Citizen Exchanges
19.415
Citizen Exchange activities include American Film Showcase, American Music Abroad, Arts Envoy, Center Stage, Community Engagement Exchange, Community Solutions, Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, Fortune - Mentoring Program, Future Leaders Exchange Program, Global Media Makers, Global Sports Mentoring Program, International Sports Programming Initiative, International Writers Program, Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, Leaders On-Demand, National Security Language Initiative for Youth, Next Level Hip Hop and Conflict Transformation, OneBeat, Professional Fellows Program, Sports Envoy Program and Sports Visitor Program, Stevens initiative, TechGirls, TechWomen, Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative, Youth Leadership Programs, and other Professional and Cultural Exchange programs.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
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No Current Data Available. The Professional Fellows Program supports young professionals in specific fields from countries around the globe to undergo individually-tailored internships at businesses, NGOs and government offices in the United States for five to six weeks, and sends their American counterparts overseas for follow-on programming. The program for the non-U.S. participants concludes with the Professional Fellows Congress – a three-day event dedicated to the strategic development of action plans and leadership skills development. There were approximately 167 U.S. participants and approximately 514 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Professional Fellows On-Demand Program is the flexible, rapid-response compliment to the Professional Fellows Program and is designed to address urgent, evolving Department priorities. The program enables young professionals from across the globe to participate in four week internships at U.S. organizations, and sends U.S. mentors, experts, and professional counterparts overseas for follow-on programming. There were approximately 30 U.S. participants and approximately 60 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Community Solutions program supports young professionals in specific fields from countries around the globe to undergo leadership training and four-month internships at NGOs and government offices in the United States to experience firsthand the interaction between the government and non-profit sector to enact change in local communities. There were approximately 100 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
TechWomen empowers women engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields from select countries in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East through networking activities and month-long mentorships where they are matched with women at leading science, tech and innovation companies in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as through outreach projects to women and girls overseas. There were approximately 100 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Fortune/State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership develops the management and business skills of emerging women leaders from countries around the world through mentorships in the United States where they are matched with senior women executives in the fields of business, law, and non-profit management. There were approximately 25 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Traditional Public-Private Partnerships are long-standing programs to support the Bureau’s commitment to work with the U.S. NGO community to implement cooperative international exchange projects. There were approximately 107 U.S. participants, and approximately 132 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The National Youth Science Camp encourages the most talented science-inclined high school students to achieve their full potential. ECA supports the participation students from other countries in the Western Hemisphere in this month-long camp. There were approximately 16 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Global Sports Mentoring Program is composed of two distinct annual mentorships: the espnW GSMP to empower women and the Sport for Community GSMP on disability rights. The espnW GSMP is a public-private partnership that empowers women through sports by pairing international emerging leaders with American senior female executives in the sports sector for a mentorship focused on supporting underserved populations worldwide through sports. The Sport for Community GSMP promotes disability rights at home and abroad with participants who create opportunities for people with disabilities through adaptive sports. For both GSMP’s, international participants develop business strategies in collaboration with American mentors that provide sports and professional opportunities for others—particularly marginalized populations—in their respective communities. The GSMP places an emphasis on long-term and sustainable change through follow-on alumni grants and monitoring as well outbound programs with American participants. There were approximately 35 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016 and 10 U.S. participants.
The International Sports Programming Initiative (ISPI) supports educational exchanges designed to foster mutual understanding and help start a dialogue at the grassroots level among American youth, coaches, and sports administrators and their peers from around the world through sports for social change programs. There were approximately 300 U.S. participants, and approximately 450 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Sports Visitor Program brings youth and coaches to the United States for a short-term sports cultural exchange. During the program, they engage with American peers and sports practitioners, participate in clinics, and sessions on leadership, team-building and conflict resolution, as well as on inclusion and equity in sport. Sports Visitor programs show young people how success in athletics can translate into achievements in the classroom and life, also providing Americans with an opportunity to interact firsthand with people from every region of the world. There were approximately 110 non-U.S. participantsin FY 2016.
The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program promotes mutual understanding between the United States and the countries of Eurasia by providing scholarships for high school students to live in the United States for an academic year. There were approximately 872 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program promotes mutual understanding between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations by providing scholarships for high school students to live in the United States for an academic year. There were approximately 803 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
Through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad (YES Abroad) program, American high school participants from across the United States study for up to eleven months in select countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. There were approximately 60 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
Youth Leadership Programs foster greater understanding and respect between the people of the United States and other countries, to develop leadership skills and a sense of civic responsibility among teenagers and educators. There were approximately 426 non-U.S. participants and 35 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Youth Leadership On Demand Program provides high school students and adult educators from countries identified as Department priorities the opportunity to explore civic education, youth leadership development, and community service in the United States. There were approximately 42 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
TechGirls is an educational exchange initiative for teenage girls from the Middle East and North Africa that focuses on promoting the high-level study of technology while fostering mutual understanding among the youth of the United States and the countries and territories of this region. There were approximately 27 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Youth Ambassadors Program provides high school students and educators the opportunity to explore civic education, community service, and leadership through three-week exchanges between the United States and Latin America. There were approximately 77 U.S. participants, and approximately 411 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program (CBYX) was inaugurated in 1983 through a bilateral agreement between the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag. The program celebrates German-American friendship based on common values of democracy and creates lasting personal and institutional relationships through an academic year school and home stay experience for American and German high school students and vocational school graduates. There were approximately 350 U.S. participants, and approximately 360 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
Designed to increase the number of Americans who learn foreign languages that are critical to advancing U.S. national interests, the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program provides scholarships to American high school students for overseas intensive language programs in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish. There were approximately 586 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The Emerging Young Leaders Award supports international youth through an intensive, three-week program in the United States focused on the themes of peacebuilding and conflict prevention, democracy and governance, and advanced leadership development, in order to recognize and support young people who have shown the tenacity and courage to create positive and impactful change in challenging environments while also increasing public participation in, and public information about, social change and tolerance. There were approximately 10 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The International Writing Program is a five-part international exchange of writers who participate in a residency program at the University of Iowa, which also hosts the Between the Lines program, and supports residency programs focused on creative writing. American writers conduct public policy-related reading, lecture and teaching tours in several priority overseas countries with limited access to creative writing courses. There were approximately 19 U.S. traveling participants, and approximately 48 non-U.S. traveling participants in FY 20156
The American Film Showcase (AFS) presents award-winning independent American documentaries and narrative films and their filmmakers to audiences around the world, offers contemporary insights into American life and culture, and explores issues affecting democratic societies. There were approximately 80 U.S. participants, and approximately 10 foreign traveling participants in FY 2016.
Global Media Makers (GMM) is an innovative mentoring initiative that connects visual storytellers from around the world with leading U.S. entertainment professionals through specially tailored mentorships, workshops and master classes. There were seven U.S. participants and 14 non-U.S. participants in FY 2016.
The American Music Abroad Program is designed to bring American music and culture to audiences around the globe through person-to-person exchanges. U.S. musical groups engage with foreign audiences through workshops, master classes, jam sessions, and performances to present a positive image of the United States and provide a greater understanding of our society. There were approximately 45 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
Through DanceMotion USA, American dance companies tour approximately nine overseas countries in three world regions, selected based on U.S. foreign policy interests, to present workshops, master classes and performances in the following American dance genres: contemporary, jazz, ballet, tap/or step and hip hop. There were approximately 33 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
American Arts Incubator is an arts-based international people-to-people exchange through which American artists travel to five different countries for three to four weeks to implement a community-based art and micro grant program for new media art projects, in order to promote women’s empowerment, conflict resolution, and environmental protection. There were approximately 12 U.S. participants in FY 2016.
Next Level is an arts-based international people-to-people exchange that supports and furthers U.S. Department of State foreign policy objectives by sending professional American hip hop artists to visit five select countries and implement multi-disciplinary workshops in music production, beat making, break dancing and rapping as a way to reach out to underserved youth and promote conflict resolution. There were approximately 20 U.S. participants, and approximately five foreign traveling participants in FY 2016.
The Communities Connecting Heritage program engages at-risk communities, empowers youth, and builds partnerships between communities in the U.S. and in key strategic world regions through exchange projects that explore cultural heritage topics. These projects advance tangible and intangible cultural heritage appreciation and preservation through community outreach and public education and by reinforcing positive narratives. There are approximately 30 American and 30 foreign participants in FY 2016.
The Arts Envoys program engages American artists and arts professionals in cultural exchange programs to address clearly defined foreign policy themes and objectives. In collaboration with ECA, posts have the opportunity to develop customized cultural programming that directly supports their achievement of specific mission objectives. There were approximately 200 American participants in FY 2016.
In FY 2017, more than 4,400 U.S. citizens participated in international arts, professional, sports, and youth exchanges, and more than 2,800 foreign exchange participants traveled to the U.S. on reciprocal exchanges. U.S. performing artists, athletes, and coaches engaged tens of thousands of international audience members directly and millions more through traditional media and online, in coordination with U.S. embassies and consulates. The majority of the professional exchange participants participated in two-way professional fellowships designed to empower emerging entrepreneurs and innovative civil society leaders to transform their communities. Professional exchange project themes included legislative process and governance, tolerance and conflict resolution, combating disinformation, entrepreneurship, and protecting human rights and the environment.
In 2018, approximately 7,000 individuals participated in Citizen Exchanges’ programs from approximately 180 countries, including the United States.
In 2019, approximately 7,500 individuals participated in Citizen Exchanges’ programs from approximately 180 countries, including the United States.
In 2020, most Citizen Exchange (CE) programs pivoted to a virtual platform. CE’s innovation and flexibility powered a rapid transition to new strategies for virtual engagement and people-to-people exchange which advanced foreign policy objectives and achieved lasting benefits for U.S. citizens. In FY 2020, approximately 6,700 individuals participated in Citizen Exchanges programs from approximately 180 countries, including the United States.
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Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
