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Dear WorldBoston Community,
Happy New Year! As we step into 2026 together, we want to begin by thanking you for the many ways you showed up for WorldBoston in 2025 — as hosts, partners, volunteers, attendees, and friends. Your generosity of time, curiosity, and hospitality continue to make this 75+ year-old organization a true home for international engagement.
This year, we are excited to begin weaving two new themes into our programming: sports and food. Both may sound simple, but each reflects something deeply powerful about how people connect across cultures. Whether it’s the shared love of a game or a shared meal transforming strangers into friends, these are spaces where trust is built, stories are exchanged, and understanding grows. Most likely, you have experienced this first-hand.
Importantly, these will not be one-off events, nor will they be folded into our already successful Chat & Chowder or Great Decisions programs. Instead, we are developing two new dedicated programming series focused on sports and food as vehicles for citizen diplomacy and cultural exchange. These series are currently in development, and we encourage you to stay tuned. As always, we welcome ideas, partnerships, and collaboration opportunities from our community and would love to hear from you as these new efforts evolve.
We already see these themes emerge in the homes of our Dinner Diplomats, during post event networking and community gatherings, and at meetings with international visitors throughout the year, so we are excited to highlight and expand upon the cultural glue that is sports and food in 2026. At WorldBoston, our mission remains the same: to foster engagement in international affairs and cooperation with people of all nations. In 2026, we’re simply adding more ways to bring people together through sport and food, particularly as Massachusetts prepares to be a host of the World Cup and Sail250.
We hope to see you soon,
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Sarah Sibley
President & COO
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We're delighted to welcome Lucas Maguire and Jess Thompson as our new Northeastern Co-Ops.
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Lucas is a 2nd year student at Northeastern University, pursuing a degree in International Business with a concentration in Finance, and a minor in International Affairs. Hailing from Northern Virginia, Lucas is passionate about international engagement and global citizenship. He is excited to be joining the WorldBoston team and contributing as a Developmental Associate. Through spending his freshman year at Northeastern's London campus and traveling in the summer, Lucas has developed a true appreciation for diverse perspectives and cross-culture exchange. These experiences have shaped his interest in international diplomacy and cooperation, and he is thrilled to be able to contribute to upholding these values.
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Jess is a third year student at Northeastern University pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in international affairs and environmental studies, as well as two minors in sociology and cultural anthropology. They spent their first semester of college studying in Madrid, Spain and exploring the city’s many unique neighborhoods. They are passionate about the nonprofit sector, which they first joined as an intern at the New England Aquarium in the conservation education and volunteer programming departments last spring. Now, they will be continuing this work at WorldBoston as they dive into both the organizational and personal aspects of the field of foreign affairs.
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WorldBoston bids a fond farewell to Emma Scapicchio and Eleanor Deverell, who joined the WorldBoston team in July as Program Associates as part of Northeastern University's Cooperative Education Program, and who worked closely on our Global Engagement and Citizen Diplomacy programs during their six months with us. Thank you to Eleanor and Emma for their hard work and dedication. We wish them the best in their future endeavors!
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Great Decisions | U.S. Engagement with Africa
Thursday, January 29th
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Boston Public Library, Rabb Hall
Africa’s geopolitical importance on the global stage is growing. What lessons can the U.S. learn from past strategic successes and failures on the continent, and how can we use those lessons to meet future challenges as we look to further our engagement with a continent of over 50 countries and over 1.5 billion people?
Join us for a timely discussion of this topic on January 29th from 6:00 – 7:30 PM at the Boston Public Library, Rabb Hall.
Register today to secure your spot!
This program is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.
Stay tuned for more details soon on the topic and event!
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Disclaimer: WorldBoston is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, non-advocacy, educational organization dedicated to fostering civil discourse on international affairs. Our speakers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WorldBoston, our affiliates, or our community.
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- Academic WorldQuest is the World Affairs Councils of America flagship youth education program.
- It is a fun, fast-paced team competition for high school students that challenges students to think globally about critical issues facing the U.S. and the world, testing players' knowledge of current international politics, geography, global economics, history, and world cultures.
- The winning team will compete at the National Academic WorldQuest competition in Washington D.C. on April 27-28 and will represent the entire state of Massachusetts.
- Lodging, travel, and registration for the national competition for four students plus one chaperone will be paid for by WorldBoston.
- And participation is completely free!
This year’s Massachusetts-wide competition will take place at Bridgewater State University on March 21st. Participating schools may send up to 2 teams to the local competition of four students plus two alternates. In 2026, we are working to expand this state-wide competition, reaching more schools and students than ever before. Academic WorldQuest is a great way for students to build their resumes and their knowledge base, and participating schools in Academic WorldQuest have access to more of WorldBoston’s amazing NextGen programs, such as our Diplomacy Simulations and our Global Affairs In Frame classroom activities.
If your school is interested in participating in Academic WorldQuest this year please fill out our interest form, the link for which can be found below.
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In 2025, WorldBoston hosted 621 visitors from 132 countries as part of our Citizen Diplomacy programs forming international connections across Eastern Massachusetts. We are immensely proud of our work in continuing to showcase Massachusetts as a welcoming hub for international exchange.
WorldBoston remains a premier partner for international exchange across the Commonwealth, and we are always looking to deepen our collaborations within our community. These numbers represent local connections, engaging conversations, and a stronger global community. Thank you to all who participated for making 2025 a year of true impact, and we look forward to expanding our programming for local communities and broadening our impact in 2026.
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From June 13th – July 9th, Boston will host seven World Cup games, hosting up to 14 of the 48 qualified nations and 3 million visitors for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Following the results of the FIFA World Cup Draw on December 5th, WorldBoston convened a roundtable with local partners to discuss the results and ongoing efforts among local organizations to collaborate on World Cup plans.
The qualifying nations include England, France, Ghana, Haiti, Morocco, Norway, and Scotland. The Greater Boston area is home to thriving diaspora communities and residents with numerous international connections to these nations. Representatives from Boston 26, Boston Scores, Meet Boston, the City of Boston Mayor’s Office, consular offices, and others discussed collaborative efforts to foster a welcoming environment for millions of visitors. Thank you to all those who attended, and to Neil Doherty, Director of Government Relations at Boston 26, for sharing critical updates with the group.
WorldBoston looks forward to continuing to convene these conversations with important stakeholders in our community as we prepare to host this global event. For anyone seeking to bring international visitors during the World Cup or working on related projects in the Greater Boston area, please reach out to Justin Dynia, Manager of Citizen Diplomacy Programs at jdynia@worldboston.org
Learn more on our website or contact our Manager of Citizen Diplomacy Programs, Justin Dynia (jdynia@worldboston.org) to discuss your specific interests and needs.
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Boston is a world-renowned hub for research and innovation in the life sciences. The city is home to academic institutions, global firms, and public-private partnerships that provide for a thriving biotech ecosystem. As a result, intellectual property and patent law are fundamental to protect investments and promote R&D.
In December, WorldBoston welcomed four visitors from France for a U.S. Department of State sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on the topic of “Biotech Trade and Investment in the United States: Policy.” The group kicked off their program with a facility tour of LabCentral to explore the innovative workspace, and a discussion regarding the cooperative relationship LabCentral holds with different institutions in nurturing emerging competitors in biotech entrepreneurship. The group was hosted for a lunch meeting with Dan Shores, a partner at Rothwell Figg, to discuss intellectual property and biotech patents and funding. The first day wrapped up with a discussion of intellectual property enforcement and international transactions at Foley & Lardner LLP, hosted by Partner and WorldBoston Board Chair James De Vellis.
Day two started with presentations and conversations with leadership from the Boston Intellectual Property Law Association (BIPLA) on how the U.S. enforces intellectual property laws as applied to publication, reproduction, and distribution of protected works. At a luncheon hosted at Alliance Bernstein by Jeff LeClair – Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor and a former WorldBoston board member – participants covered a range of topics with experts in life sciences, entrepreneurship, academia, and French-American relations. The group’s stay in Boston concluded with Ioannis Paschalidis – Director, Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science and Engineering at Boston University – covering the Center’s initiatives on technology and life sciences, which featured a facility tour of the state-of-the-art Computing and Data Science building on Commonwealth Avenue.
Thank you to our community for making the final project of 2025 a success! If BioTech or intellectual property are core components of your research or work and you would like to meet with future IVLP groups, please reach out to President & COO, Sarah Sibley at ssibley@worldboston.org
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We welcome your thoughts and ideas for in-person visitors programming. If you have suggestions, please contact WorldBoston's President and COO, Sarah Sibley.
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Now more than ever, WorldBoston relies on the support of our community to fulfill our mission. Donors who contribute $25 – $999 are proudly recognized on our website as Community Supporters. (Donors of $1,000 and above are Sponsors and enjoy year-round benefits; learn more here!)
You can also donate to WorldBoston through a Donor Advised Fund!
Shout out to our newest Community Supporters: Thomas White, Christian Connors, Kevin Galgay, Nick O'Donohoe, Douglas and Gladys Edwards, Ann Ogilvie, Demarest Macdonald, Lorraine Goldstein and Gustaaf Driessen, Timothy Murphy, Sheila Smyth, and David Chosiad and Paula Thompson.
We encourage you to contribute to WorldBoston to become a 2026 Community Supporter. Donors will receive this year's special pin to recognize their support!
Thank you all for donating to WorldBoston and helping make our mission possible!
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Asterisks indicate first-time sponsors to WorldBoston.
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Check your inbox every Friday for WorldBoston Recommends – our staff picks for high-quality programs and opportunities on global topics in the coming week.
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Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for updates!
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