After six years leading the International Student House of Washington, DC, Executive Director Daniel Bremer-Wirtig shares a message of reflection and gratitude, and offers a first look at an extraordinary year ahead for the House.
Dear Friends of the House,
After six years as Executive Director of the International Student House of Washington, DC, I will step down at the conclusion of my term in April 2026. I am writing not to dwell on a departure, instead I’m writing with a heart full of gratitude and hope for what comes next.
The timing feels right. The House is at a natural inflection point, ready for a new leader to take it into its next century. On a personal note, there are some family responsibilities that I need to dedicate time to. The moment ahead for the House calls for the Board, staff, and leadership to operate with singular clarity and undivided energy.
I leave with real confidence. The staff is strong, the Board is engaged, and the foundation we have built together is solid. The House is in good hands, and I believe the best years of this organization are yet to come.
A few words of thanks
When I think about what the House has become over these six years, the faces that come to mind are of the young global leaders who call the House their home. They are the Residents who fill these rooms with conversation in dozens of languages, who share meals, debate together, celebrate holidays they had never heard of, and build friendships that span continents. They are the staff who quietly and tirelessly keep this 95-bed community running, from the kitchen to the facilities team to the business office and the people who plan our programs and welcome our guests. The House is not a building. It is the people inside it. Everything good that has happened here over the past six years (and the 84 that preceded!) belongs to them first. And, I will say this honestly, running a House for 95 of the world’s most interesting people means you never run out of dinner conversation!
I am also profoundly grateful to the Board of Directors. Their leadership, their generosity of talent, time, and treasure, and their unwavering commitment to the mission have made every step possible. Serving alongside a Board that genuinely loves this institution has been one of the great privileges of my career.
To our donors, sponsors, Embassy partners, foundation supporters, and corporate friends, please know that your belief in this mission has never been taken for granted. Every meal served, every scholarship awarded, every cultural celebration hosted, every visiting scholar welcomed under this roof was made possible because you chose to invest in the idea that bringing emerging global leaders together under one roof can change the world for the better. It can, and it has, and it will continue to.
A few moments worth celebrating
Looking back at six years of work that was never the work of any one person, a handful of moments stand out:
- We weathered a global pandemic together. Thanks to a creative team, committed partners and vendors, a generous visionary Board, and a Resident community that looked out for one another, the House came through intact, and our community emerged stronger.
- We welcomed the world. Residents from more than 60 countries have called 1825 R Street home over these six years. Our Resident Experience and External Affairs teams, alongside our partners, brought Ambassadors, scholars, artists, and changemakers into our Great Hall, Library, and Garden, and built the programming that turns this residence into a community.
- The annual Global Leadership Awards Gala continues to grow in profile and reach. Under the leadership of our Gala Chairs, Honorees, and Host Committees — and with the extraordinary generosity of corporate sponsors and private donors — our most important fundraising event of the year is attracting a broader and more diverse audience from across Washington’s diplomatic and philanthropic community.
- We modernized how the House operates. With the leadership of our staff, contractors, and trusted partners across IT, HR, accounting, communications, and facilities, we updated systems behind the scenes and laid the groundwork for the next generation of tools that will serve the House for years to come.
This work matters – Yesterday, today, and tomorrow…
The world the House serves is more complicated today than it was six years ago. International students face headwinds that did not exist a few years back. Cross-border friendship and understanding feel more fragile in some quarters and more urgent in all of them. None of that is lost on me, and none of it should be lost on any of us.
That is precisely why this mission matters. The work of the House is not only about building a more peaceful and prosperous world. It is about sustaining one. Every Resident who walks through our front door, sits at a shared meal across from someone from a country they had only read about, and walks out a year later with a friend for life – That is the answer to a question the world keeps asking. The House has been answering it for nearly nine decades, and it needs to keep answering it for decades to come.
A look ahead
This year is going to be a remarkable year for the House. The team has been quietly building something special to mark our 90th anniversary, and I am thrilled to share a first glimpse:
- A brand new website is on the way, thanks to the extraordinary support, dedication, and expertise of a committed alum (thank you, Liam Toll, from the Netherlands!). Together with the External Affairs team, he has poured care and craft into building a digital home worthy of the House.
- A “Homecoming” Open House for Alumni in the Fall, welcoming back the generations of Residents who have called 1825 R Street home. If you lived here, studied here, or were ever part of this community, this one is for you.
- Another extraordinary edition of the Global Leadership Awards Gala will return to the House this Fall as well, our most important night of the year and a celebration of the Residents, leaders, sponsors, and friends who make this mission possible.
- The I-House DC Newsletter is back. We are relaunching it as a regular window into life at the House, with stories from Residents, updates from the team, and news from our global alumni community.
- And more is on the way, including new programming, new partnerships, and a 90th anniversary commemorative campaign that will help carry the House into its next chapter.
You are invited.
If this message moves you, the very best way to honor it is to join me in supporting and celebrating the House’s critical mission. Become a recurring donor. Tell a student or a young professional about us. Host your next event in the Great Hall. Wear the merchandise. Sponsor the Gala. And, most importantly, support and cheer on the staff and the new leadership loudly when the time comes.
Bye, for now…
Serving as Executive Director of the House for the past six years has been the privilege of my personal and professional life. It has touched and shaped my family in ways we will carry with us forever. My connection to the House does not end in April. I will stay on for the next couple of months to lay the groundwork for a transition. The mission of the House is something I care deeply about, and I intend to remain an engaged supporter and advocate from wherever my next chapter takes me.
To the Residents past and present, thank you for trusting the House with a chapter of your life. To the staff, Claire, Oshin, Adrienne, and Jose, thank you for the love you pour into this place every single day, and for the dedication you have shown me along the way. To the Board, donors, and partners, thank you for keeping the lights on, the doors open, and the mission alive (and so much more!). To our incoming leader, whoever and wherever you are, you are walking into something very unique and rare. Cherish every moment of it…
With immense gratitude,
Daniel Bremer-Wirtig
Executive Director
International Student House of Washington, DC
