Yankees Bernie Williams, Department of State Cultural Ambassador

New CultureConnect Ambassador Bernie Williams Visits Venezuela and Colombia

Bernie Williams, star centerfielder for the New York Yankees and newly selected U.S. Department of State Cultural Ambassador, is traveling to Venezuela and Colombia for his inaugural CultureConnect trip, starting February 11. He will conduct baseball clinics with young baseball players in Caracas, Venezuela, before traveling to Cartegena and Baranquilla in Colombia, to lead additional baseball clinics. In addition to the baseball events, Williams, who is an accomplished jazz and Latin guitarist, will perform with the Etnia Latin Jazz Band at the Uni Norte Auditorium in Baranquilla.

Williams was introduced as a CultureConnect Ambassador at an awards ceremony in December 2004. The CultureConnect program, created two years ago by Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia S. Harrison to reach younger audiences, comprises accomplished men and women from the arts, sports and business who generously contribute their time and talent on behalf of youth. These Cultural Ambassadors have worked with young people worldwide, through master classes, concerts and discussions. They also continue to mentor young people they have met through the CultureConnect website, cultureconnect.state.gov/. Other CultureConnect Ambassadors who have traveled under U.S. Department of State auspices include: Debbie Allen, Michael Kaiser, Denyce Graves, Daniel Libeskind, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Frank McCourt, Joel Meyerowitz, Doris Roberts, Ron Silver, and Mary Wilson. In addition, two recently graduated Georgetown basketball players, Courtland Freeman and Omari Faulkner, have joined the program as CultureConnect Envoys, traveling to all regions of the world to conduct basketball clinics.

Through the CultureConnect program, Cultural Ambassadors and Cultural Envoys have traveled to over 40 countries and worked with tens of thousands of youth. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs manages more than 30,000 annual professional, cultural and academic exchanges, including the Fulbright Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program. For more information on CultureConnect or other ECA exchanges, please visit exchanges.state.gov.

2005/178 Released on February 11, 2005 Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC February 11, 2005