International Visitor Leadership Program

The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. The IVLP is designed to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through carefully designed visits that reflect the participants’ professional interests and support U.S. foreign policy goals.

Handpicked by American embassies around the world, international visitors come to the United States to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to gain and appreciate the ethnic, cultural, political, and socio-economic diversity of the U.S. They come to find innovative solutions to global issues and make connections both professionally and personally that will last a lifetime.