Public-Private Partnerships

For over half a century, the U.S. Government (USG) has had a strong presence in successful international exchanges and training programs. Many of these programs depend on partnerships to achieve their goals. The IAWG defines a partner as an entity that has a formal relationship with a funded U.S. Government agency to cooperate on a specific training activity, exchange, research project, or joint mission that seeks to promote the sharing of ideas, develop skills, stimulate human capacity development, or foster mutual understanding and cooperation. Memoranda of understanding, protocols, bilateral accords, grants, contracts, cooperative agreements or administrative directives, such as designation as an exchange visitor program sponsor under the J visa, link partners.

Executive Order 13055 and Public Law 105-277, the legislative mandates of the IAWG, task the Working Group with the development of "strategies for expanding public and private partnerships in, and leveraging private sector support for, United States Government-sponsored international exchange and training activities." To gather information on exchanges and training programs, the IAWG conducts annual and occasional surveys on a number of administrative and programmatic topics.

Strategies for Promoting Partnerships
Survey Results:

Bibliography on Partnership Issues
Case Studies of Successful Approaches
Links to Nongovernmental Organizations Involved in International Exchanges and Training