The Congressional Office for International Leadership selected WACNWO to organize a program and host a delegation of Belarusian Business Professionals in Toledo, Ohio from May 29 - June 6, 2026.  The program was designed to showcase how Toledo’s collaborative ecosystem supports individuals in launching and growing small businesses. Through a series of site visits, roundtables, and working sessions, Toledo’s public, private and nonprofit leaders, professors and business experts shared practical strategies, lessons learned, and scalable models that can be adapted in other communities. At the same time, the program created space for dialogue around international collaboration. Through direct engagement we connected foreign partners with local industries and entrepreneurs and reinforced the United States as a destination for investment and economic opportunity. The delegation attended the Toledo Rotary Club luncheon to connect with more business and community leaders.  The delegation had opportunities for visiting outside Toledo including Lake Erie Islands/Put-in-Bay, Detroit, MI and Cleveland, Ohio.

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The delegation consisted of five Belarusian small business owners and was accompanied by a bicultural/lingual facilitator and an interpreter. One of the participants came from the City of Poznan, Poland which has been Toledo’s Sister City since 1991. All the Belarusian professionals in this delegation built successful careers in Belarus. For many, leaving Belarus was initially seen as temporary, and they arrived in Poland without knowing whether they would be able to return or what rebuilding their lives would look like. While they are not politicians, their work as entrepreneurs and community leaders became unsafe in the Belarusian context. Now in Poland they not only manage successful businesses but help other Belarusians to be successful as well.

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While in NW Ohio, the Open World program participants will stay with volunteer host families in Perrysburg. Special thanks to the Selzer, the Lakis and the Hilt families for welcoming the guests to their homes and families! A public event was scheduled with the guests at W.W. Knight Nature Preserve with the title: “Through Their Eyes: Global Guests Reflect on Our Community” where the guests shared their experience and prepared and presented a slide show about their professional activities and a video about their cultural experience.

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Through various programs in 8 days about 270 Americans had the opportunity to meet with this delegation.