Leadership

Ms. Siegel is an AFS Returnee from the U.S. to Japan, 1979-80. In addition to the AFS-USA Board, Joan is a member and Board Chair Elect of the University of Oregon Foundation and a member of the Clark Honors College Advisory Council at the University of Oregon. Prior to this Joan spent eleven years as a Japan analyst for the US Government, including a three-year tour in Tokyo. In addition, Joan spent six years in London working on the Japanese equity desk at Salomon Brothers International and on the Japanese warrant desk at Nomura International Ltd. Joan also worked as a study coordinator at the US-Japan Culture Center in Washington, DC.

Joan received her B.A. degree with high honors from the University of Oregon and her M.A. from Harvard University. She also trained in Japanese language pedagogy at Columbia University and New York University.

Joan lives with her husband and two daughters in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Mr. Castro has served as the President of AFS-USA, Inc. since March 2010. Mr. Castro served as the Interim President from May 2009 to March 2010. Mr. Castro has over three decades of international experience with AFS, having served as an Executive Director of both AFS Argentina and AFS Vivre Sans Frontiere in Paris before coming to the United States. He participated in an AFS exchange to the United States from 1977 to 1978, where he received an American high school diploma. He attended Universite de Lyon III, Jean Moulin, Lyon, France, and earned his law degree from Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Jed Hepworth is a Returnee from the AFS year program to Chile 1968-69. Jed retired in 2015 after 39 years of service to Cargill, Incorporated, the last 20 years as Latin America General Counsel. In that role, he led a team of 70 legal professionals working in 8 countries in Latin America and worked on M&A transactions and championed compliance across the Latin America Region.

Jed received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1973 and graduated with a JD from Stanford Law School in 1976.

Jed and his wife Lee hosted 3 AFS daughters from Chile, Venezuela and Austria. Their son spent his AFS summer program in Chile with the same family where Jed was placed 30 years before!

After 43 Minnesota winters, Jed and Lee are now trying the snowbird life to spend winters in the Bay Area of California close to their grandson (and his parents and uncle, too).

Tara Boyce-Hofmann has worked for AFS for more than 30 years, both in the U.S. and abroad. She currently leads AFS-USA as President and Partner Director. Prior to her appointment in November 2018, Tara served as Chief Operating and Organizational Development Officer for AFS-USA where she was responsible for the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan that focused on bringing innovative new programs and technologies to the organization. She joined AFS-USA in 2009 as Business Development Strategist.

Prior to her assignment in the U.S., Tara was Executive Director of AFS Hong Kong for nearly 10 years. Before her relocation to Asia, Tara worked for AFS International where she was responsible for international program coordination and organizational development for the AFS network. . She was integral in establishing AFS in Central-Eastern Europe in the early 1990s when the political realities shifted, allowing AFS to establish a presence and program in the region. During this tenure she also expanded the operations of AFS in mainland China and supporting operations in South East Asia.

Tara's life-long interest and commitment to intercultural learning began with her Syracuse University study abroad experience to France where she was enrolled in Universite de Strasbourg. A graduate from Syracuse University with a degree in Communications and French, Tara also attended the School of Public Diplomacy at Georgetown and is a graduate of their Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate program. A New York City native, Tara currently lives outside Washington D.C. in Maryland with her husband and two children.

Ms. Goldberg has served as the Chief Financial Officer of AFS-USA, Inc. since 2011 and has responsibility for all administrative functions, including Human Resources, IT, Travel and Logistics and Office operations, as well as Finance. Susan is a CPA licensed in the State of New Jersey and possesses over 30 years of financial management experience in privately held and publicly traded companies. In 2001, she made the conscious decision to work in the non-profit sector out of a desire to make a positive impact in mission driven organizations. Prior to joining AFS, Susan served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the YWCA of the City of New York and before that as the Director of Finance and Administration of the Woodstock Day School, an award winning private school in the Hudson Valley.

Susan earned a BA in Accounting from William Paterson University and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program at Harvard University. She has earned credits toward a Master’s degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Champlain College. Susan has served on the Boards of New York Women’s Agenda, CASA and the Dispute Resolution Center in Kingston, NY.

Ms. Dooley has over 25 years of experience in the field of international education and exchange. An alumna of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), she went on to direct ECA sponsored programs at AFS-USA, a leading, nonprofit international education provider. In her current role as AFS-USA’s Chief Government Relations and Sponsored Programs Officer, she manages relations with the ECA pertaining to its oversight of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program and its sponsorship of invaluable exchange initiatives, including: Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES); Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX); National Strategic Language Initiative for Youth (NSLIY); and Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX).

She also leads Risk Management, Compliance and Quality Assurance initiatives at AFS-USA, and she has been instrumental in expanding the organization’s reach in Asia, helping to establish an AFS Partner Organization in India, developing AFS-USA’s first year-long programs to China, and launching the YES Program in numerous AFS Network countries. Keri holds a B.S.F.S. in Comparative Regional Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is proficient in German and Russian. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) and the Alliance for International Exchange. Originally from Sparks, NV, Keri lives in New York City with her husband Jim, and three daughters.

Mr. Duban is a Returnee from the AFS year program to Austria, 1982 -83. A graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, John spent the first 25 years of his career in advertising and media agencies, most recently serving as EVP, Global Managing Director and member of the Global Management Team at Publicis Media Groupe.

Fluent in German, John began his career in Vienna, Austria as a copywriter on the M&M Mars business. In the years that followed, he continued to work on global businesses and brands, including a two year stint in Shanghai, China working with the Coca-Cola Company in support of their sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In his current role at AFS-USA, John is responsible for overseeing the marketing team, as well as the Field Staff located across the U.S. who work locally with volunteers to ensure the highest quality program delivery to our students, families, schools and communities.

John lives in Manhattan with his wife Emily, and together they have three adult children who live all over the place.

Ms. Baker spent the first 25 years of her career in senior management positions in marketing and communications. After 12 years with Marriott International where she traveled and lived in different locations while managing hotel properties, Marlene served as media services director for MediaWorks—a full service media production and communications agency. While at MediaWorks, Marlene developed marketing, communications and fundraising campaigns for more than 130 nonprofit clients of all kinds—which is how she was introduced to AFS-USA.

While Marlene wishes she was given the opportunity to study abroad, AFS has certainly changed her life and the lives of her two children. After hosting Linnea, an AFS Exchange Student from Sweden, both children decided to study abroad—her son is an AFS Returnee (US to Japan), and her daughter studied for a year at Tsinghua University in Beijing, followed by a Fulbright year in Taiwan.

Marlene and her partner Richard live in Guilford, Connecticut with a very pampered Boston Terrier, Lily.

Mr. Clutter is a former AFS Host Father, local chapter Chair in Cleveland, Ohio, former Board Chair, Board Member and International Trustee. He currently is a Senior Director of Corporate Giving and National Leadership Development for Lambda Legal, a New York headquartered not-for-profit. Prior to this position he served for 25 years as an executive officer in the property management and real estate industry with companies in Ohio, New York and Texas. Formerly, her was a Staff Director of the Federal Election Commission in Washington DC, a faculty member at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a bronze star recipient while an Air Force Officer. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer (Iran).

Allen holds a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College (St Paul, Minnesota) and Master of Arts from Eastern Michigan University. He lives in New Jersey with his partner of 24 years and has two grown children and one granddaughter.

Mr. Stableski has worked as both and manager and management consultant for international exchange organizations and international NGOs for more than 45 years. Bob recently retired from NAFSA: Association of International Educators after 16 years, initially as its Deputy Executive Director—supervising its training, publications, website, and volunteer development functions—and later as NAFSA’s Senior Advisor, leading the strategic planning, and organizational development functions of the association.

Earlier in his career, Bob worked first with the American Field Service (AFS) in its Vienna, Austria, and New York offices and then served as Vice President for International Programs at The Experiment in International Living (now World Learning). Changing careers, he then spent over ten years as a consultant and trainer for UN agencies, international NGOs, and U.S. not-for-profits, focusing on leadership training, organizational development, and managing change. During that time, he also served on the AFS-USA Board of Directors from 1984-1992.

Bob returned to AFS as its Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 1993 to 2000, including a year as acting president, immediately prior to joining NAFSA. Since 2015, Bob is again serving on the AFS-USA Board of Directors.

Ms. Berger-Sweeney became the 22nd president of Trinity College in July 2014.

Since that time, she has overseen several major accomplishments, including the creation of the Bantam Network mentoring program for first-year students; the launch of the Campaign for Community, a campus initiative promoting inclusiveness and respect; and the expansion of Trinity’s footprint to Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. Additional achievements under Berger-Sweeney’s leadership also include the establishment of Trinity’s Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct, the founding of the Center for Caribbean Studies at Trinity College, and the College’s thriving partnership with edX, one of the world’s premier online course platforms.

Joanne came to Trinity from Tufts University where she served as the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Prior to Tufts, Berger-Sweeney was at Wellesley College, where she served for 19 years as a faculty member and associate dean. She received her undergraduate degree in psychobiology from Wellesley College, an M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health (INSERM) in Paris, France.

Joanne is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Lifetime Mentoring Award from the Society for Neuroscience (2006) and the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award.

Ms. Deem joined the AICPA’s Congressional and Political Affairs team in August 2009, where she works to advance the CPA profession’s agenda and enhance its political profile with lawmakers and Administration officials in Washington on important legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives. Diana has successfully advocated on behalf of the profession with regard to various aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the America Invents Act, particularly eliminating the patenting of tax strategies; the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, specifically the provisions to require data standards, such as XBRL, for reporting federal financial information; and most recently, leading an effort to gain support from more than half of the Congress to oppose a tax reform proposal limiting the use of the cash basis of accounting. Diana is also a member the AICPA’s Inclusion Advisory Team whose purpose is to help guide the implementation of diversity and inclusion into existing AICPA operations.

Prior to joining the AICPA, Diana worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor firm Price Waterhouse) for nineteen years in audit, governmental and regulatory affairs, and the work/life quality and diversity practice. After leaving PwC, Diana was a staff member at Pyle Middle School in Montgomery County for several years. She is a CPA, licensed in Maryland, and a member of the AICPA and the Maryland Association of CPAs. Diana earned a B.S. in Accounting and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland in College Park.

Diana currently chairs the AFS Government Relations Advisory Group. Other volunteer activities have included chairing the Pyle Guidance Advisory Committee, chairing the Walt Whitman High School Instrumental Music Boosters, and serving as a founding member of the Whitman Music Boosters Foundation Board.

Ambassador Eaton was selected by the Secretary General to be the new Assistant Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for Executive Management in October 2010. Before his service at NATO, Bill had a distinguished diplomatic career in the U.S. Department of State. He served from 2005-08 as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Previously, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, a position he held throughout Secretary of State Colin Powell’s tenure from 2001-2005. As one of the State Department’s most senior management professionals, he has also served overseas in Georgetown, Guyana, Moscow, Istanbul, Milan and Ankara. He has held a wide variety of multi-disciplinary positions, including in the Offices of the Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary for Management and the Assistant Secretaries for Administration and Diplomatic Security. He was also the Dean of the School of Language Studies at the U.S. National Foreign Affairs Training Center.

Outside the State Department, Bill won a Virginia Press Association award in 1978 for journalistic excellence. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving, among other places, in South Korea. He served as Executive Director and Director of International Operations for the Young Presidents’ Organization, an international association of young CEOs of multi-million-dollar companies in nearly 80 countries around the globe.

Bill graduated magna cum laude in International Relations from the University of Virginia. He speaks Spanish, Turkish, Russian, Dutch and Italian. He is a recipient of the 2004 Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Department’s Arnold Raphel Award for Mentoring, Presidential Meritorious Service Award (2002 and 2005), Honorary National Distinguished Principal Award for leadership in international education (2003) and the Department’s Leamon R. Hunt Award for Administrative Excellence. The Government of Panama in 2008 awarded Ambassador Eaton its highest decoration for non-Panamanians, the Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa for his significant contributions to strengthening U.S.-Panamanian relations.

Mr. Evren joined the AFS-USA National Council in 2013. He is an AFS Returnee from Turkey to the U.S., 1984-85. Between 1984 and 1989 he was a volunteer for AFS Turkey, where he also worked as a program coordinator. Some of the highlights of his work with AFS Turkey include coordinating AFS and EFIL programs; chaperoning the first on-site AFS intercultural learning program; and co-founding the Turkish-Greek exchange program.

In 2009, inspired by his 25th year reunion with his high school friends in Alexander, NY, Emre returned to volunteering with AFS. He served as the chairperson of the Southern New England Team until his election to the National Council 2013. In addition, he filled the roles of liaison, hosting coordinator, sponsored programs coordinator, orientations coordinator, and volunteer coordinator. An active member of his community, Emre held various elected and appointed positions. Currently, he is the chairperson of the School Committee in Granby, MA. He is also on the board of directors of a regional educational collaborative and the local public access television.

When not volunteering, Emre enjoys spending time at his workplace. His current professional areas of concentration are continuous improvement and strategic planning.

Emre holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an M.A. in International Relations, and an M.A. in Economics. He is fluent in English, Turkish and French. Emre lives in Granby, MA.

Ms. Legel hosted an AFS Exchange Student from Japan in 2005, and over the past decade she’s acted as a liaison and volunteer with the AFS-USA Greater Puget Sound chapter. In addition to her volunteer work, Laura is employed by Amazon Web Services as the Senior Global Manager for Safety, Health, and Environmental. Prior to Amazon, Laura was at Precor Inc., and taught Biomechanics as an adjunct professor at Bastyr University.

In addition to AFS-USA Board, Laura serves on the Washington State Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board representing the high technology sector. She’s also an empowerHer member with the Hope Heart Institute. Laura completed her Master of Science Education degree with an emphasis in sports medicine from Old Dominion University. She received her Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree from High Point University.

Laura lives in Seattle, Washington with her delightful husband and peculiar dog.

Mr. Lomeli is an AFS Returnee from the U.S. to Italy, 1992-93, and is a certified Intercultural (ICL) Learning Trainer.

Eric attended the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) where he earned a B.A. in History with a minor in Italian Special Studies and an M.A. degree in Latin American Studies (with concentrations in History & Urban Planning). During these years, he participated in two international programs, going back to Italy (Siena) and Mexico, at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM). He later earned an M.S. degree in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) at the University of Redlands (California) and since 2007 works for the local county in San Antonio, Texas, as GIS Projects Coordinator and Senior GIS Analyst.

His passion for history led him to become a member of the San Antonio Professional Tour Guide Association as well as the San Antonio Conservation Society. Eric and his wife Amber enjoy cooking, antiquing and cultural travel.

Ms. Maly is the Chair of AFS-USA’s volunteer representative body, the National Council. Deb became involved with AFS when a friend mentioned: “Your family would be a great host family.” This began her AFS involvement in 2004, when her family welcomed their AFS hosted daughter, Silje from Norway, followed by their AFS hosted son Rodrigo from Brazil. Following a successful first year of hosting, Deb made the decision to be more involved and volunteer with AFS.

Deb has been an active volunteer with the Milwaukee Area Team since 2005, where she has served in many capacities, including Liaison, Chapter Chair, Hosting Volunteer, Liaison Coordinator, Support Coordinator, and Compliance Coordinator. Nationally, Deb has served as the Chair of the Compliance Advisory Group (CAG) for six years and as part of her role on the CAG she was the liaison to the Support Advisory Group (SAG) for four years. Deb was elected to the National Council in 2015.

Deb received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in Speech/Language Pathology. She has practiced as a Speech/Language Pathologist for 32 years. She currently is working full time in an educational setting and part time in skilled nursing facilities serving ages 3-100! Deb believes in the power of effective communication and her personal goal is to ensure that AFS is able to communicate effectively among all stakeholders.

Deb and her husband Kevin reside in Germantown, Wisconsin and have been married for 33 years. They have an adult daughter, Caitlin who resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Mehta is a writer, teacher, and speaker on issues of global tax justice. Prior to making tax justice his main focus, he was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and served in their New York, London, and Tokyo offices. His responsibilities included PwC’s US Tax practices in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Indonesia, encompassing over 140 American companies conducting business in Asia. Krishen is a Senior Advisor to Tax Justice Network. He serves on the Advisory Board of Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program and is a member of the Asia Advisory Council of Human Rights Watch.

Krishen is also a Trustee of the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington, DC. Krishen has been an Adjunct Professor at American University, and a frequent guest speaker at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston and at Tokyo University in Japan. He has also conducted Capstone workshops for graduate students at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. From 2010-2012, Krishen was Co-Chairman of the Advisory Board of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a research and advocacy group based in Washington, DC, and engaged on policies designed to stem illicit financial flows from developing countries.

Ms. Moon is an AFS Returnee from the U.S. to Finland, 1979-80, and served as Area Chair to Miss TennKy and AFS Carolinas and currently serves as Area Chair to AFS Carolinas–West. In addition, Susan has served on the Volunteer Development Advisory Group, NVA Planning Teams, NVA Host and numerous other local and regional volunteer roles while being a Host Mom to 15 great kids.

Professionally, Susan is a healthcare service executive with Vizient, Inc. with over 28 years of healthcare analytics experience. Prior to joining Vizient, she served as Director of Decision Support & Analytical Reporting for Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston Salem, NC. In this role she was responsible for the clinical, financial and operational decision support system and reporting. As the Associate Director of Clinical and Financial Decision Support at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, she led the implementation and integration of the decision support system and its data throughout Vanderbilt’s clinical enterprise for 14 years. In previous roles, Susan served as a Management Consultant with Premier Inc. in Charlotte, NC responsible for the integrity and expansion of their comparative database and at Penrose St Francis Healthcare, Colorado Springs, CO responsible for cost within their decision support system. She received her Master Certificate in Management of Information System from Regis University in Denver, Colorado, her BS in Accounting from Regis University, Colorado Springs, CO and her BS in Political Science from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN.

Mr. van Steenwyk is the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Longbow Technology Ventures, a single family office, focused on investments in green energy technology, transportation evolution, food and agriculture and human biology. Matt graduated from the US Air Force Academy with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, flew A-10’s as a combat ready pilot during the Cold War, led the turnaround of a major program for the F-16 Air Defense Fighter and subsequently left the Air Force in 1986. He gained his financial and accounting background through the CFA program, and combining this with his operational background, has been instrumental in identifying and leading numerous investments and operational turnarounds in upstream energy, wine and vineyard, electrochemical and communications sectors. He is currently a director at NorthernCross Partners, a Los Angeles merchant bank and with American Power Group, a Boston based manufacturer of dual fuel engine technology.

Matt has been married to his wife, Betty, for 35 years, and they have three kids. Betty is a Psychologist with the Veteran’s Administration, Reno, where her practice focuses on Integrated Primary Care and Trauma. Their eldest daughter Elizabeth is an Emergency Room doctor in Las Vegas and 2001 AFS Returnee from Austria. Middle child, Todd, is an entrepreneur with his dad, and is currently developing real estate in Germany, and is a 2002 AFS Returnee from Panama. And youngest child, Gretchen, is currently earning her PhD from ETH Zurich in NeuroEpigenetics and is a 2005 AFS Returnee from Switzerland. Foster daughter Charise is currently managing the development and build of several restaurants, visited Europe with the family during the time she lived with them, and is planning to send her step son on a year abroad program. The Van Steenwyk’s have hosted four exchange students.

Mr. Walker is an AFS Returnee from the year program to Indonesia, 1987-88, and from a short summer program in Turkey, 2013. In addition to his role on the AFS-USA Board, Jim has held several volunteer positions within the AFS Capital Area Team, such as Area Team Chair, Sending Coordinator, Liaison, and Sending Orientation Coordinator. Jim is also the Vice Chair of the AFS National Council and is rotating off of the AFS Sponsored Programs Advisory Group (SPAG). Jim has hosted students from Brazil, China, Germany, and Thailand.

Jim received his B.A. degree from Albion College and his M.A. from American University. He is an economist in the Federal government. Prior to moving to the Washington DC area, Jim served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.

Ms. Wessels-Yen began her tenure with Getinge in 2018 and is its Head of Global Litigation. She manages litigation for all United States and worldwide Getinge companies. Prior to Getinge, she was a litigation partner in the New York office of Alston & Bird LLP and co-chaired its International Litigation practice, specializing in the representation of foreign and multinational clients involved in litigation in U.S. courts.

Amber earned her B.A., cum laude, in 1996 from Claremont McKenna College, with a dual major in international relations and government. In 2002, she received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was symposium editor of Law and Policy in International Business. She is admitted to practice in the states of New York and New Jersey, before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, and D.C. Circuits.

Amber is a California native and was an AFS Exchange Student to a small town in the Netherlands from 1990-1991. She still stays in contact with her Dutch host family, visits the Netherlands often, and is a member of the board of directors of the Netherland-America Foundation.

Dr. Westort recently retired from a career as an accounting and tax professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. His past experience included teaching positions at University of Maine Augusta, the University of Southern Maine, Clarkson University, and the University of Massachusetts Boston. During the 2011-2012 academic year he served as a Fulbright Scholar at Alexandria University in Egypt. Peter earned his Bachelor’s Degree at St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, MBA from the University of Southern Maine, CPA from the State of Maine, and PhD from the University of Oregon.

Peter became involved with AFS in 1995 when the first of his three children became an AFS exchange student and he and his wife, Mary Ann Offer, joined the local chapter in Duxbury, Massachusetts. All three of their children were year students to AFS Thailand, with the youngest becoming a “double dipper,” doing a gap year with AFS Netherlands. The Offer-Westort family has hosted 13 AFS exchange students over the last 18 years. Peter has been an active member of the local chapter for most of that time, working with Mary Ann to restart the Oshkosh chapter in World Class Area Team when they moved to Wisconsin in 2003.

Peter has been the treasurer for his area team for the last several years. He served on the AFS-USA-Japan Workgroup in 2015-2016. He is also active in the Oshkosh community, serving as treasurer for the local food co-op and as a member of the local United Way Allocations Committee. In retirement, he continues in the role of coordinator of the local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program which he initiated with his University of Wisconsin students in 2004.

Mr. Wiewel, who came from the Netherlands to the United States as an AFS student in 1968, is Lewis & Clark’s 25th president. He took the helm on October 1, 2017, after nine years leading Portland State University.

During his first year at Lewis & Clark, he led fundraising initiatives that produced a record-setting $22 million in gifts and pledges. He also launched an institution-wide strategic planning process and set the stage for developing a campus master plan.

A recipient of a classic liberal arts education as a high school student in his native Amsterdam, Wim learned early on the value of a broad-based education rooted in critical thinking and analysis. The first in his family to go to college, he holds degrees in sociology and urban planning from the University of Amsterdam and a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University.

Both his own life experiences and academic work underscore his deep commitment to the importance of international education. Lewis & Clark embeds global perspectives as one of its core values, and President Wiewel has written, “We need international students as part of the worldwide exchange of people and ideas. Neither institutions of higher education nor society at large can afford to stifle the movement of people and ideas when the greatest challenges facing humanity – from climate change to the global refugee crisis to terrorism and health crises – can only be solved through greater collaboration and innovative applications of knowledge.”

A longtime advocate of teaching and practicing sustainability, Wim works closely with civic, business, and academic leaders to drive collaboration and received the 2012 inaugural Presidential Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools. He is also a proponent of strong civic engagement, which benefits both the college and the community it calls home and is a nationally recognized expert in urban planning and in the way colleges and universities strengthen their home cities.

Wim has authored or edited nine books and more than 65 articles and chapters that have appeared in such publications as Economic Geography and the Journal of the American Planning Association. His most recent books are Global Universities and Urban Development and Suburban Sprawl.

He is married to the architect Alice Wiewel, and together they have four children. Admirers of Portland’s eclectic cultural offerings and of Oregon’s amazing natural beauty, Wim and Alice take time to hike, camp and explore the mountains, coasts and deserts. They also attend lots of performances and games in town, and frequent community receptions and dinners.

Ms. Yancey is a retired educator who taught middle and high school English in Alexandria, VA, and was a teacher, Speech and Debate coach, and Assistant Principal at Parkway South High School in Manchester, MO. She was named Pillar of Parkway for her leadership with intercultural exchange in 2001.

Sarah’s passion for intercultural learning began in 1964 when she participated in an American University two-month program in the USSR and Eastern bloc countries. Her introduction to AFS came in the 1970s in Alexandria, VA, where she met a Turkish-Cypriot student. Her family hosted a Greek-Cypriot student, a French student and her own children studied abroad with AFS in Flemish-Belgium and New Zealand. Sarah was the teacher-leader for two School Linkage exchanges to Tver, Russia in 1995 and 1997. In Missouri Gateway, she served as chair, Sponsored Program coordinator, liaison, school relations coordinator and is currently Volunteer Coordinator. Nationally, she was the U.S. leader of the India Hosting Orientation Workgroup (HOW) in 2010 and a member of the AFS-USA-Japan workgroup in 2015-16. Sarah chaired the Sponsored Program Advisory Group, was a member of the Outreach to Educators workgroup, and a member of the Strategic Planning teams. In 2012-13, Sarah and her husband hosted a Pakistani KL-YES student. Sarah was the 2013 AFS-USA Galatti Nominee.

Yancey is a member of Interfaith Partnership in St. Louis, the oldest interfaith partnership in the USA. In 2000, Yancey received the US Department of State’s Millennium International Volunteer Award.

Sarah received her B.A. from St. Andrews Presbyterian College (NC) and M. Ed. from the University of Virginia.

Sarah lives with her husband, Bob, in St. Louis, Missouri. They have five children.

Ms. Berry went to India in the summer of 2010 with AFS through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y). After returning, Lauren volunteered as a Returnee Mentor with the Returnee Initiative, and in 2012 she worked as the Returnee Mentor Program Intern. In addition to her time in India, Lauren spent a year studying in Shanghai, China at Fudan University (2013-2014).

Lauren received her B.A. in Political Science from Pepperdine University and her Certificate in Conflict Management from the Strauss Institute of Dispute Resolution. Lauren is currently a high school special education teacher in Philadelphia. She recently completed her Master’s in Urban Education at the University of Pennsylvania.