Goodwill Ambassador

Goodwill Ambassador is a collective term sometimes used as a substitute honorific title or a title of honor for an Ambassador of Goodwill; but, most appropriately for a generic recognition, it is a job position or description that is usually indicated following the name of the individual recognized in the position. Goodwill ambassadors generally deliver goodwill or promote ideals from one entity to another, or to a population.

A goodwill ambassador may be an individual from one country who resides in or travels to another country, in a diplomatic mission (or international friendship mission) at a peer to peer level; that is: country to country, state to state, city to city; or, as an intermediary representing the people at the other extreme of an organization.

Goodwill Ambassadors have been an official (or unofficial) part of governments and cultures for as long as diplomacy has existed; to exchange gifts and presents; humanitarian relief; or development aid, using well known celebrities, scientists, authors, known activists, and other high society figures. Goodwill missions of countries are usually carried out or overseen by the head of state, and do not necessarily involve diplomatic credentials outside of a letter of presentation (or letter of credence). However some states do issue credentials that include diplomatic immunity for their goodwill ambassadors such as Haiti.

Many governmental, multilateral, nongovernmental, and nonprofit organizations utilize goodwill ambassadors to promote their programs and reach out to others with programs that are based on good relations that are usually secular and apolitical. Among the organizations that use goodwill ambassadors to deliver agendas include Sister Cities, the United Nations, organizations of the United Nations, the African Union, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Rotary International, and many others including the government of the United States of America as seen in 2009 when former President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea on a special goodwill mission.