Personal & Mission Statement
As 1st Vice President, my biggest goal will be continuing to re-imagine our internal processes, programming, and fundraising through our strategic planning process. In addition, significant time will be spent planning and executing the 50th anniversary of GAHF, to include micro-events beforehand where possible. Building on my successful participation in the Membership, Nominating, and Scholarship Committees over the past four years, the Strategic Planning Committee since early 2025, and the combined efforts of our Board, I will engage us all to ensure a more solid financial base, increased programming diversity, and an increase in active younger members.
I am a native Southern Californian and ironically only began learning German in high school because the French class was full. After my family hosted three exchange students with the German-American Partnership Program and I spent parts of my sophomore and junior years in Goslar, Germany I knew that German language and culture would be my vocation. Thus, began a lifelong love affair with all things German-American, first as exchange student, then researcher, Honors and German faculty at two universities, and most recently as Senior Director of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX).
Now working in our nation’s capital as Global Education Director for the World Affairs Councils of America, I maintain active ties to the Deutscher Bundestag, the Embassies of Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein, and professional and cultural organizations such as AATG, DAAD, the Goethe Institute, Fulbright Germany, Fulbright Austria, and others.
I am the author and translator of books and scholarly articles on German and Austrian culture, a member of numerous professional and charitable organizations, and the recipient of a German-American Friendship Award from the German Foreign Ministry. I have served on the Board of the Foundation since 2020 as 1st Vice President and chaired the Membership and Scholarship Committees, as well as having a role in reimagining GAHF’s mission and governance as member of the Strategic Planning Committee. I have also organized several events at the Museum for transatlantic fellowship alumni and scholarship advisors as part of GAHF’s outreach to young professionals.