BYU is the starting point for a United Nation’s NGO called Utah Global Diplomacy. It is important to understand that, according to BYU, the expansion of the LDS church to a global organization led to efforts that in turn moved BYU in a more global direction as well. Signs of that started around 1958 with the introduction of Hispanic studies and Asian studies in 1961, followed by Russian studies in 1963.
According to BYU, a center was created in the 1970s to merge international and area studies.
By 1983, the center was renamed “David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.”
This is key considering the date that we are told via Utah Global Diplomacy’s own website and the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (UCCD) fact sheet claims they started in 1967.
“In 1967, Taza Armstrong Peirce founded the Salt Lake Council for International Visitors,” although according to a BYU document, it was called “International Visitors Council” and was founded in 1965.
“In 1967, Taza Armstrong Peirce founded the Salt Lake Council for International Visitors, today known as the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, through her association with the U.S. Department of State. Ms. Peirce served as Executive Secretary of the Council and led its development and growth for a number of years.”
Maybe those two organizations were different in 1965 but merged? I am unsure.
According to the BYU article, Laura Dupuy became the president in 2000 and renamed the organization to Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy in 2003.
“Laura Dupuy became their executive director in 2000, and the council was renamed Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (UCCD) in 2003, due to confusion for callers who thought they were contacting a visitors convention bureau. “The name now reflects more accurately what our true mission is, which is to promote global respect and understanding between the people of Utah and other nations,” Dupuy explained.”
The name then changed to “Utah Global Diplomacy” in 2023.
“Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy will now be known as Utah Global Diplomacy. In addition to a new name, Utah Global Diplomacy is growing its impact through targeted education programs and by connecting Utahns from across the state with foreign delegations from across the globe.
“Our new name defines our mission and connects our welcoming and globally curious residents with individuals and organizations from around the globe,” said Felecia Maxfield-Barrett, president and CEO of Utah Global Diplomacy. “It highlights Utah’s global presence as an innovative, economic, and cultural hub and demonstrates that we can make the world a better place, one handshake at a time.”
According to both the BYU information and the UCCD/UGD fact sheet, this organization was working closely with the state department.
“The International Visitors Council was founded in 1965 to bring foreign visitors to Utah through the International Visitor/Leadership Program, an exchange backed by the U.S. Department of State.” BYU Phase 2 Laura Dupuy interview.
Below is the quote about the State Department and UCCD/UGD from the fact sheet.
“Taza Armstrong Peirce founded the Salt Lake Council for International Visitors, today known as Utah Global Diplomacy, through her association with the U.S. Department of State. Ms. Peirce served as Executive Secretary of the Council and led its development and growth for a number of years.”
According to the fact sheet, the LDS church generously provided office space for this organization in Hotel Utah for 33 years. They then moved to the Elk building in 2000 and then to Westminster College from 2007 to 2021. They then moved to Independence Square in Murray, Utah.
With that bit of timeline out of the way, we can move on to the mission and NGO status.
First things first, according to an article from Utah Policy in 2023 announcing the new name, they are very proud of the below:
“Utah Global Diplomacy has led the civil sector in shaping foreign relations. As the official community-based member of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in Utah, Utah Global Diplomacy has connected over 12,000 international visitors through 400,000 professional, cultural, and educational meetings and experiences in Utah.”
When you read through their old website (I’ll go into more information on that in a minute) and the new one, plus these articles and fact sheets, you can sum it up as an organization working with global programs and organizations, along with our state department, to bring foreign “visitors” to Utah and immerse them in our education system, not only to be “educated” but to “educate” natural-born Utahns as well.
Before September 10th (the day of Charlie Kirk’s assassination), their website had promotions of the UN SDG goals, and they also did some handout documentation. You can see those links here and here. That has since been scrubbed from what I can see so far.
The link to the UN is not surprising, though, considering groups in Utah pointed out their NGO status with the UN several years ago, along with the David M. Kennedy Center. See below for screenshots of both UN NGOs.
The David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies appears to have applied and was approved to become a UN NGO via ECOSOC back in 1999 and was in consultative status until 2022, from what I was able to obtain. Enter in UCCD now Utah Global Diplomacy, who applied and was approved in 2023. The profile for the David M. Kennedy Center is quite robust. I would recommend going through it. I would also recommend understanding what “scientific and technological communities” mean. You can learn from this United Nations page.
From a United Nations document directly:
“Contribution of the organization to the work of the United Nations BYU’s educational opportunities allow students to interact with academics, opinion leaders, and practitioners and increase their awareness of global issues and challenges facing the United Nations. Some examples include: – The Ballard Center planned a “We For She” event to support the recent United Nations “We For She” Initiative and raise awareness of the 12 Global Issues Currently Facing Women. There were over 400 students in attendance for the event; – BYU Amnesty International is a student-led initiative, sponsored by the Kennedy Center to educate students and faculty on human rights issues; and – Model United Nations: through this programme, students explore the mechanics of diplomacy and negotiation.” source
And this from a totally different UN document:
“Brigham Young University for UNICEF is affiliated with the Campus Initiative, an unincorporated, student-led organization that partners with the United States Fund for UNICEF to educate, advocate and raise funds for UNICEF. In 2009, Provo, Utah, was one of the first 20 cities in the United States to collectively adopt the UNICEF water tap project” and “Partnership through the Fulton School with the Utah chapter of Engineers without Borders, through which the Center sends students to various countries — Tonga and Peru among others — to undertake projects such as building small-scale production plants and improving sanitation systems” and “Since 1989, Students for International Development has planned and hosted an annual “Hunger banquet” to raise awareness within the Brigham Young University community about global poverty and wealth inequality. It is an opportunity for members of the university and local communities to think critically about the systems of inequity that permeate the world. Funds raised as a result of the banquet are given as grants from the Kennedy Center to various NGOs to afford students a chance to learn project management and to apply best practices.”
And the last one, because I could just go on and on, “The Center regularly accredits faculty, students, and experts to participate in various conferences and forums of the United Nations, such as the plenary sessions of the Human Rights Council and the universal periodic review process, side events, and other relevant meetings, and to take part in the discussion on topics under review. The Center also attends the General Assembly and other meetings, as well as NGO-related activities.” source
This screenshot from their LinkedIn shows that their tight connection with the UN may still be ongoing.
Now, with all of that out of the way, let’s go back to the website and social media scrubbing.
On Sept 10th conservative speaker and organizer Charlie Kirk was publicly assassinated on the UVU campus—another university with extremely close United Nations ties. It appears that Utah Global Diplomacy deleted their Facebook page on Sept 10th, and their website went down sometime after Data Republican did a post highlighting the “SKDoubleDub33” thread on armed queers of SLC and a person named Ermiya Fanaeian.
As you can imagine, everyone was shocked to find out that Utah Global Diplomacy was linked to this person but also to the state department.
“Their leader, Ermiya Fanaeian, was recognized by a State Dept.-affiliated NGO, Utah Global Diplomacy, as a recipient of the “7 for 17” Award for advancing the UN’s 17 Goals.”
What makes it worse is the state of Utah is helping to fund this group:
On Sept 19th, 2025, it was announced via Utah Business that Utah Global Diplomacy had announced 8 new members to the board, and a new Americanized website was available (may have been a day or two before, but this is when I noticed).
Below is more information on the members:
“The addition of these directors supports the organization’s continued efforts to promote respect and understanding between the people of Utah and other nations through citizen diplomacy and outcome-driven international relations. The appointments include:
- Gordon Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Visitor Services
- Barney Boynton, CEO & Founder, Go Pave Utah
- Beth Colosimo, Executive Director, The Mill Entrepreneurship Center
- Brayden Wardrop, CEO & Founder, Kyte Learning/Perch
- Judianne Peterson, Community Advocate
- Renzo Andia Mejia, Bilingual Customer Service Lead, Navient
- Laurie Williams Sowby, Community Advocate
- Michael Deaver, Advisor, Strategies 360 & Honorary Consul of Indonesia to Utah”
It would be remiss of me not to mention the link between Ermiya Fanaeian’s group “Armed Queers of SLC” and the U of U, of which unfortunately there is. They sponsored a lecture by the group.
You can read more on Armed Queers for SLC and their links below:
https://nypost.com/2025/09/17/us-news/armed-queers-founder-ermiya-fanaeian-is-radical-trans-leftist
“The Utah-based Armed Queers of Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded in 2020 and describes itself as ‘a revolutionary LGBTQ organization dedicated to the defense and success of oppressed people’s movements.’” https://voz.us/en/society/250915/28932/armed-queers-group-trains-radical-marxists-to-shoot-just-miles-from-where-charlie-kirk-was-murdered.html
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1971678598999261513.html
I will close with this:
“Utah is in serious trouble. Utah has been the victim of backdoors and global agendas allowed to enter through universities and NGOs. This presence of an outside agenda appears to be the same homogenized agenda taking place around the world, namely, corporatism and SDG goals. If Utah does not do things differently… and soon, it will destroy what it was completely, and Utahns will not recognize the state they love(d).”