After an exciting year of three short domestic pilot programs, AFS-USA is gearing up for another year of innovative partnerships with volunteers and communities. We’re increasing the reach of our important mission, with the vision of building more a more resilient, connected United States.
Help us make connections in your community by ordering/downloading and sharing our Partner With Us flyer with individuals or organizations in your network that may be interested in collaborating! (password for the link: intercultural25!)
We had a hypothesis going into this year: intercultural understanding, like we as AFSers have seen growing time and again between students from different countries as they connect with each other and with their host families and friends, also increases when we intentionally create opportunities for people from different locations and backgrounds within the same country.
More on takeaways later, but this year showed us strong evidence of that our hypothesis is correct. Building bridges where we need them most–this is our ‘why’.
Right now, we are seeking Area Teams who are interested in following in the footsteps of the Columbia Pacific, Greater Chicago, and Greater Cincinnati teams to design and pilot a short program, fully supported by AFS-USA staff. Are you looking for a new way to engage volunteers and prospective host families? To share your talents in an innovative way? Contact us–[email protected] (or call Emily at 646-751-2015).
Participants in the 2026 domestic pilot in the Pacific Northwest pose together.