What is AFS and how did you get involved?

AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

AFS was founded by American Field Service volunteers who had established volunteer field ambulance services in WW1 and WW2 who were committed to doing what they could to prevent future wars.

Towards the end of 1966, I had to make a difficult choice:  AFS had offered me an exchange to Redwood City California.  The Rotary Club of Box Hill offered the opportunity for an exchange in Arizona.  While both appealed, I chose AFS because of the single-family experience, and the connections I had already formed with AFS participants and volunteers. 

My family had not been involved in Rotary.  When I returned from the USA, I joined the AFS Returnees Association which provided great social contacts and opportunities to volunteer to support the program in Australia.  As the 1970’s drew to a close, my family and career commitments dominated my life and I moved away from the AFS organisation for more than 20 years. 

This turned out to be a period in which the international education became an export industry in Australia.  AFS Intercultural Programs Australia had been incorporated as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, and AFS had become multi-lateral in its student exchange programs. 

I was invited to join the AFS Australia Board in early 2002.  I served on this Board in a range of roles for the next 9 years and over that time it became evident that the “traditional” volunteer-based student exchange model was under serious challenge. 

In late 2010, 2 years after I was inducted as a Rotarian, AFS encountered a serious situation which required drastic change in executive leadership and strengthening of its Board.  I accepted the challenge of taking on the role of Board Chair, which for nearly 3-years was effectively unpaid Executive Chairman.

So how did this relate to your Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to youth through intercultural programs?

Essentially, I took the lead during this crisis to stabilise operations and begin the longer term project of re-imagining AFS’s business model in a country in which the key ingredients of volunteer driven student exchange were under extreme pressure from, monetised school places, paid host families, and the sharp decline in volunteering due in particular to the continuing rapid increase of female participation in the labour market.  

A few examples of things I did, which I never imagined I would ever do included:

• Initiating deeper connection with leaders nationally in secondary education, to explore opportunities for student exchange to help schools comply with the new Australian curriculum which placed priority on students developing intercultural understanding;
• Strengthening regulatory relations to ensure AFS achieved best practice in child safety, and student exchange regulations;
• Building a new and more diverse Board with a stronger external perspective and transforming AFS’s Board into one that leads;
• Responding to opportunities by becoming a respected participant in the rapidly growing International Education market, by encouraging adoption of intercultural learning curriculum developed by AFS globally by a variety of educators;
• Actively participating in several National international education policy round-tables that led to the creation of the New Colombo plan, and gave AFS a voice to advocate on the importance of the quality of support for international students to ensure they get the most out of the years of study in Australia;
• Responding to opportunities provided particularly in the Victorian market, to work with governments on bi-lateral education exchanges. 

In this area, my Rotary colleagues Peter McCall and Cheryl Lacey were particularly helpful in opening doors for me in the then Liberal Government resulting in AFS winning a contract to provide pre-departure orientation, and post return debriefing to nearly 1,500 year 9 student participants in the Victorian Young Leaders to China program, over 5 years.  This has led to similar opportunities Nationally, and in Victoria with India and Indonesia.

In 2015 I joined the AFS International Board of Trustees for a 3-year term and was able to bring the case for change to AFS’s International Network.  Overall,  the work I began in 2012 has transformed AFS Australia into a more vibrant and connected intercultural learning organisation that has a clear view of its future role. 

There are many challenges to overcome but I take pride in stepping up when there was a real threat to AFS Australia’s existence and shifting the dial.  So I guess, some of my colleagues at AFS took the initiative, unbeknown to me to put my name forward for an honour.  When I saw the citation, it was clear that Rotary Melbourne had been consulted about my Award and I am most grateful for the support this great Club has given me.

I have to say it has been delightful to be on the receiving end of this honour, and to receive a torrent of congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues the world over.  Yet, it is humbling because I know there is so much more that we need to do to make the world a better place.

CONGRATULATIONS REG.  

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