National Council

From AFSWiki

The National Council is the volunteer policy-making body for program operations and volunteer governance of AFS-USA. As a key leadership body, the National Council is committed to acting from a national perspective to make decisions for the good of the organization. The role of the National Council is twofold. The council is to be the voice of AFS-USA’s volunteer body within the organization, representing volunteer needs, views, and opinions to the AFS executive management and the board. The Council is also responsible for communicating the vision and direction of the organization including the perspectives and decisions of executive management and the board back to the AFS-USA volunteer body. National Council members must be stewards of the volunteer-staff partnership and will seek ways to ensure that the staff and volunteers of the organization work together in an environment of shared responsibility and accountability in the delivery and support of our mission and programs. The policies and procedures of the National Council will be in accord with AFS International and AFS-USA standards, policies and procedures, the United States Department of State regulations and the CSIET (Council on Standards for International Educational Travel) standards.

National Council Bylaws

Current Members

The current members of the National Council are as follows (as of July 2011):

Volunteer members:

• Term ends 2012
  • Esra Kucukciftci
  • Sharon Held
  • José Ruiz-Salas
• Term ends 2013
  • Jane Howard
  • Frank Johnson
  • Al Russell, Chair
• Term ends 2014
  • Deb Dahlberg, Vice Chair
  • Emily Betz-Close
  • Susan Lewis
  • Anne Herendeen, Representative to Board of Directors, (ex-officio, non-voting)
• Anna Biermeier, National Council Secretary non-voting position

Staff members:

• Jorge Castro, President/Partner Director
• Susan Goldberg, Chief Financial Officer
• Kristen Bates, Chief Program Officer, Inbound
• Kerry McCollum, Chief Organizational Development Officer
• Joanne Yokoyama-Martin, Chief Program Officer, Outbound
• Keri Dooley, Chief Government Relations and Sponsored Programs Officer
• Marlene Baker, Chief External Relations and Communications Officer
• Tara Hofmann, Senior Business Strategist

Further Reading

• National Council Policies and Procedures
• National Council Oath of Office
• National Council 2010 Goals
• New National Council Member Orientation
• Private:National Council Meeting Minutes
• National Council Articles in Coming Together Newsletter
  • National Council Communication - November 2010 - Communications Plan
  • National Council Communication - December 2010 - Board/NC/NVA/Committee Relationships (prelim)
  • National Council Communication - January 2011 - Sending Review Project
  • National Council Communication - February 2011 - Goal Setting
  • National Council Communication - March 2011 - Sending Goals
  • National Council Communication - April 2011 - Hosting Goals - That time of year
  • National Council Communication - May 2011 - Board/NC/NVA/Committee Relationships
  • National Council Communication - June 2011 - Compliance
  • National Council Communication - July 2011 - Volunteer Empowered Organization