Board of Trustees

The AFS International Board of Trustees, a diverse group representing over a dozen countries, works in conjunction with our Partners and volunteers worldwide to realize our goal of providing the world’s youth with secure avenues of intercultural exchange.
Dr. Vishaka N. Desai

Dr. Vishaka N. Desai

New York, USA (chair)
Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University, Senior Research Scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs, President Emerita of the Asia Society

Read Vishakha’s bio

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Ulrich Voss

Kronberg, Germany (vice-chair)
Founder and Managing Partner at Kronberg Advisors

Read Ulrich’s bio

Veronica Boix Mansilla

Dr. Veronica Boix Mansilla

Massachussetts, USA
Principal Investigator and Steering Committee member at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Read Veronica’s bio

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Lennart D'hulst

Opwijk, Belgium
Expert HR Project Manager at NMBS, Board Chair at AFS Belgium Flanders, member of the Sentio inc., Board of Directors

Read Lennart’s bio

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Amalie Ferdinand

Copenhagen, Denmark
Consultant, Federation of Public Workers Union

Read Amalie’s bio

Makiko Haraga

Makiko Haraga

Tokyo, Japan
Independent Writing and Editing Professional

Read Makiko’s bio

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Isada Hiranwiwatkul

Bangkok, Thailand
Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Head of BCG Thailand

Read Isada’s bio

Regina_Honu

Regina Honu

Accra, Ghana
CEO of Soronko Solutions

Read Regina’s bio

Ivonne de Leon

Ivonne de Leon

Florida, USA
Founding Partner at TrueCore Group & Transmutis

Read Ivonne’s bio

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Eric Lomeli

Texas, USA
Geographic Information Solutions (GIS) Supervisor at Bexar County (Texas)

Read Eric’s bio

Mariani

Michaela Mariani

Rome, Italy
Head of the legal and corporate affairs at Cherry106 S.p.A

Read Michaela’s bio

Daniel

Daniel Obst

New York, USA (ex officio) 
President and Chief Executive Officer, AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc.

Read Daniel’s bio

Ernesto Rey Moreno

Ernesto Rey Moreno

Bogotá, Colombia
Founder & CEO, Empresas REYMORENO

Read Ernesto’s bio

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Dr. Willibald Plesser

Vienna, Austria
Attorney at Law, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Read Willibald’s bio

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Dr. Roberto Ruffino

Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy
Secretary General of Fondazione Intercultura

Read Roberto’s bio

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Dr. Helmut Schuster

London, UK
executive advisor at bp

Read Helmut’s bio

Life Trustee

Sachiye Kuwamoto

California, USA
Regional Director, Central California, Japanese-American Citizens League (retired)

AFS Partner Director Representatives

The AFS Partner Director Representatives, works in conjunction with our Board of Trustees and AFS Volunteers worldwide to realize our goal of providing the world’s youth with secure avenues of intercultural exchange.
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Luc Estape

Partner Director, Switzerland

Read Luc’s bio

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Junko Kawano

Partner Director, AFS Japan

Read Junko’s bio

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Derya Komitoglu

Partner Director, Turkey

Read Derya’s bio

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Marcel Krause

Partner Director, Germany

Read Marcel’s bio

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Ingeborg Suppin-Fabisch

Partner Director, Austria

Read Ingeborg’s bio

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Ulrik Wehner

Partner Director, Denmark

Read Ulrik’s bio

AFS Educational Advisory Council

Melissa Liles (Chair), New York, USA Chief Global Engagement Officer, AFS Intercultural Programs

Milton J. Bennett, Ph.D. Oregon, USA and Milan, Italy Executive Director, The Intercultural Development Research Institute

Dr. Darla Deardorff, North Carolina, USA Executive Director Association of International Education Administrators and Research Scholar Program in Education, Duke University

Dr. Roberto Ruffino, Colle di val d’Elsa, Italy Secretary General, Fondazione Intercultura

Professor Nagesh Rao, Ahmedabad, India President & Director, MICA Institute of Strategic Marketing and Communication

Michael (Mick) Vande Berg, Ph.D., Maine, USA Principal, MVB Associates

Mitchell R. Hammer (Special Advisor), Ph.D. Maryland, USA President, IDI, LLC and Hammer Consulting, LLC

Bruce La Brack (Special Advisor), Ph.D., California, USA Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and International Studies, School of International Studies, University of the Pacific

Veronica Boix Mansilla, Ed.D., Massachusetts, USA, Principal Investigator at Project Zero, Lecturer in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Staff

AFS Staff supports our volunteers, and enable exchanges to succeed by working together to ensure that the highest quality experiences are afforded to all participants and host families. The staff at AFS International provide worldwide support, quality control and development of the 59 AFS Network Organization in 60 countries. 

Executive Team

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Daniel Obst

President and Chief Executive Officer

Read Daniel’s bio

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Rita Bangáné Jarecsni

Chief Financial and Operational Officer

Read Rita’s bio

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Maria Grazia Brizi

Corporate Secretary, Associate General Counsel & Data Protection Officer

Read Maria’s bio

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Hal Denton

General Counsel & Chief Risk Management Officer

Read Hal’s bio

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Efrem Fisher

Chief Programs Officer

Read Efrem’s bio

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Melissa Liles

Chief Global Engagement Officer

Read Melissa’s bio

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Lucas Welter

Chief Organization Development & Strategy Officer

Read Lucas’ bio

AFS International Team

Ana Carolina Cassiano
Consultant, Educator Relations

Anaïs Chauvet
Consultant, Global Competence Certificate

Andrés Peñaloza Lanza
Intern, Educator Relations

Andreza Martins
Director, Programs

Andrew Menges
Consultant, Data Analytics & Visualization

Brice Sagbohan
Accountant, Budget & Network Finances

Carlos Irias Kattan
Consultant, Digital Marketing & Website Management

Damian Epsztein
Consultant, Digital Products

David Blythe
Manager, Program Policy & Support

Eduardo Assed
Consultant, Partner Engagement & Market Development

Fabricia Manoel
Consultant, Program Development & Innovation

Georgianna Jarrett
HR Coordinator

Guillermo Bril
Consultant, Digital Products

Hazar Yildirim
Director, Strategic Alliances & Program Development

Larry Barnett
Director, Risk & Crisis Management

Linda Stuart 
Head, Global Competence Certificate

Manuela Ramirez 
Consultant, Volunteer Engagement

Marika Strauss
Head, Volunteer Engagement

Martha Rivas 
Coordinator, Accounts Payable & Office Services

Martin Teplanszki 
Consultant, Digital Support

Milena Miladinovic 
Consultant, Communications & External Affairs

Molly Stern 
Coordinator, Global Competence Certificate

Monica Our
Director, Budget & Network Finances

Nicole Lebenson Angulo
Director, Partner Engagement & Communications

Paul Gamner
Assistant to the President

Pedro Junqueira
Head, Digital Products

Sarah Collins 
Head, Training

Sean Reilly
Manager, Sponsored Programs

Shiree Pointer 
Manager, Program Operations & Quality Support

Stefanie Grech
Specialist, Internal Communications

Stijn Van den Bergh 
Consultant, ICT

Veronica Conti
Consultant, Program Marketing

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