Emerging leaders come to West Michigan to learn, teach, share, and connect.
Connecting Kalamazoo to the World
Global Ties Kalamazoo Connects Southwest Michigan to people from all over the globe for cultural and professional connection, exploring our shared humanity.
Upcoming & Recent Programs
Four professionals from Georgia along with two interpreters will be in Kalamazoo from March 29-April 3 to as part of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
Goals include exploring emergency preparedness (including natural disasters, pandemics, and conflict) and coordination among federal, state, and local government and the private sector.
Five professionals from India along with an interpreter will be in Kalamazoo from April 5-7 as part of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
Goals for the program are focused around combating drug trafficking and the opioid epidemic, both as domestic issues around supply chain control, law enforcement and the judiciary, as well their connection to international cartels and terrorist organizations.
In December, we wrapped up a virtual youth exchange with Haiti focused on entrepreneurship and community impact. Youth participants are building and pitching projects they’ll implement in their home communities, and Kalamazoo professionals helped mentor and guide them.
We were so lucky to host 13 Latin American Youth Ambassadors (LAYA) as our final in-person exchange of the year. These incredible young leaders from Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica arrived with energy, passion, and a genuine desire to build bridges with Kalamazoo. And build they did.
Enriching local community with global diversity,
one relationship at a time.
Latest News
“It really does feel impossible to express the gratitude I have for Global Ties Kalamazoo and the impact my last few years as Program Manager has had on me not only as a professional but as a person. This work was so much more than just a job.”
2025 was a condensed season of programming—but not a small one in impact. The shorter calendar was shaped by external conditions including the government shutdown, changes to administration priorities and lost funding opportunities.
A few winters ago, a backyard bonfire in Kalamazoo sparked hope. At Sarkozy’s Bakery, co-owner Alec Wells welcomed a cohort of international visitors from Lithuania. “That bonfire,” Alec remembers, “was the start of something much deeper.”
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