Envisioned by William B. Belknap in 1945 as the Louisville Area Inter-American Center, the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana delivers opportunities for the community to connect with global leaders and engage with peers on international issues.

Through a unique lineup of programs, World Affairs Council is the regional hub for international exchange, dialogue, learning, and Louisville's Sister Cities relationships.

I have been involved with the Council since 2016, and served on the board of directors from 2017-2026. I was board chair from 2023-2025. I am a proud Visionary Life Member.

HISTORY

In April 1945, William B. Belknap, an economist and farmer of some note, envisioned an independent, civic, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that would improve relations between the people of the Americas and help bring the world to Louisville. In June of 1945, the Louisville Area Inter-American Center was incorporated. Distillery executive Fred Willkie (Wendell’s brother) would serve as President, alongside Willie Maude Powell Vinsel as Executive Secretary, Vice Presidents Charles P. Farnsley (future beloved Louisville Mayor), Howard C. Murphy, and John E. Slaughter. The first Board Directors were Winthrop N. Allen, John Gordon Baquie, William B. Belknap, Wallace M. Davis, Edwin O. Dulaney, William G. Frederick, Henry V. Heuser, Angus D. MacLean, Watson B. McFerran, E.J. O'Brien, and David P. Reynolds.

The organization was initially affiliated with the Council for Inter-American Cooperation (CIAC), and focused on relations between North America and South America, but post-WWII, quickly grew in scope and vision to broadly "improve cultural relations between Louisvillians and the outside world." The Louisville International Center had cultural and commercial divisions, and in 1949, after the merger of the CIAC with the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), the LIC directors voted to move onto the University of Louisville campus, in collaboration with new Executive Director, UofL's Dr. George Brodschi, a move which marked the founding of the University of Louisville International Center. Dr. Brodschi signed the center on as a world affairs group in the mid-50s, and in 1960 brought Foreign Policy Association Great Decisions programming to Louisville, which WAC still administers. In the 1970s, a movement grew to separate the organization from the University of Louisville and become independent once more. This was accomplished in 1984-85, with the rolling off of the Louisville International Cultural Center with its Louisville World Affairs Council programming arm, now known as the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Recently, WAC also absorbed the Louisville Sister Cities International portfolio, which dates back to 1954 with Montpellier, after the Sister Cities of Louisville organization went defunct and transferred its nonprofit accounts and mission to WAC.