The U.S. State Department recently invited SMART President Manjit Singh to address participants of their International Visitor Program. The program entitled, “Managing Diversity in a Multi-Ethnic Society,” was designed to expose participants to the contributions and challenges of immigrants in the U.S. by examining policies on immigration, refugees and citizenship, and America’s cultural diversity. This year, several government officials, academics, and journalists from Europe were invited to tour the United States. Mr. Singh spoke about SMART’s efforts in the areas of protecting civil rights, encouraging political involvement, and participating in legislative efforts affecting the Sikh American Community. He was joined by panelists from the Arab American Institute (AAI) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who also discussed political empowerment of minorities. The International Visitor Program is administered by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The emphasis of the program is to increase mutual understanding through communication at the personal and professional levels. Participants are established or potential foreign leaders in government, politics, media, education, science, labor relations, and other key fields. Over the years, hundreds of former participants under the International Visitor Program have risen to important positions in their countries. Among the alumni are over 160 current and former chiefs of state or heads of government and more than 600 are cabinet-level ministers.
