In what has been a deeply troubling year, we are very proud to have managed to uphold our values and carry out our projects in honor of Lois’s memory. Last year, we honored eleven outstanding cultural diplomats; awarded or supported ten literature and translation projects and eleven exchange projects; held three public events in Washington DC; and inaugurated our first prize for an outstanding work on cultural diplomacy, in collaboration with the Public Diplomacy Council of America (PDCA).
Our inclusive definition of cultural diplomacy was made manifest, perhaps more than ever before. For the first time since 2019, we presented our Citizen’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy; the ceremony, held at the Bulgarian Embassy, honored Elizabeth Kostova for her work with EKF, which has revitalized Bulgaria’s cultural scene. We also hosted a panel discussion on Citizen Diplomacy at Washington’s DACOR-Bacon House. Despite the precarious political environment, we celebrated the work of cultural diplomats serving in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the US State Department. Two Foreign Service Officers were honored for work in Venezuela and Spain, and two impactful administrators for their contributions at ECA. Thanks to the recent expansion of our annual Gill Jacot-Guillarmod and Jodie Lewinsohn Awards, we recognized six international laureates for their work in Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, and across Africa. I thank board members Anne Barbaro and Amy Forest, as well as our 2024 Lois Roth Award laureate Sarah Ziebell, for making these award events such a success!
If you receive these Lois Letters, you’ll have read about three alumnae who benefited from our Project Support grants and are now releasing two books and an album! Last year, our pilot project to enhance the work of an international Fulbrighter in the U.S. helped Moroccan doctoral candidate Inass Essrhir expand her research on Paul Bowles and his work with Moroccan storytellers. The jury is currently deliberating among projects proposed by Ecuadorian Fulbrighters for this year’s award. The pilot is working exceptionally well, and the Board will decide whether to make the award permanent in the spring.
Our Literature and Translation program flourished. The Dyankov Award honored translations of two English-language novels into Bulgarian. The Arabic Literature Tour brought the author and translator of Hot Maroc to college campuses throughout the northeast. The MLA-Roth Award went to English translations of three extremely different works, while the jury for the Persian Translation Prize requested—for the first time ever—that we honor translations of two works. For our newly renamed Bulgarian Arts Exchange, we supported the CapitaLiterature Festival of the ever-creative Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. Finally, the jury will announce the winner of the first Dick Arndt Prize for an Outstanding Work on Cultural Diplomacy in December!
Support Cross-Cultural Dialogue
To continue these programs, we rely on your individual gifts and cumulative holdings, ably managed by RBC’s Columbia Group and Senior Vice President Shawn O’Reilly. As of this mailing, Roth Foundation holdings increased by 8.76% in 2025. Our portfolio remains solid and has performed well, especially given our conservative mix of 55% equities to 45% fixed income and cash. In mid-2024, Shawn presented the Board with an evaluation of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) impact of our investments; by mid-2025, we completed the process of rearranging our funds to maximize sustainability and positive impact. We are proud that our financial choices now fully align with the values we espouse.
These tangible contributions to fostering dialogue among the world’s people and nations are deeply reassuring and heartening in times like our own. I thank our board members—on whose volunteer labor all our successes rest—for making them possible. I would also like to thank our faithful donors… and once again encourage those who have received our support or an award to give back now. Even small contributions make a big difference, showing us and others that people care about person-to-person cross-cultural dialogue. This sign of your confidence and dedication means the world to us.
Wishing you a warm and joyful winter season!
