Stevens Initiative

The Stevens Initiative is an international leader in virtual exchange, which connects young people for dialogue and discovery through everyday technology. The Initiative is reimagining what the future of global youth engagement looks like and the scope and scale at which it can be implemented.

What We Do

Created in 2015, the Stevens Initiative provides resources and opportunities for the entire virtual exchange field, from established non-profits to educators, to convene, collaborate, and explore ways to build virtual exchange and chart a course for the future.

Virtual Exchange

Virtual exchange uses everyday technology to connect young people from around the world for learning and collaboration. Immersing emerging leaders in digital spaces enhances their understanding of the world around them and develops the skills needed to be successful in an ever changing world.

Our Inspiration

The Stevens Initiative, conceived and developed in close partnership with Ambassador Stevens’ family, seeks to give a generation of young people the kind of meaningful international experiences that shaped Ambassador Stevens as a young man.

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens devoted his life to building connections through open and respectful dialogue and person-to-person diplomacy. As a young man, he taught English in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco as a Peace Corps volunteer. Morocco was his gateway to a life as an intrepid diplomat. He served the majority of his Foreign Service career in the Middle East and North Africa, a region he grew to love, and eventually served as U.S. Ambassador to Libya.

Our Partners

The Stevens Initiative is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation and the governments of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative is a U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program administered by the Aspen Institute.