THE FAMILY DIPLOMACY INITIATIVE
See also Learning Life’s Citizen Diplomacy International.
Why Family Diplomacy?
Family is by far the most valued relationship in people’s lives across the world, surpassing work, politics, friends, and religion, according to the World Values Survey. At the same time, families are affected by the wide range of problems societies face, from poverty and war, to climate change, gender-based violence, and the internet. Despite the family’s value and vulnerability worldwide, seldom are families invited to participate in policy making alongside business, labor and government, or engaged to connect people across the world’s deep cultural, economic and political divides. Family is thus a powerful yet largely untapped force for a more caring world.
Learning Life’s Family Diplomacy Initiative (FDI) is an ambitious, grassroots effort to connect, train and empower a growing international corps of volunteer family diplomats (FDs) and Family Diplomacy Ambassadors (FDAs) to participate in decision-making at local to global levels. We envision a world more connected and caring because every family has one or more FDs and/or FDAs networked with their fellows and families across the globe, and these citizen diplomats together advocate effectively for the needs, concerns and aspirations of families worldwide via nonprofits, businesses, media and governments.
What Has FDI Done?
To achieve this vision, Learning Life is tapping into the power of the internet. Not everyone can afford to travel, but growing numbers of people across the globe are eagerly communicating online. The internet is an enormously popular, cost-effective, large-scale force that is used for good and bad purposes. The bad includes sowing disinformation, intolerance, and violence. The good though includes nurturing dialogue, learning, and collaboration that can open minds, nurture caring, and transform lives.
Learning Life is thus harnessing the power and potential of families and the internet to build an international family diplomacy network online.
“I participate in FDI because I want to be a better global citizen. Through FDI, I gain insights into the experience and perspectives of different people across the world, and that understanding helps me be a better global citizen.” – Prudence Hounhoui (left), Porto-Novo, Benin, FDI Member
How You Can Get Involved
If you share FDI’s interests in family and learning through dialogue, and want to be part of our growing international network of FDs and FDAs to advocate for the needs, concerns and aspirations of families, then get involved in these ways:
- Join FDI on Facebook to connect with the world and learn about families worldwide.
- Subscribe to the Family Diplomacy Dispatch, coming free via email in 2026. The Dispatch will feature international family facts and trends, profiles of families worldwide, fun family content from the internet, and more.
- Participate in our international Family Diplomacy Dialogues to share about your family, learn about other families, and better understand the world. These dialogues take place live via Zoom on the first Sunday of every month in March to November at 12-1pm New York time. Subscribe to the Family Diplomacy Dispatch above to get notice of the FD Dialogues, including the Zoom link.
- Practice family diplomacy by serving as a volunteer Family Diplomat (FD), or Family Diplomacy Ambassador (FDA), preferably with one or more members of your family.
- Become a Democracy & Diplomacy Community (DDC) member to gain access to all of Learning Life’s democracy and diplomacy programs.
For More Information
Want to learn more about family diplomacy? Click here for a deeper dive. For video recordings of FD trainings, dialogues, and family storytelling:
For readings on or related to family diplomacy, see:
Families: A New Voice for a More Caring World
Five Reasons Why Diplomacy Should Involve Families
Open Letter to Learning Life Families
Toward a Contextual Ethics of Diplomacy
