Leadership

headshot Obst

Daniel Obst

President and Chief Executive Officer

New York City, NY, USA 

Read Daniel’s bio

Amalie-Ferdinand_NEW

Amalie Ferdinand

Board Chair

Copenhagen, Denmark 
Trade Union Consultant at Union of Education Denmark

Read Amalie’s bio

Executive Team

DSCF8895-2

Rita Bangáné Jarecsni

Chief Financial and Operational Officer

Read Rita’s bio

DSCF8835-2

Maria Grazia Brizi

Corporate Secretary, Associate General Counsel

Read Maria’s bio

DSCF8554-2

Hal Denton

General Counsel & Chief Risk Management Officer

Read Hal’s bio

DSCF9246

Efrem Fisher

Chief Programs Officer

Read Efrem’s bio

271443591_1103613660414674_7856167877516878850_n

Nicole Lebenson Angulo

Deputy Chief Organization Development Officer

Read Nicole’s bio

109152884_578482409708495_940081003940178520_n

Ann´Andreza Martins

Deputy Chief Programs Officer

Read Andreza’s bio

DSCF8593-2

Lucas Welter

Chief Organization Development & Strategy Officer

Read Lucas’ bio

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.
Makiko 1

Makiko Haraga

Tokyo, Japan (Vice Chair)
Independent Writer, Translator, Adjunct Lecturer at Tokyo Institute of Technology

Read Makiko’s bio

1. Yasmin recent pix

Yasmin Ahmad Merican

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Marketing Strategist, Brand Builder & Business Transformation Practitioner

Read Yasmin’s bio

37539302_122042095384899_1530099429393039360_o

Lennart D'hulst

Opwijk, Belgium
Expert HR Project Manager at NMBS

Read Lennart’s bio

td_photo

Tolga Dorken

Paris, France
Founding Partner at ID Turkiye AS

Read Tolga’s bio

Regina_Honu

Regina Honu

Accra, Ghana
CEO of Soronko Solutions

Read Regina’s bio

Eloise Dolan Feb 2021

Eloise Dolan

Melbourne, Australia
Program Manager and Generation Asia Lead at Asia Society Australia

Read Eloise’s bio

Mariani

Michaela Mariani

Rome, Italy
Head of the Legal and Corporate Affairs at Cherry106 S.p.A

Read Michaela’s bio

Victor Oporto

Victor Oporto

Santa Fe, Argentina
President of OPTILENT SRL, and founder and partner at CONSULFE

Read Victor’s bio



FBD_Plesser_1051

Dr. Willibald Plesser

Vienna, Austria
Independent Attorney at Law

Read Willibald’s bio

Ernesto Rey Moreno

Ernesto Rey Moreno

Bogotá, Colombia
Founder & CEO at Empresas REYMORENO

Read Ernesto’s bio

roberto_ruffino_3

Dr. Roberto Ruffino

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

Read Roberto’s bio

helmut copy

Dr. Helmut Schuster

London, UK
Chairman of Ivoclar

Read Helmut’s bio

image0 copy

Gustavo Sénéchal

Brasilia, Brazil
Diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil

Read Gustavo’s bio

Urlich Voss

Ulrich Voss

Kronberg, Germany
Founder and Managing Partner at Kronberg Advisors

Read Ulrich’s bio

Life Trustee

Sachiye Kuwamoto

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

AFS Education Committee

The AFS Education Committee was created by AFS’s International Board of Trustees in 2022 to provide input and guidance to the organization’s educational vision, impact, and research agenda related to active global citizenship, intercultural and global competence.

The Committee is composed by AFS’s International Board of Trustees; AFS Partner Director Representatives; experts outside our organization, experienced in high school education, intercultural and global competence, and social impact and innovation matters in connection to our audiences; and an AFS International team member who coordinates the work of the Committee.

Meet the Committee members for 2022-2023:

Veronica Boix Mansilla is a Principal Investigator and Steering Committee member at Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she leads the Global Project and chairs the Future of Learning Institute. She co-developed the OECD-PISA framework on Global Competence in 2018. With a background in cognitive science, human development and education, she examines how to prepare our youth for a world of increasing complexity and interdependence. Veronica serves as an advisor at a variety of institutions including the Asia Society, Association of American Colleges and Universities, Council of Chief State School Officers, the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, the International Baccalaureate, World Savvy and Global Kids, among others. She teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has taught at the University of Buenos Aires. Veronica holds a doctoral degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education (USA).

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.
Tara headshot

Tara Boyce-Hofmann

Partner Director, USA

Read Tara’s bio

DSC_6084_v2

Rodrigo Casarejos

Partner Director, Chile

Read Rodrigo‘s bio

Andrea-Franzoi-copy

Andrea Franzoi

Partner Director, Italy

Read Andrea’s bio

JJ_1

Dr. Josephine Jim

Partner Director, Hong Kong

Read Josephine’s bio

marcel

Marcel Krause

Partner Director, Germany

Read Marcel’s bio

Untitled presentation

Diana Sey

Partner Director, Ghana

Read Diana’s bio

AFS International Team

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 AFS Network Organizations worldwide.

Ali Mustafa
AFS Consultant, UN Affairs

Ana Carolina Cassiano
Consultant, Head of Education Development

Anaïs Chauvet
Consultant, Educational Support Specialist

Andrea Kutsenkow
Consultant, Archivist

Andrés Lanza
Consultant, Educational Products Coordinator

Andrew Menges
Consultant, Data Analytics & Visualization

Brian Musyoki
Consultant, Coordination & Training Facilitator

Brice Sagbohan
Accountant, Budget & Network Finances

Carlos Irias Kattan
Consultant, Digital Marketing & Website Management

David Blythe
Manager, Program Policy & Support

Dylan Peterson
Specialist, Education Development

Eduardo Assed
Consultant, Network & Market Development

Eunice Neta
Consultant, Program Policy and Support Management

Fabricia Manoel
Consultant, Program Development & Innovation

Gábor Csikós
Consultant, Network Support Management

Georgianna Jarrett
Manager, Human Resources

Heidy Utami
Consultant, Digital Partner Support & Training

Jennifer Edvardsson 
Director, Learning and Development

Larry Barnett
Director, Risk & Crisis Management

Linda Stuart 
Director, Global Education Innovation

Manuela Ramirez 
Consultant, Volunteer Development & Training

Martha Rivas 
Coordinator, Accounts Payable & Office Services

Martin Teplanszki 
Consultant, Digital Support

Milena Miladinovic 
Consultant, Communications & External Affairs

Molly Stern 
Manager, Global Competence Certificate

Monica Our
Director, Budget & Network Finances

Paul Gamner
Assistant to the President

Pedro Junqueira
Head, Digital Products

Saskia Kaya
Program Manager

Sean Reilly
Director, Program Development

Shiree Pointer 
Manager, Program Operations & Quality Support

Stefanie Grech
Manager, Communications and Engagement

Stijn Van den Bergh 
Consultant, ICT

Veronica Conti
Consultant, Marketing & Customer Experience

Yumna Khan
Director, Youth Assembly and Strategic Youth Initiatives

Zeina Haidar
Fellow, EdTech