The PEOPLE Programme was launched in 1995 with implementation of important delegation exchanges whose purpose it was to explore possible common interests and relationships in both the USA and Europe. The PEOPLE Programme is a voluntary organization that was founded and is directed by Mr. Edward L. “Buzz” Palmer who is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the University of Illinois and Dr. Alice Palmer who is a former Illinois State Senator and is presently an Associate Professor in the College of Urban Planning, University of Illinois at Chicago.
The first delegation exchange was comprised of prominent African Americans such as the editorial director of the Chicago Tribune, the Mayor of Savannah, Georgia, Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois and others. They met with leaders and counterparts at the European Parliament in Brussels, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Countries, the European Institute in the Netherlands, and academics and others in Berlin, Germany.
A corresponding group of European leaders such as labor, business, academic and government made a reciprocal visit to the United States where they met local, state and federal government leaders, university officials at Howard University in D.C., the staff of the Democratic National Committee, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.
Upon consultation both groups reached similar conclusions that there were important reasons for African American and European leadership groups to formulate a common agenda and initiate some concrete programs both in the USA and Europe.
