WYSE Travel Confederation is delighted to announce that U.S. Department of State’s Deputy Assistant Secretary Keri Lowry will be attending WYSTC this year in Belgrade, Serbia 20-23 September.
Keri Lowry is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchanges, where she oversees the Exchange Visitor Program, which brings over 300,000 foreign citizens to the United States annually to teach, study, develop their professional skills, strengthen their English language abilities, connect with Americans and learn more about the United States
The J-1 Visitor Program is highly successful and is expanding at a fast rate and the Deputy Assistant Secretary’s attendance at WYSTC this year, reaffirms the Department of State’s commitment to engage and support the J-1 EVP industry and continue to build people-to-people relationships between young Americans and their peers around the world.
WYSE Travel Confederation Director General, David Chapman says “we are very pleased Deputy Assistant Secretary Keri Lowry has identified and committed to WYSTC as a platform for her inaugural address to the global youth travel community. I am looking forward to welcoming Mrs. Lowry and her team to WYSTC and having the opportunity to discuss how the Confederation can support the Department in further developing the J-1 EVP”.
Officially endorsed by the UNWTO, WYSTC is the leading trade event for the global youth, student and educational travel industry. This unique 3-day event will involve business-to-business meetings, fused together with strands of insightful and practice-based seminars and workshops along with a range of social networking events.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchanges, Keri Lowry said:
“International education and cross-cultural exchanges are important elements of U.S. foreign relations. The people-to-people ties and transfer of knowledge achieved through international exchanges builds and sustains a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world that benefits the entire global community. International exchanges are vital to our diplomacy efforts and establish lasting ties and relationships between individuals and nations.
“I look forward to engaging with the global youth and stakeholders in the student and educational travel industry. Events like WYSTC help build people-to-people diplomacy by preparing young leaders and students globally to be engaged citizens, critical thinkers with broader perspectives of world, and an appreciation for cultural diversity and foreign languages. This ultimately helps break down stereotypes, transforming nations into peoples and translating ideologies into human aspirations.”