Company Profile

At the Institute for Training and Development, we believe that a rich learning experience can effect powerful transformation, in both the individual and his or her community. We work with our partners and sponsors worldwide to design and implement international training and exchange programs that are personally meaningful, professionally motivating, and intellectually stimulating for all participants.

Beginning in 1985, over 3,000 people from 90 countries have come to ITD. We conduct an average of 10–12 stateside programs each year on subjects as wide-ranging as cultural identity, public administration, and the study of the US.  In the last few years we have begun augmenting our international projects by providing American professionals and youth with similar intensive exchange experiences.

ITD has a wealth of resources to support our projects; we draw on professors from the Five-College region of Massachusetts, international and regional consultants, local and national government offices, non-governmental organizations, and others to provide experiential, well-planned, and thought-provoking educational programs.

The professionals who take part in ITD projects are already experts in their fields.  We see our role as exposing them to different situations, people, and ideas, and stimulating thought and discussion, so that they may build on their own knowledge and understanding.  For our student groups, our aim is to introduce different aspects of each project's theme, and to provide the young people with the time, space, incentive, and guidance to think critically and draw their own conclusions.

While our emphasis is on foreign participants coming to the US, ITD also conducts programs for US participants going abroad, usually as an exchange to one of our stateside programs.

For more information on common components in our programs, please click on the links below, or scroll down:

Diversity is a key component to every aspect of ITD's programs. Participants, program speakers, organizational hosts, and homestay families represent different shades of the political, ethnic, economic, and social spectrum in the United States. We strive to include approximately equal numbers of men and women in each program, and attend events in such diverse communities as rural farming areas, nature preserves academic centers, industrial small cities, and major metropolises.

In our trainings, mutual learning occurs as a result of meaningful exchange. Our participants are considered equal partners in the ITD learning process.

Programs build on the professional skills and experience of the participants, focusing on increasing practical and technical knowledge through an exchange with U.S. experts and organizations.

ITD's training methods include

• Small group assignments
• Hands-on activities
• Case studies
• Site visits
• Internships
• Lectures
• Group discussions
• Participant presentations

At the end of most stateside programs, ITD helps participants reflect on their U.S. experience and create a plan of action to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to their own place of work.

Programs may be conducted in the participants' first or second language, or through interpretation. ITD has provided programs in English, Spanish, Bahasa Indonesia, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Albanian, Tagalog, Turkish, Thai, Czech, Uzbek, Farsi, and Georgian. We have also provided sessions through interpretation in Mandarin Chinese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Arabic. 

ITD manages all aspects of every program from the time participants arrive at airports in Hartford, CT, Boston, MA, or New York City until they return to their airport at the end of the program.

ITD provides clean, safe accommodations, makes arrangements for meals, and provides all domestic transportation.

We assist participants in securing the best emergency medical care, if needed, process their insurance claims, and arrange for medical insurance for participants who are not covered by their sponsors.

Training sessions take place at ITD's training center in Amherst or in classrooms at nearby college and university campuses.

Each program concludes with a banquet and closing ceremony, where certificates of completion are presented to every participant.

The Western Massachusetts Five College area provides a wide variety of cultural opportunities. Typically participants may choose from options such as: concerts, theater, museums, historical landmarks, religious events, sports activities, foliage or coastal tours, and boat trips. Home hospitality with American families are also a part of many ITD programs. 

ITD promotes follow-on activities for all of our programs, ranging from regular correspondence with American counterparts, to continued collaboration with fellow program alumni, to building new projects based on those already completed. To maximize the scope and impact of the training, alumni are encouraged to join:

• in-country conferences
• professional or homestay exchanges
• email correspondence groups
• for U.S. State Department programs, the alumni website

Our projects result in the development of lasting personal as well as professional relationships, often outlasting the defined project dates through correspondence, visits and the development of new professional exchange projects.