Quarterly Newsletter | 2019 Spring Edition
The World Affairs Council is the bridge that connects the world to one of America’s most vibrant regions. Through global education, international exchange, and cultural awareness initiatives, the council strengthens Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s international identity and engages individuals with foreign affairs.
At the Council, we strive to create cultural awareness and respectful citizenry engagement with the world. Our quarterly newsletter, launching this April will provide our community with the latest news in the Council’s education programs, IVLP delegations, and speaking engagements.
Interested in getting involved? Learn more at globalcincinnati.org.
Global Education Programming
The Global Classrooms program has expanded to incorporate art education projects, transforming classroom presentations into experiential learning activities. To further develop intercultural understanding and awareness of being a good global citizen, students will meet with people from our community from Japan, China, Mexico, and India then together, they will create an art project respective to each country. With an intentional focus to collaborate with Northern Kentucky schools, over 800 elementary students will celebrate cultural diversity and inclusion in our community.
On May 11, 2019, we will host a global showcase for parents, students, volunteer artists, and the community to see the progress of this new program. Interested? Learn more here.
Click here to learn more about the schools we visited these past months.
World Leaders Visit Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky
The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. Professional meetings reflect the participants’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.
Early in March, the Council hosted 25 International Delegates from Hong Kong, Egypt, Uzbekistan, and Uganda discussing Mental and Physical Disabilities, TESOL Education, and Lean Management Strategies.
Thank you to all the professionals who met with our delegates and the hospitality hosts who welcomed them into an American home.
Click here to learn more about the visiting delegations.
World Affairs Council Events and Programming
2019 Annual Meeting
The Council hosted their 2019 Annual Meeting on January 17 to highlight the celebrations of 2018 and reveal 2019 goals and initiatives! The Council serves as the international resource and connection to people around the world, as well as connect local students to the world through educational programming.
Thank you to everyone in our community for all of your continued support! We wouldn’t be the organization we are without you…
ONE World Gala and Global Trivia Competition
The Council held the sixth annual ONE WORLD Gala and Global Trivia competition on February 16 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. The evening was filled with delicious cocktails, dinner, and an intense game of global wit. Thank you to our emcee for the evening, Dean Regas of the Cincinnati Observatory for encouraging excitement as the game progressed. After four rounds of international trivia, the winning team, Hawkins, walked away with specialty Vintner Select wines and bragging rights! As the event shows a grand commitment to building global competency in our region’s students, the evening ended in a magnitude of success raising a total of $58,000. With your help, more students than ever will increase their international and cultural awareness. Thank you for your support and dedication.
Spring Speaker Series | International Institutions Under Strain
Given the leadership role that the United States continues to play in the world, for our Spring Speaker series the council brought a series of three events looking at International Institutions Under Strain Post WWII Era. Our objective was for the local community to gain deeper insights into foreign policy and affairs being discussed. It is also important to understand how the institution’s challenges can impact the everyday lives of American citizens. This series highlights the particular threats and future direction of three powerful international institutions: UN, WTO, & NATO.
The final event of three-part series; NATO will be held on May 9. Click here to register.
Click here to learn more about the event.
World Affairs Council in the Community
Global Ties U.S. Conference
This year our Executive Director, Michelle Harpenau and Director of International Programs, James McManus represented our Council at the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting in Washington D.C. The meeting brings together nearly 1,000 participants over three days to gain high-level insights on trends affecting the international exchange field, engage in in-depth professional development opportunities, and build networks to strengthen international exchanges with 45+ organizations exhibiting in our meeting hub.
Boone County International Festival
Our staff attended the Boone County International Festival held at Boone County High School on Saturday, March 23. The event celebrated people from all over the world as they presented their cultures music, art, and food.
The World Affairs Council had the opportunity to introduce the Art Meets World Program by teaching families how to make their own origami. Our Global Classroom programs further develop intercultural understanding and awareness of being a good global citizen, students have the opportunity to expand their world through art.
The event was embraced by cultural performances by various groups including; Indian Bharatanatyam and Kathak dance, Japanese Wadaiko and Salsa dance.
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 to honor the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In honor of this day, we celebrated the hard work and dedication of our staff by highlighting the important differences we make every day through our nonprofit organization.
Click here to learn more about the Women of WAC.
Fast Pitch #3minutesthatmatter
Josh is the coordinator for the Academy of Global Studies at Winton Woods High School. Winton Woods has been our partner institution for global education programming for the last 8 years. This year, the Council was selected as one of the top 26 semi-finalist organizations to be a part of the Fast Pitch Competition of Social Venture Partners. Fast Pitch is a technique borrowed from the venture capital and startup community and is a way to showcase and accelerate nonprofits making a difference in our city! As one of the selected semi-finalist, we get training in telling effective, inspiring stories and then will hopefully be one of the final 10 to compete via a 3-minute pitch to win up to $15,000 and other prizes on March 14. As a model for our programs and one who has seen the impact global education has on his students, Josh was selected to be our fastpitch presenter.
Click here to watch Josh’s three-minute pitch!
Blog all about it
Culture Shock Experience – Global Classroom
Vikram Seshadri moved to Cincinnati from Chennai, India in August of 2017 to study at the University of Cincinnati. He graduated this past December with a Masters in Electrical Engineering. During his time in Cincinnati, Vikram volunteered at the World Affairs Council by donating his time working with young students through the Global Classroom Program as a Global Guide. Vikram has presented his home country of India, highlighting the arts, literacy, food, music, and architecture to our local students. These face to face interactions allow students to benefit from a genuine connection to cultural diversity and inclusion. In this blog, Vikram reflects on his previous presentations while offering advice to future and current Global Guides.
Click here to read his latest blog on his experience of being a Global Guide.
My Exposure to the World and the World Affairs Council
Robert Betz is the World Affairs Council’s Board Member of the Month. In this blog, he shares his original ties in the Greater Cincinnati area, his exposure to the world, and his experiences working with the Council over the years. He, along with the rest of the Board, steer us towards a sustainable future by making sure this nonprofit has adequate resources to continue our work and advance global competence in our community.
“I grew up in Cincinnati in St. Bernard and my world was limited to the greater Cincinnati area, Lake Cumberland in Kentucky, and various vacation trips in the United States. It was only after I started working that I was exposed to the world outside of the United States…”
Click here to read more about our Board Member, Bob Betz and his exposure to the world.
Welcome to our NEW Board and Advisory Members
We are excited to announce one additional Board of Director, Doug Goldberg, Principle, Goldberg Partners International LLC, and two Advisory Members, Tim Roberts, The Baute Roberts Group, Keller Williams Advisors Realty, & Melissa Loyd, NKY ASAP Coordinator, Mental Health America of Northern KY and SW Ohio. As we pursue our mission to promote international understanding, education, engagement, and cooperation in our 21st-century global environment, we know they will be vital to our success.
Click here to read more about our NEW Board and Advisory Members.
Upcoming Events – Save the Date
April 25 | International Affairs presents How to do Business with China
May 9 | International Institutions Under Strain | NATO with Constanze Stelzenmuller, Brookings Institute
May 11 | Art Meets World Showcase
