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International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville Inc.
4077 Woodcock Drive
Building 2500, Suite 100
Jacksonville FL  32207
Tel: 904.346.3941
ivcj@ivcjax.com
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The International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville

 
Chocolates 2009 Postcard
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Who We Are

Our Goals

What We Do  

Brief History

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY!

When ordinary citizens open their offices, schools, and homes to international visitors they play an essential role in shaping America’s foreign relations. Helping visitors to experience Americans’ warmth and integrity and the rich diversity of our cultural and political life, builds world peace, “one handshake at a time.” 

Welcome a stranger, send home a friend!

WHO WE ARE

The International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville is a nonprofit, nonpartisan volunteer organization that promotes multicultural awareness and understanding between people of other nations and the United States by assisting the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and other international exchange programs for business and professional leaders. To learn more about the IVLP, please click on the icon below.

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U.S. Department of State
International Visitor Leadership Program
(Click on seal to visit site)
Snapshot July, 2007

OUR GOALS

  • Give participants in-depth exposure to their professional fields in the U.S.
  • Provide opportunities to interact with U.S. counterparts.
  • Send international visitors home with a better understanding of the history and the heritage of the United States.
  • Facilitate relationships to aid economic development in Northeast Florida and in the visitor’s home country.
  • Foster international understanding and build a basis for world peace.

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WHAT WE DO

Hosting International Visitors

 IVCJ office:

  • Arranges and coordinates meetings for our visitors with business,  professional, cultural, and governmental leaders in their respective   fields of interest

 IVCJ volunteers:

  • Pick visitors up at the airport and return them at the end of their stay
  • Escort visitors to professional meetings and events
  • Show visitors our area’s attractions
  • Invite or accompany visitors to sporting or cultural events
  • Invite visitors to our homes for a meal or just good conversation

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Social Activities

Social activities organized by IVCJ throughout the year give members and visitors an opportunity to meet and get to know each other.

Second Fridays: IVCJ members meet on the second Friday of every month at centrally located restaurant with each other to talk about upcoming groups, world events, and to introduce new friends. To learn more go to our new Member Corner!

Chocolates of the World Gala Evening: 2007 Brought top area chefs together to compete to create the best chocolate dessert with an international theme.  2008 was bigger and even better! It is the universal appeal of chocolate that brings together many international and cultural organizations and citizens to celebrate our common bonds. So, mark your calendars for Saturday, January 31, 2009 and the next Chocolates of the World!
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Potluck dinners: IVCJ members frequently open their homes for potluck meals, which give visitors and members an opportunity not only to exchange ideas on a one-to-one basis but also to taste a wide variety of foods from all over the world.
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Community Outreach

Scholarship Program
IVCJ partners with local colleges and universities to provide Study Abroad Scholarships. This program allows selected students to benefit from truly unique and multicultural learning experiences during their academic studies. 

Internship Program
The IVCJ offers interns from local universities and colleges exposure to matters and functions in the international arena that pertain to their career interest. IVCJ also supports the “Blueprint for Leadership Program” conducted by Volunteer Jacksonville, Inc.

Educational Events
The IVCJ sponsors and co-sponsors various special events, workshops, seminars and receptions to raise awareness of the economic impact and importance of international visitors in our community and to promote Florida’s international interests.

Through classroom presentations and interviews, international visitors have introduced local students of all ages to international events, global affairs, world geography and cultures in a way that textbooks cannot.

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BRIEF HISTORY

The International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville was founded in 1990 as the International Resource Center of Jacksonville. The name was changed to International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville (IVCJ) in 2004 in order to better reflect our core activity of hosting professional visitors and emerging leaders from all over the world.

Since its founding, IVCJ has hosted more than 1,000 emerging leaders and professionals from over 80 countries, allowing them to experience firsthand the way Americans live, the way they conduct business, and the way they deal with the political, cultural, and social problems of today’s shrinking world.

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