The World Affairs Council of Atlanta (WAC) is the Atlanta branch within the national network of World Affairs Council of America. The WAC is a non-partisan, membership and grant-supported organization whose mission is to provide a forum for informed discussion of the global affairs that impact Metro Atlanta and support the city’s transformation into an international economic hub. Since its founding in 2010[1], the council has organized hundreds of programs exploring a diverse array of critical global issues. Through its programming, the council seeks to enhance Atlantans’ understanding of our ever-changing world and support the economic development of the city, all with the goal of putting you at the crossroads of the world.

Official logo of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.

Throughout the year, the Council:

  • Delivers relevant and impactful programs that inform and challenge new thinking about global issues and drive professional development and enrichment at all levels
  • Convenes diplomats, global business leaders and topical experts for thought-provoking presentations for our members, local leaders and the general public
  • Facilitates forums and roundtable discussions for corporate, non-profit and government leaders
  • Cultivates future leaders through the council’s Young Leaders program
  • Collaborates with Atlanta-based and national organizations to enrich dialogue and research on critical international topics
  • Creates a community of members connected by the desire to deepen their understanding of the world

Board of Directors & Officers

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The World Affairs Council employs an esteemed group of works ranging from CEOs to college Deans in the Greater Atlanta area serve on the Board of Directors


The World Affairs Council also employs three officers who serve as the heads of the leadership team and continue to strive for further global communication and interaction between Atlanta and the rest of the world.

  • President Ambassador Charles Shapiro, Senior Lecturer, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, President for four years
  • Associate Director, Overseer of Finances and Administrative Operations, Valerin Lopez DeFrank
  • Vice President for Research and Analysis, Dr. Christopher Brown, PhD., lecturer, Department of Political Science, Georgia State University

Notable Speakers

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The World Affairs Council has successfully, and continues to successfully, hold a diversity of programs and forums to broaden the conversations and discussions in order to adequately give attention to all areas of the world. In this way, the Council continues the notion of inclusion when discussing global issues that affect each region of the world in dissimilar ways. Some of the many notable speakers to attend the Council’s programs are:

  1. Nigel Farage, Vice Chairman of the pro-Brexit Leave Means Leave organization
  2. David Rennie, Beijing Bureau Chief at The Economist Magazine
  3. David Abney, Chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service
  4. Elizabeth Kiss, CEO of The Rhodes Trust (The Rhodes Scholarship), former President of Agnes Scott College
  5. Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA
  6. Beatriz Perez, Senior VP and Chief Public Affairs, Communications and Stability Officer at Coca-Cola
  7. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 24th President of Liberia
  8. David Johnston, 28th Governor General of Canada
  9. Mark Landler, White House Correspondent for the New York Times
  10. Claire Lewis (Yum) Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Leapfrog IT Services
  11. Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., 2016-2018 Under Secretary of State
  12. Nadia Theodore, current (2018) Consul General of Canada in Atlanta
  13. Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of New York Stock Exchange

Ways to Get Involved

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Membership: Individual, Corporate and Non-Profit

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Individual Membership has seven levels of benefits, beginning with the four general levels: Young Leaders, NGO/Academic, Individual and Dual, and ending with the three exclusive levels: Preferred, Chairman’s Circle and Ambassador. The general benefit levels range from a $50 a year donation (Young Leaders) to a $175 a year donation (Dual) while the exclusive benefit levels range from a $250 a year donation (Preferred) to a $5000 a year donation (Ambassador).

The general levels offer basic benefits[2] from member discounts for programs to invitations to members-only programs while the exclusive levels offer additional perks alongside those on the general level. Some advantages include private invitations to exclusive receptions, seats at executive round tables and personal customer service during events.

Corporate Membership is distinguished by all businesses that seek to gain profit from their work. There are five levels of benefits within the Corporate Membership: Corporate Member, Supporting Member, Council Champion, Council Sponsor and Sustaining Member. 1.     The benefits for the Corporate Members are the same as those within the Individual Membership distinction with three exceptions: Subscription to Robinson County Intelligence Index, logo on all Council publications and Board membership. The final two benefits are only available for Sustaining Members on the Corporate Level. Some of the Corporate Members[3] for the WAC include:

Non-Profit Membership is distinguished by all other businesses that do not seek to gain profit from their work; i.e. education and government agencies. Non-Profit Membership only has two levels of benefits: Member and Premier Member. Both member levels enjoy similar advantages to those within the Corporate Membership, except for the final two benefits that can be obtained by the Sustaining Members on the Corporate Level. Some of the Non-Profit Members for the WAC include:

Young Leaders

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The Young Leaders (YL) are WAC members under 40 who are interested in becoming more globally aware and connected. The YL mission is to provide a platform for current global thinking, knowledge sharing and skill-building on international affairs and global issues among emerging leaders and professionals of metro Atlanta. Council membership provides Young Leaders with a unique opportunity for emerging leaders and professionals to:

  • Network with their peers through senior executive members at programs;
  •  Engage with experts from around the globe for a better understanding of complex global issues that affect their lives and careers;
  • Develop professional competencies through:
    • The Global Leadership Series, featuring senior executives in dialogue with young leaders.
    • The YL Mentorship Program connecting YL mentees with year-long mentoring opportunities.
  • Explore the world with travel and fellowship opportunities;
  • Shape the conversation with participation in the YL Executive Committee, organizing programs, socials, volunteer activities and more for YLs ready to take the next step in engagement.

Internship Opportunities

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Program and Development Interns support the Council’s program and development team, which organizes programs that inform and challenge new thinking about global issues and develop funding sources to support the Council’s work. Robinson Country Intelligence Index (RCII) Interns support the Council’s research endeavors, which include gathering and verifying country-level data, and investigating new data sources for the RCII. All interns focus on highlighting Atlanta’s growing role in international affairs and business.

Robinson County Intelligence Index (RCII)

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The RCII is a unique, interactive tool which incorporates four broad dimensions: Governance, Economics, Operations, and Society (GEOS). The RCII encompasses 102 sub-dimensions, 199 countries, and, at present, 13 years of data[4]. Drawing on over one million data points and more than 30 sources.[5] , the RCII provides a dynamic new instrument for students, educators, researchers, and practitioners. The RCII has both a Board of Directors as well as a Research and Development Team that offers its own internship opportunities within the WAC.

 
Graph from the RCII site.

RCII Board of Directors

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  • RCII Director, Dr. Chris Brown
  • Assistant Dean for Executive Programs, David R. Forquer
  • President of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, Ambassador Charles Shapiro
  • Dean of the Robinson College of Business, Dr. Richard Phillips
  • Executive Director, CIBER, Dr. S. Tamer Cavusgil
  • Chief Innovation Officer, Phil Ventimiglia
  • Assistant Dean for International Engagement, Jacobus F. Boers
  • Department Chair, Political Science, Dr. Michael Herb
  • Professor, Political Science, Dr. Carrie Manning

Research Development Team

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Internships

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The GEOS Fellowship will be available on a limited basis. The GEOS Fellowship is a $1000 stipend per semester for eligible Georgia State University Political Science and Robinson College of Business (RCB) students. The fellowship is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate students must be in junior standing by the start of the fellowship.[6] A total of four fellows will be selected each semester.

Social Media Sites

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The World Affairs Council of Atlanta can be found on virtually all social media extensions:

  1. ^ "About Us - World Affairs Council of Atlanta". wacatl.robinson.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  2. ^ "Member Benefit Descriptions - World Affairs Council of Atlanta". wacatl.robinson.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  3. ^ "Corporate and Institutional Members and Major Donors - World Affairs Council of Atlanta". wacatl.robinson.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  4. ^ "Supplementary file 2. Lifespan anaylsis of metformin's effect on daf-15 heterzogous mutants". Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  5. ^ "PDF file from Editorial Manager". Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  6. ^ "RCII". RCII. Retrieved 2018-08-24.