CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration Tour Visits San Antonio to Highlight How BridgeUSA Makes the United States Safer, Stronger, and More Prosperous
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Fourth stop of CIEE’s nationwide roadshow will recognize exceptional host employers, host families, and other supporters of international exchange in the Lone Star State
The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) is in San Antonio this week for the fourth stop on its nationwide BridgeUSA Celebration Tour, spotlighting how international exchange programs powered by the U.S. Department of State are making America safer through diplomacy, stronger through global collaboration, and more prosperous through innovation and shared opportunity.
In Texas, CIEE will honor supporters of the BridgeUSA High School program, which offers international students a life-changing opportunity to attend high school in the U.S., and the BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel program, which brings international college students to live and work in the United States during their summer break, helping more than 4,000 businesses, large and small, across the United States expand and extend the tourist season, leading to enhanced local economic benefits while injecting more than $1.2 billion into the broader U.S. economy each year.
BridgeUSA provides a significant economic and cultural benefit to hundreds of communities across the United States. BridgeUSA High School exchange students bring fresh perspectives into classrooms, foster empathy among students, and enrich the cultural life of the towns and families who host them. BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel participants support seasonal businesses, allowing some to stay open 30-45 days longer than they would be able to without BridgeUSA participants.
“Texas provides BridgeUSA participants, especially students on high school exchange programs, an authentic lens into American culture,” said Carye Duffin, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at CIEE. “We are visiting San Antonio to celebrate the local host employers and host families, the supervisors, the mentors, the community leaders, and the advocates for international exchange who year after year show the world the very best of America.”
BridgeUSA Makes America Safer and Stronger
BridgeUSA programs bolster America’s national security and strengthen America’s public diplomacy by fostering mutual respect between Americans and people of other nations. BridgeUSA participants return home and spread word of their positive experience in the United States which improves the American image abroad and makes our country safer.
“CIEE BridgeUSA high school participants build life-long relationships with their host families, school friends, teachers and community members,” said Martine Mangion, Senior Vice President, Inbound Exchange Programs at CIEE. “These tiny ripples of exchange grow into waves of global connection, promoting peaceful relations between countries for years to come.”
BridgeUSA Makes America More Prosperous
BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel participants enable local economies to prosper by expanding and extending the tourism season, allowing businesses to employ more Americans for a longer seasonal period, and allowing hundreds of local businesses—from laundromats to general stores, from local diners to grocery stores—to extend the duration of their peak-season sales surge, compounding the positive economic impact in each community.
“The core premise of the BridgeUSA program is that international students come to America at their own expense on temporary visas to help American businesses and American communities thrive,” said James P. Pellow, president and CEO of CIEE. “BridgeUSA students pay their way to come to America, they help 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.”
About the CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration Tour
In June, the CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration Tour began in Ohio and Kentucky with stops at the iconic Cedar Point Amusement Park, the famous Kings Island Amusement Park, and family-favorite Kentucky Kingdom. In July, CIEE senior leaders visited stunning Yellowstone National Park and majestic Big Sky, Montana. In August, we celebrated BridgeUSA in Myrtle Beach.
If you are interested in participating in this or a future CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration event, please reach out to Carye Duffin, CIEE Senior Vice President of External Affairs, at CDuffin@ciee.org.
About CIEE:
CIEE builds bridges between different people, different countries, and different cultures. For 75 years, we have helped young people participate in high-quality international exchange and study abroad programs that bring the world together. Since 1947, CIEE has supported more than one million student exchanges for participants from more than 140 countries. We change lives, our alumni change the world. Learn more at ciee.org.
Media Contact: Leslie Taylor, ltaylor@ciee.org, (207) 553-4274