Hillary meets with Black Eyed Peas front man

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas at the State Department on Friday, July 29, to lend her support to his efforts to bring American students to China.

Will.i.am is traveling to Beijing later this year to direct a concert of American and Chinese pop artists as part of President Barack Obama‘s 100,000 Strong Initiative, which is meant to increase cultural and educational exchanges between students in the two countries.

""In order to become responsible global citizens, young people need to experience the world around them," will.i.am said. "Kids from underserved communities rarely have the opportunity to study and travel abroad, and we want to change that. We must make sure that American students have the cultural awareness and skills necessary to succeed in a global economy."

The concert is being organized in partnership with Americans Promoting Study Abroad, a group that gives scholarships to underprivileged American students to study abroad. The group is also planning a series of events around the United States this year to raise money for the effort. They have already raised $7 million.

Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to the program during Obama’s visit to Beijing in November 2009. Hu promised 20,000 scholarships for American students to visit China during his visit to Washington last January.

Will.i.am was an early supporter of Obama, organized the viral YouTube video during his campaign entitled, "Yes We Can."