The AFS-USA Support Advisory Group’s overall objective is to make recommendations and provide input for ways to strengthen support to participants, host families and natural families across the organization and move the organization towards meeting the goal of providing a high quality, supported, safe, experiential learning program for all students hosted in the USA or sent from the USA through AFS. This outcome is achieved by orienting, mentoring, guiding and counseling participants, host families, natural families, and volunteers, as well as working in partnership with Partners and staff colleagues.
The Support Advisory Group is designed to be an instrument of change for Support in AFS-USA. All AFS-USA volunteers should feel free to approach the group with suggestions and ideas.
What is the composition of the advisory group?
This group includes both AFS-USA staff and volunteers. Volunteer representation is based on AFS volunteer experience, interest and skills. Members should be drawn from a cross section of the country and can miss no more than three consecutive meetings or five meetings per year at the discretion of the Chair and the Participant Support Manager.
The group is accountable to the Participant Support Manager.
| Name | Role | Team |
| Allison Barton | Volunteer |
California Central Coast
|
| Andrea Cloutier | Volunteer |
Louisville/Denton (TX)
|
| Debbie Estes | Volunteer |
Greater Minneapolis
|
| Rita Fagan | Volunteer | Arkansas |
| Gayle Jordan* | Volunteer |
Western Iowa and Nebraska
|
| Ian Loumos* | Staff | |
| Leigh Roberson* | Volunteer |
Colorado Rockies
|
| Linne Shields | Volunteer | Dallas |
*Advisory Group Co-Chairs
How much time is required?
- Monthly conference calls
- Regular email correspondence
- Additional meetings may be called as necessary
- Progress and outcomes of the advisory group will be regularly communicated to the National Council and other AFS-USA volunteers.
How long are terms of membership?
The term of service on the committee is two years with an option to extend to three. The Chair serves for two years preceded by 6-to-12 months as Vice Chair.
How can I get involved?
To indicate interest in serving as a volunteer on the national level, please complete the National Council Committee and Advisory Group interest form here.
Additional Resources
2021 AFS Summit session: “Support Microlearnings: Review and Application.”
In this session, the Support Advisory Group introduces the Support Microlearnings Library, a recently developed training tool consisting of “bite-sized” microlearning trainings focused on specific support topics not exceeding more than 5-10 minutes in length. They present three Microlearning videos and then model how to apply the learnings in practice by demonstrating a support scenario and evaluating possible next steps.