GCIV staff pictured with Assistant Secretary of State Ann Stock.

As a proud member of the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV), GCIV traveled to Washington, D.C. in February to participate in events celebrating half a century of leadership in citizen diplomacy - the concept that individual citizens have the right, even the responsibility, to help shape U.S. foreign relations "one handshake at a time."

GCIV joined NCIV member organizations from across the country and citizen diplomats from around the globe for events and programs designed to share best practices and strengthen leadership skills in citizen diplomacy. The NCIV national meeting also was an opportunity to promote Georgia as a destination for emerging leaders from around the world traveling to the United States as guests of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).  

Here in Atlanta, Fulton County Chairman John Eaves issued a proclamation in celebration of the IVLP's 70th Anniversary.

GCIV staff member Irene Bailey and trustee Mark Pierson pictured with Fulton County Chairman John Eaves, Commissioner Liz Hausmann (District 3), Commissioner Joan Garner (District 6), Commissioner Rob Pitts (District 2), and the proclamation honoring 70 years of citizen diplomacy.

AFS Student Exchange for High Schoolers 

Enrich Atlanta by hosting an AFS Exchange Student. Open your heart and your home to a high school student. Whether you are in your 20s or 70s, have children or not, live alone or with a roommate, you are the perfect family for AFS. Students arrive mid-August 2011 and stay until December 2011 or June 2012. AFS has more than 60 trained Atlanta volunteers supporting host families and students before, during, and after the experience. To find out more information, contact Ruth Blackstock at 404-406-2917 or afsgeorgia@gmail.com or visit www.afsusa.org.

Tuesday, March 14th, 12:00 - 1:30 PM

"Turkey and Europe: is Islam an Obstacle?" 

The Istanbul Center's next distinguished speaker series features "Turkey and Europe: is Islam an Obstacle?" by Mustafa Akyol. Mr. Akyol is a Turkish political commentator and author based in Istanbul, Turkey. He is a prominent columnist for Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey's foremost English-language daily newspaper. The free lecture is co-sponsored by the European Union Center for Excellence at Georgia Tech and will be in the Piedmont Room of the Georgia Tech Student Center. Click here to RSVP and for more information.

Savannah Music Festival 2011

The Savannah Music Festival is an internationally renowned event that connects audiences with distinctive musical traditions from the American South and abroad. The 2011 festival includes master musicians from Brazil, Germany, India, Cuba, Benin, Mali, and the United Kingdom. Original productions such as "African Interplay" with Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal and the Lionel Loueke Ensemble, "Jazz Meets Brazil" with Dianne Reeves and the Chico Pinheiro Quintet, and Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer pair virtuosic international musicians with some of America's most accomplished instrumentalists, producers, composers, and vocalists. Other exemplary world music performers such as Salif Keita of Mali and Los Munequitos de Matanzas of Cuba are also set to grace Savannah's stages during the 2011 festival. For more information, visit www.savannahmusicfestival.org.