Meridian collaborates with a unique mix of government and private sector groups to help deliver a wide range of programs, and in so doing builds bridges of understanding that link a diverse set of communities and cultures.

The United States Department of State

Meridian has worked in partnership with the Department of State for more than 50 years to implement the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Organized within the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, under authority of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays Act), the IVLP seeks to increase mutual understanding through communication at the personal and professional levels. The program, which is funded by the Office of International Visitors, annually brings participants to the United States from all over the world to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the U.S. firsthand. The visitors, who are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, and other fields, are selected for the IVLP by U.S. Embassy officials overseas. More than 200 current and former heads of state, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program.

The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV)

The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV), founded in 1961, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote excellence in citizen diplomacy. NCIV is the professional association for the international exchange community, which includes a national network of more than 90 community-based member organizations. NCIV's member organizations, all of which are independent non-profit groups, arrange custom-tailored professional programs in their communities, provide cultural activities, and offer home hospitality for foreign leaders, specialists, and international scholars.

Meridian’s Program Officers, who research, conceive and implement the overall program plan, including which cities to include on the national itinerary, work with programmers at the NCIV member organizations to ensure a coordinated and thematically complementary professional experience across the United States for the international visitors.