On Nov. 15, 2016, the Port of New Orleans received the 2016 Outstanding Citizen Diplomat Award from the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council (NOCDC). The annual award honors community organizations dedicated to shaping U.S. foreign relations through citizen diplomacy and face-to-face meetings between professional international visitors and their American counterparts.
Each year, hundreds of international guests are sent to Louisiana through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Throughout 2016, representatives from the Port met with visitors from around the world to discuss maritime management, port security and other issues related to the complexities of international intermodal transportation.
“The expertise and hospitality of the Port of New Orleans staff are among the reasons it is so popular with our visiting delegations,” NOCDC Executive Director Susannah Coolidge said.
The International Visitor Leadership Program is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience the country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. Professional meetings reflect the participants’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.
