Valery Kostin has been involved in international cultural exchanges for many years in more than 50 countries and was an ICF Board member, representing Russia for 30 years.  Valery emigrated to the US and now lives in Portland, ME, where he is active in international Counselor recruiting and camp promotion.

He has considerable experience organizing children’s, youth, as well as camp professionals’ exchange programs. This experience comes from his personal involvement  (since childhood) in camps all over the world.  He was the youngest Camp Director in Russia’s flagship ARTEK CAMP.  At that camp, he grew from a camper to a camp counselor, then program director, then camp director of one of the units.

Since 1990 he has been a Member of the Steering Committee of the International Camping Fellowship.  In 2008, in Quebec City, Valery was elected ICF (International Camping Fellowship) President.

Valery participated in all International Camping Congresses since 1994 and was one of the key organizers for the IV International Congress in St. Petersburg in 1997 and the XI ICC in Sochi in 2017.

Valery is a great ambassador of the Russian camp movement; he promotes its achievements all over the world and has consistently advocated for cultural and mutual international understanding through camping.  In 2020, he was awarded the highest ICF DRUZHBA Award for his contribution to the development and popularization of the international camping movement.