Cultural Vistas sponsors and administers a variety of inbound (to the U.S.) and outbound (from the U.S.) exchange programs, experiential learning opportunities, and professional fellowships.

As a result of their effort, they formed the U.S. chapter of the newly created International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE-US).

Students and participating employers soon found the effort extremely valuable in many dimensions: as an excellent tool of public diplomacy, as a new way for forward-thinking corporations to identify talent and form an international workforce.

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 in Germany the mass production methods and business practices learned in the United States.

The alumni from these initial exchanges founded the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft (CDG) in 1949 to help engineers, businessmen, and farmers gain international work experience necessary for rebuilding post-war Germany and Europe.