| Dear AFS-USA Volunteers,
The arrival of the new year is traditionally a time to look at the past year, commit to resolutions, and, for those of us in more northern climes, to further adjust to the harshness of the winter. Whatever might be the case for you, I hope that the last month or so has been a rewarding and relaxing time spent with friends and family while practicing your family’s traditions of the season (or maybe learning some new ones from an AFSer).
One year has passed since I became the President of AFS-USA! In that time, much has happened, from exciting accomplishments and opportunities to persistent organizational challenges. We’ve worked together to move through a time of significant change for AFS-USA even in the face of the most common and, in some cases, very emotional responses to change. I’m grateful for your participation, ideas, and feedback throughout the highs and lows of 2019.
Before we look ahead to what 2020 might have in store for us, I would first like to highlight some of 2019’s activities and decisions, especially those that will have an impact on our work this year.
- We welcomed 2,000 students into the U.S. from 90 countries and sent 800 students abroad on year, semester, and short programs;
- Throughout the nation, our volunteers, staff, and students made thousands of presentations during International Education Week centering on the theme of bringing more understanding into our world, which is so central to the AFS-USA Mission;
- More than 200 staff, volunteers, and educators met in Minneapolis, MN, to develop skills for and learn new ways of increasing global awareness and competency among all high school students, not just those who choose to study abroad;
- We have prioritized our need to strengthen our relationships with schools nationwide;
- We participated in and presented at many conferences such as the ACTFL Conference for teachers of world languages, the Alliance for International Exchanges’ conference for exchange organizations to discuss advocacy and other pressing issues, and the Global Education Conference, an online event bringing together educators and innovators from around the world;
- We significantly advanced our alumni outreach and development activities, with ten alumni-donor events taking place across the country;
- We have strengthened our external communications with a heightened social media presence and articles published nationally such as the November release of an article in the National Association of Secondary School Principals;
- The AFS-USA Strategic Plan 2.0 was endorsed by the Board of Directors in June and will continue to drive our priorities for the next three years.
Throughout 2019, it became increasingly apparent to me that we needed to take a fresh look at how we operate. Guided by the goals of Strategic Plan 2.0, alongside the fact that AFS-USA has made minimal adjustments to the Team Development model since its launch nine years ago (with the added challenge of a steady decline of more than 600 core program participants since that time), it was clear that we needed to re-think our approach. With input from volunteers, staff, and members of the National Council and the Board of Directors, we implemented a “Re-Set” of our approach to structuring the organization so as to better support volunteers and AFS-USA’s program activity. The guiding principle of the Re-Set was to better utilize our “people resources” through increased and re-defined volunteer-staff partnerships, all in support of our organizational objectives related to volume stabilization, building school and educational relationships, and the support of our volunteers, participants, host families, and staff. All of us are still adjusting to the Re-Set and a number of questions remain on the table about how we will manage processes moving forward, but volunteers and staff have told me repeatedly that this change has been long overdue.
All of these accomplishments in 2019 are important, but our organizational challenges run deep. This year will no doubt bring new challenges, but we have a course of direction laid out by our Strategic Plan 2.0.
Some of the key goals for the organization in 2020 include:
- Setting ourselves up for successful performance for the hosting season of 2020 by getting the marketing strategy implemented earlier (done), being more transparent with our sending AFS Partner organizations when it comes to enforcing the guidelines and criteria for accepting students (including the adherence to the cut-off deadline to receiving applications), and enabling the Regional Directors to implement host family and host school recruitment strategies that reflect the realities of their regions;
- Prioritizing recruitment and integration of new volunteers via a robust national recruitment campaign;
- Upgrading the sending marketing resources at both the local and national level, utilizing the research data obtained through our Strategic Plan 2.0 market assessment project;
- The new strategic plan (Strategic Plan 2.0 ) places significant emphasis on the critical need for AFS-USA to engage with school administrators and educators on a different level – a level that establishes AFS-USA as a respected partner for global education resources and opportunities, not just exchange programs. Our goal is for AFS-USA to become a more valuable partner that is recognized as contributing to global education initiatives and not one exclusively focused on getting PAF forms signed or giving sending presentations;
- Increasing our fundraising to enable growth in the number of scholarships AFS-USA provides and increasing the diversity of funding sources;
- Building on the efforts started in 2019 to enhance brand awareness of AFS both to influence the recruitment of our students to go abroad, host families, host schools, and potential donors and sponsors.
When I started as the President of AFS-USA a year ago, I promised that transparency and improved communications would be the hallmark of my relationship with volunteers. I have worked diligently to accomplish that and will continue to do so. I also encouraged volunteers to reach out to me, and I am so appreciative of the many who did take the time to give me their feedback throughout the year and hope you will continue to give me feedback. One of the highlights of the year were my visits with teams across the country and in 2020 I will continue to spend time in AFS communities across the country.
My passion for this organization is stronger than ever and I can already see a wealth of positive and impactful achievements. I thank you for going on this journey with me, and for all that you do for AFS! |