The U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) brings in current and emerging foreign leaders to the U.S., and provides short-term professional exchange programs to cultivate lasting relationships between the U.S. and international counterparts.
VIPP serves as the Michigan Council for Citizen Diplomacy and is designated as a community-based member for IVLP implementation. We work with seven National Program Agencies to secure incoming projects. VIPP is always seeking out new partners in the Greater Lansing Area, at MSU, and throughout the state of Michigan to help implement worthwhile programs for IVLP participants.
VIPP has hosted over 250 IVLP visitors from over 60 countries. Read about some of our recent programs below.
Hosted by VIPP and organized locally by the Michigan Council for Citizen Diplomacy (MCCD), this initiative welcomed 13 higher education leaders and delegates to MSU from across Africa to examine how universities leverage international partnerships and collaborative research networks to address shared global challenges. Our discussions with representatives from Michigan’s universities highlighted international academic collaboration and the role of research universities in driving innovation.
VIPP hosted a delegation of three esteemed experts from India, Pranjit Deka, a senior reporter at Dainik Asam, Akash Chandra Sahoo, Additional Superintendent of Police at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy, and Ayiaz Ahmad Wani, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF.) The group engaged in critical dialogues with local organizations and law enforcement agencies around the topics of collaborative advocacy, global policy insights, and justice in action.
Officials from Ukraine had the opportunity to engage with local leaders on U.S. approaches to state and local government, including Mitch Bean, former Director of the Michigan House Fiscal Agency, who shared a deep dive into fiscal policy, budget processes, and government accountability, as well as the Honorable Stephen J. Markman, former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, who gave a lecture on the judicial system.
University leaders and administrators from the Middle East and North Africa connected with their counterparts from South and Latin America through two concurrent IVLP programs at MSU exploring a variety of topics in higher education partnerships such as education abroad, entrepreneurship and innovation programming, collaboration with the private sector for workforce and economic development, and accreditation processes.
Participants engaged deeply with U.S. broadcasting practices through a series of workshops and discussions. Professor Bob Gould, an acclaimed broadcast journalist, led an interactive workshop on traditional and new media journalism. A highlight was his surprise inclusion of recorded interviews with industry leaders from MSNBC, Scripps, and the Poynter Institute, who shared insights on broadcasting challenges in the age of AI.