Five programs. One conversation.
Everything the Council does is in service of the same question: how does San Diego show up in the world, and how does the world show up here? Five programs answer it from different angles.
01 — The flagship
Distinguished Speakers Series
The Distinguished Speakers Series is the Council’s oldest and most visible program. Roughly ten times a year, an ambassador, scholar, or practitioner sits down with a moderator to discuss the questions that shape American foreign policy — from Indo-Pacific strategy to the future of humanitarian aid, from energy security to subnational diplomacy.
Past speakers have included Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Dr. Richard Haass, Janet Napolitano, John Brennan, Marie Arana, Eric Topol, Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, and Vice Admiral Charles Martoglio. The format is deliberately conversational. Members register first; remaining seats open to the public ten days before each event.
- Cadence
- ~10 events / yr
- Format
- In-person & virtual
- Venue
- UC San Diego, La Jolla
02 — The hard conversations
Engage San Diego
Engage San Diego is for the conversations a city needs to have but doesn’t know how to begin. Held quarterly at UC San Diego Extended Studies in partnership with the Burnham Center for Community Advancement, these are moderated panels on extremism, race, the border, and the global forces remaking American life.
The format is built for an audience that wants something other than sound bites: longer panels, real dissent, and a moderator who pushes back. Past sessions have included After Extremism: Pathways Out, Paths Back with Arno Michaelis and Tasreen Khamisa, moderated by Andrew Blum of the Burnham Center.
- Cadence
- Quarterly
- Partner
- Burnham Center
- Venue
- UCSD Extended Studies
03 — The next generation
Academic World Quest
The Carlos and Malú Alvarez Academic WorldQuest is the region’s premier high-school competition on global affairs. Four-person teams test their knowledge of international politics, geography, economics, history, and culture across ten topics drawn from the year’s official study guide.
Recent topics have included Pop Culture & Soft Power in International Relations, the FIFA World Cup, Migration & Immigration, the Belt & Road Initiative, and Tariffs & Trade. The winning team represents San Diego at the national finals in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to educational sponsors, there is no fee for team registration. Participants receive a free one-year SDWAC student membership.
- Cadence
- Annually · Spring
- National Finals
- Washington, D.C.
- Coordinator
- David Edick · edick@sdwac.org
04 — The rising generation
Young Professionals
The Young Professionals program empowers globally-minded individuals in their twenties and thirties to engage with international issues through dynamic programming, community connection, and leadership development. We host International Trivia Nights, off-record briefings, and field convenings designed to put working professionals in conversation with the people whose books they’ve been meaning to read.
The program also runs the Council’s Campus Liaison initiative across UC San Diego, San Diego State, USD, USD School of Law, and Cal State San Marcos — bringing foreign policy out of the seminar room and into the city.
- Director
- Matthew Kazden
- Contact
- matthew.kazden@sdwac.org
- Frequency
- Monthly events
05 — The world, in person
Travel with SDWAC
Curated travel that puts the speakers’ arguments on the ground — embassies, ministries, NGOs, and the markets where geopolitics is actually transacted. SDWAC partners with Bright Light Corporate to run Citizen Diplomacy Delegations: trips that combine cultural immersion with substantive engagement with local civil society and policy actors.
Recent and upcoming programs include delegations to Guatemala. Travel programs are open to members and their guests.
- Cadence
- 2–3 trips / yr
- Eligibility
- Members & guests
- Partner
- Bright Light Corporate
Get involved
Five programs. Many ways in.
You don’t have to commit to a tier to start. Attend an event. Apply to intern. Submit a piece for the Writer Corps. Recommend a speaker. The Council is volunteer-driven; we move at the speed of the people who show up.