Lisa Choate, at February 4 PDAA lunch program (A. Kotok)
UPDATED: 4 February 2014
For well over half a century, under a variety of youth and high school exchange programs, thousands of young Americans headed overseas while their counterparts from overseas came to the United States, each in search of rewarding and exciting intercultural experiences. Many of us have worked with these programs while overseas and even hosted in our homes high-school age youngsters from abroad.
We all know of course, both from our own experiences and anecdotally, of heartwarming stories of enduring links between youthful exchange visitors and their host families, but what happens after these programs are over and once life moves on? What is the long-term effect of these programs on the participants themselves, their own countries, and the countries in which they lived during their exchange experiences?
These and other questions were the topics of American Councils for International Education Executive Vice President Lisa Choate at PDAA’s first lunch program of 2014, on Tuesday February 4 at DACOR-Bacon House in Washington, D.C. Choate outlined the types of youth programming supported by American Councils in 2014, as well as the organization’s work with youth program alumni, both individuals and groups.
Choate has played a key role for the past 25 years at American Councils in strategy, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of numerous exchange programs, including staff training seminars and management of alumni programs. She oversees and directs American Councils management teams responsible for all secondary school programs for international students in the United States, for U.S. high school students abroad, and educators. In addition, she oversees the Open World Program, the largest annual citizen exchange initiative in the history of U.S-Russian relations.
Choate has a master’s degree in education and second language acquisition from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in Russian language and literature. Since 1982, she has studied at length and traveled frequently to Russia, as well as elsewhere in Europe and Asia.
This PDAA event will took place on Tuesday, February 4, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, at the DACOR-Bacon House, 1801 F Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C.
