Engaging in new ways in a new year
It has been nearly one year (eleven months) since we returned to in person programming in Kalamazoo. It has been incredible to experience the meaningful engagement we have been able to create, for our local community members and our visitors. The kind of learning and understanding we can do when we are together, especially informally, just can’t be duplicated in the ether. All the while, the virtual world continues to allow us to nurture connections in ways we couldn’t before. We are delighted to share with you a little bit about our first programs of 2023, as well as the myriad ways to join us to make new connections in the coming weeks and months.
Global Moment In Time:
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Champions from Around the World Visit Kalamazoo
We just hosted our first #IVLP group of the year with many more to follow in the coming weeks and months (with many opportunities to get involved). We were so honored to connect this incredibly engaged and engaging group of DEIA champions from around the world with changemakers in Kalamazoo. We explored concepts of justice, equity and accessibility with amazing local visionaries. Above are some photos from their time with us. (L to R: with Leatrice Fullerton at the Stryker Johnston Foundation; with the the staff at OutFront Kalamazoo in their office (the group also attended the OutFront gala the following weekend!!); with Dr. Candy McCorkle at WMU; and Experiencing Lake Michigan). Meetings focused on economic equity with Jared Chambers and Jae Slaby at the City of Kalamazoo, Jacob Pinney-Johnson joined our discussion at WMU, and Dave Crider at the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra shared the wonderful work of Kids In Tune. A Super Bowl hospitality rounded out our time together.
This prestigious in-person IVLP program, organized by Meridian International Center, began virtually in 2021 and we have loved being part of this important Global Moment In Time initiative since its first iteration.
Deeply grateful to engaged community members on #CitizenDiplomacyDay and every day!
Citizen Diplomacy Day, Feb. 16, celebrated the power of person-to-person exchanges. We're so thankful for all the members of our community who so warmly welcome international visitors into their homes and workplaces, and most importantly, into their hearts.
As local hubs for global engagement, members of the Global Ties U.S. Network, including Global Ties Kalamazoo, open doors to the world and build relationships, partnerships, and trust vital to our communities and a better world. Learn more about our network's storied history at https://gties.us/timeline
It has meant the world to us hearing feedback from our international visitors and locals like about the wide-ranging impacts of our programs hosted here in Kalamazoo.
There are many opportunities for you to engage in the coming months. Here's what several people had to say about the impact of hosting here in Kalamazoo, and citizen diplomacy at large:
2023 brings numerous opportunities to engage with groups of international visitors, including several Open World programs, which offer tremendous cultural immersion and overnight hosting opportunities; a new partnership with YLAI (see below); and chances to host one-night dinner hospitality get-togethers for IVLP participants as well.
Click the button below to learn about and sign up for upcoming hosting opportunities.
The superb student journalists at Loy Norrix's Knight Life newspaper offered some insightful coverage of their time with the Brazilian teens that were here through the Youth Ambassadors Program, implemented in partnership with World Learning. Read all about it and subscribe at Knight Life News, and enjoy the testimonials they solicited from the visiting social entrepreneurs on their website. Here below is but one quote (shared here with permission). This story is part of the Global Ties Kalamazoo and Knight Life Series. On Jan. 17 and Jan. 23 Global Ties Kalamazoo’s Youth Ambassador Program participants from Brazil visited Knight Life. These stories are a result of the students’ discussions with one another.
“I’ve always had a impression of the United States that were based on films and TV shows, maybe I was expecting to find cold people that don’t really care about the world around them, but honestly since I’ve been here in Kalamazoo I’ve met people that all they had to give me was attention and love, so It made me realize how good people will always be out there and we can’t just look at the bad side of things and it’s also nice that our groups made you guys look and think more outside of your own country, that’s something essential to build a better worldwide society.” “Talking to the high school students of the journalism class was such a great experience. I hope I’ll be able to meet some of these guys again and I have nothing but well wishes to all of you.”
Global Ties Kalamazoo is proud to join IREX and partners from 20 cities around the country for the 2023 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI).
Pictured here are Global Ties Kalamazoo Executive Director Jodi Michaels and Conrad Chahary, our cohort advisor from IREX, during our two-day cohort ambassador kick-off at IREX’s national HQ, where representatives from 20 participating cities learned from one another, exchanged ideas and promising practices, and innovated around the 2023 program in order to prepare for Fellows’ arrival and ensure the best experience for all of our Fellows and local community partners. We're so excited to welcome up to 14 of the program’s 280 entrepreneurs from across the Americas to Kalamazoo for four weeks from mid-May to mid-June. Would your business or organization like to host a fellow? Reach out to us for more information!!
Since its launch in 2015, the U.S. Department of State’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program has empowered emerging entrepreneurs from the Western Hemisphere to enable the full economic potential of the region’s citizens. YLAI promotes U.S. business models, increases trade, encourages job creation, and builds lasting and sustainable networks of young entrepreneurs, and business and social leaders across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States.
Stay tuned for more about #YLAI and opportunities to engage with our incoming Fellows!
We miss you, Nite!
Global Ties Kalamazoo team and our community will deeply miss Jitkamon (Nite) Lawantrakool, whose last day as our Program Associate was in mid-February. She returns to her home country of Thailand at the end of February.
Nite’s contributions to our organization and smoothly implementing the International Visitor Leadership Program / #IVLP were immeasurable, as is our appreciation of her as a colleague and friend!
When we asked her what Kalamazoo place she'd miss the most, she said it wasn't a place but the people that will be deeply missed. "I don't have a specific place," she said. "It's the vibe of being here — the feeling. It's a lot of love."
We're so excited to continue bringing engaged and engaging visitors to our community to connect meaningfully with Kalamazoo while ensuring participation opportunities exist for everybody.
Thank you for your support,
Jodi Michaels and the whole Global Ties Kalamazoo Team
