Skip to Content

Professional hosting

Professional hosting
Meet young, emerging, and established leaders from around the world, share your professional experience, and showcase your company by participating in professional exchanges and youth programs.

Professional exchanges
Each year, the U.S. Department of State brings more than 5,000 established and emerging leaders to the U.S. through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The visitors, who have been identified as rising stars in key fields and future leaders of their countries, are nominated and selected by U.S. embassies around the world. 

The IVLP helps strengthen U.S. engagement with countries around the world and cultivate lasting relationships by connecting current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts. The majority of IVLP exchanges include visits to four U.S. communities over three weeks, although projects vary based on themes, embassy requests, and other factors. Participants meet with their professional counterparts, visit U.S. public and private sector organizations related to the project theme, and participate in cultural and social activities. 

Each year, the Council enables over 500 of these visitors from over 120 countries to visit Portland and cities throughout Oregon. Visitors frequently highlight Oregon as the most valuable part of their experience in the national program. They explore issues from sustainability and environmental policy to progressive governance practices and civic innovation. 

More than 200,000 visitors have engaged with Americans through the IVLP, including over 330 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other world leaders in government and private sectors. A few of the distinguished alumni include Margaret Thatcher, Anwar Sadat, Giscard D'Estaing, Indira Gandhi, Julius Nyerere, Oscar Arias, and F.W. deKlerk. For more information please visit the U.S. State Department website or the National Council for International Visitors website. 


Youth programs 
Pass on your professional knowledge to the next generation of international leaders. Through government-sponsored programs, we connect young leaders with organizations and businesses in Oregon that give them tools to strengthen their leadership skills and address themes such as social justice, youth activism, and public diplomacy. Youth programs utilize homestays to maximize the interaction in the community and give participants a firsthand experience of the life of an American family.



Hosted by Spiretech