Iowa City nonprofit connects world to the heartland

IOWA CITY — Making connections between Iowa and the world is no small feat, but it’s the mission of an Iowa City nonprofit.

Global Ties Iowa is a community-based, member-driven nonprofit that creates, supports and sustains citizen diplomacy initiatives in Eastern Iowa.

“We offer residents the opportunity to volunteer with and meet leaders and professionals from around the world,” said Leila Assadi, communications coordinator for Global Ties Iowa.

The nonprofit, she said, also focuses on local initiatives, such as voter registration, film screenings and photo exhibits.

The groups visit Iowa through the International Visitor Leadership Program, a U.S. Department of State's professional exchange program, she said.

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“Recently, our office has been working on expanding our exchange programs beyond IVLP and to include outbound exchange,” she said. “This summer, we hosted a group of 20 Iraqi and Kurdish high schoolers through the Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange Program. And next summer, we will be hosting an in-house language and cultural immersion program for Chinese youth.”

Assadi said the Global Ties team is working this month and in September with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative and Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative.

Those programs, she said, allow 25 percent of the host professionals to travel to the home country of the young professionals they host.

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Community impact

Hosting international visitors in Eastern Iowa makes a big impact on the community, program directors note, with visitors meeting 313 professionals, both in-person and in virtual meetings, during the 2023 fiscal year.

Some 296 volunteers and unpaid interns worked with Global Ties to welcome 330 international visitors from 99 countries and territories, including Ghana, Botswana, France, Nepal, Chile and Saudi Arabia, Assadi said.

“Because of our work, our community has noted that they have greater pride for Eastern Iowa, a greater appreciation for diverse communities, and a strengthened attachment to Eastern Iowa,” she said.

The Global Ties team works to secure local and regional funding for its programs, to supplement government funding that Assasdi said is always a challenge to consistently maintain.

A big part of the nonprofit’s message is sharing its economic impact, which in fiscal 2023 totaled $589,142 — more than double the 2022 impact.

UI students help

The Iowa City office is distinctive both locally and within the Global Ties network because it is largely run by part-time student staff. It has five student employees; one full-time employee, Executive Director Amy Alice Chastain; and a board of directors.

One benefit of the Global Ties program is that it promotes professional growth among its student employees.

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“Few jobs on and around the University of Iowa campus allow students to work independently while engaging in important work,” said Assadi, who has been working with the office since December 2023.

As the communications coordinator, Assadi creates social media and blog posts, finding volunteers before an international delegation’s arrival, escorting the visitors and documenting their meetings with area professionals.

Students working in the office’s programming role write and submit proposals to the national programming offices to “compete” to receive a group of visitors.

After being awarded a program, the team arranges meetings with Iowa professionals that reflect the visitor's topics of interest.

They also find volunteers to greet visitors at the airport, and escort visitors to professional meetings and on cultural excursions, like Hawkeye games or visits to the Amana Colonies and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

Volunteers also invite international visitors to their homes for dinner for what Global Ties calls an Iowa Table Dinner.

Assadi, who is majoring in political science and economics and will be studying abroad in South Korea this coming spring, said she is grateful to have connected with Global Ties.

“I once read that people meet an average of 70,000 individuals in a lifetime,” she said. “While that seems like a large number, it correlates to only 0.000008 percent of the population.

“I am extremely grateful that Global Ties Iowa has allowed me to meet with and learn from international leaders and professionals from every corner of the globe I otherwise would not have met.”

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