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Massachusetts

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Date: 11/05/2013 Description: Massachusetts state seal © Public Domain
Date: 11/05/2013 Description: Massachusetts state flag © Public Domain

Diplomatic
Fast Facts

The Rogers Act, which established the present-day Foreign Service, was sponsored by former U.S. Representative from Massachusetts John Jacob Rogers. More»

William Palfrey of Massachusetts was the first U.S. Consul. More»

 

The State Department yields a large return for the American people by advancing U.S. national security, promoting our economic interests, providing services, and reaffirming our country’s exceptional role in the world. Read on to learn how the work of the Department benefits this state’s residents.

  • Jobs and Diplomacy

  • The Department of State, in partnership with agencies across the federal government, creates jobs for American workers by opening markets and eliminating trade barriers overseas and by attracting foreign direct investment to the United States. Goods exports of $27.5 billion (2017) support approximately 113,181 Massachusetts jobs (2016). Foreign direct investment into Massachusetts supports an additional 215,100 jobs (2015). (EB) More»
  • The Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs assisted with a deal worth approximately $185 million between Massachusetts-based InterSystems and the Chilean Government on an agreement extension for the company’s healthcare information system. (EB) More»
  • The University of Massachusetts, Boston University, and iRobot (headquartered in Bedford, MA) are founding partners in the Veterans Innovation Fellowship, a partnership between the Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State, The Mission Continues, USAID, OPIC, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and several other universities. The partnership offers U.S. citizen veterans of the American armed forces a one-year paid fellowship to gain experience by working in a U.S. Government international affairs agency. (S/GP) More»
  • Massachusetts hosted 20,301 foreign physicians, teachers, camp counselors, au pairs and others as part of work and study-based Exchange Visitor Program in 2016. (ECA) More»
  • In FY17, Massachusetts-based companies received approval to export $16,012,722,643 worth of defense articles and services licensed by the Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. (PM) More»
  • Massachusetts-based companies were approved to provide approximately $2.27 billion in defense equipment and services to U.S. partners under the Foreign Military Sales program, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. (PM) More»
  • Cambridge, MA based CDM Smith facilitates Metolong Dam water infrastructure program in Lesotho. For more information on investing in Lesotho, click here. (AF) More»
  • Four partnership plans were created under the Small Business Network of the Americas International Sister Center Program with Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. (WHA) More»
  • Noteflight LLC, a company founded by partners from Massachusetts and Colombia, was a semi-finalist in the La Idea Business Competition. La Idea is a component of the Small Business Network of the Americas that connects Latin America diaspora in the U.S. with entrepreneurs throughout Latin America to help them cultivate and grow their businesses. (WHA/GP) More»
  • Click here for more information about Department career recruitment events in Massachusetts. (HR)

  • Education

  • Diplomat-in-Residence (Jon Danilowicz): Diplomats in Residence (DIRs) are career Foreign Service Officers or Specialists located throughout the U.S. who provide guidance and advice to students, professionals and the community about Department careers. (HR) More»
  • 175 Scholars, Students and Teachers from Massachusetts were awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and 343 international students received a Fulbright to study in Massachusetts in academic year 2017-18. (ECA) More»
  • 62,926 international higher education students studied abroad in Massachusetts in academic year 2016-17. (ECA) More»
  • 884 exchange visitors from overseas visited Massachusetts, and 404 Massachusetts residents travelled overseas as part of the Department’s educational and cultural exchange funded programs in 2015. (ECA) More»
  • World Education, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts, which was founded in 1951 to meet the needs of the educationally disadvantaged, provides training and technical assistance across a wide array of sectors. World Education received funding from the Political-Military Affairs Bureau’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in FY18. (PM) More»
  • The Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs awarded a grant to Hadley-based VentureWell for Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) programs. GIST strengthens innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems through access to networking, skills development, and financing for youth in 135 emerging economies. (OES/STC) More»
  • The Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs contributed $18,000 in grant funding to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to train engineers in technology commercialization. (OES)
  • Five Colleges, Inc., a consortium of Massachusetts colleges, hosted a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant from Nairobi. The FLTA Program aims to strengthen foreign language instruction at U.S. educational institutions by establishing a native speaker presence in the classroom. (AF) More»
  • There are academic and research partnerships with South African Universities and Boston University (APARC); Brandeis University; Harvard University; Massachusetts College of Art; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston; University of Massachusetts. Partnerships with universities abroad help U.S. institutions strengthen their programs, promote opportunities for students and faculty and enhance their global presence. (AF) More»
  • The Office of Global Food Security partnered with Tufts University as part of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab program, which offers U.S. universities and research institutions the opportunity to tackle global agriculture and food security challenges. (S/GFS) More»
  • 98 Brazilian students attended several educational institutions in Massachusetts through the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program. This program is funded by the Brazilian government and the private sector and sends 101,000 Brazilian university students of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to study and conduct research abroad. The U.S. is a priority destination for scholarship recipients, and the program strengthens U.S. and Brazilian institutional partnerships, develops a workforce prepared for 21st century opportunities, and contributes to long-term economic growth for both countries. (WHA) More»

  • Partnerships

  • Tufts University is a participating school in the Diplomacy Lab partnership led by the Office of Global Partnerships. Diplomacy Lab is a public-private partnership that enables the State Department to "course-source" research and innovation related to foreign policy challenges by harnessing the efforts of students and faculty experts at universities across the country. (S/GP) More»
  • Massachusetts hosted 20 faculty from universities in Pakistan on a university partnership program administered by the State Department. The scholars were in residence on campuses up to a month taking courses, teaching seminars, drafting curriculum, and doing research. 5 American faculty completed the exchange by offering courses, seminars and mentoring in the partner institution abroad. The university partnership program supports the internationalization efforts of American universities and advances American influence, directly supporting the United States’ South Asia strategy. (SCA) More»
  • Refugee Arrivals in Fiscal Year 2017: 1,089. The Department works with nine domestic non-governmental organizations, which place refugees with more than 325 affiliates in roughly 190 communities around the country. These local affiliates work closely with community partners, congregations, volunteers, and state and local officials to provide a successful start for refugees rebuilding their lives. Refugee communities have historically enhanced the economic dynamism and cultural vitality of our nation. Refugees contribute to the United States in numerous ways, including by starting businesses and joining the U.S. military. This program helps the world’s most vulnerable refugees find permanent homes, and it demonstrates the immense generosity of the American people. (PRM) More»
  • 65 emerging leaders studied or participated in a fellowship in Massachusetts on one of the Young Leaders initiatives in 2017. (ECA) More»
  • Massachusetts residents in the Global Ties U.S. network volunteered 5,874 hours of their time in 2017 to host or support International Visitor Leadership Program and other exchange participants who visited the state. (ECA) More»
  • Under the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Speaker Program, William Evans, commissioner of the Boston Police Department, engaged top police officials – including heads of national and local police forces – and police training centers in Belgium, Finland, and the Netherlands on the importance of community policing in countering violent extremism. A direct result of these programs is that European law enforcement officials, specifically the Helsinki Police Department and Finland’s Police University, are exploring the possibility of exchanges of trainers and trainees with the Boston Police Department. Embassy The Hague is now looking to enhance this relationship further by sending ECA International Visitor Leadership Program participants to Boston in 2018. (IIP) More»
  • The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development (Polus), a Petersham, Massachusetts-based, non-profit nongovernmental organization, partners with foundations to address the impact of landmines and other explosive remnants of war on communities around the world. Polus received funding from the Political-Military Affairs Bureau’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in FY17. Using a holistic approach, Polus ensures that victims of conflict and people with disabilities are included in all aspects of program design and implementation. (PM) More»
  • The INL Bureau partners with Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA) to provide Internal Affairs study tours for Mexican law enforcement officials with Internal Affairs officials from Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. 96 Mexican professionals will be trained in FY2018. More»
  • INL has formally partnered with the National Association of Attorneys General, which includes Attorneys General from through the United States, since 2014. Under this partnership in 2017, the Massachusetts’s Attorney General’s Office co-led a three-day training on domestic violence response with the Boston Police Department in Costa Rica. In addition in 2017, attorneys from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office conducted a needs assessment of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia, which will lay the foundation for building the capacity of that office in numerous ways. (INL) More»
  • The Department of State facilitates the Massachusetts National Guard’s State Partnership Program with Kenya founded in 2015. (PM) More»
  • The Department of State facilitates the Massachusetts National Guard’s State Partnership Program with Paraguay founded in 2001. (PM) More»
  • The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has partnered with Russian Skolkovo, a new technology hub in Russia, to create Skoltech, a graduate-level technical university focused on cutting edge research and innovation in entrepreneurship. (EUR) More»
  • The U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons awarded grants to the following organizations in Massachusetts to combat human trafficking:
  • $520,000 was awarded to Verite Inc. to conduct research that examine human trafficking and other labor abuses in the supply chains of the forestry sector in Africa, East Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. (J/TIP) More»
  • $800,000 was awarded to Veritè, a non-governmental organization based in Massachusetts, to maintain and update the responsible sourcing tool, an online platform to assist federal contractors, procurement officials, and other companies to better understand the risks of human trafficking in their global supply chains and develop effective management systems. (J/TIP) More»
  • Following the 2015 Science and Technology Joint Committee Meeting of the United States and Chile, the Massachusetts Alliance and the government of Chile have expanded collaboration in water resource management and biotechnology. (OES)
  • On September 15, 2016, at the Department of State, President Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of Cape Cod, the first U.S. national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and home to rare and endangered species, including sperm whales, fin whales, sei whales and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. (OES)

  • Travel and Security

  • Total Passports Issued in Fiscal Year 2017: 518,658. (CA) More»
  • The Boston Passport Agency comprises 40 government employees and 31 contract employees. (CA) More»
  • Passport Application Acceptance Facilities: 230. (CA) More»
  • In Fiscal Year 2016, the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) issued visas to 73 children who were adopted by U.S. citizens from Massachusetts. Intercountry adoption is one CA's highest priorities. CA's Office of Children’s Issues plays an active role in the intercountry adoption process and works diligently to establish and maintain intercountry adoption as a viable option throughout the world. (CA/OCS) More»
  • The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of State and maintains one of eight domestic field offices in Boston, Massachusetts. Regional responsibility includes protecting the integrity of U.S. travel documents by investigating passport and visa fraud, serving on federal and state law enforcement task forces, combatting terrorism and human trafficking, as well as protecting the Secretary of State and other domestic and foreign dignitaries. (DSS) More»