About Us
Our Mission
CDS International, Inc. is committed to the advancement of international career training opportunities customized to provide individuals with in-depth practical knowledge of other nations’ business practices, cultures, and political traditions. These experiences help strengthen global cooperation and understanding amongst individuals, businesses, organizations, and communities.
Our Vision
We believe individuals need to be given opportunities to enhance their professional abilities cross-culturally in order to obtain and maintain the job skills necessary for successful careers in today’s global economy. In providing international training opportunities, we contribute to social and economic stability and prosperity in the United States and in those countries where we send and receive participants. We believe international exchange strengthens cooperation between different cultures and nations, reduces conflicts, and contributes to better solutions to issues confronting today’s societies.
Our History
CDS International is a historically German-American organization founded in 1968 in New York City by its then German counterpart, the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft.
In the 1920s, Carl Duisberg, General Director of Bayer AG in Germany, initiated the first transatlantic work-study programs between the United States and Germany with the help of the Deutsche Studentenwerke’s (German Student Association) New York City office. He was convinced that transatlantic training programs were critical to the growth of German industry. As hoped, program alumni rose to prominent positions following World War II at leading firms such as AEG, Bayer, Bosch, Daimler Benz, and Siemens, by introducing the mass production methods, and business practices learned in the U.S. in Germany.
The alumni from these initial exchanges were inspired by Carl Duisberg and in 1949 founded the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft (CDG) to help engineers, businessmen, and farmers gain international work experience necessary for rebuilding post-war Germany and Europe. In 1968, the Carl Duisberg Society was founded in New York City as a nonprofit organization designed to rekindle Duisberg’s original exchanges and to facilitate international career training opportunities for Americans and Germans. Our name was changed to CDS International in 1987 to reflect the increasingly international nature of our programs.
CDS continues to work with InWEnt: Capacity Building International (formerly CDG) and the Deutsche Studentenwerke as well as numerous other international partners in Europe and Asia. The Carl Duisberg Stiftung (Foundation) also provides stipends to deserving German and American exchange participants in our programs. CDS currently serves close to 3,000 participants from more than 80 countries and, in addition to its headquarters in New York City, has regional representatives in Washington D.C., California, and Michigan as well as in Berlin, Germany.
