British-American Project

The British-American Project is a fellowship of some 600 leaders and opinion formers from a broad spectrum of occupations, backgrounds and political viewpoints, drawn in equal numbers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The Project was created in 1985 to perpetuate the close relationship between the two countries established by an earlier generation during the Second World War; for that reason, it was originally known as the British-American Project for the Successor Generation.

The Project meets annually for a four-day conference on a topic of current concern to both countries: ideas and experiences are exchanged, and friendships cemented. Each year, 24 new participants are selected from either side of the Atlantic, on the basis of service to their communities and professional achievement, and sponsored to attend the conference as Delegates. At the end of each conference, Delegates are elected Fellows of the Project. Fellows from past years attend the annual conferences at their own expense, many returning year after year.

By this simple mechanism, many thousands of transatlantic friendships and professional contacts have been established over the past fourteen years.

Goals

According to Sir Charles Villiers and Lewis Van Dusen, Jr., the goal, or the dream, was creating, in a younger generation, a multiplicity of transatlantic friendships like their own. This was what drew them to the concept of the British-American Project when it was first put to Villiers in...
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