Marketa Kolarova, an invaluable advisor to Political Affairs Officers and Ambassadors in Prague, Czech Republic, for 28 years, revitalized US-Czech cultural relations after the Velvet Revolution. With her profound insight and managerial savvy, she midwifed the Fulbright Commission; right-sized American Spaces; and led nationwide teacher tech-training, literature engagement and English language programming, all resulting in a closer US-Czech relationship for decades to come.
In her 43 years of service to the U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa, Carmen Urcuyo has trained some fourteen, mostly entry level, Cultural Affairs Officers, many of whom have even requested her mentorship after moving on to new posts. Her legendary networks and extensive program files ensured the right local partners to make every program a success. Carmen’s ability and willingness to adapt in the face of countless challenges have made her one of the Mission’s most valued and effective employees.
Gladys Tutisani, of the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, received recognition for her unusually effective programming; her persuasive exchange nominations; her ability to strategically innovate and expand cultural programming; and her willingness to jump into staffing gaps and mentor new officers. In response to her outstanding nomination, we have resolved to start offering a cash award to Honorable Mentions for the Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Award.
In recognition of her work as Senior Cultural Affairs Specialist in Jordan.
In recognition of her work as Cultural Affairs Specialist in Brazil.
In recognition of his work as Cultural Affairs Specialist in Hanoi.
In recognition of his work as Director (Senior Advisor) for Policy, Academic Programs, ECA.
Tilly De Groot, of the U.S. Embassy The Hague, received this award in recognition of a long career of achievements, including: the creation of American Studies degree programs at five top universities; the establishment, staffing and programming of the John Adams Institute; and work with Dutch Muslim and immigrant communities. Two of de Groot’s programs have been showcased by the U.S. State Department as “global best practices.”
In recognition of her contributions over 38 years as Cultural Specialist at the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile. The programs she runs include traditional exchange programs, and long-term initiatives in justice, democracy, economics and social issues, many of which she created and sustained over decades. Focusing on legal reform, these programs helped move Chile’s inquisitorial justice system to one patterned largely on the US system. Her program alumni are everywhere in government, NGOs and civil society, innovating and reforming, inspired and encouraged by their ongoing contacts with her and the Embassy. The Chilean Congress recognized the impact of her work in a tribute read on the floor of the Senate.
Our April Portrait features Monica Alcalde, who won our Gill Jacot‐Guillarmod Award for Locally Engaged Staff in 2015. Monica, who has recently retired after forty years of service, writes: “My new life in the south of Chile is to work with my husband in an ecological adventure. We now live next to the Alerce Andino National Park in the Lake Region. I have changed my nice office clothing for jeans, boots and a warm jacket and look forward to new challenges and serving the community in this beautiful area of my country!”
One of three Roth Foundation awards honoring excellence in cultural diplomacy, our “Gill” Award was created in 2013 to recognize the invaluable contributions of locally engaged staff to US cultural diplomacy abroad. It is named in honor of Gill Jacot‐Guillarmod, who served for thirty-five years at the U.S. Mission in South Africa in a career that spanned—and contributed to—an era of change, from the dark days of apartheid through the peaceful emergence of democracy. Gill’s many admirers, who gathered together to fund this award, remember her as a consummate cross‐cultural communicator and bridge builder, who served so many as a mentor, counselor and committed senior colleague. Spearheaded by US foreign service officers in gratitude for the work of exemplary local colleagues, the “Gill” Award consistently garners so many nominations that last year we formalized offering an Honorary Mention. Read more about Gill and this award here.
Monica Alcalde’s contributions as a cultural specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, began in 1976, when she was hired to be a translator during the visit of then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Chile. Monica soon turned to working on programs in the domains of education, culture and policy. She recruited Chilean high school students to participate in three-week Youth Ambassador exchanges to the United States; thanks to her mentoring, many of these young people later attended colleges and universities in the U.S. Another of her initiatives focused on secondary schools, with a project teaching intellectual property rights via video game design, and the implementation of the US-based civic education program “Project Citizen.” With a keen eye for up-and-coming young leaders, Monica nominated numerous people who have become important political figures—including Chilean congressmen and -women, ministers and members of the Supreme Court—to participate in the U.S. International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges.
Perhaps the most profoundly influential domain of Monica’s work began in the early 1990s, as Chile transitioned to democracy after seventeen years under the Pinochet military dictatorship. As the country began to reform its judicial system, Monica worked tirelessly to provide helpful models and contacts from the U.S., approaching legal reform from all angles: as a human rights issue, as essential for strong democratic structures and civic engagement, as a means to address international organized crime and as a tool for both security and investment. In the 1990s, she sent over fifty Chilean judges and others to the U.S. on IVLP and other cultural exchange programs; from 1997 to 2002 alone, she hosted over twenty US speakers on justice.
In her last years at the Embassy, Monica focused her energies on women’s issues, working on: developing a Women Leading in Security and Justice Week in Santiago; creating the Women Entrepreneurs (WE) from the Americas Organization; and creating a series of fifteen nation-wide seminars entitled “Enterprising Women, Flourishing Societies,” with the Chilean Small Business Development Network.
Over two hundred alumni, friends and colleagues—including the Minister of the Interior, former Chilean Ambassadors to the U.S., legislators, judges, think tank directors and NGO leaders—were present at Monica’s retirement ceremony on December 15, 2016. Others sent warm greetings, including many US foreign service personnel who served in Chile. U.S. Ambassador Carol Perez closed her remarks at the ceremony by saying that Monica is someone that “one dreams of working with in an Embassy. In fact,” she continued, “Monica received the Lois Roth Foundation’s Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Award [at] the Department of State in Washington, DC. This is the highest award given to a locally employed staff member working in cultural diplomacy in any embassy or consulate in the entire world. She is simply the best.”
We agree! In closing, Monica writes: “I encourage all your readers to give generously to the Lois Roth Foundation and help support its work on behalf of international cultural dialogue on a human scale.”
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This profile, compiled by Board Secretary Anne Barbaro, draws heavily from the remarks of Ambassador Carol Perez at the Embassy’s retirement ceremony for Monica Alcalde.
The second Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Award went to Dominique Benbrahim for her work at the US Embassy in Rabat, Morocco since 1983. Over the years, she has initiated and facilitated many programs, including several on women and technology, the national tour of a theater troupe addressing corruption, and the creation of the Moroccan-American Friendship Foundation, a nation-wide association of exchange program alumni, to help them maintain contact with the U.S. and each other after their return.
In recognition of his work in Windhoek, Namibia, where he developed programs to destigmatize HIV/AIDS, reduce discrimination against disabled youth, build gender equality, and roll back pervasive anti-Americanism. Beukes has had a positive, long-term impact on how the U.S. Embassy approaches cultural and educational programming in Namibia.
A Cultural Specialist at the Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Meredova uses cultural and educational programs to inspire people to reach higher levels of dedication to mutual understanding and service. She also heads of a committee liaising between Embassy leadership and local staff – similar to the kind of professional advocacy work that Lois Roth did on behalf of fellow employees.
*The Prix Coindreau Prize, The Jeanne Varnay Pleasants Prize for Language Teaching, and the CASVA-Henry & Judith Millon Award are currently inactive.