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 2009-10, 113 speakers from 48 countries made 1,179 presentations
to a student audience of approximately 34,000
MIC also conducted 11 training workshops for international speakers and
10 intercultural workshops for educators.
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.
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 2009-10, MIC presented 6 World Affairs Forums with attendance of 727, and worked with 62 community parners to bring additional internationally-focused programs to Minnesota audiences;
61 Great Decisions groups convened 429 meetings with an attendance of 11,145 ; and 320 people fielded 40 teams at MIC’s 9th annual WorldQuest competition, while 112 high school students fielded 28 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 2009-10, MIC arranged 419 appointments for 380 visitors from 105 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 2009-10, MIC engaged with 41 local companies by offering 3 international networking cocktails and 8 collaborative programs on doing business internationally to more than 750 Minnesota-based professionals.
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 2009-10, MIC members hosted 301 dinners for 366 international guests
from 91 countries
