A senior diplomatic official from the Commonwealth of Dominica is set to embark on a high-profile professional exchange program in the United States, aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation and exploring evidence-based strategies to boost shared economic growth. Remilia White, who has served as Chief of Protocol in Dominica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade, and Energy since 2018, is among the selected participants for the 2026 iteration of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a flagship exchange initiative run by the U.S. Department of State.
The multi-regional IVLP project White is joining, titled “Advancing U.S. and Global Economic Prosperity,” is scheduled to run from September 21 through October 9, 2026. Founded to connect emerging and established global leaders with their U.S. counterparts, the IVLP brings international professionals across different sectors together to examine cutting-edge approaches to key economic priorities, including inclusive economic growth, enhanced global competitiveness, resilient financial systems, expanded trade and foreign direct investment, and the fostering of entrepreneurship and innovation.
White’s core responsibilities in her current role involve coordinating cross-agency collaboration to advance Dominica’s foreign policy objectives, overseeing all aspects of official protocol planning and management for state visits and diplomatic events, and conducting ongoing analysis of global political developments to inform senior government decision-making. Throughout the three-week exchange, she will have scheduled engagements with a diverse range of U.S. stakeholders, including federal and state government officials, private sector industry leaders, representatives from major financial institutions, academic researchers from leading U.S. universities, and executives from national economic development organizations.
The program includes curated site visits and meetings in four U.S. locations across the country: Washington, D.C.; Detroit, Michigan; a third city that will be either Charlotte, North Carolina or Louisville, Kentucky; and Orlando, Florida. Across these stops, participants will dive into core economic topics that align with both U.S. and global development priorities, including strategies for growing international trade, attracting sustainable foreign direct investment, supporting small and medium enterprise entrepreneurship, advancing equitable regional economic development, and leveraging technology to drive inclusive growth.
This exchange comes amid ongoing bilateral cooperation between the United States and Dominica on a range of issues of mutual interest, with economic development, trade expansion, increased investment, and institutional capacity building at the top of the agenda. In a statement released ahead of the program’s launch, the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados (which covers diplomatic relations with Dominica) noted that people-to-people professional exchanges like the IVLP create unique opportunities for the United States and Dominica to share practical expertise, build mutually beneficial on-the-ground partnerships, and strengthen people-to-people connections that lay the foundation for shared long-term economic growth and expanded opportunity for citizens of both nations.