Colorado World Affairs Council
The Colorado Foothills World Affairs Council is a non-profit organization that promotes education and an understanding of international affairs, especially regarding the impact of foreign events, trends, and policies in our country and on our lives. CFWAC sponsors well-known speakers on world affairs. Presentations are free and open to the public at Mount Vernon Country Club monthly, September thru April.
After meeting in their homes to review books and listen to talks about international affairs in 1987, Foothills International Forum was founded by John Wason, Mary Zinn Stewart, Don Nichols, and Glenn Wallace. They sponsored expert speakers to present a wide range of international subjects, followed by a lively question & answer period. Information is gathered on current international events and the impact on Colorado residents. The non-advocacy group is careful to balance programs in include differing perspectives.
The name changed to The Colorado Foothills World Affairs Council in May 2007, after the Forum affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America. The organization has grown from a handful of members to today's membership of several hundred. While there is no charge to for the CFWAC programs, membership dues are critical to cover programs costs and expenses associated with our arranging for our speakers.
The CFWAC also funds the Academic World Quest initiative to sponsor an annual local competition among area high school teams on international current affairs and sends the winning team to the national competition, sponsored by World Affairs Councils of America in Washington D.C.
World Affairs Council of America
The World Affairs Councils of America has a long and storied history that stretches back some 90 years. Two groups, the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and the World Affairs Councils worked together from 1918 until the early 1950s. The FPA was initiated by a small group of individuals, including journalist and social reformer Paul Kellogg. Founding members were concerned that at the end of World War I, Americans would choose an isolationist foreign policy over one of engagement and worked to nurture grassroots citizen involvement in international affairs. By 1947, these two groups operated as a national network of independent community councils.
In 1986, the National Council of World Affairs Organizations national office was established in Washington, D.C. It evolved into the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA). Today, WACA is the country's largest non-profit organization dedicated to fostering grassroots understanding and engagement in international affairs and seeks to involve as many citizens as possible in an exchange of ideas, knowledge and understanding of global issues.