Board of Directors
Ambassador John K. Menzies
Honorary Chair, Board of Directors of U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy | Dean, John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations – South Orange, New Jersey
Ambassador Menzies’s (ret.) career in the U.S. foreign service encompassed assignments in Hungary, East Germany, and Bulgaria. He later served in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York and in Washington in the office of the Coordinator for the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) program. He was ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina (1994–96), and chief of mission at the U.S. Office in Kosovo in 1999. From 1997 to 1999, Ambassador Menzies was a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace where he led the Balkans Working Group. He served as president of Graceland University and is now dean of the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, New Jersey.
David H. Roe, Ph.D.
Chair, Board of Directors of U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy | Former President, Central College - Pella, Iowa
Dr. Roe served as Central College’s president for 12 years until his retirement in 2010. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he won a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in England. Dr. Roe was named a White House Fellow in 1975, during which he served as special assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. His military career includes stops as director of NATO policy at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; special assistant to the director of the joint staff at the Pentagon, and defense planner for the U.S. mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium. After retiring from the Air Force, Dr. Roe served as executive vice president and CFO of USAA, a San Antonio-based financial services corporation. In 1991, he became president of United Services Life Co. of Arlington, VA, and retired as chief executive officer and president of the United Services Life division of ReliaStar.
Ambassador Mark Johnson
Vice Chair, Board of Directors of U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy | Missoula, Montana
Ambassador Johnson (ret.) is the founder and executive director of the World Affairs Council of Montana and a national board member of the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, D.C. He serves as a Mansfield Adjunct Professor at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center of the University of Montana. Ambassador Johnson retired from the U.S. State Department after serving 30 years in a variety of foreign policy positions. He was United States Ambassador to Senegal from 1993–1996. At the time of his retirement, he was deputy inspector general of the State Department. In 1992, President George Bush awarded him the President’s Meritorious Service Award.
Charles R. Montgomery
Treasurer, Board of Directors of U. S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy | Senior Managing Attorney, MidAmerican Energy Company - Urbandale, Iowa
Chuck Montgomery has been a senior attorney for Iowa Power Inc./MidAmerican Energy Company since 1986. For six years prior to that, he served as an assistant Polk County Attorney. Montgomery has served on the Magistrate Nominating Commission, 5th Judicial District. He has chaired both the Governor’s Task Force on Volunteerism and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Des Moines, and has served as a former vice president of V.O.I.C.E.S., a group working on resettlement of Hmong refugees. Currently, he is a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Iowa Council for International Understanding.
The Honorable Daryl Beall
Senator, Iowa State Senate - Fort Dodge, Iowa
Daryl Beall was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2002. He is co-chair of the Senate’s International Relations Committee. He was a newspaper columnist, editor, publisher, and public relations manager in Iowa, Colorado and South Dakota before returning to Fort Dodge, Iowa, his hometown. In Fort Dodge, he was twice elected to the Fort Dodge School Board and served as president of Sister Cities, helping organize linkages with Japan, Canada and Russia.
George T. DeBakey
President, DeBakey International LLC
Mr. George T. DeBakey has over 35 years of international business and educational expertise, with a strong concentration in the Middle East market. He focuses his practice on international business development in the education sector.. Previously, he was Director, Business Development and Corporate Sponsorships for ePals. Mr. DeBakey has extensive experience in the private and public sectors from various international and domestic assignments. He worked with Rockwell International in London, England and Cairo, Egypt. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, High Technology Division, at the International Trade Administration at the Department of Commerce. He was Director, International Operations for ESI, an educational training company. During his assignment in Cairo, Egypt, DeBakey was one of the founders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. He has been active with the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the board of the Arab-American Museum and ANERA.
Geoffrey Gamble
Director of International Government Affairs, DuPont Company – Washington, DC
Geoffrey Gamble’s responsibilities include leading DuPont’s global government affairs network, the development of corporate trade policy and providing legal counsel in the areas of international and comparative law, trade law, and global ethics. He is Chairman of the Business & Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) Trade Working Group, and Chairman of the Trade Advisory Committee of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). He is a member of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Council for International Business, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Foreign Trade Council. He attended the Seattle, Doha, Cancun and Hong Kong World Trade Organization Ministerial Meetings as a U.S. Delegate and Advisor. He is Vice President of Malteser International, a disaster relief organization.
David Hamod
President & CEO, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC)
David Hamod serves NUSACC —an organization fostering trade and investment between the United States and the 22 countries of the Arab world. Hamod was the founder and president of Intercom International Consultants, a Washington-based business consulting firm to U.S. companies, and served on the International Policy Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He was former U.S. Representative of the American Business Council of the Gulf Countries and the Washington-based voice of the American business community in the Arabian Gulf. In 1997, Hamod was honored with a “Patriot of the Expatriates Award” for his commitment to U.S. international business competitiveness. Hamod has worked with the American Chambers of Commerce in Egypt, Lebanon, and Canada; World Federation of Americans Abroad; Small Business Exporters Association; and the Center for International Private Enterprise. He serves on the Middle East Policy Council and American Near East Refugee Aid. Prior to founding Intercom, Hamod worked for the Brookings Institution, IBM, OPIC, and The New York Times. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the University of Iowa.
Karen Hasara
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy Executive Committee – Springfield, Illinois
Karen Hasara has served as an elected official in Illinois for 28 years: in the Illinois House of Representatives, the Illinois Senate, and as mayor of Springfield, Illinois. As mayor, Ms. Hasara led the city’s International Visitors Commission. Under her leadership, Springfield became one of the community partners for the U.S. Ukraine Foundation; for the past five years, she has traveled and conducted training and program evaluation in Ukraine. She was also involved in Sister Cities, promoting relationships with Ireland, Mexico, and Japan. In addition, she has been involved in economic and tourism development and in ethics training in Russia.
Randa Fahmy Hudome
President, Fahmy Hudome International - Washington D.C.
Randa Fahmy Hudome is a recognized expert in both the energy sector and Middle East affairs. Her international career spans service in both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government, as well as in the private sector. She is President of Fahmy Hudome International (FHI), a strategic consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to founding FHI, Hudome served as the Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy in the Administration of President George W. Bush, Foreign Policy Counselor to Senator Spencer Abraham, and congressional liaison for the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), the premier lobbying organization of the Arab American community, devoted to promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. Her credentials include a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Linda Jewell
Secretary, Board of Directors of U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy | Vice President, International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP), Washington, DC
Linda Jewell became Vice President of ISEP in May 2009. She served as Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Ecuador from 2005 to 2008. Prior to that assignment she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and Director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination for the Bureau. From 1999-2002, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, and as Director of the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs of United States Information Agency from 1997-1999. Ambassador Jewell joined the Foreign Service in 1976 after a stint in publishing at Prentice-Hall, Inc. She began her overseas career as Educational Exchanges Officer in Jakarta, Indonesia, and also served in various capacities in Mexico City, New Delhi and Warsaw. Her Washington positions have included assignments to the Mexico/Central America desk and a year at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where she received a Masters Degree in International Public Policy. Ms. Jewell is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and a graduate of Yale University.
Nadia McConnell
President, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation - Washington D.C
Nadia McConnell, one of the founders of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., helped establish the Foundation’s presence in Ukraine even before Ukrainian independence. In earlier years, she was president of NKM Associates and held several positions in U.S. government, including director of Congressional Relations for FEMA and deputy assistant administrator for NASA.
Sherry Mueller, Ph.D.
President, The National Council for International Visitors - Washington D.C
Dr. Mueller joined the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) based in Washington, D.C., as executive director in 1996, and has served as president of the Council since 2001. Before coming to NCIV, Dr. Mueller worked 18 years for the Institute of International Education. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the School of International Service, American University, where she taught courses on U.S. Public Diplomacy.
Mark M. Poole
Managing Director & Marketing Leader, Marsh U.S. Consumer – Urbandale, Iowa
Mark Poole parlays a 20-years career in sales, marketing and research to direct the tactical and strategic operations of Marsh U.S. Consumer. Managing Director and Marketing Leader of Marsh since 2007, Mark leads a group of over 100-award winning professionals headquartered in Des Moines, IA. Mark brings a distinguished portfolio of sales, research, and marketing experience to his position, including establishing, owning and operating Discovery Research, a marketing consulting concern based in Lincoln, NE. This came following a seven-year stint as Sr. Vice President for The Gallup Organization, during which Mark successfully opened offices for in London, Paris, Budapest, Madrid, Wiesbaden, and Amsterdam, and led the Customer Satisfaction Measurement Group. Previously, Mark held various management positions with Experian financial services company; ITI Banking Services; and Beecham Laboratories. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-EuClaire.
Michelle Seward
CEO, Saxe-Coburg Insurance Solutions
Michelle Seward is a financier and entrepreneur who has spent her adult life in the financial services business. Seward’s expertise in financial product design, elegant transaction structure and the ability to bring simplicity to complex dealings are her hallmarks. Michelle built a multi-state retirement planning practice with over one hundred financial professionals before she was 30 years-old and is currently the CEO of Saxe-Coburg Insurance Solutions, a boutique insurance agency dedicated to high net worth individuals and their unique needs. Seward’s unique ability to bring together like-minded parties into exceptional ventures creates value for all involved. She is the past President of Youth for Human Rights, and is passionate about her responsibility to her fellow man and global community service. Seward regularly speaks in public and recently spoke at the U.N. In 2005, was voted one of Los Angeles County’s top businesswomen.
Downing A. Thomas
Associate Provost and Dean of International Programs, University of Iowa - Iowa City, Iowa
Downing Thomas is currently Associate Provost and Dean of International Programs and Director of the UI Center for Human Rights at The University of Iowa. As Associate Provost and Dean he has overall responsibility for study abroad, international students and scholars, academic centers and programs that have an international area studies or thematic focus, linkages with institutions abroad, and a number of undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs. He is Professor in the Department of French & Italian, and his teaching and research interests focus on eighteenth-century French literature and culture. Thomas served as 2007 President of the Association of Departments of Foreign Language.
Ted Townsend
President, Townsend Vision, Inc. - Des Moines , Iowa
Ted Townsend is owner and president of a private company created to secure and enhance the future of such humanistic endeavors as Great Ape Trust of Iowa, Earthpark, and the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy —each focusing on a global need, grounded in science, and dedicated to truth, learning, and love. Before founding Townsend Vision, Townsend served as company president of Townsend Engineering Company, his family business, from 1978 to 2001.
Connie Wimer
Publisher, Business Publications Corporation - Des Moines, Iowa
Connie Wimer was the owner and president of Iowa Title Company from 1976 until 1985 when she sold it to Amerus, but continued as president until 2001. It was the smallest of four title companies when she purchased it and it became the largest in the county within two years of the purchase. In 1981 she purchased a small legal newspaper with a circulation of 700. Her Business Publications Corporation now has 12 or more publications, including the Des Moines Business Record, a weekly business newspaper, the only visitor’s guide in the city, as well as the only city magazine.