Founded in 1953 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the Minnesota International Center is dedicated to supporting Minnesota’s growing interest and involvement in the world. Our mission is to inspire our community to understand global issues and cultures in an ever changing world.
MIC does this by providing international education opportunities to open global doors for our community, allowing the people of Minnesota and visitors from around the world to meet - both formally and informally - and learn about and from one another.
Each of MIC’s four program areas endeavors to organize and facilitate learning experiences for children and adults alike. Activities range from formal lectures to small group discussions to mealtime conversation, and occur on-site in K-12 classrooms, the workplace, homes and the community.
IN THE CLASSROOM
MIC’s International Classroom Connection (ICC) program EQUIPS our children to function in a multicultural world. ICC is a lively interactive program for K-12 students, where visits by international presenters put a personal face on a complex world for young people.
During 2007-2008, 103 speakers from 41 countries made 913 presentations
to a student audience of approximately 25,000
IN THE COMMUNITY
MIC’s Public Events and Community Discussion Groups ENCOURAGE discourse and raise awareness about world events and issues.
World Affairs Forums feature influential world leaders in business, government and the media. In the past year, MIC has hosted ambassadors from France, Morocco, Norway and Nobel Pieace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus
Great Decisions is a nationally recognized model for citizen engagement, where foreign policy discussions are organized for groups in private homes, colleges, universities and workplaces across the state, utilizing the expertise of international, national and local presenters.
WorldQuest is an international trivia competition where teams comprising students, business colleagues, community organizations and friends test their knowledge of “all things international.”
Academic WorldQuest is the general competition's companion for high school students. The winning team is sent - all expenses paid - to Washington, D.C. to compete at the national level.
During 2007-08, MIC presented 19 World Affairs Forums with attendance of 1,881;
29 cosponsored events with an attendance of 11,551 ; 52 Great Decisions groups convened 380 meetings with an attendance of 8,904 ; and 400 people fielded 45 teams at MIC’s 7th annual WorldQuest competition, while 80 high school students fielded 20 teams for the launch of our first annual Academic WorldQuest competition
IN THE WORKPLACE
MIC’S International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) ENHANCES our connections to international professional peers. Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, IVLP is designed to connect emerging global leaders in business, government, education, journalism and the arts to their professional counterparts.
During 2007-08, MIC arranged 400 appointments for 297 visitors from 93 countries
MIC’S Corporate Membership program ENGAGES the local business community by offering private networking opportunities and receptions with international leaders and visitors. These events are a benefit of the corporate membership program.
During 2007-08, 40 companies benefited from MIC’s Corporate Membership program
IN THE HOME
MIC’S Dinner Hosting program ENRICHES a family’s understanding of the world by coordinating dinner with MIC members and international visitors and students. This is a uniquely personal way of opening global doors in our community.
During 2007-2008, MIC members hosted 147 dinners for 271 international guests
from 88 countries
