HI-USA Annual Report

A copy of the complete 2007 Annual Report is available in PDF format.

2006 Message from the Board President and the Chief Executive Officer:

Dear Friends,

HI-USA, having emerged from the travel downturn in the early 2000’s, is focused on its mission: fostering cultural understanding and tolerance through programs of outreach to our immediate communities and the world community. Over 80,000 people participated in mission-related programs and activities offered by our councils and hostels – the most ever.

Those programs include our Cultural Kitchen that provides insights into foreign cultures to inner-city youth in Chicago, the Discover Your World in Santa Monica that opens the world of ocean ecology to inner-city youth in Los Angeles and our Opening Doors, Opening Minds program. In August, as part of Opening Doors, Opening Minds, HI-USA hosted an International Exchange with young men and women from Tunisia, Morocco and Germany who joined a group of Americans in New York City.

While strengthening its mission results, HI-USA also has achieved strong operating performance. Last year we served guests from over 100 countries through 940,000 overnights at our 75 hostels. Through prudent fiscal management, we achieved a surplus in excess of $1 million for the second consecutive year. This performance assures financial stability and will allow us to invigorate and expand our programs and develop new hostels.

HI-USA has adopted a new Five Year Strategic Plan that is an ambitious and compelling vision for HI-USA. It was developed collaboratively with volunteers and staff from across the organization and the country. As we relied on broad organizational support in its creation, we look to the same support in its implementation.

In a world of increasing cultural divisions and violence, the relevance of our mission has never been greater and the need for our success never more urgent. As we share our success in this Annual Report for 2005, HI-USA thanks the many volunteers and contributors who share our vision.

We look forward to the coming year, confident that with your continued support and dedication, we will invigorate our efforts to foster cultural understanding and tolerance in a world community.

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