YOUNG PROFESSIONALS INTERNATIONAL FORUM

The Young Professionals International Forum (IF) is an all volunteer group of the World Affairs Council of Northern California that serves to connect individuals who share a passion for international affairs in order to expand participants' networks and knowledge of global areas of interest. The International Forum develops and hosts a range of internationally focused activities: speaker presentations, informal discussion groups, social get-togethers and language, book and foreign film groups.

Explore the range of internationally focused activities and volunteer opportunities hosted by the IF:

Programs & Social Activities

The Young Professionals International Forum (IF) develops and hosts various activities throughout the year, ranging from public programs with receptions to the casual internationally themed dinners and more formal seasonal receptions with distinguished foreign diplomats. These events are a great way to meet internationally minded people and learn about the various IF projects. For more information on upcoming events, please visit the International Forum Event Calendar.

Foreign Language Groups

The IF Language Dinner groups meet with the explicit purpose of eating delicious food, spiced with good conversation in a foreign language.

Whether you’ve just come back from abroad and are looking to keep the rust off your foreign language skills, or you just enjoy a good meal and conversation, pull up a plate at one of our many international language dinners. We have groups in the following languages: Danish, Farsi, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Check out our Volunteer Opportunities to find out how you can start your own foreign language group. For more information, contact the appropriate Language Group Coodinators.

For more information on the language dinners and to learn about upcoming meetings, please visit the International Forum Event Calendar or contact Fawad Khan.

Foreign Film Group

Do you enjoy watching films from countries where cinema is still seen as an art form? Do you love foreign films enough to watch them alone, but would rather talk and share your impressions with others? The IF Foreign Film Group, Subtitles & Subtleties, meets about once a month to watch foreign films in theaters around the Bay Area. After the films, they gather for social discussions in nearby cafés.

To learn more about Subtitles & Subtleties and to be notified about upcoming screenings, please visit the International Forum Event Calendar or contact Igor Sinyak or Diane Murk.

Book club

Reading broadens your mind – now share it with the IF Book Club. We meet once per month to discuss a contemporary book of common interest, be it fiction or non-fiction. Books are available at Books Inc. in Opera Plaza at a 15% discount. Tell them you are with the World Affairs Council Book Club. To see our current reading list and to explore texts we have read in the past, check out our Book List.

For more information on the book club, upcoming meetings and texts to be read, please visit the International Forum Event Calendar or contact Brennan and Maryanne. To request to be added to the distribution list for book announcements, please go to our Book Club Google Groups page.