In 1988, Dr. Elsa Potter, a West Texas schoolteacher had begun to ask herself, 'What can I do to make the world a better-off place?' Responding the signs of the times as she saw them at Tienneman Square, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, and the embrace of Arafat and Rabin, Potter threw aside her cynicism about the possibility of worldpeace becoming a reality. She felt a drive and a call to live out the sisterhood she found with the entire human race when a Peace Corps Volunteer (1978-80).

Already dedicated to the formation of Hispanic youth, Potter knew that there was still further to go. She began to see what one person of her talents, means and experience could do. She tried to act on these insights. Soon she recognized that even though she possessed two Master's degrees, a doctorate would put her far forward in the Cause. She moved her life from El Paso to Kingsville and in 1998 was granted the degree, doctor of education in the bilingual field. She also made a study and internships of institutional education that certified her as education manager, both on the school and the district level.

The International Institute of Culture and Language became a juridical reality as a Texas nonprofit on December 7, 1994, while Potter was still a student at Kingsville's Texas A&M University (TAMU-K). Always international in scope, she was accompanied by two US citizens and by four Costa Ricans as well.