Exchange

CGP's Exchange programs encourage US-Japan and multilateral interchange at a practical level by enabling people from each country to work collaboratively on issues of common concern, building partnerships through mutual effort and shared experience. By supporting issue-oriented projects of non-profit and educational institutions in the United States and Japan, CGP aims to bring bilateral exchange to the widest possible audience. In JFY1994, citizens involved in exchange projects included journalists, educators and students, environmental activists, staff from philanthropic and volunteer organizations, community development advocates, and women professionals.

The continued expansion and growth of the non-governmental sector worldwide is a major focus of CGP's exchange programs. With the devolution of responsibility to regional and local governments, NGOs and citizen-run organizations are playing an increasing role in administering to the needs of local communities, encouraging citizen activism and representing local citizens on a national level. Both the rise in volunteerism in each country and the dramatic expansion of NGO activity in Japan and Asia are promising trends that CGP hopes to encourage, but because of different traditions and challenging legal requirements, the non governmental sectors there are less developed than in the US. CGP recognizes the need for institution-building and human resource development initiatives as part of its Exchange activities, as well as the need to encourage exchange between US organizations and their counterparts abroad.. In Osaka, the Asia-Pacific Philanthropy Consortium furthered the goals of NGO networking and human resource development with a conference that brought a group of foundation executives, NGO administrators, and policy makers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region together with their US and ]Japanese counter-parts to build a network for institutional development and the sharing of philanthropic practices.

A Seed: japan brought young Japanese environmental NGO staff to the US for a joint training program on environmental activism and nonprofit management, side-by-side with their American counterparts. Callvac Services, an Ohio-based human services organization, built on the Japanese population in the Columbus area to develop a region-to-region relation-ship with Saitama, Japan, centered around volunteerism and non governmental contributions to social issues such as helping the elderly and disabled. Over the course of the project, delegations of human services-oriented NGO staff from each country have been able to visit their counterpart institutions and discuss issues related to the promotion and management of volunteer activities.

CGP places priority on innovative exchange projects with long-term approaches and relevance. Programs should maximize impact through a clear plan of dissemination and follow-up, and should show the means to sustain newly established networks and lines of communication. CGP encourages exchange activities that include structured discussion of specific issues of global and common concern.

In JFY1994 CGP also continued its support for JALEX, the Japanese Language Exchange program, administered by The Laurasian Institution, a US-based nonprofit educational organization. Entering its fourth year of activities, JALEX brings young Japanese to the United States to serve as Japanese-language teaching assistants in high schools throughout the country. Working closely with the host teachers, the JALEX assistants help to enhance the quality and reach of instruction, while gaining inter cultural experience through living in American communities.

During JFY1994, 84 Japanese teaching assistants provided help to 66 schools in 18 states throughout the US. Additionally, 75 participating US teachers, students, and administrators received the opportunity to carry out a short-term study tour to Japan in the spring of 1995.

As part of an ongoing commitment to the evaluation and transparency of its programs, in JFY1994 CGP commissioned the National Foreign Language Center at johns Hopkins University to carry out a comprehensive review of the JALEX program. Through extensive interviews with JALEX teachers, administrators, and participants, the reviewers sought to define areas in which the program could refine its approach to issues of cross-cultural communication, teacher training, academic methodology, and day-to-day administration. The results of the review were highly encouraging, and provided the project administrators with outside perspectives on the challenges of managing a large-scale international exchange program, as well as with a blueprint for future growth.

In JFY1994, CGP expenditures toward the JALEX program and its evaluation totaled $3,580,074.