Carol Vipperman’s Story
Twenty-one years ago, I took a trip to the Soviet Union as a part of a group to help the newly formed cooperatives with Western business skills. That trip changed my life. I returned and formed a non-profit organization devoted to the idea that Washington State and the Pacific Northwest would build a cooperative economic relationship with the Soviet Union, now Russia. I imagined a very different future for the people whose nations shared nuclear superpower status, student exchanges, and ideological hostilities. We have partnered with, played leadership roles for, and helped to mentor educational, business, government, trade, and international institutions in the United States and Russia that share our commitment to engaging Russian citizens with American citizens and the global community.
My adult life is the story of a woman who sees ideas as the way to connect and inspire people. As founder and president of the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC), which in 2009 celebrated 20 years of building economic and community connections between Russians and Americans, I have some extraordinary stories to share: baseball exchanges that led to Washington police teams training Russian Far Eastern law enforcement personnel; American non-profit organizations helping Russian women establish community health clinics; and a U.S. West Coast-Russian Far East bilateral forum that Russian President Boris Yeltsin endorsed and FRAEC translated into the Russian American Pacific Partnership that is in its 15th year of annual meetings.
Diverse cultures, languages, economic circumstances, and political systems have separated people and communities throughout history. My lifetime work is about helping Russians and Americans break down barriers through communication, trust-building, and shared experiences. I started FRAEC just as the forces of globalization gripped the world. The American and Russian people have experienced seismic shifts in their relationship during these past two decades, as the world has confronted global warming, terrorism, AIDS and other health crises. Unfortunately, neither the two nation's governments nor their established media outlets are willing or able to tell the stories of people connecting to people, changing the way citizens of both countries perceive the relationships formed with colleagues, friends, and families during these twenty years since the Cold War ended. The connections that l and FRAEC have helped build between Russian and American citizens are stories that now need to be told.
For a video highlighting our 20 years please go to: http://youtube/mjKhYsSHw3w