Route J-1

By Linda Haglund, J-1 Intern from Finland

Linda Haglund (giving the thumbs up) with her fellow I-LEAD leadership training students at American University.

Something has happened to me, and I have changed. I’m stronger, more confident and more hopeful about the future. I’m happier, more open and more in the present than I’ve been in the past. I have 60 new friends from 30 different countries. And I feel it in my bones: I can do anything!

My week in Washington, D.C. has made me a new person, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that the leadership training I-LEAD 2016 was one of the best and finest experiences I’ve ever had. Read More ›

Categories: Program Spotlight

By Lauren Aitken, Cultural Vistas sponsor organization

Papa Oppong reviews designs at the DC Fashion Foundation Incubator

After designing a collection in collaboration with Swarovski and interning for Rosario Dawson, people knew that Papa Oppong, a Ghanaian fashion designer, would go places. But it wasn’t until his U.S. internship at the DC Fashion Foundation that he found his passion project: combatting Malaria through fashion. Read More ›

Categories: Program Spotlight

Pack your bags, grab your passports, and start your engines. The Route J-1 blog is back with a new and exciting line-up of stories, directly from the J-1 Exchange Visitor community. Join us as we take a road trip across the United States and around the world. You’ll see how the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program is connecting people and creating opportunities for cross cultural learning and understanding.

Here are the people who will share their stories in our new community written posts:

• Meet current J-1 Exchange Visitors and learn about their program experiences and adventures in the United States. J-1s are located in cities big and small across the country, and they are giving back to their communities through volunteerism, supporting local industries through their work, and creating lasting friendships and ties with their American friends and colleagues.
• Learn from J-1 Alumni worldwide and see how they are leveraging the skills and knowledge they gained in the United States during their exchange programs. J-1 Alumni return home to run their own businesses, address global challenges, and enact positive change in their local communities. Meet and be inspired by these incredible leaders and change makers.
• Visit local communities and see how they come together to support, learn, and promote J-1s living in their cities and towns. Many go above and beyond because they believe in the J-1 experience. This includes our network of homestay families, host employers, and host organizations where J-1s work, live, study, teach, do research, share their specialized skills, or receive on-the-job training.

Check back each week for a new post and new perspectives. Now, let’s get this journey started. The Route J-1 road trip will be a life-changing experience.

Sincerely,

The Route J-1 Team

Categories: Program Spotlight

Deputy Assistant Secretary Robin Lerner with EGLI Corps Fellows (From left to right:  Atlas Corps CEO Scott Beale, Fellow Farhad Ahmed Jarral, Fellow Mayada Hassanain Osman, Deputy Assistant Secretary Robin Lerner, Special Advisor for Global Youth Issues Andy Rabens, Fellow Olga Smolenchuk, and Fellow Anna-Kim Robinson.)

The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program provides the U.S. Department of State endless ways to create innovative partnerships and meaningful programs for young professionals around the world. Today, I would like to tell you about an interesting and inspiring public-private partnership the State Department has, thanks to the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program. Last month, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the Emerging Global Leader Initiative (EGLI) – Atlas Corps Fellowship. This fellowship was created as part of President Obama’s Stand with Civil Society agenda. Through this partnership, the State Department committed to working with Atlas Service Corps to bring 100 of the world’s emerging civil society professionals to the United States for 12-month professional fellowship programs under the J-1 training program.  The fellowship offers full funding for training programs in civil society, non-profit, and for-profit enterprises, and it exposes the fellows to cutting edge best practices, while incorporating the participants into perhaps the most important network of their lives.

Read More ›

Categories: Program Spotlight

New Year’s is a time to reflect and reminisce about the past year and to look to the year ahead with new goals and resolutions. In the spirit of the season, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the accomplishments of the Exchange Visitor Program over the past year.

• We’ve seen community groups embrace and expand the reach of the program.
• We’ve worked with over 1,420 sponsors (for-profit, non-profit, federal, state, and local government entities) to create the best possible experiences for participants.
• We’ve built new networks with leaders of other countries to strengthen important bilateral relationships and strengthen the program.
• And we’ve provided opportunities for almost 275,000 foreign visitors to experience the United States, its society and culture, while engaging with Americans.

Let’s look back at some of the highlights from this amazing year:

Assistant Secretary Ryan and Under Secretary for North American Affairs for the Government of Mexico Sergio Alcocer sign the Memorandum of Understanding

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Categories: Program Spotlight

Park City, Utah at night

Nestled in the Synderville Basin of the Rocky Mountains, decorated with snowcapped mountains and frosted evergreens, Park City, Utah is an example of a town that has fully embraced the Exchange Visitor Program. In Park City, Summer Work Travel and Intern/Trainee participants are an integral and rich part of the social fabric, lifeblood, and heart of this seasonal resort community.

Each December hundreds of J-1s officially call Park City their temporary home. For participants, it’s often a season of “firsts” – first job, first time living on their own, and first time seeing snow, since many of them are traveling from the Southern Hemisphere (Argentina, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay), as well as Australia and New Zealand, on their summer breaks, which is winter in the United States and the Northern Hemisphere. With all these firsts, community engagement is an essential ingredient for making participants feel welcome in their new hometowns.

Read More ›

Categories: Program Spotlight

The new SWT alumni association kicks off with a big social event in Sofia.

What do you think makes an international exchange program powerful?

I think about this all the time. I feel it takes an open-minded and excited participant, a dedicated host, a sponsor who knows how to be a true resource to both, a welcoming community, and setting the right expectations. I think that with all of those elements in place, your exchange experience will exceed the expectations you set.

When that happens, I suspect you will go home feeling different, perhaps deeply changed, with new ideas and unusual aspirations. That change can be hard for your family and friends back home to understand. It is even possible that you will feel your society lacking in something that you can’t quite pinpoint. You will begin yearning to share your experiences with other people like you, not just on Facebook, but in your hometown. If you can’t find that connection, maybe you will feel lost for a little while.

Read More ›

Categories: Program Spotlight