On September 25, 1961 before the United Nations General Assembly John F. Kennedy once said “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” Today more than ever, it is important to promote cross cultural relations in international affairs to ensure we will never negotiate out of fear. This summer, I plan to promote cross cultural relations from the grassroots level, one handshake at a time!
First off, let me introduce myself, I am Mariana Deluera and I am a Junior from Mexico City majoring in International Relations/Political Science with a minor in Economics. Always committed to catering to Tulane’s international community, I am also the president of the Tulane International Society. This summer I will be interning at the New Orleans Citizens Diplomacy Council (NOCDC), to engage in the critical task of promoting citizen diplomacy. The NOCDC is a nonprofit membership organization that arranges professional appointments and cultural visits for approximately 500 international leaders sent to Louisiana from the U.S State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, as well as from other government and private professional exchanges. The NOCDC is part of a nationwide network of approximately 90 councils with Global Ties U.S and the State Department to promote cultural understanding between common citizens and their foreign counterparts through the practice of citizen diplomacy. Citizen diplomacy is the concept that in vibrant democracies, individual citizens have the right, or even responsibility to shape foreign relations.
During my internship I hope to learn the inner workings of how nonprofit organizations like the NOCDC work closely with government offices and how this cooperation is brought about on a day to day basis. As well as getting to know how these types of organizations create community partners within New Orleans and, how these cooperate to provide international visitors with the best possible experience. I would also like to gain more experience in working in the nonprofit sector and learn how citizen diplomacy at the grassroots level, translates into international exchange at a higher or even intergovernmental level. By learning how diplomatic initiatives on a micro level work , it would provide a great learning experience in terms of what is required for promoting cross cultural relations at this scale and how to then apply it to larger projects coordinated internationally. At the same time, I would like to learn how to write agenda proposals for the international visitors and what constitutes a successful proposal that will possibly be approved by the State Department. I feel this would provide me with a great opportunity to improve my professional writing and research skills, and learn how to handle government related documents. Ultimately, I would like to learn how to engage with foreign officials and international visitors not only to promote international understanding, but for the advancement of female leadership in shaping international relations from the grassroots up, and how more women can become involved in this effort.
This last goal is tied directly with NCI’s mission of educating woman for leadership in the 21st century. As more female representation is needed now more than ever, in helping shape foreign policy and foreign relations among countries and individuals of different backgrounds. In doing so, the world becomes a more inclusive and better equipped place to deal with the diplomatic hurdles of tomorrow. Woman need to be front and center contributing to international cooperation and understanding if we want to tackle the toughest social, economic, and political challenges. At my internship, I hope to learn how to promote this vision and how to incorporate this as a mission in my professional work later on. As I believe this could be a stepping stone to possibly being able to positively impact young women to view ourselves as leaders and makers of systemic change across all fields.
In the meantime until my internship begins, I am wrapping up the semester and heading to D.C for a seminar about Woman in Global Policy! To prepare for my internship I plan on researching visitor initiatives and getting briefed on the upcoming visitors that will be coming in, as well as brushing up on some French and Portuguese language skills in case they are needed. I absolutely cannot wait to meet and interact with all the foreign visitors and work hard to make their time in New Orleans a highlight they will never forget. All in all, I am more than excited to foster international cooperation one handshake at a time, and I absolutely cannot wait to shake those hands!