Project Interchange (PI) is an American program that arranges education visits and seminars to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for American and international leaders in different fields. Established in 1982, PI is run by the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

. Each year, PI invites 300 professionals from

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, religion, government,

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, security, and

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

to participate. Since 1982, over 6,000 participants from over 115 countries have attended PI programs. Each PI delegation's week-long visit is customized to emphasize their specific interests. Activities include site visits and meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian professionals, policy-makers, civil society leaders, and government officials.

Impact

In 2008, PI offered 25 seminars for more than 300 participants, including university presidents,

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, journalists, public health leaders, state officials,

Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

, UN ambassadors, immigration and integration experts, and

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

experts. On their return to their home countries, PI encourages participants to write articles, give interviews, begin collaborations with partner organizations in Israel, and get involved with local issues of common concern with the Jewish community.

Notable Alumni

Gillian Bird Gillian Elizabeth Bird (born in Adelaide) is an Australian civil servant and diplomat who is the current ambassador to Vietnam since 2025. She served as the Australia's Ambassador to France from 2020 to 2024. Bird concurrently served as Austral ...

, Former Australian Ambassador to the United Nations * Lonnie Bunch III, Founding Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture *

Juan José Gómez Camacho Juan José Gómez Camacho (born October 6, 1964) is a Mexican diplomat. He was appointed as Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in New York in February 2016. He served as ambassador (2019 to 2022) to Canada prior to joining ...

, Former Ambassador of Mexico to the United Nations *

Steve Chabot Steven Joseph Chabot ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), R ...

, Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives *

Michael V. Drake Michael Vincent Drake (born July 9, 1950) is an American university administrator and physician who is the 21st president of the University of California. Earlier, from 2014 to June 2020, he was the 15th president of Ohio State University. He w ...

, Former President, The Ohio State University *

Ajit Doval Ajit Kumar Doval, Kirti Chakra, KC (born 20 January 1945) is an Indian bureaucrat and spymaster, who is currently serving as the National Security Advisor of India since 2014. A retired Indian Police Service officer of the Kerala cadre, he had p ...

, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India *

Michael Fitts Michael Andrew Fitts (born March 1, 1953) is an American legal scholar, currently serving as the 15th president of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, since July 2014. He is also the Judge Rene H. Himel Professor of Law at the Tulane Uni ...

, President, Tulane University * John Anderson Fry, President, Drexel University * Carlos Giménez, Former Mayor, Miami-Dade County, Florida *

Christy Haubegger Christy Haubegger (born August 15, 1968) is the founder of ''Latina'' magazine and was formerly the Executive Vice President, Chief Enterprise Inclusion Officer and Head of Marketing & Communications, at WarnerMedia. Early life She was born i ...

, Founder, ''Latina'' magazine *

Alberto Ibargüen Alberto Ibargüen (born February 29, 1944) became President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida, in 2003. He is the former publisher of ''The Miami Herald'' and ''El Nuevo Herald'' in Miami, Florida. Under his ...

, CEO of the Knight Foundation * Ioannes Kasoulides, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cyprus *

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (born September 13, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (Un ...

, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives *

George Muñoz George Muñoz is an American businessman, CPA and attorney. He is the president and co-founder of Muñoz Investment Banking Group which is primarily focused on financing and investments in the Emerging Markets Countries as well as in the U.S. ...

, banking executive * Péter Niedermüller, Former Member, European Parliament *

Annise Parker Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician from the state of Texas. A Democrat, Parker served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council ...

, Former Mayor, Houston, Texas *

Martha E. Pollack Martha Elizabeth Pollack (born August 27, 1958) is an American computer scientist who served as the 14th president of Cornell University from April 2017 to June 2024. From 2013 to 2017, she was the 14th provost and executive vice president for a ...

, President of Cornell University *

Kasim Reed Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th List of mayors of Atlanta, mayor of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia's state capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), ...

, Former Mayor, Atlanta, Georgia *

Ramona Romero Ramona Emilia Romero is an American lawyer and former government official. She was the General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture and currently serves as Vice President and General Counsel of Princeton University. Biography ...

, Former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture *

Jacky Rosen Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen (née Spektor; born August 2, 1957) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party ...

, U.S. Senator from Nevada *

David Skorton David Jan Skorton is an American physician and academic. He has been president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) since July 15, 2019. Prior to the AAMC, he led the Smithsonian Institution, as its ...

, Former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution *

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States *

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ( ...

, Former Member of Congress *

Holden Thorp Herbert Holden Thorp (born August 16, 1964) is an American chemist, professor and entrepreneur. He is a professor of chemistry at George Washington University and Editor and Chief of Science (journal). He was the tenth chancellor of the Universit ...

, Former Chancellor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill * Henry T. Yang, Chancellor, University of California, Santa Barbara

References

External links

Official website
{{American Jewish Committee Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Israel–United States relations American Jewish Committee

Impact

Notable Alumni

References

Further reading

External links