Longview Foundation

Founded by William L. Breese, the Longview Foundation for World Affairs and International Understanding has been helping young people in the United States learn about world regions and global issues since 1966. “Abraham Lincoln said that the greatest advance that mankind can make is to learn to live in peace … and the late President Kennedy, in his last speech, stated ‘Civilization, it was once said, is a race between education and catastrophe'—and we mean to win the race for education." William Lawrence Breese, 1986 Breese quoted the former U.S. presidents in a speech during the height of the Cold War when he was at the time a singular voice in the philanthropic community citing the importance of education in creating peace in an interdependent and shrinking world. Fifty years later, knowledge of other peoples, economies, languages and international affairs has become a necessity for every child in every community in the U.S. Eliminating global poverty, solving international conflicts, working in new markets, and addressing global health and environmental problems require international knowledge and cooperation. And in our increasingly diverse communities in the United States, knowledge of other cultures is essential to strengthening our own democracy. The skill set required to prepare tomorrow's citizens for the global age must go beyond the “the basics” and even beyond the growing emphasis on science, math, and technology skills. Today's students need opportunities to gain broad and deep global knowledge and the language and intercultural skills to engage effectively with people around the corner and around the world.