Cultural Diplomacy
In recollection of Lois Roth’s efforts to promote cross‐cultural understanding and cooperation as a US Foreign Service Officer, the Roth Foundation partners with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) (US State Department), to provide the department’s four awards honoring excellence in the field of cultural and educational diplomacy.
We are thrilled to announce the 2024 winners of the Lois Roth Awards for excellence in cultural and educational diplomacy, given in partnership with the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Congratulations to Sarah Ziebell, Jeff Barrus, Rahaf AlZuraiqi, Diler Hamad, Rasa Baukuviene, Marzia Benini, Ana Paula Ferreira, Valentyna Pashkova, Claire With, and Alyson Moylan. ECA Assistant Secretary Satterfield and the Lois Roth Foundation salute all the winners, nominees and their nominators for participating in this competition.
- The Lois Roth Award recognizes a Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department.
- The Ilchman‐Richardson Award recognizes an ECA administrator who has made significant contributions in the domestic management of US cultural diplomacy.
- The Gill Jacot‐Guillarmod Award and the Jodie Lewinsohn Career Achievement Award recognize locally-employed specialists, working at an embassy or consulate overseas, who have made outstanding contributions to the mutual goals of the U.S. and host country in cultural and/or educational diplomacy.
- In 2018, the Roth Foundation introduced the Emeritus Award, designed to honor lifetime contributions to international cultural and educational relations. In addition to retired diplomats, eligible candidates may have a different background, including in but not restricted to government, universities, US non-profits, international NGOs, etc.
The types of qualities displayed by recipients of Roth Foundation cultural diplomacy awards include:
- Cross‐cultural sensitivity and understanding for all—regardless of age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin or disability—and the courage and intellectual integrity to bring alternate facts and opinions into open conversation
- Ingenuity and imagination in creating projects, programs and products to deepen the contact between foreign intellectuals, artists and professionals and their US counterparts
- Familiarity with global affairs and foreign languages, to deepen substantive discussion between US and foreign intellectuals, scholars and professionals
- Patience, wisdom and generosity in helping new colleagues, both international and US, develop their careers
- Special skill in promoting collaborations between US and foreign institutions and high‐quality exchange opportunities with the civil sector.
Our Awards
Lois Roth Award For Cultural Diplomacy
The Lois Roth Award is presented every year to a Foreign Service Officer who has made significant contributions to the field of US cultural and educational diplomacy. It honors those who exhibit cross-cultural sensitivity in all aspects of their work and show patience, wisdom and generosity in helping new colleagues—international and American—to pursue and develop their skills and careers. Displaying familiarity with different areas of the world, global affairs and foreign languages, winners of this award hold substantive discussion with US and foreign scholars, artists and professionals, while exemplifying Lois Roth’s personal legacy of superior creativity and human warmth in their work with others.
The 2024 Lois Roth Award for excellence in cultural diplomacy goes to Sarah Ziebell, Regional Public Engagement Specialist for the Balkans.
Sarah is recognized for her ability to see interesting and unexpected program opportunities and her practical skills to get things done. Colleagues see Sarah as a smart manager, a thoughtful innovator, and a strategic thinker who is, at the same time, capable, creative and collaborative. She has devised ways to address the unique challenges each Balkan country faces, particularly regarding disinformation, such as with the Digital Literacy Forum program. In addition to managing 60+ American spaces, she launched the first-ever program to engage the Russian war diaspora in Serbia. In 2025, thanks to her leadership, Serbia will inaugurate the first major American Resource Center to open in Europe in a decade.
Honorable Mention for the 2024 Lois Roth Award goes to Jeff Barrus, Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan.
Jeff received this year’s honorable mention for, as Deputy Chief of Mission Emily Fleckner lauds, his success working in one of the most restrictive operating environments in the world. He is recognized for his implementation of an exceptionally creative ECA Sports Diplomacy program to break a decades-long taboo against women playing soccer in Brunei Darussalam. He is also recognized for exceptional advancement of U.S. foreign policy through other cultural and educational initiatives focused on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, including empowering a severely marginalized LGBTQI+ community and creating the first interfaith Iftar in Brunei’s history. The programs Jeff created and led changed lives for the better in Brunei.
Ilchman‐Richardson Award
Instituted in 2007, the Ilchman‐Richardson Award recognizes an ECA employee in Washington who has made significant contributions to the management of US cultural diplomacy, while leading and mentoring others. It is named in appreciation of two former ECA Assistant Secretaries, Alice Ilchman and John Richardson. After her tenure at ECA, Alice Ilchman, formerly Dean of Wellesley College, became the Associate Director of USICA and USIA (1979‐81) and then the President of Sarah Lawrence College, before becoming chair of the board of the Rockefeller Foundation; she directed the Jeanette Watson Fellowships until her death in 2006. John Richardson became Assistant Secretary for State/ECA (1968‐77) after years in corporate law, investment banking and Radio Free Europe; after his tenure, he headed Youth for Understanding and chaired the boards of the US Endowment for Democracy and the US Institute of Peace.
The 2024 Ilchman-Richardson award goes to Alison Moylan, Deputy Director, Office of International Visitors, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. State Department, Washington, DC.
To paraphrase from Alison’s nomination by Amy Storrow: In the twenty-five years that Alison has served the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, she has modeled patience, wisdom and generosity in her interactions with tens of thousands of exchange program visitors and hundreds of ECA employees.
Alison has created an inclusive workplace where employees feel valued – as evidenced by IVLP’s exceptional retention rate of Department staff – and her versatile skill set allows her to liaise at the highest levels within the Department, host prominent visitors in her home, and help staff manage the smallest details of their projects at all hours, making her a consummate public diplomacy leader in both words and deeds.
Thank you, Alison, for exemplifying the legacies of former Assistant Secretaries Alice Ilchman and John Richardson.
Established in 2013, Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Awards recognize Locally Employed Staff members at US embassies and consulates who have made outstanding contributions in educational and cultural diplomacy to missions shared by the U.S. and the host country. These awards are named in honor of Gillian (Gill) Jacot-Guillarmod who served for 35 years at the US Mission in South Africa and Embassy in Pretoria, spanning the apartheid period to the emergence of democracy.
Such staff members share their deep institutional memory, personal relationships in the community and knowledge of local culture, society and politics. They also maintain continuity at US embassies and missions worldwide, as US Foreign Service Officers rotate every few years, and play an important role as mentors to new colleagues and supervisors alike. As Bruce Wharton, then-Acting Under Secretary for Public Affairs, put it in reference to 2015 “Gill” recipient Monica Alcalde:
“The things she taught me—from process, to substance, to style—have guided me as I moved from job to job across Latin America, the U.S. and Africa. Without Monica’s patient teaching and friendship, I don’t think I would ever have made it beyond Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer.”
Gill Jacot-Guillarmod, whom this award honors, served for thirty-five years in South Africa, spanning a period from the dark days of apartheid through to the peaceful emergence of democracy. Although it ran counter to the American democratic mission, in the 1960s and 70s the U.S. was under intense pressure from the South African government to support its state-sponsored racial segregation. Within this tense environment, Gill programmed hundreds of Fulbright and other grantees; later, with great political sensitivity, she worked to assist in South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. Lois Roth considered Gill to be one of the most remarkable locally-employed staff she had ever encountered. This is also true of the dozen of Gill’s colleagues at USIS Pretoria, many of whom worked with the Roth Foundation to get this prize instituted. This award in Gill’s name thus represents the respect and admiration of a great number of people. She is remembered as a consummate cross-cultural communicator and bridge-builder, serving on behalf of all as a mentor, counselor and committed senior colleague. Read an Interview with Gill Jacot-Guillarmod, conducted by Foreign Service Officer Dan Whitman and published in his book Outsmarting Apartheid (SUNY Press, 2014).
The 2024 award went to Rahaf AlZuraiqi, Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Mission to Yemen.
We could not express better Rahaf AlZuraiqi’s accomplishments and service to both the United States and Yemen than what Public Affairs Officer Jennifer Sutton writes: Rahaf AlZuraiqi has spent years overcoming war, displacement, threats, financial and administrative challenges to build a legacy of strong cultural programs in Yemen. That the post receives hundreds of applications to participate in its programs annually despite intimidation and disinformation about the United States, even recently, goes to show how Rahaf’s work has laid a firm foundation for exchanges and English-language programs to continue in ROYG-controlled areas of Yemen. Her empathy and advocacy for participants and alumni in the face of the recent crisis are a testament to her character and make Rahaf an outstanding advocate in this very difficult operating environment.
The 2024 Honorable Mention went to Diler Hamad, Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Consulate General Erbil.
Diler’s breadth of work includes supervising the entire cultural, educational, outreach, and grants unit, advancing issues as diverse and critical as women’s rights, climate change, educational reform, economic development, civil society training, and much more. In 2024, Diler supercharged the English language programs, won a complicated multi-year grant competition to help Kurdish universities counter Chinese influence and served as a trusted, compassionate advisor and advocate on human rights. In these and many other ways Diler clearly, measurably advanced U.S. policy while making a positive difference in the lives of many people in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Jodie Lewinsohn Career Achievement Award honors the most accomplished and longest-serving Locally Employed Staff members, particularly those who are nearing retirement. It is named for a distinguished U.S. Information Agency Foreign Service Officer who was a close friend and mentor to Lois Roth and who also served as the head of the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, when Gill Jacot-Guillarmod was working there. In 2022, Jodie left a legacy in her will to endow this award in perpetuity. This award recognizes those who are nearing the end of their careers for long-standing dedication to their work and their success in what Gill described as “helping the United States while helping your own country.” The 2024 Jodie Lewinsohn Career Achievement Award went jointly to Rasa Baukuviene, Marzia Benini, Ana Paula Ferreira, Valentyna Pashkova, and Claire With.
Rasa Baukuviene joined the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy Vilnius in 1994, just four years after Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union. As U.S.-Lithuania exchange programs rapidly expanded in the late 1990s and 2000s, Rasa worked tirelessly to build an institutional framework to make these programs sustainable, impactful, and appealing to Lithuanian applicants. In the words of one colleague, Rasa is “the mother of all U.S.-Lithuania academic and professional exchanges.”
In her 30-year career at the Embassy, she enabled over 1,500 Lithuanians to visit the U.S. on exchanges, in addition to helping hundreds of Americans visit Lithuania on academic or professional programs. Rasa single-handedly used exchanges to help Lithuania navigate a post-Soviet future, entrance into the EU and NATO, and growth as one of Europe’s youngest democracies.
Over the past 43 years Marzia Benini, Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Embassy Rome, has advanced U.S. foreign policy in Italy, helping strengthen the relationship and reinforce shared democratic values. Her creativity and dedication engaged new audiences and strengthened established contacts in think tanks, labor unions, professional associations, civil society organizations, and academia. With each new policy challenge, she has brought energy, enthusiasm, and intellectual curiosity. Her innovative thinking, leadership, and guidance in identifying new audiences and deepening relationships have created prototypes for future long-term, issue-focused programs.
Ana Paula Ferreira is the Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Embassy Luanda.
Public Diplomacy Officer Benjamin Stevenson, in nominating Ana, remarked on her unwavering dedication and exceptional contributions to fostering cultural exchange and understanding between the United States and Angola. Over her 25-year career in Angola, Ana used her encyclopedic knowledge of Angolan cultural history to forge strong connections with high-level cultural institutions, arrange collaborations between American and Angolan artists and modernize Angolan museums. Her contributions have had a profound and lasting impact on the cultural relations between the United States and Angola.
As a 20-year veteran of Embassy Kyiv’s Public Diplomacy Section, Valentyna Pashkova exemplifies the highest standards of creativity, passion, and commitment to cultural and educational diplomacy. As the American Spaces Program Specialist, she has been instrumental in developing and sustaining the network of 26 American centers, shelves, and spaces across Ukraine that are a model for other Eastern European countries. Valentyna’s long career at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has been marked by unyielding creativity and steadfast commitment, benefiting both U.S. direct hires and local staff. Her embodiment of cross-cultural sensitivity, patience, wisdom, generosity, and humanity make her an exemplary recipient of the Jodie Lewinsohn Career Achievement Award.
Claire With, Resource Coordinator, U.S. Embassy Oslo, was instrumental in the October 2023 opening of the American Presence Post in Tromso, Norway, based on her years of experience understanding the most effective ways to engage the disparate communities of the Arctic. Over Claire’s long career she has continuously demonstrated her commitment to the development of cultural understanding between the two countries.
Counselor for Public Affairs Jillian F. Bonnardeaux, Claire’s nominator, commends her role as the senior-most member of the Public Diplomacy Section as the indispensable institutional memory for the hundreds of grantees and cultural programs over the decades.
Emeritus Award for Cultural Diplomacy
In contrast to the first three awards for excellence in cultural and educational diplomacy, which are restricted to actively employed individuals, the Roth Foundation’s Emeritus Award fills a longstanding need to recognize work in cultural diplomacy on the part of others. This occasional award recognizes lifetime contributions to deepening international educational and cultural dialogue and exchange. The selection panel candidates including, but not restricted to individuals with a background in government, universities, US non-profits, international NGOs, etc. It is guided by the attributes exemplified by Lois Roth: deep humanity, wisdom and generosity of spirit, as well as skill, ingenuity, cross-cultural insight, commitment to excellence and mentoring, and a conceptual grasp of the numerous interlinked components affecting education, culture and interpersonal communication.
Penny Egan received the 2019 Lois Roth Emeritus Award for her lifetime of contributions to the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on international education. During her twelve-year tenure as Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, Penny forged stronger educational links between the US and UK, gaining increased funding for American pre- and post-doctoral scholars to study at the top research universities in the UK. She also took important steps towards making international education more accessible through her creation of the Social Mobility Program, which provides funding for underprivileged UK undergraduates to attend American universities. Penny’s dedication to cultural and educational diplomacy has provided opportunities for hundreds of students to enrich their educational experience, and in doing so has fostered continued cultural exchange between the US and UK.
Nomination Process
Every spring, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will internally circulate details regarding nominations for the four Lois Roth Foundation Awards. State Department supervisors are invited to submit nominations in all four categories, which must include:
- Name, title and email address of the nominee;
- Name, title and email address of the nominating supervisor;
- Work location of the nominee;
- Brief description of the role of the nominee at the overseas post or domestic ECA office;
- Narrative (not to exceed two pages) describing the achievement(s) of the nominee and justifying the nomination.
Nominations for the occasional Emeritus Award for Cultural Diplomacy may be submitted to the Roth Foundation via email at any time. Please include a c.v. for the individual and a narrative (not to exceed three pages) describing the achievement(s) of the nominee and justifying the nomination. The Foundation will assemble a committee to evaluate the nomination and reserves the right to: reject the nomination, should the committee so decide; or select the time and venue for bestowing the award, should the committee approve the nomination.