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AAFSW Board Members
President - Celine Ford
Celine was elected president of AAFSW in September 2022. She created the Spouses in Transition Committee in 2018, and continues to lead the committee.
A seasoned foreign affairs community member, Celine began her career with a Fortune 500 US hydrocarbons company in Algiers, where she joined her former husband at his first overseas post. Subsequently, she served as executive director for a national park system in the Republic of Seychelles. In Colombia, she transitioned to a series of consultancies with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (FCS).
Celine’s long interest in corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues led her to Paris, where she completed the coursework for a master’s degree in Sustainability Management. Celine currently delivers reports, and other research materials for international development practitioners and The Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC), a joint initiative between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and The American Red Cross.
First Vice President - Catherine Pierce
Catherine has served as the AAFSW’s EFM Employment Committee Chair since 2016 and as first vice-president since 2023. In 2018, she received AAFSW’s Lesley Dorman Award for “outstanding service in all aspects of the organization”. She oversees the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs (CCE-EFM) Award with committee members and advocates for EFM employment matters.
Catherine joined U.S. Embassy Montevideo, Uruguay, in the Economic section in November 2023 – a seventh overseas tour. Previously, she served as the first Community Liaison Office (CLO) Coordinator in three years at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, from July 2022, taking care of the well-being and morale of a mission of about 2,600 people from 40 nationalities.
Prior to her tour in Baghdad, she was an Economic Professional Associate at U.S. Embassy Beijing, China for four years. She has also served in Washington, D.C.; Budapest, Islamabad, Mexico City, and Dakar. Before the Foreign Service, Catherine was the Director of Marketing and Communication for Europe, Middle East and Africa for international Information Technology companies based in Paris, France, her native city. Catherine speaks French and Spanish. She holds a post-master’s degree in management of international Projects, a Master in economics and a Master in English from La Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Second Vice President -
Board Secretary -
Treasurer - Pat Kennedy
Ambassador Patrick F. Kennedy became AAFSW’s treasurer in 2020. He served as Under Secretary for Management (M) 2007- 2017. Prior to assuming that position, he was Director of the State Department’s Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation. He had previously served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management for two years. Prior to that position, he was the U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform with the Rank of Ambassador. During that time, he also served as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform, and then the Chief of Staff of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Pat is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, and a Sage at the Partnership for Public Service.
Assistant Treasurer - Carol Sparhawk
Washington is my home now and I’m very fortunate to have completed an assignment here at FSI, in the School of Applied Information Technology. I’ve specialized in MS Sharepoint, web conferencing and Microsoft Office. Before that, I lived overseas as a child in Istanbul, Turkey; as an adult in Moscow and Tel Aviv; and with the Foreign Service in Seoul, Korea and in Washington, D.C. My degrees are in French and theoretical linguistics. I enjoy entertaining, music in many forms, the arts, walking and adventure: hence the years overseas! I’m looking forward to learning about the role of AAFSW Assistant Treasurer and sharing experiences with all of you.
Information Management Resources - Thorne "Edward" Pierce
Edward has been a member of AAFSW since he joined State in 2006, and became the Information Management Resources (IRM) committee chair in 2023. He is directing the migration of communications to the powerful Google Workspace collaborative platform and establishing an Association Management Systems (AMS) to streamline membership, content, and event management.
Edward is a Diplomatic Security Engineering Officer currently serving in Montevideo as the Chief of the Engineering Security Center (ESC) responsible for technical security across South America. Since joining State in 2006, he has served in Dakar, Mexico City, Islamabad, Budapest, Beijing, Baghdad, and as a Career Development Officer (CDO). Formerly in the private sector, he lived 15 years in France developing management strategies for U.S. companies expanding into European markets. A native of Arizona, he holds an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird, a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and a BA in Spanish from the University of Arizona.
EFM Employment - Jenny Kocher, Catherine Pierce
Jenny Kocher, originally from Colombia, has embraced life abroad as an EFM since 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a minor in Hospitality and is a dedicated volunteer. Her service includes roles on NGO boards both in the USA and abroad, such as the Women's International Club in Guangzhou, the DEIA council, and Kuwait Embassy Emploee's association board. As a key member of the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) board since 2019, Jenny presented in-person and virtual initiatives for the Foreign Born Spouses group. She also assited multiple evacuations evacuation to the DC area, currently she is active in the Employment Committee.
Jenny's global journey includes roles in Beijing, Lima, and Guangzhou as a Consular Associate. In Washington, D.C., she earned her real estate license and worked as a property manager before joining Mission Kuwait as the General Services EPAP, overseeing Real Estate and Shipping portfolios. Fluent in English and Spanish, with additional knowledge of Chinese and Hindi from her Foreign Service experiences, Jenny enjoys traveling and immersing herself in new cultures and languages. Her flexibility and passion for supporting the FS community define her approach to both her professional and volunteer work.
Catherine has served as the AAFSW’s EFM Employment Committee Chair since 2016 and as first vice-president since 2023. In 2018, she received AAFSW’s Lesley Dorman Award for “outstanding service in all aspects of the organization”. She oversees the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs (CCE-EFM) Award with committee members and advocates for EFM employment matters.
Catherine joined U.S. Embassy Montevideo, Uruguay, in the Economic section in November 2023 – a seventh overseas tour. Previously, she served as the first Community Liaison Office (CLO) Coordinator in three years at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, from July 2022, taking care of the well-being and morale of a mission of about 2,600 people from 40 nationalities.
Prior to her tour in Baghdad, she was an Economic Professional Associate at U.S. Embassy Beijing, China for four years. She has also served in Washington, D.C.; Budapest, Islamabad, Mexico City, and Dakar. Before the Foreign Service, Catherine was the Director of Marketing and Communication for Europe, Middle East and Africa for international Information Technology companies based in Paris, France, her native city. Catherine speaks French and Spanish. She holds a post-master’s degree in management of international Projects, a Master in economics and a Master in English from La Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Spouses in Transition - Celine Ford
Celine created the Spouses in Transition Committee in 2018, and continues to lead the committee.
A seasoned foreign affairs community member, Celine began her career with a Fortune 500 US hydrocarbons company in Algiers, where she joined her former husband at his first overseas post. Subsequently, she served as executive director for a national park system in the Republic of Seychelles. In Colombia, she transitioned to a series of consultancies with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (FCS).
Celine’s long interest in corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues led her to Paris, where she completed the coursework for a master’s degree in Sustainability Management. Celine currently delivers reports, and other research materials for international development practitioners and The Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC), a joint initiative between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and The American Red Cross.
Art & BookFair - Anne Kauzlarich
During 32 years as an EFM in the Foreign Service, Anne served as a CLO Coordinator, newsletter editor, post Commercial Officer, in numerous International Women’s Clubs, created two NGOs, and received the Avis Bohlen Award.
Anne was an Executive Assistant at DACOR Bacon House dealing with maintenance, a major renovation project, guest rooms, and special events. Later, she was elected to the Board of Governors/Trustees where she served two terms. She served on the Executive Committee and continues on the House and Garden Committee. Anne is a longtime AAFSW member having served as President, Art& BookFair Treasurer, and Art & BookFair Chair. During her presidency, Anne testified before Congress on the future of the Foreign Service, served on the committee that transformed Around the World in a Lifetime (AWAL) into the Foreign Service Youth Foundation (FSYF). She was principal drafter for the AAFSW Secretary of State’s Award (SOSA) for outstanding service abroad) and helped draft the Leslie Dorman Award, given to individuals for sustained outstanding service to the AAFSW. Anne presented Leslie with the first award.
Programs - Sheila Switzer
Sheila Switzer has been the Program Chair of the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) since 1998. She is also AAFSW’s Foreign-Born Spouses State Liaison (Spouses of American Foreign Service Officers, State Department) and Founder and Chair of the AAFSW Family Crisis Fund. Sheila also was chair of the Foreign Born Spouses Group for several years as well as Chair of the Women in Transition.
Ms. Switzer was a diplomatic spouse for 28+ years, during which time she and her family served in posts throughout Europe and Latin America. She is an international leader and diplomatic liaison who has dedicated her life to promoting cross-cultural understanding, appreciation, and respect between people around the world.
Throughout her career, she has been a liaison between various embassies and has organized impactful programs that are of international, political, cultural, and local interest most notably the Ambassador Speaker Series and cultural events at the U.S. Department of State, embassies, Library of Congress, museums, and other special venues. She has also taught Etiquette and Protocol courses at FSI for several years as well as Georgetown University, and other Institutions in Europe and Latin America.
Sheila is also AAFSW's AAFSW Foreign Born Spouses State Liaison and the founder and Chair of the AAFSW Family Crisis Fund.
Foreign Born Spouses Group - Jenny Kocher, Victoria Olsa
Jenny Kocher, originally from Colombia, has embraced life abroad as an EFM since 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a minor in Hospitality and is a dedicated volunteer. Her service includes roles on NGO boards both in the USA and abroad, such as the Women's International Club in Guangzhou, the DEIA council, and Kuwait Embassy Emploee's association board. As a key member of the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) board since 2019, Jenny presented in-person and virtual initiatives for the Foreign Born Spouses group. She also assited multiple evacuations evacuation to the DC area, currently she is active in the Employment Committee.
Jenny's global journey includes roles in Beijing, Lima, and Guangzhou as a Consular Associate. In Washington, D.C., she earned her real estate license and worked as a property manager before joining Mission Kuwait as the General Services EPAP, overseeing Real Estate and Shipping portfolios. Fluent in English and Spanish, with additional knowledge of Chinese and Hindi from her Foreign Service experiences, Jenny enjoys traveling and immersing herself in new cultures and languages. Her flexibility and passion for supporting the FS community define her approach to both her professional and volunteer work.
Victoria became an EFM in 2000 when her spouse joined the Foreign Service. She joined AAFSW as a member in 2020 and became the AAFSW Foreign Born Spouse Group co-chair in 2022.
She currently works in the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion as a Civil Service employee and prior to that was a USG contractor working in EUR-IO EX office at HST building.
Prior to these domestic assignments she was posted with her family in Sao Paulo, Riga, Tashkent, Brasilia, Podgorica, and Nairobi, where she was employed at U.S. Embassies and Consulates, twice as Community Liaison Office coordinator where she learned to advocate for EFMs and promote the importance of FS community connections and engagement with all the Foreign Service members including EFMs, MOHs, and LE Staff.
Victoria holds a Master’s degree in Digital Marketing and a Bachelor’s degree in IT Management. She currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with her spouse, three sons, and three lovely pets, a cat, Musya and two dogs, Flopsy and Scruffy.
Forum - Ann la Porta
Ann has been a member of AAFSW since 1978. She is the co-liaison to the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and closely follows the issues that involve families. Over the years she has worked with the Forum Committee on projects such as mental health benefits for family members, especially those impacted by crisis situations. More recently, she worked on EFM employment issues, and was a part of the committee for the Special Needs Education Allowance (SNEA) reform. She is a regular contributor to AAFSW’s Livelines.
Ann co-founded the Evacuee Support Network in 1984, and remains the lead contact person for departures and evacuations. She is a lawyer by trade, who focused on child welfare issues while posted to DC. She worked with Maori land rights issues in New Zealand, and a Rule of Law project in Mongolia. With her husband and her two children, she has been posted to Indonesia, Sumatra, Malaysia, Turkey, New Zealand, Mongolia, and Italy.
She holds a BA in French from Denison University and a law degree from George Washington University. She also has completed courses at the law faculty in Kuala Lumpur and is admitted to the Bar in Wellington. When in Washington, she has worked for the Counsel of Child Abuse and Neglect, DC Superior Court, AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly, and the Volunteer Law Project. She enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren.
SOSA - Moises Mendoza, Jose Dorce
Moises joined the AAFSW Board in 2022 and is responsible for all aspects of the SOSA. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding volunteer service by those under Chief of Mission authority at U.S. diplomatic and consular installations overseas.
A career Foreign Service Officer, Moises is a past SOSA winner himself, having received the award in 2020 for his work in Matamoros, Mexico. He was also the 2019 winner of the W. Averell Harriman Award for constructive dissent by an entry-level Foreign Service Officer. In addition to Matamoros, Moises has served in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a political officer, in Washington, D.C. as a country desk officer and as watch officer in the State Department’s Operations Center. He is currently a special assistant in the Executive Office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, in New York.
Moises holds master’s degrees from Columbia University and the Hertie School of Governance and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
Jose Dorce is an outreach and public relations expert in Washington, D.C. He specializes in navigating the complex business, government, think tank, media and public sectors. He integrates public relations, diplomacy, and policy planning that creates impactful cross-sectoral results.
To support the Biden-Harris Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, Dorce represented a global network of 25 + civil society organizations working for a more just racial world, at the margins of the 2022 IX Summit of the America in Los Angeles, CA.
In 2015 he received the prestigious U.S. Secretary of State for Outstanding Volunteering Abroad (SOSA) Award. He now serves as a Co-Chair of the SOSA Award Committee and as Corporate Relations VP for Prospanica, Washington, DC, chapter.
Evacuee Support Network - Melanie McFeeters
Melanie has been a member of AAFSW since 2016 when a friend reached out from Embassy Moscow asking for support for families being evacuated.
She is now the co-chair of the Evacuee Support Network, and previously served on AAFSW’s executive board as the second vice president. She has also spent many years volunteering for the art and book fair program.
As a Foreign Service family member since 1991, Melanie has worked in HR at the Department of State in Washington, for Merchants Bank in Bonn, as the Global Employment Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, and served as CLO in Jakarta, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, and Brussels.
She has received several honors, including Meritorious Honor Awards, the Franklin Award, the Extra Mile Award, and the GEA Performance Award.
Having been evacuated with three small children from Indonesia in 1998, Melanie understands the challenges that Foreign Service families face and hopes to provide support as AAFSW has done for her and many others.
Housing - Martine Aya Nakpil
Membership - Sonia Moore
Public Relations - Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen
Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen has been an FS EFM since 2001, and served as AAFSW President 2016- 2020. She is currently the AAFSW Fun for Funds Fundraising Events Chair, as well as the AAFSW Public Relations and Publicity Chair.
During her postings abroad as an EFM, Dr. Owen volunteered her expertise as a trained geophysicist and environmental management consultant and provided unique hands-on experiences and education to many of the U.S. missions’ international students and their families in Argentina, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. While serving as AAFSW President, Joanna advocated tirelessly for family member rights, benefits, and services. Additionally, inspired by her multi-year academic career, in January 2018, Joanna conceived and implemented AAFSW’s “Twice Exceptional” Merit Scholarship, designed to reward academic excellence annually to two students who have overcome adversity due to special needs. Joanna was the recipient of the Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award in 2020 for her numerous efforts to champion the needs of EFMs.