Letter from the Executive Director

CDS International will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2008.  As we near four decades of commitment to providing international opportunities for career development, I am pleased to see ever-increasing numbers of students and young professionals pursuing global internships and training programs.  Both America’s and other nation’s economies rely heavily on a vibrant international trade of ideas, technologies, and best practices facilitated through global exchange programs.  The cross-cultural understanding advanced through international exchange is essential to national economies as is the development of internationally experienced individuals capable of becoming business, academic, and government leaders.

With a recent boom in study abroad programs available to American students, more U.S. students than ever are gaining intercultural knowledge, foreign language skills, and exposure to international opportunities.  Why, then, do American students and young professionals lag behind their foreign counterparts in the pursuit of international work opportunities?  Though an official study on Americans who pursue short-term work experience abroad has not been conducted, CDS International’s nearly 40 years of experience in the international career training field has continually revealed that the greatest obstacles to young Americans carrying out internships abroad is a combination of their lack of sufficient financial resources, need for academic credit, and pressure to pay off student loans.

At CDS International, both our vision and our mission are inextricably tied to facilitating international exchange for young professionals regardless of their financial means. Our vision is to position individuals, organizations, and governments to seize the opportunities posed by the new international business environment. Our mission is to help realize this goal by designing and implementing programs that further the international exchange of knowledge and technology, and contribute to the development of a pool of highly trained and interculturally experienced individuals.

For over 10 years, I have watched with pride as thousands of young professionals, from the U.S. and abroad, have chosen to further prepare themselves for a career by working in a foreign country. The enormous personal and professional development that results never ceases to impress me. Not only do participants return with greater knowledge, self-confidence and language proficiency, they also bring back a sense of determination, cultural sensitivity and motivation that remains with them for the rest of their lives. This growth and education is essential to the careers of generations to come.

To open up more opportunities for Americans to attain these very important experiences working in a foreign country, I strongly urge you to contribute to our endowed Scholarship Fund. Fully-funded career exchange programs are unfortunately few and far between, and high college tuition limits further training after graduation. Therefore, American young professionals need financial support from other sources.

Your donation to the Scholarship Fund is truly an investment in our future. Their success is everybody's success, so I hope you will join CDS and contribute to building young Americans’ careers!