Announcing our new Executive Director

We are excited to announce that Heidi Knuff has rejoined the San Diego Diplomacy Council as our new Executive Director. For the past year, Heidi has served as Program Manager in the Professional Fellows Division at American Councils for International Education. Prior to working at American Councils, she spent five years as Director of Custom Programs and Services at the San Diego Diplomacy Council. Heidi has over 20 years of experience working in international exchange and diplomacy and has held past position at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), and Pacific Intercultural Exchange (PIE). She lives in Kensington with her husband, Ryan and son, Luca.

A letter from Heidi

Hello Friends,

I am thrilled to be rejoining the San Diego Diplomacy Council as Executive Director! I look forward to collaborating with our team, partners, members, and community network to continue creating impactful local and global programming. Promoting citizen diplomacy and connecting our region’s leaders and changemakers with their global counterparts remains our top priority, as we strive to encourage mutual understanding and foster a more peaceful world.

The past year and a half have been challenging times for our industry, but I am so impressed with the successful pivot to virtual programming that our SDDC team was able to accomplish. Throughout the pandemic, our team successfully delivered professional and youth programming to continue connecting San Diego leaders and aspiring youth leaders around the world. This Fall, we plan to host our first in-person international visitors since the pandemic – a delegation of young business leaders from Uzbekistan! We are looking forward to warmly welcoming our guests, sitting down to meals together once again, and continuing our work of connecting leaders face-to-face. To support our return to in-person programming, we are currently recruiting interns. More information on our internship opportunities and application process can be found on our website.

Thank you for continuing to support the San Diego Diplomacy Council during the pandemic. If you are not already a member, we encourage you to check out our website and sign up. Your membership donation helps us to continue our important work. If you have any feedback or programming ideas, or would like to work with the San Diego Diplomacy Council to create your own custom program, please reach out to me at heidi@sandiegodiplomacy.org.

Looking forward to connecting,

Heidi

Heidi’s new appointment was announced in OSIDE NEWS and SD Metros Daily Business Report.