#105 Peggy Parfenoff, CEO World Chicago Entrepreneurial Exchanges and Citizen Diplomacy

Amazing Execs Show

World Chicago and US State Department Shares Entrepreneurship Globally

Peggy Parfenoff, the CEO of World Chicago from Chicago. Peggy has put together an amazing program in coordination with the State Department that creates cross-border relationships between owners, entrepreneurs, and executives of European companies with US based entrepreneurs, owners and executives of companies as well. She not only focuses around Europe, but brings in fellowships with hundreds of people from throughout the world into meet and interrelate with US businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits, and other GMOs.

Unique Program with Bilateral Benefits

• US Companies Learn about other Geography Cultures and Potential access to customers and suppliers
• Cross-Border Issues resolved quickly
• Best practices sharing between the US companies and their peers globally
• Support energy and growth in startups, seed, growth, and scaling phases of business growth

In this program specifically that we’re talking to today, you’ll hear about the highlights of the differences between European entrepreneurs and the US entrepreneurs that they interact with, and you’ll also hear that there’s also subtle differences in cultures even amongst the US entrepreneurs and the European entrepreneurs within their own continents And so it’s not a unique thing, but this is an amazing program that that sheds light on the value and benefits of US democracy, as well as the benefits and value and the good and the bad of the US entrepreneurial and capitalistic, uh, cultures that exist here that I think bring opportunities to all.

I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation today with Peggy, and I would love for you to subscribe down below if you’re listening to us on your favorite podcast station, or if you’re watching us on YouTube or watching us on our website.

We’d love to get your feedback, have you subscribe and be the first to get upcoming episodes with some other amazing executives. Welcome Peggy.

World Chicago is a nonprofit organization that hosts international exchanges, sponsored primarily by the US Department of State. So we’re bringing emerging leaders from 140 countries around the world, nearly the entire world to Chicago on exchange programs. They might be youth who come for a two week exchange and stay with host families.

They might be a government official on a international visitor leadership program sponsored by the state, staying for a week in a hotel and meeting with their peers and counterparts. Or they might be an entrepreneur coming from Europe, staying for a month in a fellowship, in a higher level internship, and really engaging in the entrepreneurial community.

So through all of our various styles of programs, we get about a thousand people a year in Chicago and in sending out great impressions of our city around the world.

one of our biggest programs we have for entrepreneurs is called the Young Trans-Atlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative, or YTILI is what we call it for short. And that brings 60 entrepreneurs from 39 possible European countries. So this is one of the State Department programs.

It’s focused on Europe. There are other department estate programs for entrepreneurs focused on the western hemisphere, focused on Southeast Asia and on Africa. But this particular program that World Chicago works on is focused on Europe. So every European country from Russia down to Malta and Ireland all the way over to Turkey.