Basic Organization Information
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh
- Physical Address:
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Pittsburgh, PA
15219
- EIN:
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25-1064871
- Web URL:
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www.worldpittsburgh.org
- NTEE Category:
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Q International, Foreign Affairs, and National Security
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Q20 Promotion of International Understanding
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B Educational Institutions
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B20 Elementary, Secondary Ed
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V Social Science Research Institutes
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V35 International Studies
- Year Founded:
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1953
- Ruling Year:
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1953
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Mission Statement
<p>The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of key contemporary international issues throughout Western Pennsylvania. Established in 1931, the Council is committed to informing opinion leaders and decision-makers about developments around the world as they unfold – and to educating them about the relevance of such developments to the region. The Council has a special focus on secondary schools throughout the region, and works to give students and teachers a more nuanced understanding of the global issues of our time.</p>
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Impact Summary from the Nonprofit
<p>Through work in nearly 300 schools and some 170-200 events that reach over 17,000 people annually – plus a weekly radio program and the increasing use of interactive webcasts – the Council seeks to fulfill the following objectives:</p>
<ul type="disc"><li>Foster informed, independent, and critical thinking about important global issues as they affect the nation, the region, and the city.</li></ul> <ul type="disc"><li>Provide innovative programming to secondary schools students throughout the region with a focus on underserved populations. </li></ul>
<ul type="disc"><li>Prepare the current and successor generations of opinion leaders and decision-makers to be better global citizens and more effective actors in the global marketplace.</li></ul>
<ul type="disc"><li>Promote the deeper understanding of the diverse international communities in the region as well as the countries and cultures from which they originate in an effort to support overarching regional economic, workforce, and community development objectives.</li></ul>
<p>In the last year, the Council has:</p>
<ul type="disc"><li>Expanded and strengthened its award-winning secondary school world affairs activities and continued the tradition of allowing all interested students to participate free of charge – a practice which makes the Council unique in the region and among Councils in the rest of the country.</li></ul>
<ul type="disc"><li>Increased the number of Global Travel Scholars thereby directly helping transform the lives of local high school students.</li></ul>
<ul type="disc"><li>Initiated an innovative effort to webcast Council events and activities – so that professionals in the community and students and teachers at local schools can benefit from the substantive aspects of the events.</li></ul>
<ul type="disc"><li>Launched a series of activities designed to engage mid-career professionals in a discussion of foreign policy issues. </li></ul>
<p>The focus on international education at the secondary school level remains a key area for the Council. However, it is also important for the Council to expand its mission and to provide more knowledge to mid-career professionals as they navigate the global economy and as they assume greater leadership roles and prepare to take responsibility for meeting the domestic and foreign policy challenges of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</p>
<p>The Council strives to play a role in the overall development of the region. Through such the engagement of the Council, the city becomes more attractive to highly qualified young professionals, to international corporations seeking new homes, and to those same corporations seeking to promote capable young leaders into global positions. All of this makes Pittsburgh more competitive in the international marketplace, which only supports its economic revitalization. </p>
Leadership
Dr. Steven E. Sokol
Term:
Since
July
2010
Leadership Statement:
<p>As Pittsburgh continues to undergo a transformation from a city of iron, steel, and coke to one which is characterized by “meds and eds” and as the world gets smaller as a direct result of globalization and the introduction of new technologies, the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is positioned to be the premier organization in Western Pennsylvania which is dedicated to informing the community about international affairs. </p>
<p>The focus on international education at the secondary school level remains a key area for the Council. However, it is also important for the Council to expand its mission and to demonstrate its relevance to the business community. The Council is also the ideal organization to provide more knowledge to mid-career professionals as they navigate the global economy and as they assume greater leadership roles and prepare to take responsibility for meeting the domestic and foreign policy challenges ahead.</p>
<p>Through its range of programs and activities, the Council strives to play a role in the overall development of the region. As a result of the engagement of the Council, the city becomes more attractive to highly qualified young professionals, to international corporations seeking new homes, and to those same corporations seeking to promote capable young leaders into global positions. All of this makes Pittsburgh more competitive in the international marketplace, which only supports its long-term economic revitalization. </p>
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Program:
Education Programs
- Budget:
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$311,500
- Category:
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Education, General/Other
- Population Served:
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Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
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Adults
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Other Named Groups
Program Description:
<p>For more than half of the Council's 81-year history, there has been a significant emphasis in serving this region's secondary schools. A national award-winning school outreach program, the Council’s Academic Programs continue to serve nearly 300 schools in Western Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>The mission of the Council’s Academic Programs is to promote, among secondary school students and teachers in the region:</p>
<ul type="disc"><li>a global perspective for a global century;</li><li>informed and independent thinking about world affairs; and</li><li>critical understanding about important issues in an<br />interdependent world as they affect the nation and this region.</li></ul>
<p>Each year, the Council provides more than 100 programs that reach 11,000 students and teachers, helping them acquire the tools to understand a world changing substantially faster than textbooks and other materials at their disposal. </p>
<p>Programs encompass a variety of formats, including visits to schools by experts and policy practitioners, briefings on topical issues, after-school seminars, day-long workshops for teachers and students, and intensive week-long summer institutes.</p>
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Program:
Public Policy Programs
- Budget:
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$254,000
- Category:
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International, Foreign Affairs & National Security, General/Other
- Population Served:
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Adults
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Other Named Groups
Program Description:
<p>Public Policy Programs of varying formats, times, and venues are designed to connect community, civic, and business leaders with the ideas and people that shape America’s global role. The Council typically hosts at least two programs a month at a downtown location which a focus on relevant topics. </p><p>Recently, the Council has actively invested in programming aimed at young professionals, designed to cultivate the next generation of members, leaders, and donors and empowering them to help shape the Council in ways that will be responsive to their changing needs. These evening events held in a more informal location with a lower attendance fee are designed to encourage networking and discussion. They provide an opportunity for young and mid-career professionals to listen to experts speak on timely topics and then actively participate in the following discussion. This initiative seeks to engage a population that is more diverse in backgrounds and attitudes as well as professions, and one that responds to different programmatic approaches and methods of social networking and communication.</p><p>For over 30 years, the Council has also hosted a weekly 30-minute radio program on KQV Radio (AM 1410), with interviews of Council guests and other experts and community leaders, which airs on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and periodically on Friday evenings.<br /></p>
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Program:
Global Travel Scholars Program
- Budget:
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$115,000
- Category:
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- Population Served:
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Program Description:
<p>The World Affairs Council launched its Global Travel Scholarship Program in 2004 in partnership with the Experiment in International Living. Since its inception, 91 area students have been given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of a foreign country, an experience that many of these students might not have otherwise had. The Scholarships awarded by the Council cover the full cost of each travel program.<br /></p> <p>The Council focuses on recruiting Scholars from city schools, suburban communities hit hard by the loss of the steel industry, and rural areas. The Council works closely with teachers from these districts, soliciting nominations of students whom the teachers believe are mature enough to handle the cross-cultural nature of the Program. Those students who advance to the final round are interviewed by the Council’s Selection Committee. In choosing each year’s Scholars, the Committee evaluates their scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership ability, and need for the scholarship.</p> <p> Each Scholar spends four or five weeks in their designated country. Depending on the program and country selected, the Scholars have an opportunity to participate in community service projects, language training, regional exploration, outdoor adventure, or the Arts. All of the Scholars live with a local family for part of their time abroad.</p>
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Evidence of Impact
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