Pacific Cascades Area
AFS Intercultural Programs

AFS is the leading high school foreign exchange program, with opportunities to live and study in over 50 countries worldwide. 

LEADERSHIP IN AFS

I recently ran across a definition of leadership that I really like:

Leaders motivate a community of people to act, and in so doing, enable meaningful change.  

I think AFS is full of remarkable leaders. Every year, we motivate people in our respective communities to host students from abroad in their homes. We challenge and enable young people to step out and do something that is really meaningful. We build lasting partnerships with schools that allow us to achieve our mission and theirs. Our hosted students and returnees enrich our lives and inspire us to lay it on the line like they have: 

to act, and in so doing, enable meaningful change.

Effective leadership enables other people to make the most of their skills and contributions to AFS. None of us has the time for the Lone Ranger style of leadership. We have to work with each other and use each other’s talents. That’s why it is so important for us to expand our volunteer base and focus on building effective area and local teams.

Do I feel like we have made an impact? Heck yes. ALL of us AFSers have made an impact! Every time we send a young person abroad or host a student, we touch hundreds of lives in a very meaningful and lasting way. Can we be more effective leaders? Heck yes! We can always work to delegate more, involve new people, sharpen our own skills and build our local teams. 

So how do we build our teams? First, we have to ask people to help. That is the common denominator in volunteer organizations -- people volunteer because someone asked them to.

Last revision October 22, 2006