Professional Appointments

“I was inspired by a set of new ideas I can implement in my society.” – Lebanese visitor, May 2007, after a meeting with Denver Regional Council of Governments on state and local issues.

“It was a pleasure meeting your group of guests! By meeting with them, and responding to their questions, I gained some important perspective on how our work is perceived by environmentally-focused people who live outside our usual points of engagement. I think the time I spent with your guests was as useful to me as I hope it was to them.” – Professional Resource

IIE’s professional network provides our foreign guests with the opportunity to experience their professional realm from our culture’s perspective. Programs span a wide range of topics from government to science to the arts to journalism and much more. Professional appointments allow international visitors to gain insight into industries and research in this country; but it also provides the platform for local companies to build market knowledge, cultural competence, and international networks of contacts that are critical to success in today’s global economy. It is an opportunity for the international visitor and local professionals to gain knowledge from one another.

If you are interested in meeting with a group of visitors please contact Mary Lou Golden at mgolden@iie.org.

From where do our visitors come? For 2010, they came from 96 countries around the world. Click on this link to see a map!

Here are some examples of what IVLP participants do while in Colorado:

"Judicial Systems" Professionals from around the World Visit with Denver Professionals

Above: Visitors at the Byron C. White Courthouse, where they attended a panel discussion on "The right of free press and guarantee to a fair trial", which was organized and moderated by IIE Regional Advisory Board Member Russell Kemp. The lively discussion included panelists (front row, from left to right) Ms. Susan Greene, a Newspaper Columnist and Reporter for The Denver Post; Mr. Dan Recht, a Denver defense attorney; Senior Judge David M. Ebel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10^thCircuit; Mr. Mitch Morrissey, District Attorney; and Mr. Jeffrey Dorschner, the Public Affairs and Press Officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office. For more on the group's visit to Denver, click here.

Syrian Higher Education Professionals Meeting with Denver-Area Higher Education Professionals

Syrian higher education professionals with Colorado School of Mines Provost Steven Castillo (2nd from left) and IIE staff member Tessa Carter (far right).

According to one of the participants, "Denver, Colorado made us familiar with the true nature of the American. The beauty of nature here reflects the beauty of human beings. In Denver, Colorado, we have an advanced standard or level in higher education in spite of the bad and difficult financial situation..." For more on the Syrians' visit to Denver, see this page.

Haitian Visitors on a Professional Appointment in July, 2010

Haitian engineers and nonprofit leaders hearing from their translator about how the water treatment facility which they are standing upon functions.

Edward R. Murrow Journalists tour The Denver Post Newsroom

Several European IVLP participants pause to have a conversation with Suzanne Brown, the LifeStyle Editor at The Denver Post, while taking a tour of the newsroom in early November 2010. You can see more about the Murrow journalists' visit to Denver on this page.

Chinese IVLP Participants at the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group's Headquarters in Boulder

IVLP participants from the Sichuan Mountain Association are being shown the custom-engineered equipment made by members of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group in Boulder. A few of the participants were the first responders in a rescue attempt that claimed the lives of three Boulder climbers in 2009. For more on their story, visit this page.

International Professional Visits with the U.S. Park Service