An Interview with United Planet Board Member Dr. Edwin H. Gragert

Could you tell us about what attracted you to United Planet?

Since I was an ICYE returnee to Korea in the mid-1960s and was the Director of ICYE-USA from 1979-1990, I have a personal connection to both exchange experiences and to ICYE in particular. My year in Seoul changed my life and pointed me toward careers in international education and Asian History. When I learned that United Planet was serving as the ICYE-US National Committee, I was drawn to learn more about the organization and people in it.

Could you give a statement about your joining the United Planet Board of Directors?

I look forward to bringing the experience I have with international non-profit organization management and with the transformational nature of international experiences to the work of the Board. I hope I can also offer organizational contacts for partnerships and collaborations–both within the field and with potential funding agencies. I am very impressed with the professionalism and commitment of the staff and other Board members. Their enthusiasm for the mission and programs of United Planet is contagious.

Could you comment on international volunteerism and its role in improving cross-cultural understanding?

While I was at ICYE-USA, the program moved from being primarily a high school exchange program to one of international voluntary service. I feel strongly that one learns best when teaching and working side-by-side others on a common goal/project. It’s my experience that when one “lives” the issue being addressed by the voluntary service and jointly looks for community solutions, a great deal of cross-cultural understanding results. By working together to meet unmet human needs, a volunteer gains a great deal of awareness of the issues involved and the lives that are impacted by them. It enables one to return to a home culture with new eyes and with a commitment to address the issue on a global basis.

Some of our younger volunteers go abroad for the first time with us. Could you tell us about your first international experience?

My first international experience was the year in Seoul, Korea 1966-67 with ICYE. I attended a high school and in the second half of the year I also volunteered at an orphanage. My host family was incredible and we’re very close to this day. I was one of four exchangees in Korea that year and we were all in different parts of Seoul. I jumped into Korean language intensely and came home with a passion for learning more about Asia and Asian languages. Demonstrating that I was interested in learning the language well enabled me to make life-long friends and gave me a professional skill that was later useful at universities and in positions as a court interpreter and as a staff member of the US House of Representatives Subcommittee working on Korea. I also joined several after school clubs as a way of practicing language and meeting other students in and out of school.

*Dr. Gragert serves as the Executive Director of iEARN- USA. He joined United Planet’s Board of Directors this spring. You can read more about his current work on United Planet’s team page.