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About BPIA

Founded in 1989, BPIA is the largest network of Black professionals in global affairs, engaging more than 19,000 emerging and established leaders—from high school students to retired ambassadors—to strengthen the global affairs pipeline and prepare the next generation to lead on the world stage.



Building the People Who Shape the World

Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA) is a nonprofit professional association dedicated to expanding access, developing leaders, strengthening community, and preparing professionals for meaningful careers and leadership across international affairs.

Our work connects students, emerging professionals, experienced practitioners, executives, scholars, diplomats, and public servants across sectors and generations.

We believe representation is only the beginning. Our work is about ensuring that Black professionals have the preparation, networks, opportunities, and institutional access necessary to enter, lead, and thrive across the international affairs ecosystem.


ONE MISSION. TWO HOUSES. FOUR PILLARS OF IMPACT.

BPIA has grown beyond a traditional professional association. Today, our work operates through two complementary houses that allow us to serve both the professional community and the leadership pipeline.

Together, they advance one mission: building a stronger, more representative, and better-prepared international affairs community.

Our mission

Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA) strengthens the global affairs community by building community, developing leaders, expanding professional pathways, and preparing Black professionals to lead and serve across international affairs.



HOUSE I: POLICY & LEADERSHIP

Preparing Leaders. Producing Ideas. Positioning Talent. Opening Doors.

BPIA works to prepare professionals for leadership and service across international affairs.

Our Leadership & Policy work brings together leadership development, career and talent pipelines, leadership placements, thought leadership, publications, policy programming, strategic initiatives, and institutional engagement.

The goal is to ensure that talented professionals have opportunities to develop, contribute ideas, access institutions, and prepare for positions of greater responsibility.

This work includes:

  • Leadership institutes, programs, and fellowships

  • Career and talent pipelines

  • Public-service and senior leadership pathways

  • Appointments, boards, and other leadership opportunities

  • Reports and publications

  • Policy forums and briefings

  • Commissions and strategic projects

  • Research and thought leadership

  • Engagement with practitioners and institutions

  • Conversations with leaders and decision-makers


WHAT WE MEAN BY POLICY PRIORITIES

BPIA is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our organizational policy priorities are principally connected to our mission and the people, pathways, and institutions that comprise the international affairs profession. Our work may focus on questions such as:

  • How do we strengthen the international affairs talent pipeline?

  • How do we expand pathways into public service?

  • How do we better prepare professionals for leadership?

  • How do qualified professionals gain access to appointments, boards, and other opportunities to serve?

  • How do we strengthen connections between talent and institutions?

  • How do we prepare the next generation to understand and participate effectively in policymaking?

These priorities are different from adopting organizational positions on the full range of substantive U.S. foreign policy questions.

Our primary focus is opening pathways, preparing leaders, positioning talent, developing ideas, and connecting professionals with opportunities to serve.

BPIA may convene conversations on regional and global issues as part of our educational mission. These programs are designed to expose participants to expertise, competing perspectives, and the realities of policymaking. Participation in BPIA does not require adherence to an organizational position on regional or geopolitical policy questions. BPIA is nonpartisan and does not support or oppose candidates for public office.



HOUSE II: COMMUNITY & FELLOWSHIP

Building Connection. Creating Belonging. Strengthening Community.

Community has always been at the heart of BPIA.

Our Community & Fellowship work creates the relationships, networks, experiences, and sense of belonging that help professionals build and sustain meaningful careers in international affairs.

This house brings together the programs and structures that connect our members to one another and to the broader BPIA community.

This work includes:

  • Committees, Working Groups, Interest Groups

  • Collegiate and city chapters

  • First Fridays and networking programs

  • BPIA Week, Gala, and signature community events

  • Mentorship

  • Social and cultural programming

We want BPIA to be more than a network.

We are building a professional community where people can connect, contribute, grow, and belong.



Who We Serve

A global community of professionals at every stage of the international affairs journey.

BPIA serves a diverse, intergenerational community of students, emerging professionals, mid-career practitioners, senior leaders, and executives working or aspiring to work across international affairs.

Our members and broader community represent careers across diplomacy, national security, international development, government and public service, global business, international organizations, academia, think tanks, nonprofits, law, communications, technology, trade, and other globally engaged fields.

Some are taking their first steps into international affairs. Others are navigating career transitions, building specialized expertise, entering leadership, serving in senior government and institutional roles, or reaching back to mentor the next generation.

What connects our community is a shared interest in global affairs, professional excellence, leadership, service, and expanding pathways for Black professionals in international affairs.

We Serve Professionals Across the Career Continuum

Students & Future Professionals
High school, undergraduate, and graduate students exploring international affairs and preparing for global careers.

Emerging Professionals
Recent graduates and early-career professionals building experience, networks, and career direction.

Mid-Career Professionals
Practitioners deepening their expertise, expanding their professional networks, and preparing for greater leadership responsibility.

Senior Leaders & Executives
Experienced professionals serving in senior government, diplomatic, corporate, nonprofit, academic, multilateral, and other institutional roles.

Mentors, Advisors & Practitioners
Professionals who contribute their experience through mentorship, speaking, teaching, advising, and opening pathways for others.

Across Sectors. Across Disciplines. Across the World.

BPIA recognizes that international affairs is not a single career path. Our community includes diplomats and development professionals, intelligence and national security practitioners, researchers and academics, entrepreneurs and executives, lawyers and communicators, technologists and economists, public servants and nonprofit leaders, and many others whose work engages the world.

Whether someone is exploring the field, entering it, advancing within it, leading institutions, or reaching back to the next generation, there is a place for them in the BPIA community.

From first exposure to senior leadership, BPIA meets professionals where they are and helps connect them to where they can go next.


Join the BPIA E-newsletter Mailing List

BPIA sends monthly e-newsletter to the BPIA community highlighting upcoming events, job announcement, fellowships, news, and more.


BPIA membership is open to all applicants who support our mission and goals without regard to race, religion/creed, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual preference or identity.

Email
bpiaoutreach@iabpia.org

Mailing Address

BPIA

P.O. Box 55922

Washington, DC 20011


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