People to People International
Encyclopedia
People to People International (PTPI) was established on September 11, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, as part of the U.S. Information Agency. After President Eisenhower left the office of President in 1961, he arranged to have the organization privatized as a nongovernmental organization and arranged for People to People to become a not-for-profit Missouri corporation now known as People to People International. President Eisenhower was Chairman of the Board of Trustees and recognized as the founder of the not-for-profit organization. It is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the state of Missouri and qualifies for exemption from income tax under the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). PTPI is funded through program fees, membership dues and donations.

Among the early leaders working with President Eisenhower were Joyce C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, Inc., Walt Disney, Bob Hope and approximately 100 other remarkable individuals from industry, academia and the arts. The late Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, generously contributed three pieces of artwork for PTPI Worldwide Conferences.

The current President and Chief Executive Officer of People to People International is Mary Jean Eisenhower
Mary Jean Eisenhower
Mary Jean Eisenhower , the granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, has worked to develop and expand the mission of People to People International [PTPI]. Eisenhower became the Chief Executive Officer of PTPI in January 2000 and its President in 2003. She still holds these titles.-Early life:Mary...

, granddaughter of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

. On June 22, 2006, People to People was the first organization awarded the Cavaliere per la Pace (Knight of Peace Award). http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=PR&symbol=EPAX.O&storyID=196028+03-Jul-2006+BW&type=qcna Prior to People to People, recipients of this award had always been individuals. Previous honorees include Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...

, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 and Pope John Paul II. Since its inception, eight presidents have served as the honorary chairman of People to People International.

Other PTPI Programs

Other People to People International programs include: Educational and Humanitarian Initiatives (adult travel programs) (http://www.ptpi.org/whats_new/AdultTravel.aspx), the EXPERIENCE program (an annual student travel program incorporating service work) (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/GYFHC.aspx), Peace Camp (free, international travel program for students with an emphasis on peace education) (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/PeaceCamp.aspx), the Global Landmine Initiative (working with the HALO Trust), the School and Classroom Program (an international classroom-based pen pal program) (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/SchoolClass.aspx), & also Community (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/AdultChapters.aspx), University (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/UniversityChapters.aspx),Student Chapters (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/StudentChapters.aspx) all over the world. Also the Global Youth Forum (http://www.ptpi.org/programs/GYF.aspx) known as the GYF, open to 13-18 Year Olds all over the world every November.

The last few years the Global Youth Forums have been held in the Following Cities
Year Metro Area Location Theme
2004 Atlanta 
2005 Washington DC 
2006 Kansas City, MO  Kansas City, MO  World Hunger
2007 Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 
Rosemont, IL Child Soldiers
2008 Denver  Westminster,CO  Global Education
2009 Washington DC  Crystal City, VA  Global Sustainability
2010 Atlanta  Atlanta  Global Health
2011 Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 
Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 
Cultural Understanding


In early 2004, actor Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...

 and author Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand is an American author of books and magazine articles.Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Hillenbrand spent much of her childhood riding bareback "screaming over the hills" of her father's Sharpsburg, Maryland, farm. A favorite of hers was Come On Seabiscuit, a 1963 kiddie book. "I read...

 founded Operation Iraqi Children
Operation Iraqi Children
Operation International Children is a charitable program created in 2004 to send school supplies to Iraqi children...

 and joined in partnership with People to People International in order to provide a way for concerned Americans to reach out to the war-stricken children of Iraq by supporting troops and their efforts to assist them. In 2009, the mission of the program was expanded to include children in areas all over the world served by American troops and the name of the program was changed to Operation International Children. The Operation International Children Warehouse is located in North Kansas City, Missouri, and the program is administered by People to People International.

PTPI is a proud partner of Global Youth Service Day, (http://www.ptpigysd.org).

People to People International has extension offices in Berlin, Germany (http://www.ptpe.org) and Cairo, Egypt (http://www.ptpime.org).

Ambassadors Group International, a for-profit corporation traded on NASDAQ (EPAX), serves as the exclusive travel provider of People to People International.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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