Muslim Community Leaders Arrive for Professional Exchange Program

WASHINGTON - Jan. 6, 2015 - PRLog -- Cultural Vistas is pleased to welcome 10 community leaders from the United Kingdom to the United States for the U.K. Muslim Community Leaders Exchange, a two-week program focused on how community organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies are cultivating leadership and empowering community leaders in America – including leaders from the Muslim faith – to promote positive change.

This initiative is sponsored by the Embassy of the United States in London and was designed and will be administered by Cultural Vistas staff, who will travel with the group for the duration of the program.

The two weeks of programming begins Wednesday, January 7 in Washington, D.C., and includes visits to San Francisco and Tulsa, Oklahoma, before concluding in Dallas on January 21. In each city the community leaders will visit an array of organizations, including ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) Center, J-Street, Zaytuna College, Ta’leef Collective, Cherokee Heritage Center, and Bayyinah.

While in the United States, participating professionals will engage with peers in interfaith dialogue and complete seminars and workshops to further their leadership skills. The group will also participate in volunteer activities as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on January 19 in Dallas.

Most of all, the program aims to illuminate what it means to be Muslim in America and help to expunge any misconceptions about Muslim life in the U.S.

Prior to their arrival, all participants took part in virtual learning exercises to become oriented to American life and culture, as well as one another -- which included devloping multimedia presentations regarding their backgrounds, communities, and work to share with their U.S. counterparts.

Cultural Vistas endeavors to strengthen global cooperation and build mutual understanding through its variety of special initiatives and short‐term exchange programs.

In 2014 Cultural Vistas designed and administered five U.S. Embassy-sponsored programs with Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the coming months, Cultural Vistas will again administer short-term programs sponsored by U.S. embassies in Germany and the United Kingdom, with a range of themes including consumer protection; entrepreneurship and innovation; Muslim student union leadership; and climate and clean energy.

About Cultural Vistas
A nonprofit organization, Cultural Vistas annually serves more than 5,000 students, professionals, and emerging leaders through career-focused international internships, educational study tours, language immersion and cultural exchange programs in the United States and more than 130 countries around the world. – Learn more at http://www.culturalvistas.org

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