The US Department of State
"International Visitor Leadership Program"

Among over 225,000 official visitors brought to the US under the IVLP since 1940, more than 320 current and former Heads of State, thousands of Cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and business have seen first-hand how Americans live, work, learn, and play.  At any given point during the year, approximately 250 IVLP leaders are on projects in the United States.

More than one-fourth of the United Nations member states have an IVLP alumnus as head of state or government, among them (past and present):
Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
Former President Mary Robinson, Ireland
Former Prime Minister Theresa May, United Kingdom
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Former President Ricardo Lagos, Chile
Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair & Gordon Brown, United Kingdom
Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Germany
Former President Felipe Calderon, Mexico
Baroness Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, United Kingdom
Former President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya
Former President Joyce Banda, Malawi
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israel
Former President Anwar Sadat, Egypt
Former President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan
Former President Julius Nyerere, Tanzania
Former President Abdullah Gul, Turkey
Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India
Oscar Arias, former President, Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
"Our work--yours and mine--begins with a basic premise: that the perceptions, opinions, and actions of individual citizens across the globe matter--to their communities, to their nations, and to us. For this reason, American relationships with the world must reach beyond leaders and government officials, to engage directly and seriously with a broad range of women, men, and young people--business leaders and entrepreneurs; social activists and civil society figures; teachers, students; artists, writers, and media professionals. When we engage with these individuals, we quickly realize that there are commonalities that can bring us closer together, even when we hold differing views on specific issues. From Indianapolis to Islamabad, people everywhere share the same aspirations for their families and communities."

Judith McHale
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Remarks to the 2011 NCIV National Meeting, February 17, 2011