Today’s teachers are preparing future employees, helping to create future business leaders, scientists, diplomats, entrepreneurs and artists. They are members of our community, parents of our children’s friends and important role models in the lives of our children. In my research on developing a global mindset, I have found that a teacher’s desire to model open-minded, curious behavior and demonstrate a desire to explore the world can help a child enormously in becoming globally aware. I’ve spoken to hundreds of successful internationalists who attribute their international interest to a teacher who inspired them with a map, intrigued them with a history lesson, encouraged them to study another language, or captivated them with stories from a trip they’d taken. Moreover, teachers play an important role in spreading tolerance and understanding of other cultures and can have a profound impact on their students’ lives.

But most teachers do not have the means to travel. Based on a recent survey of 1,000 K-12 teachers by Hilton HHonors, most teachers don’t get to travel or experience the world they educate their students about:
• Half travel less than once or twice a year
• 93% believe that travel provides cultural education that can’t fully be taught in a classroom
• 85% believe they should travel more
• 79% believe their students would benefit from hearing about their travels
• 92% cited finances as the main reason they don’t travel more

But now, thanks to a creative partnership between the Institute of International Education (IIE), one of the world’s largest international education leaders, and Hilton HHonors, the loyalty program of Hilton Worldwide, they now have a new resource, Teacher Treks Travel Grant Competition. Teacher Treks will fund 15 K-12 teachers to experience first-hand content relevant to the subject they teach, enriching their curriculum and inspiring students to explore the world. It’s important to note that all subjects can be taught through a global lens. Whether analyzing a historic work of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa after seeing it up-close in the Louvre in Paris, or telling a riveting tale of the ancient civilization of Machu Picchu after exploring the ruins in Peru, teachers can bring a little bit more of the world – and their excitement and passion for their experience – into the classroom.

“Getting children outside of the classroom is so important. In my experience as a teacher, those out of class experiences really make a difference and create memories that will stick far beyond just reading a book,” says Perea Blackmon, 2012 Washington, D.C. Teacher of the Year. She adds, “The same goes for teachers – they need to get outside of the classroom and learn, which is why I’m so happy to have teamed up with Hilton HHonors for the launch of Teacher Treks, an award program that will grant 15 winners the cultural excursion of a lifetime. It benefits the teachers, the classrooms and students – it opens the eyes of children to the endless possibilities of what they can discover and learn through travel.”

Here’s how it works. K-12 teachers from across the US and Puerto Rico are invited to apply online. They are required to submit two essays between 300 and 600 words detailing their proposed global adventure and their plan for sharing their experiences with students and colleagues; a 140-character entry summary, telling voters why they should win; a letter of recommendation from their school’s principal; and a photo. The application deadline is March 15, 2013. Information and the application can be found online at the Hilton HHonors Teacher Treks site.

Thirty finalists will be selected of whom 15 will receive a trip valued at $6,000 to travel to their desired destination. In addition to the trip, each winning teacher’s school will receive a $2,500 grant to use for cultural activities or enhancements. The 15 runners-up will each receive a $2,500 grant for their school. In addition, one winner from all submissions will receive a cultural excursion for their classroom valued at $1,500.

This creative partnership satisfies a need. Through Teacher Treks, Hilton HHonors hopes to grant more teachers the opportunity to experience the world they teach first-hand, as well as foster a love of travel and the rich cross-cultural experiences that come with it. In IIE, it found a partner that has the expertise and knowledge to create, maintain and administer a program that can make a difference in the lives of 15 teachers multiplied by the number of students these teachers touch.

I think this program has the potential to be terrific – one more innovative way to help our young people prepare for an interconnected global world. I’m glad to see a global company getting involved; we need their voices to join us. I passionately believe that a global mindset is as critical to the long-term economic success of the United States as it is to other nations. And while the debate continues on whether we need global education or not, technology continues to create a borderless global economy. The fences, check points and borders of yesteryear are increasingly irrelevant to the way trade, cultural and scientific exchanges proceed, and our students need to understand how to operate in this new world marketplace. Our teachers’ abilities to teach today’s students how to understand and deal with the world will have a direct impact on economic and political security tomorrow. Changes are happening much faster than we realize, and so we must change the way we adapt to the world to keep up, let alone get ahead, to ensure success.

Teacher Treks is one more step in the right direction. Bravo to IIE and Hilton HHonors for recognizing the importance of travel and cross-cultural experiences as a critical teaching contribution.

I know quite a few teachers with whom I’ll share this information. I hope you’ll do the same.

In the next 50 years, most economic growth worldwide will take place outside the G7

But that’s only half the story. Who are the people who will be the driving force for this growth?  Many will be women. But too seldom conversations about economic growth turn a blind eye to gender issues, despite the fact that women comprise more than half of the global economy, 40% of the global workforce (Commonwealth Workforce Council), and $20+ trillion in financial spending worldwide (International Finance Corporation 2011). Women have a multiplier effect as consumers, building markets as they make the majority of purchase decisions in households, often making purchase decisions to increase family welfare. The question is not whether women will contribute to the future global economy but by how much – and where.

And therein lies the rub. Despite gender equality’s being hailed as smart economics and necessary to realize an organization’s full potential, empowering women has been slow to catch on, especially in certain regions of the world like Asia. This is particularly striking, given the important role women play in Asian economies in key manufacturing and service sectors, such as textiles and apparel and back-office processing and call centers. Because of both financial and social benefits of lending to women, most micro-lending institutions aim the vast majority of their lending portfolio toward female borrowers. Female migrants – almost half of the world’s migrant population – also contribute substantially to Asian economies by sending remittances back home.

Yet gender inequality is still pervasive in the region. Many women across Asia still lack access to basic education, are left out of policy decisions affecting their families, and struggle to advance in their jobs. Women face significant challenges in starting a business and are often left behind as businesses internationalize.

In Hong Kong, women are well represented in the civil service, at university and within the workforce, and they generally have more opportunities than their counterparts in many other countries in the region. But even in Hong Kong where East meets West, gender disparity exists. This fact is surprising, given the SAR’s unique combination of British colonial rule and ties to mainland China, where Communism formally embraced gender equality more than 50 years ago. Even though gender equality is protected by the legal system, Hong Kong remains a traditional society, where conservative gender stereotyping is common. This affects who cares for the children, the elderly and the other traditional “homemaker” roles. Despite the comparative ease of childcare due to close-knit family structures and domestic help from the Philippines and Indonesia, women with children bear greater responsibility. Similar to the United States, greater advocacy is needed in Hong Kong by men and women in leadership roles to improve work-related issues that will keep more women in the workforce, such as flexible hours and maternity leave.

While many of Asia’s economies are booming, few women possess a seat at the decision-making table in politics or the economy. Although some women have risen to positions of political leadership in the region and may have served as role models, few have actively promoted women’s empowerment and issues. In terms of the economy, nearly half of boards across Asia still lack a single, independent woman director (Korn Ferry Institute 2011).

Yet women in Asia have been gaining steadily on the Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful Women” list, rising from eight in 2010 to eighteen in 2012. Of those listed, four were from China, three from India, three from Australia, two from Singapore, and one each from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand. Although there are many cultural factors that have to be considered within each country, the rise of women on this list is a sign of progress because it means that: a) a transformation is taking place; b) women in leadership roles can advocate for additional change; and c) women can build on success by mentoring each other along the way.

In mainland China, opportunities for women are growing rapidly says Rebecca Weiner, co-founder and Director for China Services of Strebesana Resources, a consulting and brokerage firm in the medical optics trade. “We are seeing tremendous growth for women in medicine in China today – doctors, hospital directors, medical educators and executives in companies in the medical field. In our business, providing small-bore optics to support minimally invasive surgery, we are also seeing a boom in focus on women’s health issues.”

Who better to help women than other women? Women understand that balancing work with the traditional female roles of child care and managing the home is a constant struggle for women around the world. And they can help guide and support each other to navigate these challenges in the future global economy.

A great example of this mentoring has been taking place at Dupont Japan (25 percent female), which has had a Women’s Network for the last eight years. The Women’s Network recently started an initiative specifically designed to help younger women reach higher levels within the company. Diane Gulyas, President – DuPont Performance Polymers, was in Japan recently and met with the core team of Japanese women who have worked at Dupont for more than 25 years in mid-level jobs, “It was inspiring to listen to Dupont veterans reflect on what it would take to reach the top jobs as they mentored young college graduates.” She added, “Although Japan is very different today than it was even 10 years ago, women have a lot to offer other women on how to succeed in the workplace.”

Often success is dependent on access to excellent childcare at affordable rates, one of the biggest barriers in a country like Japan. But what about the social expectations in other countries, such as India, which have not kept pace with increased career expectations of women? A study last year (Nielson 2011) found that India has the highest percentage of stressed women at 87% (Mexico is second at 74% and U.S. at 53%). Can women help other women in this capacity? Yes, but it’s going to take a cultural shift in both women and men adapting to a new world order that reflects working women as critical to continued economic prosperity.

Women can share stories of how they’ve used micro-finance loans to start businesses and help not only themselves, but to pull their families out of poverty. Women can work together to push for change in increasing educations for girls, a critical step in empowering the next generation of women resulting in greater economic development. But it will take time and some extra help.

“As small- and mid-size companies across Asia explode onto the global stage, they’ll need to invest more in and address those issues of importance to women so that more women can fully participate in next-generation global leadership,” says Ken Belanger, Global Business Leader for TMC. “Many times this requires changes in an organization’s cultural context for women’s leadership initiatives.”

Such cultural shifts can happen. And although they’re specific by country and culture, we’d argue that the feminine culture of communication, sharing and advising other women is a strong indicator that women will help other women all the way to the top. But women will do it in their own way and at their own pace.

Companies need more women on corporate boards. Women make up the vast majority of global consumers; they lead with a different style. They tend to be more risk-averse and raise the important issue of diversity within corporate boards. Women’s issues are global issues: education, childcare, healthcare, nutrition and human rights abuses.

Yet one of the biggest obstacles blocking the ascent of many women is an outdated perception that a narrow list of credentials is critical to being a good board member. Historically, these credentials have been those that men, as they have risen to the tops of organizations, have acquired throughout their careers, including line or management responsibility, regulatory compliance, financial leadership and a robust network of, usually, like-minded men. Most of us recognize that corporate boards must broaden their understanding of who makes a good board candidate, and that includes a wide range of experiences and perspectives sitting around the board table. But old habits die hard.

Many of us talk and write about this problem. And it is a problem when corporate boards are comprised of only 16% of women, a severely disproportionate representation of women who represent 40% of the workforce and 85% of the buying power. One leading university is finally taking action and doing something about it.

The George Washington School of Business (GWSB) and the International Women’s Forum (IWF) have collaborated to create a unique program designed to prepare, promote and place women on corporate boards: On the Board: Advancing Women’s Corporate Board Leadership. The program intends to put more women on corporate boards by training and equipping women leaders with the skills to become successful candidates.

GWSB has come up with a program that offers women advanced training in board-level leadership knowledge and practice, including corporate strategy, crisis management, ethical and responsible decision-making, corporate finance and value creation, risk assessment, leadership communications and regulatory compliance. Women in the program will have a group of mentors consisting of GWSB and other elite U.S. and international university faculty, leading practitioners, including sitting board members and directors, and voices from the IWF network. These already savvy business leaders will emerge as even stronger leaders in today’s global world.

So who are these lucky women chosen for the inaugural class? On the Board recently announced its first 15 Fellows, selected from a highly competitive, qualified, and overwhelming number of applicants: Caryl Athanasiu, Executive Vice President, Chief Operational Risk Officer, Wells Fargo & Company; Shelley Bird, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Cardinal Health; Barbara Byrne, Vice Chairman, Investment Banking Division, Barclays; Lauri Fitz-Pegado, Partner, the Livingston Group; Laura Hwang, President, Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations; Deborah Lentz, Senior Vice President, Customer Service & Logistics, Kraft Foods; Isabel Linares, Senior Counselor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC Spain); Penny McIntyre, President, Newell Consumer Group; Gail McKee, Chief Human Resources Officer, Towers Watson; Nancy Philippart, Executive in Residence, Engineering Ventures Program, Wayne State University; Shoba Purushothaman, Founder, Training Ventures; Sandra Sanchez y Oldenhage, President and CEO, Amgen Mexico; Anita M. Sands, Group Managing Director and Head of Change Leadership, UBS Wealth Management Americas; Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, President, Charles Schwab Foundation, Senior Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Sandra M. Stash, Global Senior Vice President for Health, Safety, Security, Environment, and Operational Assurance, Talisman Energy.

Ultimately, On the Board‘s goal is to place all 15 of these clearly highly-qualified women on boards and to continue doing so with each group of participants year after year, directly increasing the overall percentage of women on corporate boards. But On the Board’s aspirations don’t stop there; they plan to serve as a sort of watch dog group for women by advocating for and monitoring the numbers of women on boards. On the Board plans to hold companies accountable through research and measurement for the severe disparities of gender in high business positions.

“On the Board will most certainly change business by having an almost immediate impact on the gender balance of corporate boards,” said Doug Guthrie, dean of GWSB. “And by changing business at the very top level, and pulling it into the 21st century, we will also affect change in the larger business environment and society overall.”

These 15 women are only the start of a strong initiative toward addressing the issue of gender on corporate boards. As On the Board attracts more attention with its efforts, I hope the discussion of women on corporate boards will garner more attention, too, leading to more action-oriented programs that advocate for women. It’s not just a numbers game. Diverse thinking is required to take companies forward today. I think GWSB and IWF are on the right track to making a big difference not only for women, but the success of the companies that welcome them to their boards.

The old stereotype about Americans is we are generally oblivious to what goes on in the rest of the world.  When you live in a nation as vast and isolated as the United States, it can be very difficult for citizens to conceptualize the cultural, social, and philosophical differences of countries abroad.  However, studying abroad affords one the opportunity to live in a foreign city for an extended period of time and break out of his or her protective home shell. I was fortunate enough to be able to study abroad in London, England during the spring semester of 2009.

As an American study abroad student in London, I found myself in a unique situation because of the extensive historical past shared between the American and British people. The United Kingdom is the homeland for many Americans, which lends to a natural bond between the two countries that even Winston Churchill noted in his famous “Sinews of Peace” speech. I can now look back on my study abroad experience and wholeheartedly agree with Churchill’s sentiment.  Throughout my time in London, I enjoyed immersing myself in the royalty and tradition that defines British culture while interacting with other students who were just as interested in learning about American society.

Although studying abroad does not impact each student equally, you can bet it will improve your ability to communicate with people of other cultures as well as change your perception of the rest of the world.  My semester abroad taught me two very important life lessons, in particular.  One, as a study abroad student you have a tremendous amount of responsibility to represent your home country in a positive manner.  For example, most of the friends I made in London had previously never interacted with an American on a regular basis.  With this in mind, I was always conscientious of how I was acting around others because I knew my actions would influence their view of Americans.  For those of you who have not yet gone abroad, you will learn this is no easy task!  Second, I learned that when you converse with someone from a different country on a regular basis, you begin to break away from your own pre-conceived beliefs and realize that most people have the same basic needs – they just meet them in very different ways.

After my semester abroad concluded, I was compelled to share my experience with other students who were going abroad in the future.  As a result, I created AbroadinLondon.net as a resource to alleviate some of the initial anxiety future London study abroad students may face and as a way for me to document my unforgettable memories from abroad.

Although the Abroad in London website proved successful in its intention, I remained unsatisfied with the current state of the student travel industry.  One often overlooked item is that living in a foreign country for an extended period of time is an intimidating experience!  Before I went abroad, I had very little information at my disposal about the idiosyncrasies of student and university life in London.  The research on the internet was overwhelming and filled with propaganda by various programs.  On top of that, I didn’t know any other students studying in London.  This made my actual study abroad semester much more difficult than it needed to be.

Because of this massive information problem, I recently co-founded StudentsGoneGlobal.com, a new online community for study abroad and youth travelers.  Students Gone Global makes it easy for students to find useful first-hand travel information from their peers abroad, as well as interact with people who study in the same destination, or in places they are interested in traveling to in the future.

Students Gone Global is 100% free to use for all student and youth travelers, so help us inspire students to travel the world by joining our community before your next trip abroad.

My initial interest in studying abroad came from my first international experience in the summer of 2006 after high school graduation.  My Dad, whose job consists of traveling overseas on nearly a monthly basis, treated me to a two week vacation to England, France, and Belgium.  For two weeks, I was able to see the Westminster Abbey and the Parliament in London, tour the Normandy region of France, visit the Louvre and Eiffel Tower in Paris, and even eat a Belgium waffle in Brussels.  I will never forget those two weeks of traveling and I encourage you all to find a way to go abroad and have similar life-changing experiences!

Feel free to connect with Michael on Twitter or via email at mflatt@studentsgoneglobal.com.

U.S. students studying abroad increased in 17 of the top 25 destination countries. Five percent more students studied in China and 12 percent more students studied in India than in the prior year. Open Doors 2012 reports that the United Kingdom remains the leading destination for American students, followed by Italy, Spain, France and China—which remained the fifth largest host destination for the fifth year. There were significant increases in the number of Americans studying in several non-traditional destinations outside Europe: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India and South Korea.

Study abroad by American students has more than tripled over the past two decades, and Open Doors reported a steady rise in U.S. study abroad over several decades. However, American students studying abroad still represent a small proportion of total enrollment in U.S. higher education. About 14 percent of American students receiving Bachelor’s degrees this past year have studied abroad at some point during their undergraduate programs, while only one percent of U.S. students are studying abroad during a single academic year (273,996 out of the more than 20 million students enrolled in U.S. higher education).

This has to change. Evidence continues to mount that working and living abroad is a key differentiator in global competition, and students will benefit from this experiential education after graduation. Multinational companies benefit from a global work force. Consequently, their demand for graduates with international experience continually increases, but employers also want students who can usefully bring their international experience to work.

Students find that companies and organizations value the international experience and want to know what the student did, learned and how he or she can bring that international experience to bear on the job. If it was a fun three months in Rome, not much different than life on campus back in Austin, then the experience offers little to a resume and, therefore, a prospective employer. If a student studied and took classes in Spanish in Madrid, Arabic in Cairo, or Japanese in Osaka, while also learning to navigate the culture as evidenced by a part-time job, tutoring at a local primary school, or serving as a docent at a local museum or historic site, employers will be significantly impressed.

Study abroad programs have come a long way and programs vary widely, from glorified vacations, to programs that take student self-sufficiency too far by requiring undergraduates find their own accommodations after landing, an intimidating prospect even for seasoned travelers. Some are academically rich, others mediocre. Some have rigid curricula, others are so loose even freshmen participate, beginning their college experience overseas. It’s no surprise that parents and students don’t always know what to expect when looking into programs.

Many campuses now offer a more integrated curricula with foreign language and cultural immersion. Many American universities have begun and must continue to adapt so more students can afford to study abroad and, increasingly, in the countries that are showing strong economic growth in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But they also need to adapt their programs; taking classes in English at an American university taught by teach-abroad professors is no longer enough. Schools must integrate the global experience into the curriculum by incorporating language learning and a part-time job or internship find students better able to navigate the cultural terrain and understand how to apply this learning to a job.

In order to do this, however, students must be properly prepared for the cross-cultural experience. For example, the entire study abroad course — be it three weeks or a full year — should begin at the home campus with intense cultural and intellectual preparation. Some schools offer courses in history, politics, economics and geography. Others require students to research an aspect of country and culture, make a presentation to the department before they leave, and then again upon their return home with updated findings and experience. Others teach from the perspective of a particular group, such as government regulators, consumers or manufacturers, and then incorporate the real deal in the classroom in country. Local language learning, a mixture of international student classrooms, relevant classes and excursions with a purpose make a world of difference in bringing enhanced academic rigor to the study abroad program. It’s also a deep cultural dive that students can use in their careers — at the very least to develop their international resumes to launch a global career.

And let’s not forget about reintegration upon return. Prior to or right after returning, students should go through a reentry program that helps them prepare for the effects their experiences may have, help them adapt to the changes they’ve experienced and learn how to deal with them. I have met hundreds of students who have struggled with reentry — something all too common in the working world as well – and it’s important to see them through this phase.

In an effort to capture what has been learned over the past few years, I’ve recently launched a survey for students who have recently completed a stint abroad. The results of this survey will help inform a book that I am coauthoring with Dr. Allan Goodman, President of IIE, and Sir Cyril Taylor Founder and Chairman of American Institute for Foreign Study. The book, tentatively titled A Student’s Guide to Studying Abroad, is scheduled to be published by IIE in the spring of 2013.

Let’s continue to learn, share and improve our study abroad programs to help more students study abroad and enable them to capitalize on the experience both personally and professionally.

If you have studied abroad in the past five years and would like to provide feedback on your experience, Click here to take survey

The survey is anonymous and includes 20 multiple-choice questions followed by four optional open-ended ones. It should take between 5-10 minutes to complete.  Please forward the link on to others who qualify and may be interested as well.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write me. Thank you for your interest and support!

Women-owned businesses currently account for more than 30 percent of privately held companies in the U.S., with more on the rise as women are starting businesses at record rates. Moreover, women are running these businesses on their own terms, creating new standards that affect positive change. We are speaking out on issues of public policy, reducing our environmental footprint, redefining the office atmosphere and creating jobs that fuel the economy. Some of us are even taking our businesses global.

Although I’m an entrepreneur and small business owner now, this is a relatively new role for me. I worked internationally for MNCs for the first part of my career, but I have found this new role much more fulfilling on many levels. Besides running my own show, I value being part of something much greater than just me — a grassroots movement of women business owners and our community of supporters all dedicated to helping one another grow, thrive, give back and leave a legacy. This collective feminine buzz was palpable at the recent National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) annual conference in Louisville last week — an event at which I was invited to speak.

This event is the largest of its kind in the United States, with more than 500 women business owners coming from across the U.S. representing industries and business of all sizes. This year’s theme, “Start Something,” celebrated the entrepreneurial, innovative and adventurous spirit of women business owners connecting and networking over the course of two days. (See pictures below!)

“I was so energized by the stories I heard from women business owners who started their companies — each under unique circumstances — and have pushed forward and grown these businesses despite a challenging few years,” says Diane Tomb, President & CEO of NAWBO. “These women are amazing and continue to innovate, advocate and accelerate for themselves and for all women entrepreneurs.”

Diane and her team put together a dynamic event with top-notch keynote and session speakers, including three amazing women who were honored with 2012 NAWBO Hall of Fame Awards. In turn, they each inspired us with their stories:

As a woman who reinvented herself from super model to super mogul, Kathy Ireland is an inspiration to many. She is chief designer and CEO of kathy ireland Worldwide, a business that grosses more than $1.9 billion in sales and whose brand sells in more than 50 countries around the world. In her uplifting keynote, she shared stories from her life as an 11-year old paper girl, a swimsuit model who was getting older and a woman starting her own business. She spoke passionately about the power of relationships and her belief that business leaders must use their position to advocate for issues we care about. She advised us to “make decisions that are intentional, not reactive” in our personal and professional lives.

 Katrina Markoff is owner, founder and chocolatier of Vosges Haut-Chocolat, which has made Inc. magazine’s list of 500 Fastest Growing Companies. In her talk, Katrina shared her road to success, challenges she faced along the way, and her creative process in taking an idea or inspiration and translating it into a new line of chocolate. She also shared how to taste chocolate to fully experience it.

Karen Mills is Administrator of the Small Business Administration, who has served in President Obama’s Cabinet since January 2012 as a key member of the economic leadership team. NAWBO President  Diane Tomb sat down on stage for a Q&A with Karen, who spoke about the issues and the opportunities that women business owners and entrepreneurs face as they build innovative and successful companies and what the SBA is doing to support them. Forty years ago, women owned just 5 percent of small businesses; today, they own 30 percent. That equals a total of 7.8 million companies generating $1.2 trillion a year in sales.

These keynotes were complemented by a rich mixture of breakout sessions over the course of two days. Topics included work-life integration, building a strong personal brand, using social media to your advantage, creating a powerful mentoring relationship, making public policy work for you, advancing women’s entrepreneurship, and taking your business global, the session that I led.

I love talking about all things global. And I’m thrilled to see that NAWBO and so many other conferences are beginning to include workshops and presentations on the global aspects of business and careers. It is a very good thing because global is everywhere, and we need to figure out how to deal with, manage it and profit from it. Despite 95 percent of the world’s consumers living outside our borders, not everyone thinks about her business as having the potential to be global, and indeed some don’t. But many think only global exports and international distribution, but how about tapping into global talent and resources along the supply chain, selling professional services, setting up R&D and/or manufacturing, and exporting an excellent idea and adapting it to a new market as an entrepreneurial venture. The global economy can help streamline all elements of the supply chain, creating profitable returns for small businesses that work creatively across markets. It’s up to you to figure out how.

In order to take your business global, you must think globally. It can be a daunting task to even think about doing business beyond our borders. In fact, culture and language barriers are the two reasons the vast majority of small business owners give for not going global. Ironically, and beneficially to women, we excel in cross-cultural situations (see my research on this topic conducted for my first book, Get Ahead By Going Abroad). Women are made for going global. Don’t let your inhibitions interfere with your exploration of the idea. Here are a few tips I offered in my NAWBO session:

• Do your research, including competitive analysis and market research, as well as look into the regulatory climate and banking and tax options of various countries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank publish a report annually on the ease of doing business by country.
• Take an investigative trip — as a business owner not a tourist — to get a handle on start-up costs, local culture and work ethic. Try to determine if you like the culture and could do business there. Compare it to another market if you can.
• Identify potential customers and clients based on demographics, industries and relevant infrastructure needs.
• Network and build relationships with like-minded global thinkers. Organize the list systematically so that if you have an opportunity to travel or receive a solicitation from a potential international partner, you’ll have a quick reference list. Networks are critical to success in going global beginning with the lead-up through global expansion.

Once you’ve done your leg work, seek out advisers who can help take your business global, including many available to you as a U.S. business owner. The Obama Administration has done an excellent job of addressing the needs of small business owners by revamping government resources so as to make them more relevant, efficient and accessible. The Export-Import Bank offers a wealth of information as part of its new Global Access initiative, as does BusinessUSA, a centralized, one-stop platform that makes it easier than ever for businesses to access services to help them grow and hire, housed under the Commerce Department. The Small Business Administration offers plenty of information on new financing, insurance, loans and tax incentives.

Plus there are many qualified companies and consultants who can help prepare you to — among other things — work successfully across cultures, conduct a successful market entry, and establish relationships with partners on the ground. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce site and local AmChams offer a wealth of information and an international network to tap into in hundreds of cities around the world. At the end of my presentation, women were swapping global contacts and starting something right in that room.

One of the reasons I love women’s conferences: We share information. We’re not only focused on growing the business and the bottom line, but we love to connect and share stories. You can learn so much about a woman’s business and her values when she shares her journey whether it’s a super model turned super mogul — or a global corporate exec turned entrepreneur.

Original appeared on the Huffington Post.

It’s that time of year when high school seniors across the country start thinking about where they will go to college. Many seek input from family and friends to complement their guidance counselors’ advice. Some turn to popular rankings like U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger’s and Princeton Review as they visit campuses and begin the application process.

As an advocate for greater global awareness, I challenge students and their parents to look at things a little bit differently. Look for a curriculum that offers you an international perspective and an opportunity to study languages. Although college is about learning, it’s also about acquiring the necessary skills to land a job when you’ve graduated. World language skills have increasingly become a differentiator for hiring managers among graduates. Even if you’re not proficient, a solid working knowledge of another language indicates an openness to and appreciation for other cultures, a critical 21^st century skill.

A recent study by the National Security Education Program via its “Language Flagship,” involving surveys and focus groups among more than 100 senior U.S. executives, concluded that increasing language and cultural skills is “critical” to American business, for everything from developing and keeping new deals, to overseas marketing, to winning the global war for talent. As one survey participant said, “the lack of language skills among U.S. business[people] is an enormous barrier to increasing U.S. participation in overseas markets.”

But it’s more than business leaders demanding an increase in language speakers to fill jobs. The U.S. Department of Defense’s own recruitment site notes “an urgent and growing need for Americans with foreign language skills,” especially in high-demand languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian, Farsi, Tagalog, Russian, Somali, Turkish and Urdu/Punjabi. Congressional Subcommittees on Defense, Intelligence and National Security regularly hear reports on how our security and intelligence efforts are stymied by a lack of qualified language professionals among U.S. citizens.

Universities value language skills, too. In a report on National Defense Education, the American Association of Universities ranks foreign language education as highly as “STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning for both national security and economic strength. Most competitive colleges look quite favorably on applicants with four years of secondary school classwork in one language.

There are jobs for people who speak more than English, but not many Americans do. So here’s your chance, as a high school student ready to embark on your college career. Make languages an integral part of your academic experience regardless of your major. Whatever your language level is – experienced to novice — keep studying or start anew. If you have a strong command of French or Spanish from your studies thus far, keep it up, but also consider adding Arabic or Chinese. If you’ve studied one language but haven’t mastered it yet, don’t switch. The merits of sticking with one language all the way through are great, unless you think it’s not going to be particularly relevant. Many times switching can lead to no proficiency at all, and so work at mastering one. Above all, don’t give the languages you’ve learned up – keep at it even if it’s difficult to fit it into your schedule – it will pay off.

Consider choosing a college based partly on your language needs. No matter what career you’re considering, language proficiencies matter to employers. Make sure before you matriculate that the institution will meet your personal and career goals when it comes to language learning. To advise you on how to do this, I’ve included tips below that Marty Abbott, the executive director of the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL), gave me to include in my latest book, Go Global! Launching an International Career Here or Abroad.

•  Check not only language offerings but levels as well. Many universities offer majors in some languages, but not others; languages like Chinese and Arabic may only be available at the introductory or intermediate levels.

• Check language offerings for alignment with your career interests. If upper-level courses focus only on literature you may be limited in developing proficiency related to specific career interests; look for expanded language offerings that go beyond just literature.
• Check the availability of options to study abroad and how credits are transferred from study abroad programs. A college or university that is preparing students to live and work in a global environment will encourage students to study and participate in international internships.
• Check faculty backgrounds. Faculty members should reflect many backgrounds and academic areas of expertise, not just literature.
• Ask about options for majoring in a language or double majoring in a language and another field. The institution should encourage students to continue to develop language proficiency through double majors/minors.
• Ask about study abroad options and scholarships. There should be a dedicated international study office with staff knowledgeable about scholarships.
• Ask about summer and academic year internships where you can use your language expertise. The institution should make an effort to place students in situations where they are able to use their language skills.
• Ask about the number of adjunct instructors in the department and the role of teaching assistants. Be wary of a significant number of adjunct instructors or too many courses taught by teaching assistants.
• Ask about faculty involvement with students outside of class and extra-curricular activities of the language department. There should be an active presence of the foreign language department on campus with guest lecture series, cultural activities and service learning projects in the community.
• Ask about placement procedures and credit options for AP/IB and dual credit programs. You should be placed appropriately in a language class so you don’t waste time reviewing materials you have already mastered or sell yourself short by repeating coursework. The institution should also grant credits for college-level work completed in high school for Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or dual credit programs.
• Ask about language-specific houses or floors where the language is spoken by the students. Most language programs have a designated living space for majors and interested students where they are immersed in using the language.  This is an excellent opportunity to accelerate the language acquisition process and improve your communication skills.
• Ask about resources for language students. Institutions should have robust resources available to students in the target language from library holdings to magazines and videos.
• Ask to visit a language class and the language lab. Attending a class will give you important information about how language teaching is approached at the institution and how actively engaged the students are in the learning process. It will also let you speak with students involved in the language program.
• Ask about graduate programs and career services for students who major in languages or have high level of proficiency. It’s important to find out the track record of the Career Center in placing students in positions or graduate programs where they can use language talents.
• If you are interested in teaching at the K-12 level, ask if there is a program that prepares you for state certification to teach languages. Ask to speak to seniors in the program or recent graduates. This is important if you want a teaching career; you should also ask about the student teaching experience to ensure teacher candidates are placed with highly qualified K-12 teachers.

As ACTFL’s tagline suggests, “Discover Languages, Discover the World.” Good luck in your pursuits!

Thousands of books, hundreds of talks and stacks of media clips later, our ground-breaking premise has been proven correct.  Women are successfully going overseas to study and work in record numbers.  And they are reaping the rewards – be that more money, faster promotions or more options and greater control of their careers.  Indeed, today when we speak to women at elite universities across the country, the majority of female students we meet tell us they are at least considering going overseas at some point.  That’s astounding given where we were just five short years ago.  And we’re very proud of the part we’ve played in taking this conversation mainstream and in inspiring women to just do it!  The number of emails we’ve received from those who have taken our advice and made it happen have been so personally gratifying.  But instead of resting on our laurels, these stories of triumph have only inspired us to want to do more.

So today, we are delighted to announce the launch of a new paperback version of our award-winning book Get Ahead by Going Abroad.  This paperback will help us take our mission from raising awareness to actually helping even more women with the practical, hands-on information they need about how to determine if going abroad is right for them and how to do it successfully.  The paperback is critical in taking this message further, faster, because it is even more accessible to everyone.  It costs less.  Weighs less.  Travels better. Whether for yourself or as a gift for that aspiring career woman in your life, for just $14.99 the paperback edition of Get Ahead by Going Abroad is a must have, must read.  Get your copy today!

If you’re interested in sharing your global success story, send an email to StacieandPerry@getaheadbygoingabroad.com and Perry and I will consider it as we post a new featured woman every month!

Much has been made of the Obama Administration’s self-described policy “pivot” eastward, increasing diplomatic outreach and most visibly, rebalancing and repositioning a range of military assets in the Asia-Pacific region.

What is missing though from this shift, and perhaps what is most needed today given a slow-to-no growth U.S. economy, is a “business pivot” – one that ends the anti-business rhetoric coming from Washington and recognizes the business opportunities and importance of Asia to the United States, and vice versa.

From a defense perspective, the signs of change, in boots on the ground and ships at sea, are evident.  In April, the first of 2,500 U.S. Marines began arriving in Australia under an agreement increasing the U.S. military presence.

And in June, in Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced plans to base 60 percent of U.S. naval forces in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.  He also became the most senior U.S. official since the Vietnam War to visit the deep-water Vietnamese port of Cam Ranh Bay, once a key U.S. logistics hub.

The visit signaled warming ties between onetime adversaries – at a time of growing tensions between China and its neighbors, including with the Philippines, a U.S. ally, over territory and sovereignty in the resources-rich South China Sea.  The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes, production bases and trade routes, and some of the U.S.’s largest export markets.

So, what could a business pivot look like – even as businesses clamor for less government involvement?

First, from a trade perspective, the United States would benefit from an explicit government recommitment to free trade and to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).  During tough times, the default position of government is often inward-looking, seeking to shelter domestic businesses from competition.  Ultimately, though, protectionism stifles productivity, and the economy and consumers suffer.

For the past three years, too little has been done to advance a free trade agenda beyond agreements initiated by prior U.S. Administrations.  In the Asia-Pacific region, the United States has FTAs with Australia, Singapore and South Korea – the latter after much delay and hand-wringing.

Negotiations do continue toward a regional Free Trade Agreement – the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) – between the United States and several Pacific Rim nations.  Yet, the U.S. commitment to this agreement, while welcome, again pre-dates the present Administration.  In September 2008, the then U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab under President George W. Bush announced the United States would begin negotiations with Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei to join the TPP.  New initiatives are warranted.

Free trade agreements can further open Asia’s markets to U.S. businesses that have the drive and the commitment to succeed.  Negotiating them, however, requires tough bargaining, strict implementation and government leaders willing and able to explain the benefits.

Second, from the perspectives of transport, U.S. businesses would benefit from additional Open Skies agreements in Asia, further expanding passenger and cargo flights to and from the United States.  While not as prominent as FTAs, Open Skies agreements drive the liberalization of rules and regulations, help eliminate government interference in the commercial operations of airlines and play a key role in increasing travel and trade.

As of late-2010, the United States had more than 100 U.S. Open Skies partners.  Conspicuously missing from the list, however, are several Asian nations.  The Philippines and Vietnam each could provide future opportunity for partnership agreements if governments on both sides understand the benefits of greater cooperation and competition, and of encouraging the building of businesses across borders.

Third, and perhaps most critically to a business pivot would be not just actions, but words.  We need government leaders who do not talk down U.S. businesses for succeeding overseas, particularly in Asia.  Businesspeople are understandably frustrated by the lack of vocal support beyond calls for greater U.S. exports.  The position of U.S. Commerce Secretary remains sadly vacant – with an acting secretary filling the job and no prospects for a permanent replacement anytime soon – and the U.S. Trade Representative decidedly low profile.

To her credit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been traveling the region, most recently bringing attention to opportunities for U.S. companies – including such iconic American businesses as Coca Cola, Ford Motor Co., General Electric, General Motors, Goldman Sachs and Google – in the once pariah state of Burma, also known as Myanmar, and elsewhere.

From a U.S. commercial perspective, a significant U.S.-Asia economic and trade foundation exists that can be built on, above and beyond in China, India and Japan.  2011 U.S. exports to Southeast Asia, for example, alone exceeded US$76 billion.  The United States, Secretary Clinton noted, also has more than twice as much investment in Southeast Asia as it does in China.

Americans and their elected leaders should take pride in the success of U.S. businesses in Asia – regardless of where the jobs are based or products made.  From Beijing to Singapore to Delhi, the directories of American Chambers of Commerce are filled with U.S. businesses, large and small, working to sell products and services.

Here in Southeast Asia – where I am based after having stepped down from the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank – the Ford Motor Co. is investing some US$450 million in a manufacturing plant in Thailand.  Some 2,200 workers will build vehicles for the Asia-Pacific region.  Ford is reportedly the second-largest automotive investor in Thailand, after Toyota, with cumulative investment totaling more than $2.5 billion.

Despite the U.S. presidential campaign rhetoric, the success of a company such as Ford in Asia is neither bad news for Detroit nor the United States.

U.S. businesses are facing growing competition from companies from Brazil, Russia, India and China – the BRIC – and elsewhere. U.S. companies also continue to face a new lower-cased “bric” that poses an even larger challenge – bureaucracy, regulation, interventionism and corruption.

Inefficient or ineffective bureaucracies, regulations that are unequally applied or enforced when they exist at all, interventionism by government at the expense of market forces, and crony capitalism, if not outright corruption – all persist in Asia and the United States to varying degree. Yet, American companies still succeed despite the odds.

U.S. businesses operating internationally should not now also have to contend with a business-unfriendly government of their own.  With the present policy pivot eastward, understandable attention was paid in Washington to the words describing defense and security moves, given national sensitivities in Asia.  Yet, actions followed words.  It’s exactly the same for a business pivot – we need both words and actions from Washington.  It’s time to rebalance the rhetoric.

Curtis S. Chin is a senior fellow and executive-in-residence at the Asian Institute of Technology, and a managing director with RiverPeak Group.  He served as U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (2007-2010).  He is a frequent commentator on Asia and development issues.