History

Founded by Fulbright Scholar Harry Morgan and well respected travel professional Cappy Devlin, Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Inc. has facilitated international travel and exchange programs as an independent foundation since 1973 - and for more than 15 years prior to that as an informal program supported in large part by Lila and DeWitt Wallace (founders, Readers Digest). Since its inception, FAF has cultivated international affiliations and representation in order to fulfill its mission: Promote Peace Through Cultural Exchange.

Begun as a project of Reader's Digest and later an independent, publicly supported tax-exempt organization, FAF is built upon many support communities worldwide. These remain loyal to FAF's mission and encourage American groups to visit, exchange and experience a vast, new cultural landscape. This positive and interactive concept was introduced and developed by FAF staff and founders Harry Morgan and Cappy Devlin. The concept later became a cottage industry of ‘tour operators’ but the original goal remains an important and unique concept in international communication today. 

FAF pioneered cultural exchange with American arts ensembles: in 1984, we prepared the first American performance exchange with China, and during the Cold War we worked to open channels of communication between the United States and the so-called Communist Block. In the 1990’s, the foundation was in the forefront of youth reconciliation efforts during the Balkan Wars in what Team Leader and artist Joanna Sherman (Bond Street Theatre) 

Kofi Annan was one of four foreign students chosen
to crisscross the United States in a donated Rambler
station wagon in 1960. The Ambassadors for 
Friendship program took foreign students on the 
road each summer to see the country up close.

called a Cultural Peace Corps. The Balkan Youth Reconciliation Seminar Series eventually became a Flagship Partner of UNESCO’s International Year for the Culture of Peace. FAF is currently a Partner in Operational Relations with UNESCO, and formally associated with the UN Department of Public Information.

The Foundation's history includes significant collaborations to help heal families of victims of terror, with a strong focus on 9/11 families in particular. The project was titled Finding New Hope in 2002 and has received substantial funding from Rotary International, Hitachi, Kids for Kids 2001, the Wall, Ceiling and Carpenters Union, and signature funding of over $1M from the Lions Clubs International Foundation.

Recent projects include:
- The annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations
- Youth Symphony for United Nations
- Youth Band for United Nations
FAF is also proud of its many formal affiliations with a long list of non-governmental organizations which put the foundation in a unique position as it pursues its mission.

FAF programs have included many well-known participants throughout the past four decades, including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan (see picture above), author Alex Haley, Mother Teresa, Senator Jay Rockefeller, President Vaclav Havel, three American astronauts, Reverend Jesse Jackson, social entrepreneur Kathy Ireland, dr. Arun Gandhi - the list goes on and on. However the foundation is most proud of the tens of thousands of private citizens and the millions of lives that have been touched and changed by the exchange our programs engender.