Press Release: The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy receives Coca-Cola Foundation grant
The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) has received a $100,000 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation in support of their proposal "America's Best Asset: American Citizens - The 2020 U.S. Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy." The initiative aims to double the number of Americans engaged in international activity from 63 million to 120 million in a ten-year span, to enhance international understanding and gobal problem solving on a citizen to citizen level.
Ann Schodde, President & CEO of the USCCD said, "We are extremely excited and grateful for the grant award received from Coca-Cola. Increasing the number of Americans who are engaged globally is pivotal to the economic and cultural growth as well as the security of our nation."
"Whether involved at home or abroad, if we are to work together to resolve our common issues, we need more Americans taking on an active role as exemplary global citizen diplomats for our country. Coca-Cola understands the importance and impact of American citizen engagement around the world."
As part of the grant proposal, the USCCD will create a baseline data and tracking system to account for the annual increase, or decrease, of citizen diplomats in ten sectors of international activity outlined for the U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy in November 2010.
In addition, the USCCD will embark on the development of a national marketing campaign to promote American citizen involvement in international activities including: international exchange programs that engage citizens in art, culture and sports, study abroad, global education in K-12 schools, global health initiatives and volunteer service abroad. The campaign will reach out to individual Americans who want to expand their horizons but may not be aware of the opportunities available.
Currently, there are over 1200 organizations listed on the USCCD website program search that offer these opportunities to Americans, and the USCCD has set a goal to increase that resource database to 2000 organizations over the next six months.
The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded grants to 44 different community organizations around the world to support community initiatives, education, fitness and nutrition programs, recycling and the access to clean water.
"We believe our investment in these 44 community organizations will help people worldwide build stronger, healthier and sustainable communities," said Ingrid Saunders Jones, Senior Vice President, Global Community Connections for The Coca-Cola Company, and Chairperson of The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Posted Monday, August 22, 2011