We Empower North Carolina to Compete in a Global World
Every day North Carolina legislators and local leaders confront policy challenges that require international insight. Our Global Leaders program takes policymakers and business leaders abroad to focus on international business, trade and education opportunities for North Carolina. Delegations connect with colleagues in other countries and learn about international best practices in areas of strategic importance to our state.
Each Global Leaders program focuses on a specific topic – life sciences and biotechnology; advanced manufacturing; agriculture — and connects North Carolina leaders with a specific country or region of the world known for best practices in that area.

Delegates see international best practices at work and gain a deeper understanding of the conditions and elements that contribute to international success. In turn, these leaders are better positioned to guide North Carolina through global challenges and opportunities.
Statewide Impact
Here are some important milestones resulting from the Global Leaders program:
- International Business and Trade Caucus was established in the North Carolina General Assembly. This is the first state legislative caucus in the country devoted to enhancing international links and creating global jobs. It is a bi-partisan caucus whose founding members went on our Global Leaders program to Mexico.
- State’s first Global Engagement Summit was held in Raleigh in the spring of 2009. Release of our global indicators report for North Carolina showed international connections in trade, demographics, economic development and education.
- Second Global Engagement Summit and release of Blueprint for Global Engagement was held in November of 2015 at SAS. Hundreds of North Carolinians are committed to increasing global opportunities through coordinated intentionality.
- Joint Legislative Economic Development and Global Engagement Oversight Committee was formed in the state legislature to assure continued focus on North Carolina job creation and global opportunities.
For more information, contact Meredith Henderson at (919) 237-7953 or by email: mlh@globalnc.org.
