We seek to broaden the worldview of grassroots America and to engage Americans in international issues. We have flagship programs, which councils work together on nationwide, and programs which councils decide on and run at the local level, divided here into 15 program sectors.

Speakers

We host over 2,500 speakers nationwide, including 10-15 heads of state, each year. We cover important current events around the world. Speakers include US and foreign diplomats, State Department officials, congressmen and senators, journalists, authors, academics, UN members, World Bank and IMF officials, members of foreign governments, and people from the media. We also put over 1,200 speakers a year into high schools. Learn more about the Coalition for Citizen Diplomacy speakers series.

Schools

Over 50 world affairs councils run school programs in conjunction with their city, regional, or statewide school systems. They focus primarily on high schools and colleges but they also work with middle schools, schools of continuing education, and some university systems. Program activities include preparing curriculum units, organizing teachers workshops, organizing student field trips and teachers study tours abroad, putting speakers into schools, hosting high-school WorldQuest competitions, putting on Great Decisions programs, running model UNs, building resource libraries, and having interns in council offices. There is also a school program workshop at every national conference. Council school programs reach over 50,000 teachers and two million students each year.

Conferences

The national association hosts a national conference every year in January, usually in Washington. The highlights of this conference are: hearing from policy and opinion leaders, visiting embassies, operations workshops on running councils, Washington tours, the opportunity to meet other council staff members, and a national membership meeting. San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, the Foreign Policy Association in New York, Illinois, and New Hampshire also put on important national foreign affairs conferences in their areas.

Travel

The council system organizes about 50 trips a year. The national association organizes National Leadership Missions and people-to-people diplomacy trips for national board members. WACA 's newest Flagship Program is Travel the World, a council travel program organized by our world affairs council in Philadelphia. They offer 15-20 trips a year, which is open to all world affairs council members. Individual councils such as Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Santa Fe, Boston, Charlotte, and others run trips for their own members or boards. Councils also organize trips for teachers, students, or college faculty members.

National Program Series

The council system puts on thematic series around the country with major institutional partners such as the State Department, the World Bank, and the embassies in Washington, foundations, and other NGOs. The series are generally hot topics in the news that need full discussion and debate among the American people.

Exchanges

Councils host 5,000 leaders from over 180 countries annually. Some councils participate in the International Visitors Program  of the State Department. They host professionals from other countries to meet their counterparts here in the US. Councils also help support foreign students in the US and host foreign visitors through the mayor’s office, the governor’s office, local businesses, and local universities.

Business

Council work is sponsored and supported by over 2,000 companies around the US. In appreciation, councils organize corporate breakfasts with key leaders, host roundtables for business leaders, take their members to companies for discussions, participate in employee training programs, and put on business-related series in their community. Over 60 CEOs speak to councils each year.

Opinion Polls

The Chicago Council has run a national opinion on the American public and American foreign policy for over 30 years. This program, now called WorldViews has begun to do overseas polling on US relations and important topics in foreign affairs. The Great Decisions program has produces a survey of informed opinion each year based on the people who participated in the program and topics covered in that year’s book.

Media

Councils get media coverage for various programs through radio, television, and the newspapers. C-SPAN covers some 30-40 programs a year nationwide. The Southern Center in Atlanta makes the PBS Annual Reports series with former Secretaries of State, world leaders, and others. The Foreign Policy Association makes a 13-part PBS Great Decisions series each year. The San Francisco Council runs a weekly radio program called It's Your World, now carried on 21 NPR stations. Several councils have Op-Ed columns in their local papers on a regular basis. Overall council program reach some 20 million people each year.

Internet

Most councils have their own websites as does the national association. Three councils have portal websites, which are used as international affairs bulletin boards for their city. Chicago, Pittsburgh and Houston have portal websites.

Videoconferences

The council system does interactive “Insider Conversations” with key foreign policy figures via closed circuit. The San Francisco and the FPA do webcasting of their programs.

Book Tours

The council system works with authors and publishers to put on book tours around the country based on new publications in the foreign affairs field. The system hosts between 25-35 new authors each year.

Awards

National awards are given for Distinguished International Journalists, a Lifetime Achievement in Public Service, and International Culture and Arts. President’s Awards for council excellence in a given year, the Carol Marquis Award for school program achievement, and Outstanding Service Awards to individuals. Councils give awards to members of the community for outstanding public service, for outstanding members, and for teachers.

Publications

There are a wide array of publications in the council system including the Foreign Policy 500, a national staffing directory, trip reports on its leadership missions, publications from its national program series, Great Decisions, World in Transition, the Annual Reports series, foreign policy issue booklets, citizen’s guide to foreign policy election issues, national opinion polls, curriculum briefs for teachers, and more.

Social Activities

Some councils host international Christmas, New Year’s, and July 4th parties. They also organize consular balls, ethnic dinners in restaurants, events in member’s homes, receptions as international mixers, dances, international cuisine classes, art events, and intercultural celebrations. Councils sometimes co-sponsor events with local museums, bi-national societies, and other groups.