BridgeUSA Impact: CIEE's 2025 Celebration Tour Comes to a Close
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Watch the video above to learn about CIEE's 2025 BridgeUSA Celebration Tour!
This summer, CIEE launched a nationwide, three-year BridgeUSA Celebration Tour to raise awareness on the power the U.S. Department of State's BridgeUSA program has in improving the lives of all Americans.
CIEE made eight stops in six states to celebrate local communities that rally around and are positively impacted by this integral program.
- June: Legendary Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, famous Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, and beloved Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky
- July: Majestic Old Faithful and stunning Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and the awe inspiring Big Sky in Montana
- August: Family favorite Myrtle Beach in South Carolina
- September: Historic San Antonio, Texas
Top row: Katlin Wattrick accepting a BridgeUSA Champion Award on behalf of Cedar Point in Ohio; BridgeUSA participants celebrating with CIEE at Kings Island in Ohio; BridgeUSA participant in Kentucky Kingdom in Kentucky; CIEE senior leaders, Cat Labelle from Xanterra Travel Collection, and a BridgeUSA participant posing in front of Old Faithful in Wyoming. Bottom row: BridgeUSA participants celebrating with CIEE at Mammoth Hot Springs; CIEE senior leaders with BridgeUSA participants in Big Sky, Montana; Kathy Winfree accepting her BridgeUSA Champion Award with Rebecca Pasini, U.S. Department of State's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchange and CIEE senior leaders in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; The Killen Family accepting their BridgeUSA Champion Award from CIEE senior leaders in San Antonio, Texas.
In each of these vibrant communities, CIEE brought together BridgeUSA participants, host employers, host schools, and host families with local government officials, groups, and business leaders to have fruitful discussions on the ways BridgeUSA enhances American businesses, enriches American communities, and strengthens America's image abroad.
Additionally, through the BridgeUSA Champion Awards, CIEE honored critical program advocates at each stop for their support of BridgeUSA and the ways in which it makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Visit the CIEE Blog to meet all of the 2025 Award Winners in Ohio, Kentucky, Wyoming, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas.
Follow CIEE on LinkedIn to stay up to date on the the 2026 BridgeUSA Celebration Tour and share our posts with your network to spread the word about BridgeUSA!
Background and Impact of BridgeUSA
BridgeUSA was established by Congress in 1961 to advance American interests at home and abroad, enhancing American businesses, enriching American communities, and strengthening America's image abroad, making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
Each year, BridgeUSA participants help America's hospitality industry at beaches and amusement parks extend the summer tourism season by up to 55 days, or close to 30% of the season, allowing local businesses to stay open later and longer, leading to enhanced local economic benefits while injecting more than $1.2 billion into the broader U.S. economy each year.
BridgeUSA students pay their way to come to America, they make American businesses more profitable while they are here, and then they return to their home countries with a deeper knowledge and respect for American culture and American values, including the power of democracy and free speech. If BridgeUSA did not exist, someone would need to invent it, as it truly enriches all Americans.
If you would like to learn more about CIEE's work with BridgeUSA please reach out to Carye Duffin, CIEE Senior Vice President of External Affairs, at CDuffin@ciee.org.