A fall full of meaningful exchange
We say it often and we'll say it again. What we do is explore our shared humanity together. From long-term social work placements, to short-term IVLP visits, to everything in between, we create opportunities for people in Kalamazoo to engage with the world (23 countries and counting so far this fall). In this newsletter, you can read takeaways from board member Deborah's experience in New Orleans, Alberta from Germany's placement in our organization, and new intern Sofia's thoughts on her first few weeks with us. It takes more than a village to create meaningful cross-cultural connections and you too can find ways to join us this fall. There is a lot of bad happening across the world. Please join us in trying to move the needle in a positive direction, right here in Kalamazoo.
Not only did the Global Ties Kalamazoo team welcome guests from around the world to our community in September, we also traveled all over the map ourselves. Our program manager and a board member attended the Diplomacy Begins Here Summit in New Orleans; our Executive Director attended a three-day speaker bootcamp in Detroit, spoke about citizen diplomacy at a Unitarian Universalist Church event, and joined a local DEIA in nonprofits panel at WMU; and several staff members, board members, and CIP/IJAB fellows volunteered/tabled at the Canadiana Festival in downtown Kalamazoo.
We also learned in September that Global Ties Kalamazoo would, for the third year running, serve as a Cohort Ambassador for YLAI - Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative - in 2025 (keep reading below to learn what that means for our community and your business or organization) AND that three of our local #YLAI2024 Fellowship Placement Organizations (FPOs) were selected to participate in this year's Outbound Exchange Program. Congrats to Sarkozy Bakery (Rachel), Room 35 (Joshua) and Public Media Network (Traci) for being selected.
We kicked off our fall programming by greeting this year’s German social workers, our longest-running program – CIP/IJAB - here in the United States for 2-month-long work placements. Thanks so much to to everyone who's welcomed them (Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, Kalamazoo CASA, and Kalamazoo Public Schools Newcomers Program) plus the team at Kalamazoo Defender, with whom participants have shadowed court hearings. In addition to our other placement organizations, Global Ties Kalamazoo is hosting a fellow, Alberta Brown. The cohort is pictured below at the Kalamazoo Night Market. From left: Kathrin, Julia (visiting for the day from the IJAB team in Germany), Philip, Wiebke, and Alberta.
Alberta shared her reflections at the halfway point in her fellowship on the Global Ties Kalamazoo blog in late September, noting that she and her cohort companions have experienced profound connection both personally and professionally here in Kalamazoo.
Here's an excerpt from Alberta's blog:
We have had the opportunity to engage with the local community here in Kalamazoo through different activities. A highlight of such activity was our meeting and conversation with Dr. Linda Reeser, a professor in the School of Social Work at Western Michigan University. Dr. Reeser gave us general insights into the social work system in the U.S. as well as Kalamazoo. We also had the opportunity to know more about nonprofits in Kalamazoo. We (participants) also shared our knowledge and experience with the social work system in Germany with Dr. Reeser. The conversation with Dr. Reeser was an interesting and insightful one as we got to know some ways in which social workers continue to address the needs of the community in Kalamazoo. Social work in both countries is organized in different ways but all in the field of social work strive to achieve social improvement, and pursue social change to benefit a wide variety of individuals, families and communities.
Other activities worth mentioning include a panel discussion with community leaders and friends of Murphy Darden, including playwright Buddy Hannah; Wendy Fields, president of the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch of the NAACP; and the Rev. Kevin Lavender Sr., pastor of Bible Baptist Church (at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum). This Panel discussion was facilitated by Earlene McMichael, who worked as a journalist in Kalamazoo for three decades and now serves as Marketing Project Manager at KVCC. ... Another event I would like to highlight is KYDNet’s Action Friday. We got to know more about KYDNet and their work in the community as well as organizations working together to advocate for policies and sustainable funding streams that enhance and support high quality out-of-school time programming. This event took place in the Northside, which also gave us the opportunity to see another side of Kalamazoo which reflects the socio-economic disparity in Kalamazoo.
Click the button below to read her full blog, and stay tuned to our website and newsletter for more insights at the completion of her program.
Welcome to the team, Sofia Hartman!
We also welcomed a new team member last month, Sofia Hartman. Sofia is a Sophomore at Western Michigan University, currently majoring in Criminal Justice Studies and minoring in Spanish. She regularly volunteers for the Honors College in addition to other organizations. One of her most rewarding efforts was at the Michigan Voting Student Summit where she enabled and encouraged young people to vote. Her passion for social justice and her belief in the power of exchange led her to Global Ties Kalamazoo.
She jumped right in to a busy month of IVLP, CIP/IJAB and preparations for numerous home-hosted programs, including impressively diving into the daunting task of translating 20 participant bios from Spanish into English.
Here's what Sofia had to say about her first few weeks in her role:
"The time I have had at Global Ties Kalamazoo has been nothing short of incredible. This internship has provided me with the unique opportunity to work with many different cultures and develop skills that allow me to communicate with people from all around the world. My first week I got the unique experience of meeting a group of German social workers and we all enjoyed listening to their stories. They are such kind, generous people who I was honored to meet. The supportive environment and working alongside passionate professionals makes this internship a memorable experience. It has offered me insight to how international relations work and I am excited for my next few months here.
I have gotten the opportunity to meet and work with amazing people. One of the more rewarding parts of this internship has been working with Emma, Jodi and Beth and learning about all that they do and manage. Listening to how much effort and time they put into bringing participants here is aspirational. I have loved working with them also because they are so welcoming and kind."
We're honored to mentor this tremendously talented and ambitious young woman and deeply grateful for the great work Sofia is already digging deep into in her internship.
Also in September, our Program Manager Emma Baratta and longtime volunteer and now board member Deborah Harsha attended the second of this year's two Diplomacy Begins Here Regional Summits (the first was a well-attended and incredibly engaging Summit held in Kalamazoo in July). They're pictured above at the NOLA Summit pointing to the Kalamazoo side of the photo backdrop.
Here's what Deborah had to say about the Summit and her experiences with Global Ties Kalamazoo:
The keynote speaker, Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes was described as a renaissance man---an apt description for a person who delivered a completely engaging personal unscripted story about himself, his community and the complex culture of NOLA. I would have loved more time with him-as I imagine EVERY audience member would too. He was a remarkable session to kick off the summit.
Culture was definitely the theme for the whole summit and expertly woven into all sessions. It made me think of the Kalamazoo "culture" and how it can best be demonstrated to visitors and what it means to me...and GTKzoo. Emma and I agree...that our culture is connection and cooperation. I'd add we have a great amount of "Michigan Nice" in the mix as well.
When I was in high school I wanted to be part of an exchange student program....that didn't happen and perhaps because it didn't I've been culture and world-curious. My career took me to foreign lands and I got to feel and appreciate local hospitality from a traveler's perspective. Sharing that sense of hospitality is what got me started with Global Ties Kalamazoo and is certainly a source of pride when I share with others my deeper commitment by joining the board.
I find it thrilling -- yes thrilling -- to spend time with our international guests and soak up the humanity of sharing words, smiles and emotions. I am honored to be a global citizen diplomat where I live.
Did hearing about Deborah's experiences as a volunteer inspire you to get involved?
Hosting truly is a thrill for both our hosts and their guests. If you'd like to read the bios of the incredible teens who'll be traveling to Kalamazoo Oct. 26 - Nov. 5 and volunteer to be a host for part (or all) of the program, click the "Volunteer to host!" button below or email us at info@globatieskzoo.org.
Meal hospitality opportunities with IVLP visitors are also available on various dates throughout the fall.
One thing our supporters might not know about our work connecting our international guests with home hospitality -- ranging from a 2-hour commitment hosting guests for a meal in your home or workplace to overnight stays spanning a few days up to eight weeks -- is that hosting is for EVERYBODY, and sometimes we have more specific needs: it's helpful for us to find potential hosts who speak more than one language (we have upcoming hosting opportunities for French speakers to connect virtually with an online Youth Ambassadors program from Haiti, for example); those who can accommodate restricted diets (we often host guests who eat Halal diets, are vegetarian or vegan, have a gluten sensitivity, etc.); or hosts who have a wheelchair-accessible home or workplace.
Our biggest hosting challenge is typically finding hosts who don't have pets in their household who can accommodate guests with pet allergies, and we LOVE all of our hosts with furry friends too.
If you would like to host, or know someone who might, please reach out to us at info@globaltieskzoo.org to express your interest in hosting. We're seeking a wheelchair-accessible home for a meal hospitality in late October, so that need is particularly pressing at present.
Stay tuned for more volunteer opportunities in upcoming newsletters.
We're delighted to once again be participating in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) in 2025, providing local organizations an opportunity to host vibrant entrepreneurs in their workplace.
September was an exciting month for YLAI announcements. Not only were three Kalamazooans who participated as hosts for #YLAI2024 selected for its Outbound Exchange Program (Rachel from Sarkozy Bakery, Joshua from Room 35 and Traci from Public Media Network will be traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, Peru and Bolivia (respectively) to continue their collaborations with their 2024 YLAI fellow partners), Global Ties Kalamazoo confirmed its third year running as a 2025 Cohort Ambassador. We can't wait!
What this means for our community is that local businesses and organizations can participate in this incredible fully-funded program. If selected as a Field Placement Organization (FPO), you would host a rock star entrepreneur from across the Americas who's working in a similar field who'll impact your organization with their skills during a four-week fellowship, and you'll have the opportunity to apply to continue your partnership with an Outbound Exchange, too. Fill out the interest form if you're ready to apply, or email us at info@globaltieskzoo.org with any questions.
We had an absolutely unforgettable time welcoming 22 journalists representing 19 different countries to Kalamazoo for one amazing day of engagements through IVLP. Liaisons traveling with the group said we managed to pack more impactful meetings and social opportunities into one day than usually happens across four days. It's great to hear, and it's thanks to the amazing journalists, community members and Global Ties Kalamazoo board members who connected so deeply with them during their visit.
Intense conversations about press freedom and the important work journalists do here and around the globe took place alongside exploration of how the next generation of journalists are being trained right here in Kalamazoo.
At the end of the day we took over the second floor of Harvey's on the Mall for a reception with this journalism International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) cohort and joined by CIP /IJAB fellows and their home hosts; local journalists representing NowKalamazoo, Second Wave Media and WMUK 102.1 FM; students from Western Michigan University; the Global Ties Kalamazoo team and several of our board members. Happy birthday was sung in more than a dozen languages to Nora from North Macedonia. They're also pictured here at several meetings throughout their Kalamazoo visit.
Facilitating deep connections like these is at the core of our mission. Thank you to everyone who participated in this program.
If ensuring that #ExchangeIsForEverybody matters to you, we invite you to consider supporting our work. Click the button below to donate, or text GTKZOO to 44321.
Thank you for your support,
Jodi Hope Michaels and the Global Ties Kalamazoo Team
*This blog post was originally sent as an email newsletter Oct. 9, 2024
