Fireside chat with Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel and Robin Quinville headlines a CBYX Alumni Association weekend marking four decades of U.S.-Germany exchange.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC, UNITED STATES, October 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Alumni Association (CBYX AA) will host its third annual National Reunion November 6–8, 2026, at Halle Haus in Atlanta, hosted in partnership with The Halle Foundation. The weekend brings together alumni of the U.S.-Germany exchange program for transatlantic programming, speakers, and community, with support from Ritter Sport USA.
“Every scholarship recipient who goes through CBYX comes home changed, but it’s easy for that experience to stay private. This reunion exists to turn thousands of individual stories into a single, active community — one that shows up for each other and for the broader U.S.-Germany relationship,” said Michelle Hayward, Co-Chair of the CBYX Alumni Association.
The reunion’s centerpiece is a members-only fireside chat with two former diplomats who have shaped U.S.-Germany relations across four decades: Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel, who was involved in the development of CBYX itself, and Robin Quinville, who most recently served as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. Their conversation will trace the arc of German-American diplomacy from the pre-1989 era to today, underscoring how person-to-person exchange has remained a support structure between the two nations even as governments change.
“I’ve watched U.S.-Germany relations weather the Cold War, reunification, and every crisis since. What holds through all of it isn’t treaties — it’s people who keep showing up for each other. CBYX has been quietly building that for over forty years, and this next generation of alumni is exactly who needs to carry it forward,” said Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel.
“Transatlantic relations don’t run on institutions alone — they run on people who invest the time to sit down, talk, and genuinely understand politics on both sides of the Atlantic. That’s exactly what a network like this does, one relationship at a time,” said Robin Quinville, former Chargé d’Affaires, U.S. Embassy Berlin.
The weekend also features a panel of CBYX alumni spanning multiple decades of the program, who will discuss the impact that a year of immersive living abroad had on their personal and professional development. The panel will be hosted by Kevin Dibb, Senior Policy Affairs Specialist at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Washington.
About CBYX and the Alumni Association
Founded in 1983 by the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange has built a network of more than 30,000 American and German alumni. The CBYX Alumni Association, founded in 2019, works to galvanize the impact of that exchange year by connecting alumni across the United States through social events, speaking engagements, and interactions with the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations General Assembly, and German delegations. The Association also delivers programming for new returnees to help them navigate reintegration after their exchange year.
About The Halle Foundation
Halle Haus is the Atlanta estate of The Halle Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1986 by Claus M. Halle, a German-born business executive who rose from a postwar delivery driver in Essen to Senior Executive Vice President of The Coca-Cola Company and President of Coca-Cola International. The Foundation’s mission is to promote understanding, knowledge, and friendship between the people of Germany and the United States, supporting initiatives in culture, science, technology, commerce, language, scholarship, and international relations, with most of its U.S. grantmaking directed to organizations connected to the state of Georgia.
About Ritter Sport USA
Ritter Sport USA is the maker of German chocolate now available for purchase throughout the U.S. in major retailers, and a sponsor of the 2026 National Reunion.
Michelle Hayward
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Alumni Association
+1 312-730-3478
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