General Info

In 1949, a group of community leaders in Grand Rapids founded the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan. They believed an organization dedicated to international topics and American foreign policy issues was necessary in order to combat the isolationism in this area following World War II. Since then, the World Affairs Council has been dedicated to educating people in western Michigan about other countries, cultures and regions of the world, as well as providing a forum for discussion of critical foreign policy issues facing this country."Mr. Ed Orr and Judge Douglas Hillman, our two co-founders, with Dixie Anderson, our Executive Director.