2025 Professional Programs
2025 Countries in Tampa Bay!
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April 16, 23 & 30
Non-IVLP Program "Global Journalist Re-Engagement Workshops" Virtual Series for World Partnerships IVLP Alumni In late spring 2025, World Partnerships, Inc. and Al Tompkins Workshops created a new “Global Journalist Re-Engagement” series for IVLP alumni, their colleagues and their journalism students. These workshops were designed to support enhanced virtual training for our unique network of hundreds of leading journalists located in virtually every country around the world. Over the past 20 years, Tompkins has engaged with thousands of IVLP journalists.The workshops took place over three consecutive Wednesdays at a fixed time of 8 am to 10 am (April 16, 23 & 30, 2025). For the series, we reached out to over 750 journalists from every region of the world and received over 150 registrations total for the three workshops. Read More Here! |
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June 14 - 21
Non-IVLP Program “NASA Space Apps Challenge” Mission to the United States An Initiative of the U.S. Embassy Muscat In collaboration with the Oman University of Technology and Applied Sciences Oman Nine NASA Space Apps Challenge finalists from three universities in Oman, accompanied by two faculty advisers, travelled on a mission to the United States organized by the U.S. Embassy Muscat and conceived and administered by World Partnerships, Inc. The purpose of the mission to NASA space centers in Houston, Texas and Cape Canaveral, Florida was to foster U.S.-Oman academic and scientific exchange and inspire future leaders in STEM. The group was comprised of science and engineering students from the Oman Military Technological College and the German University of Technology (Oman), and Oman National University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS), with faculty advisers from the UTAS. The mission offered in-depth immersion in all aspects of NASA’s approach to the exploration of outer space, from its earliest rockets and astronauts to the latest Mars Rover vehicles and the Artemis Moon mission, and everything in between. Stay Tuned for Full Mission Reporrt! |
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July 18 - 24
"ASEAN - Cybersecurity and Digital Defense" Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Timor-Leste Senior cybersecurity officials from the ASEAN countries comprised the first IVLP group of the year in Tampa Bay. Their program objectives included: Investigate digital security challenges and strategies to counter cyber threats and protect critical infrastructure; discuss American innovation in securing digital markets to maintain U.S. global leadership; examine responsible digital technology use that upholds freedom, privacy, and transparency; and explore partnerships improve cybersecurity policies and data governance. Meetings ranged from workforce development to technology and techniques to counter cyber-attacks, and included the St. Petersburg Police Department; Raymond James Financial; CyberFlorida; the USF Global National Security Institute; the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub; St. Petersburg College College of Computer and Information Technology; and Tampa Bay Water. |
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August 13-16
Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists "Investigative Reporting" African Union, Algeria, Angola, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Ghana, Kosovo, Mexico, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Uganda Our first Murrow program of the year brought our IVLP participants together with longtime investigative reporters from around Tampa Bay. After more than 40 years as an award-winning television investigative reporter, Mike Deeson founded Deeson Media, an investigative documentary company dedicated to producing impactful, socially relevant content. His interaction with this group included key elements of investigative reporting combined with video case studies from his storied career. Deeson encouraged participants to be "story-tellers and truth-tellers." Al Tompkins, retired senior faculty at the Poynter Institute, conducted a workshop that challenged the journalists to become uniquely valuable, and to better understand and master the challenges and the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. Over the past 20 years, Tompkins has engaged with thousands of IVLP journalists. And finally, Justin Garcia, an investigative reporter with the Tampa Bay Times, engaged the group in a conversation about developing sources for investigative reporting, and a toolkit for working with vulnerable sources. A Gulf sunset sail closed out their stay. |
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August 19-23, 2025 Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists "Investigative Reporting" A Project for the Indo-Pacific Australia, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste In addition to outstanding investigative reporting and A-I sessions with Al Tompkins, Mike Deeson, and Justin Garcia, this group engaged with Joe Hamilton, founder and publisher of the St. Pete Catalyst, and his reporter Mark Parker (photo at top). The Catalyst is a hyper-local, digital-only news media that covers local business, politics and the arts. The Catalyst now includes an A-I reporter, Cora Quantum, who, like any reporter, reports to a human editor. Hamilton also talked about the development of "Cityverse", a platform and tool for accessing local content creators and building their audiences - including, for example, virtual galleries for every local artist, and community conversations led by different community interests. As this platform evolves, Hamilton believes this geographically-focused, tech-driven civic media network will revitalize local news and reconnect communities. Read Mark Parker's story about the IVLP session with the St. Pete Catalyst here! |
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"August 20-23, 2025
"Towards a More Safe and Secure World" Series
"Regional Collaboration to Combat Transnational Crime II"
A Regional Project for Europe
Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
For the 11th year, World Partnerships partnered with the St. Petersburg Police Department and Chief Anthony Holloway to host "Towards a More Safe and Secure World". This year the European regonal delegation included law enforcement and judicial professionals. This project explored the role of law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities at the federal, state, and local levels to detect, investigate, and prosecute various transnational crimes, such as financial and organized crimes, the trafficking and smuggling of people and goods, and terrorism; and identified ways in which American policy makers and law enforcement agencies can collaborate with European partners to counter transnational crimes.
"Towards a More Safe and Secure World" Series
"Regional Collaboration to Combat Transnational Crime II"
A Regional Project for Europe
Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
For the 11th year, World Partnerships partnered with the St. Petersburg Police Department and Chief Anthony Holloway to host "Towards a More Safe and Secure World". This year the European regonal delegation included law enforcement and judicial professionals. This project explored the role of law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities at the federal, state, and local levels to detect, investigate, and prosecute various transnational crimes, such as financial and organized crimes, the trafficking and smuggling of people and goods, and terrorism; and identified ways in which American policy makers and law enforcement agencies can collaborate with European partners to counter transnational crimes.
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Special thanks to our law enforcement professionals who engaged in depth with this group of senior European officials:
Charlie Vazquez, Chief of Police, Tampa International Airport Police Department and his colleagues. Robert E. (Bobby) O’Neill, Managing Partner and Founder, SI Global Strategic Partners (and former US Attorney for the Middle District of Florida). Anthony Holloway, Chief of Police, St. Petersburg Police Department, his Intel detectives, and the patrol officers who provided ride-alongs for the visiting group. Mark Brutnell, Special Agent in Charge, Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center, (TBROC), Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Robert Mazur, author, and one of the world’s leading experts on global financial crime. |