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CIEE's BridgeUSA Celebration Tour: Wyoming and Montana Stops

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This year, CIEE launched a three-year, nationwide BridgeUSA Celebration Tour to raise awareness of the power of BridgeUSA to help strengthen local business, enrich local communities, and make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. The BridgeUSA Celebration Tour continued in July at two iconic villages in Yellowstone National Park – Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful – in Wyoming, and in Montana’s stunning Big Sky.  

BridgeUSA participants help organizations and businesses across America extend the peak tourist seasons so more Americans can enjoy our national parks and iconic travel destinations, enabling businesses and communities in all 50 states to be more successful.
 
To be effective, BridgeUSA programs need champions at all levels – strong community leaders, strong business leaders, strong BridgeUSA sponsors, and dedicated, hardworking participants. BridgeUSA is a powerful, highly impactful program and CIEE is proud to celebrate its impact by traveling America to recognize and commend program champions.

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 enhancing America’s image abroad, making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. 

Each year, BridgeUSA participants help America’s national parks extend the tourism season by up to 55 days, or more than 30% of the summer 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. This impact is enormous, especially when compared to better known programs like the Fulbright Hays program (annually supporting 8,000 students) and the Peace Corp (annually supporting 3,000 young adults).

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. 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,” said James P. Pellow, Ed.D., President and CEO of CIEE.

Three-year BridgeUSA Celebration Tour

CIEE has planned a nationwide, three-year BridgeUSA Celebration Tour to showcase the many ways in which BridgeUSA positively impacts local communities, like Yellowstone National Park and Big Sky. The power of BridgeUSA lies in its lasting effect in American communities by creating rich cultural exchanges for international visitors while enhancing economic opportunities for local businesses.  
 
At each stop on the BridgeUSA Celebration Tour, business leaders, local community advocates, and individual exemplary staff are recognized for their contributions to strengthening their local communities while advancing American interests with the CIEE BridgeUSA Champion Award.

You can join the excitement of the 2025 CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration Tour:

  • Watch this Recap Video of the Montana and Wyoming Celebration events:

The 2026 BridgeUSA Celebration Tour dates will be announced during CIEE’s 2nd Annual International Exchange Conference (IEC), October 7-8, 2025, at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Please join us at IEC to learn more about the power of BridgeUSA and network with leaders of Congress, the U.S. Department of State, and leading hosts from across America. 

If you are interested in participating in a future CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration event, please reach out to Carye Duffin, CIEE Senior Vice President of External Affairs, at CDuffin@ciee.org.