The AFS-USA Board of Directors celebrates Jorge’s service and the relationships he has built among the Network partners, especially with AFS International. Together, we honor his dedication to the vision that international student exchanges promote peace and impact the lives of all the people involved. We know that Jorge will bring this same dedication to new challenges he takes on in the future.

I am very pleased to announce that Tara Boyce-Hofmann will be taking over as President and Partner Director. Many of you already know Tara, who has a long history with AFS both in the Network and with AFS-USA. She is currently the Chief Operating and Organizational Development Officer at AFS-USA. Before joining AFS-USA in 2011 as a staff member, Tara served as the Partner Director of AFS Hong Kong for almost nine years. Prior to that, she worked at AFS International where she held various program and volunteer development roles and worked closely with many partners in Asia and Europe as their Organizational Development Consultant.

Tara began her career at AFS-USA working in the Development Office and then advanced into the area of program management. Since her return to AFS-USA, Tara has been an integral leader of the organization’s strategic development; she established the organizational development effort now underway (internally known as Chappaqua), which focuses on developing new tools and resources for business analysis and technology including MyAFS, and she oversees our program management, hosting operations and support units, as well as new program development. The Board and I look forward to working with Tara as AFS-USA embarks on a new strategic planning process in sync with the Network Strategy.

The Board is very pleased and appreciative of the fact that we can all benefit from a smooth transition because of the strong working relationship that exists between Jorge and Tara.

Please join me in thanking Jorge and welcoming Tara.

Warmly,

Joan B. Siegel

Chair, AFS-USA Board of Directors