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Privacy Notice
Greenheart International
Effective Date: 1/9/2019
This privacy notice describes how Greenheart International collects, uses, and discloses Personally Identifying Information (also known as “PII”) or Personal Data (collectively “Personal Information”) from and about users of Greenheart International websites. This privacy notice also applies to any associated paper forms. Please read this privacy notice before using Greenheart International websites or submitting any personal information.
These practices may be changed at any time. Changes will be posted along with the date of the change. You should review this privacy notice when you visit Greenheart International websites to make sure that you understand how Personal Information is collected, used, and disclosed.
The Personal Information you provide to us is only used to:
We may use non-Personal Information for additional reasons described in the remainder of this privacy notice.
If you identify yourself to us by sending us an email with questions or comments, we may retain your comments for future reference.
Greenheart collects Personal Information, which is information that on its own or in combination with other information may be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual. Examples include:
Greenheart International collects other information that relates to you but does not identify you. Examples include clickstream data and web-browsing information (such as the date and time you visit a website, whether you click on various advertisements or links and the search terms you enter when using a website), and information about your computer, device and internet connection, and geographic location.
We collect Personal Information from you in the following ways:
We may share information gathered by us from Greenheart International websites with governmental agencies or other companies assisting us in providing services to you. We may do so when:
Information provided under one of the four preceding bullet points will not be used by those receiving it for marketing purposes, unless specifically authorized by the user.
Third parties who provide webhosting services or other services that make possible the operation of Greenheart International websites and the services you request through the websites may have access to information that you provide us to the extent that those third parties require access to our databases to service the websites.
In connection with the sale or transfer of all or part of our assets, we reserve the right to transfer information we have obtained from or about you.
We are not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties that receive information from us.
Greenheart International websites are hosted and maintained in the United States of America. Your Personal Information may be transmitted to countries outside of the European Economic Area, including the United States of America. You can obtain details of the mechanism under which your personal data is transferred outside the EU by contacting us. If your Personal Information is transferred outside the European Economic Area to third party service providers, we will take steps to ensure that your Personal Information receives the same level of protection as if it remained within the European Economic Area, including by entering into data transfer agreements using the European Commission approved Standard Contractual Clauses, or by relying on certification schemes such as the EU–US Privacy Shield.
Greenheart International websites use cookie and tracking technology to collect non-Personal Information. Our system also automatically gathers information about areas you visit on our websites, and about the links you select from within one of our websites to the other areas of the World Wide Web or elsewhere online. We use such information in the aggregate to understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our websites. This way we know which areas of our websites are preferred by our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our websites. Personal Information cannot be collected via cookies and other tracking technology, however, if you previously provided us with your Personal Information, cookies may be tied to such information. Aggregate cookie and tracking information may be shared with third parties but that aggregate information does not identify individual website users. Our web servers do not record visitor email addresses unless that information is submitted by the visitor. We may determine what technology is available through your browser to provide you with the most appropriate version of a web page. Greenheart International uses Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Gravity Forms, Yoast, Formstack, Calendly, GoOverseas, and other web traffic tracking tools.
Greenheart International websites contain links to other websites. These links are for your convenience. We do not control, endorse or review the privacy notices of other websites, which may be different than this privacy notice. You should review the privacy notice of other websites before choosing to disclose Personal Information.
Greenheart takes steps to secure your Personal Information. We exercise care in providing secure transmissions when we need to transfer your Personal Information from our servers. Our websites use secure server software encryption, which is indicated by https in the url of the website. Encryption is a common method of ensuring that information remains private. Greenheart International cannot guarantee or warrant that the information that you transmit to us, or any communications is completely secure.
Greenheart International only retains data for as long as necessary for the purposes indicated in this privacy notice or for such other period as may be permitted or required by law.
For children age 14-16, Greenheart International takes additional steps to protect their Personal Information. We do not intend to collect Personal Information from children aged 13 or younger. These additional steps include:
The marks Greenheart, Greenheart Heart Logo, and Sobresmesa are either registered or unregistered trademarks of Greenheart International. All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized use is prohibited.
Certain jurisdictions provide their residents or citizens with certain rights about their Personal Information. These may include the right to request access to the data we hold about you, to obtain a copy of your Personal Information, to request that your Personal Information be erased, to correct inaccurate information, to ask us to restrict how we process your Personal Information, or to withdraw your consent to our processing of your Personal Information. Your individual rights will depend on your residency and citizenship.
Please contact us using the following information for more information about this privacy notice, to notify us of a concern or complaint, or to exercise any of the individual rights you may have.
Data Protection Officer
By mail: 742 N LaSalle Dr. Chicago, IL 60654 Suite 300, USA
By email: click here
By phone: +1 312-944-2544
Additionally, all marketing emails and newsletters from Greenheart International allow you to opt out of further correspondence. You can do so by clicking the link within the emails, which will guide you on how to opt-out.
By Jillian Sims; Academic Year Program Compliance and Operations Manager
Mary Armstrong is a Regional Director with CCI Greenheart in Minnesota, working with many Local Coordinators, host families, and students in the “Frozen North,” as she affectionately refers to the states she oversees (MT, ND, SD, WY, NE, and MN). Mary first started her journey in cultural exchange many years ago in 1976 when her family first hosted a student and, later, she herself was an exchange student in France. Years later, a friend who was hosting asked her if she would like to be a host parent as well. That turned into becoming a Local Coordinator, and then Regional Manager, until ultimately reaching the position of Regional Director and working with CCI Greenheart in 2012. All in all, she has had more than 10 years of experience working in the world of cultural exchange, has hosted personally more than 15 students, and has worked with hundreds of host families, students, and LCs. It’s fair to say, she’s rather well versed in the language of cultural exchange.
For Mary, hosting students is a family affair. Her children are also huge advocates for the experience and are involved in choosing the student that will become a family member for the year. Her family is especially fond of hosting scholarship students through the FLEX and YES programs, and this year was no exception, though it was a bit of a different family dynamic.
Her two eldest children are now out of the home, in college and studying abroad, but her youngest, Esther, wasn’t about to let the opportunity to host pass. ” I don’t want to be by myself this year!” she told her mother.
With aspirations of her own for world travel from growing up amongst exchange students, Esther is a fan of her family’s tradition. Mary says of hosting “We feel like hosting an exchange student serves to provide the opportunity to an exchange student to make a positive impression on our local community where their diversity really adds a new element into the mix. It certainly has impacted our lives as we learn about new cultures, discuss world politics and become world travelers – all while staying home and nurturing our family.”
Every year,the family tries to pick a culture that they are unfamiliar with and this year they have chosen students from Ghana (Trustee) and from Israel (Nayera). Mary says that both students are quite different from each other, but equally special. Nayera is “outgoing and active” and regularly shares with her family about the intricacies of being an Arab in Israel, while speaking passionately about the challenges her country faces and how government policies do not indicate how her countrymen and women interact on a daily basis.”Nayera is a great student ambassador representing her country, and we surely hope her country takes some of her advice to be open-minded and welcoming.”
Nayara was also invited to speak at the CSIET conference on a student panel. When asked to speak about her greatest challenge, described her pride in being able to speak with her family about a cultural misunderstanding regarding her country’s flag and her personal identity. Mary and her family had unwittingly put a picture of the Israeli flag on Nayera’s welcome sign. Because this is not the image Nayera or her family identify with, she explained this to her new family and they together came to a better understanding and embraced Nayera and the Palestinian scarf that better represents her. Mary says “I’ll wear my Palestinian scarf knowing it came from my Israeli daughter!”
In the meanwhile, Trustee “bubbles with curiosity” at the new world around her. She recently put together a presentation for her school sharing her culture and proudly displayed her family school, culture, background and Ghanian dress. “Her eagerness to absorb everything has really impacted us and inspired us to share. One Sunday, we dedicated most of the day to researching her country and working on her country presentation which was really a special mom-daughter bonding time,” Mary recalls.
And it seems that this family already has many good memories together. Some days it is a “learn to sew” day that Mary put together when her girls expressed interest. There have also been trips to a rather freezing Lake Superior where the girls marveled at a road side sign that had marked where 300 inches of snow once lay. Both girls having never seen snow, so this was rather amazing to them.
They are so eager to see that miraculous “white stuff” that one morning Trustee was heard screaming “It snowed, it snowed!” only for it to be discovered that Minnesota had simply gotten its first frost. “Later comes the real snow!” Mary promised.
As a Regional Director, Mary and her family have perhaps more experience than most with cultural exchange, and she credits her husband’s great patience and love of the experience that the many years have brought. With all of this experience comes knowledge, and Mary encourages being open minded and being able to laugh over the differences. “Some of the best advice I can give to prospective host families is a reminder that teenagers make mistakes and do unpredictable things, so be prepared for an adventure if you decide to host. I feel like it’s so important to use the opportunity of hosting an exchange student to learn from each other. … To be able to share is a gift that should be treasured and encouraged. ” With all of these years of hosting and living and working in the world of exchange, Mary and her family now enjoy regular invitations to graduations, weddings, etc. They are even “grandparents” to one of their early Kyrgyzstaian daughter’s two boys. Not too bad for nearly 40 years in cultural exchange!
Interested in opening your door to a life of exchange, learning, laughter, and fun? Consider hosting an exchange student! Click here to learn more about how to host with CCI Greenheart!