Welcome to SWIFT!

Founded by French professor Daniel Julien in 1988, Student of the World Invitation to Friendship and Travel (SWIFT) is an American organization committed to enriching peoples’ lives by offering cross-cultural educational exchanges between all the countries of the world.

SWIFT was founded to organize homestays for French high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area. In its first year, SWIFT hosted thirty students and two escorts from France. Since then, the organization has grown to receive more than 600 participants each year from countries including Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Taiwan. In addition, SWIFT sends increasing numbers of students to participate in overseas programs in countries including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

SWIFT’s goals include:

• Promoting peace and international understanding
• Enabling all participants to improve their language skills, to develop personally, and to learn about new areas of the world
• Giving personal attention to every individual by carefully matching students and host families and supporting their relationship throughout the program
• Limiting the growth of the organization (to no more than 1,000 participants per year) to preserve the high quality of our programs

SWIFT is a member of the Federation of International Youth Travel Organizations (FIYTO), the largest and most respected organization in the youth travel industry, and is a founding member of the Global Work Experience Association (GWEA).

Global Work Experience Association		Federation of International Youth Travel Organizations

© 2013 Student of the World Invitation to Friendship and Travel. All rights reserved.
Contact (510) 917-1223 or daniel@swiftusa.org with questions or comments.