In 1977, while he and Mrs. Carter were still in the White House, President Carter announced the founding of The Friendship Force by Wayne Smith. Mrs. Carter accepted and still holds the position of Honorary Chairperson of the newly formed international organization.  The Carter’s son, Chip is currently the president of the Friendship Force.  The founders envisioned that friendships among people of different nations and cultures would not only be enriching for participants, but could contribute to world peace on a broad scale.

 The Friendship force achieves its goals through the travel of goodwill ambassadors who share the lives of a host family in another country for one or two weeks.  Since its inception in 1977, over 136,000 ambassadors and 400,000 hosts have participated through 3,300 exchanges.

 The formation of  independent local chapters did not start until 1980.  These local chapters of Friendship Force Clubs were officially licensed by the Friendship Force in many cities.  There are now 350 clubs in 58 countries and 41 states of the US,  The Friendship Force International operates out of offices in Atlanta, Georgia where a small professional staff is maintained.   

The newest Friendship Force program, Bridgebuilders, uses the homestay format as the means for linking professional or special interest counterparts. Bridgebuilders exchanges provide unique opportunities for putting friendship into action through joint projects that grow out of the personal friendship established during the exchange.

Friendship Force volunteer leaders around the world are afforded the opportunity to come together each year at an international conference.  Bangkok, Thailand will be the site of the conference for 2001.

The International Friendship Force may be contacted at 24 Peachtree Street, Suite 900 Atlanta, GA 30303 USA Telephone: 404-522-9490 Fax: 404-688-6148 
E-mail: ffi@friendshipforce.org  Web site: www.friendshipforce.org