We are excited to announce our new Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Career Achievement Award! 

Since 2011, the Roth Foundation Awards for Excellence in Cultural Diplomacy have been given in partnership with, and at the Annual Awards Ceremony of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. One such award was established in 2013 to honor the achievements of Gill Jacot-Guillarmod, who worked as a Senior Cultural Assistant in South Africa for thirty years, displaying great political sensitivity and personal courage to program hundreds of Fulbright and other exchange grantees and to guide her country through its dark times of apartheid. The award recognizes locally-engaged staff members who have made significant contributions to educational and cultural diplomacy objectives shared by the U.S. and their host country.

Over the years, the number of deserving individuals nominated for the Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Award increased steadily, attesting to the important need—felt at U.S. Missions around the world—that was being met by the award. This past year, with another slate of outstanding nominees, the Roth Foundation created the new Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Career Achievement Award as a means to recognize outstanding local staff nearing the end of their careers, while at the same time honing the original Gill Award to inspire and encourage nominees at the mid-career level. 

In 2020, the award was presented to four exceptional long-serving locally engaged staff members: Ali Al Ghadban, Felicity Aziz, Ivanka Ponikvar, and Helena Vagnerova. Congratulations to all of our outstanding awardees!