The Theme of 2025 Work and Travel Conference
“Building Bridges. Drive Change” is the theme of Greenheart’s 40th year. Nearly 200,000 young people have taken part in Greenheart’s mission of connecting people and planet since our founding, the greatest part of them in the Work and Travel program. This year’s Work and Travel Conference – a gathering of program stakeholders in Greenheart’s home of Chicago from October 20 to 23, 2025, highlighted some of those who returned home with new knowledge and connections and became changemakers. One attendee spoke about how he returned home to fundraise and plan for an overland car trip from his native Serbia to Mongolia in a 25-year-old Yugo, devoting part of each day to sharing his culture with people in the towns and cities they passed through in 13 countries.
Numerous attendees recounted participants who started pop-up restaurants featuring foods they learned to cook in their American summer job. The vast majority of Greenheart’s sending partners, the student travel agencies that do the hard work of preparing young people for a summer in the United States, are alumni of the program and experienced the transformation that comes with stepping outside one’s comfort zone in a new country, a new job in a placed very different from home and for many in their second or third language.
The Work and Travel Program Benefits U.S. Businesses
We also heard from U.S. host employer representatives, who supplement their domestic staffing with the Summer Work Travel program. They shared stories of the benefits that international staff can bring. These included both economic – such as being able to open during their shoulder seasons when their American university and high school age staff are busy in school, and able to operate at greater capacity than the availability of domestic staff would otherwise allow – but also cultural. They detailed how the mix of participants from several countries alongside their American counterparts brings new energy to their business and diversity in languages, cultural values and ethnic backgrounds – traits that also engaged guests and the broader community.
Updates from the Alliance for International Exchange
The ongoing federal government shutdown precluded participation from the U.S. Department of State, which oversees this BridgeUSA program, but the conference received updates from Mark Overmann, executive director of the Alliance for International Exchange. Mark outlined some changes that have come into play since the advent of the second Trump administration but also assured the conference that these programs remain strong. For example, while funding has been withheld or canceled for some funded BridgeUSA programs, privately funded exchange programs have thus far remained unscathed though a lack of transparency and many rumors hamper decision-making.
One example of a concern was a $250 visa integrity fee included in the One Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) Act Congress passed over the summer, yet there is no evidence of it being implemented any time soon. An end to interview waivers often provided to repeat participants and a restriction on visa applicants to apply only in their country of nationality or residency may have some impact. Mark appealed to the group to monitor possible challenges in funding and visa capacity at U.S. embassies and to continue to engage with Congress, where the bipartisan support that BridgeUSA programs needs to be sustained through advocacy.
Reflections from Work and Travel Participants
Two current Work and Travel participants, recipients of Ambassador Scholarships shared their journeys with the conference. Collins Godwin recounted stepping into a huge amusement park for the first time, the likes of which are not found in his native Tanzania yet amused the audience with the small but culturally rich experiences that mattered more than the big roller coasters. Jouaher Yousfi from Tunisia was placed at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. She described how this work experience fit in with her degree in business analytics but also the joy of observing children discovering the amazing creatures in the aquarium and learning about sustainability.
Host and Partner Breakout Sessions!
Also of high interest were the Host and Partner breakout sessions to discuss creative practices for running international programs. Hosts traded tips on how to build a good relationship with their local Social Security office (securing application appointments was tougher this year), and the content, timing and frequency of pre-arrival expectation-setting emails as well as using WhatsApp or Facebook groups to communicate with Gen Z. Sending partners too puzzled out how reaching this new generation, particularly to engage with program rules and requirements before they get on an airplane. Also of great interest was the experience of Winter season participants in acquiring J-1 visas under new federal government rules around social media vetting.
Giving Back to Local Community!
For me, these stories were incredibly rewarding and astounding. There is no end to what BridgeUSA participants can experience in the U.S. and their plans after returning home. Also inspiring was the sense of common purpose and community at this conference. Participation levels were high, including the early session on participant insurance and my own end of day session on advocacy. Our sense of shared purpose was enhanced through volunteering with two local organizations:
– Catholic Charities, where we prepared bagged lunches.
– Animal Cruelty, for whom attendees made old t-shirts into beautiful dog toys.
As I return home to Maine, I am treasuring the way this conference can bring in newcomers to Greenheart’s mission and reinvigorate those who have long been involved with these programs.
If you are a business interested in hosting international seasonal staff, please visit HirewithGreenheart.org.