CIEE Community Impact Initiative - October Update

The CIEE Community Impact Initiative is a company-wide commitment to provide opportunities for students and staff to engage with their international neighbors through community service in every CIEE program.

Since 1947, CIEE’s mission has been to advance peace in our world through international exchange programs that promote mutual respect and understanding. Perhaps no other experience is more universal or impactful to that mission than serving others in need.

CIEE College Study Abroad Community Impact Initiative

For CIEE College Study Abroad, the Community Impact Initiative includes three program planks – 1) introduction of all CIEE students to CIEE's 160 international community service partners to engage in service while studying abroad, 2) a twice-annual community impact week celebrated simultaneously in 49 CIEE study abroad locations, and 3) a community impact student poster competition.

CIEE’s Community Impact Orientation: Orientation for CIEE’s fall semester students took place in early September where center staff shared the value and impact of the Community Impact Initiative across each of our 49 cities. Students learned how they can get involved with a variety of organizations in their host communities across food security, community development and public health, and youth development and education.

Following orientation, students had the opportunity to meet with individual organizations to determine the best fit for their service goals and personal interests.

In some cases, students have already started contributing to their host cities – including in Buenos Aires where students planted urban gardens at Huerta la Margarita, and in Rome where students prepared meals for the brothers living in the Missionaries of Charity (founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1979), as well as for community members in need.
 
CIEE’s Community Impact Week, which brings together students, staff, and service partners around the world in celebration, will take place during the week of November 23, 2026 this year in conjunction with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

CIEE’s Community Impact Global Student Poster Competition takes place during CIEE’s 79th Annual Study Abroad Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Seven students will share their service work from the spring 2026 semester and compete for a chance to win a donation for their service partner organization.

CIEE High School Study Abroad Community Impact Initiative

For CIEE’s High School Study Abroad, the Community Impact Initiative includes three types of study abroad programs – 1) leadership and service programs, 2) ecology/ sustainability/wildlife programs, and 3) Good Neighbor community service programs.

CIEE’s High School Good Neighbor Community Service Programs - In August, students from eight U.S. schools participated in two new High School Summer Abroad programs: Good Neighbor Kitchen and Good Neighbor PlayLab. These ten-day experiences in Mérida, Mexico, and Monteverde, Costa Rica, focused on developing career-ready skills through service-learning. In Good Neighbor Kitchen, students learned culinary skills from local professionals and prepared a meal from scratch for children in Mérida. Good Neighbor PlayLab helped students explore early childhood education and storytelling, creating costumes and props for a Mayan folk tale story time.
 
During a visit with the inaugural Good Neighbor cohort in Mérida, Mexico, CIEE President and CEO James Pellow joined students at CIEE partner organization Comedor Zarigüeyas, where students delivered their first meal, made entirely from scratch, to more than 20 local children. Watch this video to hear from Jim on his time in Mérida and why the Good Neighbor Community Service Programs help to fulfill CIEE’s mission of building bridges.

CIEE BridgeUSA International Exchange Visitor Program Community Impact Initiative

For CIEE’s BridgeUSA, the Community Impact Initiative includes three program planks – 1) CIEE’s One World Café™, 2) CIEE’s Young Civic Leadership Summit, and 3) CIEE’s BridgeUSA American Directory of Community Service Partners.

CIEE’s BridgeUSA Celebration Tour continued across America this summer, with recent stops in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and Ocean City, Maryland, celebrating the employers, community leaders, participants, and local champions who make international exchange possible.

In Wisconsin Dells, the “Waterpark Capital of the World,” more than five million visitors arrive each year, supported by a seasonal workforce of approximately 10,000. In Ocean City, eight million annual visitors fuel a vibrant tourism economy supported by 12,000 seasonal workers, including 3,200 BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel participants. In both communities, BridgeUSA helps local businesses meet the demands of their busiest seasons while welcoming young people from around the world into American communities. Every summer, BridgeUSA participants and the Americans who welcome them have opportunities to share cultures, build friendships, and experience everyday life together—creating the kind of personal connections that are at the heart of international exchange.

Through the Celebration Tour, CIEE is proud to recognize the local champions and communities that bring BridgeUSA to life and demonstrate how exchange strengthens local economies, builds understanding across cultures, and creates connections that can last long after the summer ends.

Read more about the Wisconsin Dells Celebration Tour stop and the Ocean City Celebration Tour stop.