Our History
AYUSA International was founded in 1980 by John Wilhelm and Takeshi Yokota, who, after many years of experience in the international citizen exchange field, saw the need for a new approach to high school student exchange. Their objective was to provide the participants with a unique and personal exchange opportunity that would increase cultural understanding, and inspire mutual respect and personal growth.
As time went on, the program grew to other countries and John and Take added additional cultural exchange programs. Today, AYUSA International is known as Intrax Cultural Exchange and has a presence in more than 80 countries, welcoming more than 35,000 participants into its programs each year.
Our rich timeline spans nearly 30 years in the field of cultural exchange and reflects a dedication to providing the world’s diverse youth with exceptional exchange opportunities that fulfill John and Take’s initial vision.
| 1980 | Pacific American International Student Services (PAISS) founded in San Francisco by John Wilhelm and Takeshi Yokota. Offices are located in the “Icehouse,” a renovated warehouse near the Embarcadero in San Francisco. First programs are established between the Western States and Europe. |
| 1983 | AYUSA receives a grant from the USIA to expand exchanges with the Intermountain States. Name changes to AYUSA (an acronym for Academic Year in the U.S.A.). |
| 1984 | AYUSA becomes a founding member of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel and Exchange Programs. AYUSA is first approved for listing by CSIET and has continuously listed each year since. |
| 1985 | AYUSA receives a grant from USIA to open a Regional Center in Tokyo. Asian programs begin. |
| 1988 | AYUSA launches Study Abroad programs for American students to travel to Japan and Western Europe. |
| 1989 | AYUSA Central and Eastern Europe Regional Center (AICEE) opens in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. |
| 1990 | AYUSA opens a Western European Regional Center in Stuttgart. |
| 1991 | AYUSA achieves placements in all 50 U.S. states with volunteer host families. |
| 1992 | The Freedom Support Act (FSA) Secondary School Initiative, also known as the Bradley Bill, is signed by President Bush on October 25. The purpose of the program is to bridge the distance between young people of the United States and the twelve newly independent states (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. In 1997 this program is renamed Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX). |
| 1993 | AYUSA is selected by USIA to operate the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) with Germany. |
| 1994 | AYUSA is selected by USIA to operate Freedom Support Act/Future Leaders Exchange (FSA/FLEX) with the newly independent states (NIS) of the Soviet Union. |
| 1996 | AYUSA moves Western European Regional Center to Berlin. |
| 1997 | AYUSA selected as the international youth exchange provider to Kiwanis International and Key Club International service clubs worldwide. AYUSA Andean Regional Center opens in Quito, Ecuador.
The Bradley Bill program was renamed the Freedom Support Act/Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX). The FLEX program provides full scholarships for select high school students from the NIS to spend an academic year in the United States. AYUSA places the largest number of FLEX students in the U.S. |
| 1999 | U.S. Information Agency incorporated into the U.S. Department of State. AYUSA programs operate under the auspices of Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. |
| 2000 | Twentieth anniversary: AYUSA exceeds $13,000,000 in U.S. grant scholarships, awarded to over 3,000 participants. AYUSA selected by the U.S. Department of State to operate the Serbian Youth Leadership Program. |
| 2001 | AYUSA Southern Africa Regional Center opens in Johannesburg, South Africa. AYUSA selected by the U.S. Department of State to operate the Brčko District Academic Semester Program serving the United Nations–administered district of Bosnia-Herzegovina. |
| 2003 | AYUSA was awarded a major grant from the U.S. Department of State to administer an academic year program for students from predominantly Islamic countries. This initiative was a result of Congressional discussions following the events of September 11, 2001, to build bridges of understanding between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations. In August 2003, the first YES participants embarked on an unprecedented exchange program. Currently, YES students reside in 56 host communities across the U.S. |
| 2004 | AYUSA International becomes Intrax Cultural Exchange to reflect its new unified approach toward its program offerings. Each of Intrax’ divisions continues to operate independently with Intrax’ overarching mission of increasing global understanding through cultural exchange programs. |
| 2005 | AYUSA receives a grant to run a special Japan Youth Scholarship (JYS) program where Americans high school students live and study in Japan for a two year period. |
| 2007 | With generous funding from the U.S. Department of State, AYUSA awards eight full scholarships to Seattle public school students for a four-week exchange in Rabat, Morocco. Recipients of the prestigious Linking Individuals, Knowledge and Culture (LINC) scholarship live with host families and participate in community service projects. |
| 2009 | AYUSA World Leaders global youth leadership program launches the first summer program on the Georgetown University campus for 50 U.S. and international students. AYUSA Global Youth Exchange is selected to pilot a new U.S. Department of State grant, YES Outbound, sending select U.S. students to Mali, Oman, and Morocco for the fall academic semester 2009. Recipients of this scholarship live with a host family, attend a local school and undergo intensive French and Arabic lessons. Visit www.yesgrantprograms.org to learn more about this program. |
