Since its founding in 1951, the mission of the world affairs council of dallas/fort worth has been to provide relevant information about global issues, challenges and opportunities while establishing north texas as a center for international interests and business.

International

Public speaker programsthe world affairs council presents public programs and events to support our mission of connecting north texas with the world. In fy 2017-18, the council presented 105 programs to our 4,000 members. Notable series for the year included breach of trust: crime and corruption; women of strength: jewish female heritage; future of war; and our annual international perspective series. Other significant programs featured walter isaacson, david ignatius, and former chief of britain's mi6 sir richard dearlove. We partnered with cbs radio, parish episcopal school, and interabang books to present free and reduced-price programs around dallas, and we held four programs in fort worth and five in collin county. The council honored dallas mavericks basketball star dirk nowitzki with the 34th annual h. Neil mallon award. international education programsour robust global young leaders program ("gyl") provides supplementary educational programs to students both inside and outside the classroom on topics such as civics, public policy, international affiars, and history. Additionally, gyl provides resources to teachers to enhance their own curricula. We have 70 junior world affairs council clubs active in local schools (public, private and charter) and brought 25 experts and leaders to schools as speakers. Over 4,000 students and 350 teachers attended council public programs free of charge. In nearly all cases, the students and teachers are given the chance to visit with the speaker and ask questions. international servicesthe international visitor leadership program gives current and emerging leaders from other countries the opportunity to engage with their american counterparts. Working with the department of state, the council hosted 282 visiting delegates representing 88 different countries. These delegations met with local dfw companies where they were able to make connections with american experts in their respective fields of interest. The council also maintains contracts with the city of dallas and the town of addison, through which we provide protocol services. Our dallas office of protocol & diplomatic services planned and supported two foreign trade missions - korea and canada - and welcomed 39 foreign delegations to dallas city hall.