September 3, 2024 • 26 mins
Travel inspires us to imagine and the American Field Service is a special catalyst. President Tara Boyce-Hofmann shares with No Show the spark that AFS-USA unleashes through the unlimited power of young minds to dream. To become global citizens. To question the ethics of borders and practice diplomatic dialog.
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Episode Transcript
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Tara Boyce-Hofmann (00:00):
it's not a one-time experience.
It's about opening your mindand your whole life journey is
about curiosity and wanting tolearn about other people.
Jeff Borman (00:10):
In that line.
In 1992, 93, I was an Americanfield service student, sent from
Cincinnati Ohio to Nice, france, and you talk about creating
the appetite to see the worldand laying that foundation.
It was a seismic moment in mylife for which my life was
forever better.
The AFS experience permanentlyopened my mind.
(00:32):
It didn't just open minds, itdecimated every barrier, to the
detriment of my parents, becauseif they thought I questioned
things beforehand, wait till youcome back from an AFS
experience.
Matt Brown (00:43):
Oh yeah, sometimes parents say this is not the kid
I sent off you returned to besome other child, you know just
smoking Galois cigarettes with aberet.
Jeff Borman (00:56):
That's exactly what my parents were hoping for.
Barely didn't flunk out of highschool French, got a degree in
French literature, you know.
A 20-year career journey inhospitality was entirely so that
I could live and study abroadeven more.
It changed the way I saw everysingle thing, every day, every
moment thereafter.
Matt Brown (01:21):
Hi everybody, it's no Show with Matt Brown and Jeff
Borman.
Tara Boyce-Hoffman has been anadvocate no, the advocate for
youth engaging in global travelto learn more about the world
and more about themselves.
Her life has been about theexchange of ideas at home and
(01:45):
abroad, and so typically I dothis big, long intro on all of
our guests, but I want to heartoday's bio directly from our
special guest.
Tara is president and chiefexecutive officer of AFS USA,
the organization that made suchan impact on Jeff's life, and I
want to welcome her to no Show,and I also want to ask her how
(02:08):
on earth did you get into thiscrazy business?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (02:11):
Thank you for having me today.
This is such a pleasure andthat's the best introduction I
think I've ever had in my career, so thank you.
How did I get started?
I went abroad in college.
I did not have the opportunityto go on AFS in high school but
I had a French teacher in highschool who really inspired me
(02:35):
and studied French and then wentwith Syracuse University abroad
and that experience.
I did live with a host family.
I'm still in touch with my hostsister and I have to say that's
really the seed.
It was different from AFS but Ithink that motivation to really
want to see how we can bringyoung people together all
(02:57):
started with my own personalexperience.
Matt Brown (03:01):
AFS stands for American Field Service.
Can you start things off byexplaining the reasoning behind
the AFS tagline?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (03:09):
we develop active global citizens for
American Field Service, who weremade up of the young men who
did not go to war in World War Iand World War II but wanted to
(03:30):
do something meaningful at thattime and they volunteered to
drive ambulances all acrossEurope, north Africa, south Asia
, and the American Field Servicewas a very strong movement over
the two wars and afterwardsthese young men got together
(03:50):
after World War II and said whatcan our legacy be?
You know, what is it that wecan do to prevent war?
And they concluded that bybringing young people together.
That was really the best thingthey could do.
So in 1947, we started the highschool program.
There had been collegeuniversity exchanges, boarding
(04:13):
school started really in 47, 48.
I just had the amazing pleasureof interviewing one of the last
surviving participants from thethen Czechoslovakia who came to
the United States in 47, 48.
The impact of having AFS in hislife it's as if you were talking
(04:35):
to a young student.
Today was the same awakening.
So the history of volunteerismis really what runs through the
veins of AFS people around theglobe.
And we just finishedcelebrating our 75th anniversary
of high school exchanges and aspart of that 75th anniversary,
(04:56):
the international organizationreally led us to question
post-COVID, really, what are ourgoals?
What are we really trying toachieve?
And we really found a new,invigorated spirit with our new
goal of developing active globalcitizens, and AFS defines an
(05:16):
active global citizen as aperson who's informed,
compassionate and has an ethicalcompass that drives them to
lead lives and make decisionsthat contribute to a more just,
equitable, peaceful andsustainable world.
So we have a tall glass ofwater here ahead of us in our
goal.
Afs would not be what it istoday without the volunteers
(05:38):
that we have In the UnitedStates.
We have over 3,000 volunteerswho give their time and their
dedication to running thisprogram.
Jeff Borman (05:47):
AFS recently announced a major victory.
Can you share that with us?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (05:52):
Sure, sure.
Well, you know, a large part ofwhat we do in our programming
in the United States is we havesponsored programs where we
receive grants from theDepartment of State.
But also AFS USA has its owndesignation from the Department
of State to be a J-1 high schoolexchange program.
(06:14):
Part of that comes with fundingthat comes out of the ECA of
the Department of State andunfortunately, over the past
couple of years there have beentimes where there are efforts to
defund the budget and we justhad to really pull out all the
stops to combat what was fourseparate attempts to either
(06:36):
reduce or eliminate funding ofECA, cultural exchange programs
and an assortment of things likethe Democracy Fund and money
that goes towards USIAID.
So really, as part of theAlliance for International
Exchange I actually sit on theboard of the Alliance we really
(06:56):
led an effort to respond.
And what did that mean?
That meant calling out all ofour stakeholders, having our
volunteers write to congressmenworking with in the alliance,
you know, to get messages to therules committee etc.
Etc.
And we were very pleased thatnone of those amendments passed.
But unfortunately I think it'ssomething we're going to have to
(07:19):
stay on top of for quite awhile never rest on our laurels.
So a lot of the advocacy workwe do is to ensure the greater
society understands the benefitsof international educational
exchange, cultural exchange andthe impact and the benefits that
it brings to local communitiesin terms of cultural awareness,
(07:41):
but also the economic benefitsthat exchange brings to the
United States.
Jeff Borman (07:47):
You mentioned the J-1, and I'm hoping you can help
me break down the complicatedworld of these student and work
visas.
In the hotel world where Ispend all my time, we have
highly seasonal locations,places like you know in Alaska,
where you may only have threemonths out of the year that a
place is really popular sopopular that there's not a local
(08:11):
audience or population toservice the incoming tourists.
And in locations like those, wehear hotels often say we're
leveraging our J1s or the H2 orH-2B I could probably sound like
naming Star Wars characters ifI keep going.
Could you break that down forus?
(08:32):
What are these?
How do they work?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (08:43):
Well, the J-1 visa runs through in the
vein of soft diplomacy.
So J-1 covers quite anassortment of visas, a lot of
what you were describing on workand travel, the au pair program
, high school student exchange,trainee and internship programs,
all with the expectation thatyoung people coming into the
(09:07):
United States are having alearning experience, some in
actual the workforce, but theydo return home and there is a
strong commitment to building incultural components, cultural
understanding of theseparticipants when they come on
program and that they'resupported by organizations that
(09:28):
either have staff or, in thecase of AFS, have volunteers who
support those participantswhile they're on program.
H is a different world, that is, you know, coming to work here.
It's non-immigrant, differentcategories.
I'm not going to dabble in that.
It's not really my world, butwe stay in the vein of the J
(09:50):
visa.
Matt Brown (09:52):
Is there an obstacle that you face now, that the
organization faces now, that youdidn't face 10 years ago?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (10:01):
Well, in the United States, and especially
since COVID, not just 10 yearsago we've seen an augmented
challenge of getting placementsin schools.
Finding host families has alwaysbeen a challenge, you know,
never really been super easy,but we've been able to do it.
But we do find, with moredemands on schools and educators
(10:23):
, less resources, it is a bittougher to get spots in public
high schools.
And so we at AFS USA havereally worked to prioritize our
efforts around engagingeducators, giving back to
schools, not just asking schoolsto host these students, but to
(10:45):
really look to how we canpartner with educators on a lot
of their initiatives aroundbuilding global competency into
the curriculum.
And really I mean just thinkabout what the American
classroom is like today.
It's very multicultural.
How can AFS help educatorsreally benefit in that
(11:06):
multicultural classroom and beat ease in a multicultural
classroom?
So in some states we've seen alot of proactive policy around
global competency being anofficially part of curriculum
and we love that, but notnecessarily everywhere.
So I would say schools hasbecome a bigger challenge than,
(11:29):
let's say, you know up untileven the 80s, where there was
just always, you know, an opendoor and always a capacity to
have another student in schoolgoing abroad with AFS and doing
the what at the time was atwo-day orientation.
Jeff Borman (11:48):
I don't know if that's still the case when you
arrive in your host country.
Of the things that stuck withme and there were many, but real
key was I remember ourfacilitator saying you are now,
for all the people you meetabout, to be the most important
diplomat of your country.
Yeah, that was probably themost frightening and coolest
(12:13):
thing I had ever heard in mylife.
What could possibly thesepeople have decided I should be
the diplomat for the UnitedStates of America?
Matt Brown (12:24):
It's faulty logic for sure.
Then and now I wanted to asktoo, how?
First, yeah, the process thatwould choose Jeff and of course,
jeff is a gift to the world butwhat's the process like of
coordinating these thousands ofpeople involved, right, I mean,
(12:45):
you've got all these kids, youhave all these parents, you have
them not just in country, buton the other side of the country
.
What happens when a studentdecides they want to be part of
this program?
What's their what's day?
One of that look like.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (12:59):
So you know the old days, jeff.
Probably somebody came to yourschool or a volunteer was active
in your school and theypromoted AFS.
We certainly do still try to dothat.
But of course the students thatwe have in the United States
are ambassadors themselves inthe countries where they're at
(13:19):
and we do find the strongestinfluences is word of mouth.
Someone has met an AFS student,somebody has met an AFS host
family and they think, oh, thisis kind of interesting.
So the processes you do applythese days online you would go
through an interview.
We have volunteers both locallyand also at the national level
(13:43):
who would interview you.
They're primarily former AFSparticipants, but we do have
staff who are there to runinformation sessions for the
students, run informationsessions for the parents.
It's not uncommon that astudent applies and mom and dad
don't even know that they'veapplied.
So we want to make sure that weconnect with mom and dad or
(14:04):
their guardian.
Dad don't even know thatthey've applied.
So we want to make sure that weconnect with mom and dad or
their guardian and we go througha journey with them to get to
know them.
We are very committed at AFS USAto ensuring diversity in the
students who we reach.
We want to make sure we arereaching schools across the
country and that access to theseprograms is available to
(14:26):
anybody who wants to go, notjust students who can pay for
the participation.
So we've really committed andincreased our scholarship
fundraising.
So if you were a student thatfelt like this is out of reach,
it's not out of reach.
We ask you to please look atAFS and we will do everything
possible to help finance thatexperience for you.
We're not looking for theperfect student, right, because
(14:49):
you're 17,.
You're 16 and a half.
You don't necessarily know whoyou are yet anyway, but we're
looking for that level ofinterest, that level of
flexibility and looking to anopenness to go to many parts of
the world.
Jeff Borman (15:11):
You mentioned that difference and I call it when my
wife has heard this a few times.
It was my Rush Limbaugh lesson.
This was in again the early 90sand there was, within a
three-month period of my life,sitting in the car with my
mother and saying you know,these problems would all go away
(15:31):
if everyone just thought like Ido.
And about three to five, sixmonths later I remember the
exact place.
I was in Cannes, looking out atthe water by myself, couldn't
speak the language, couldn'ttalk to anybody around me, and
thinking, thank God noteverybody speaks and thinks the
way I do, and that it could nothave been a more 180 degree turn
(15:57):
that changed life forever.
Matt Brown (15:59):
That is maybe the only positive lesson that has
ever been associated with thename Rush Limbaugh, so
congratulations, jeff.
I've heard it in other contexts, but never one that was
beneficial to humanity, and it'sgood to know that it's good to
know that it finally paid off.
Jeff Borman (16:19):
You mentioned earlier, you're on the board for
the Alliance for InternationalExchange and, by the way, happy
exchange day.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (16:26):
Yes, happy exchange day yes.
Jeff Borman (16:29):
One of the bits of verbiage that is used there.
That really stands out to meand I would love to get your
take on the.
Why is that US ambassadors rankexchange programs as the most
useful catalysts, or one of themost useful catalysts, for
long-term political change andmutual understanding?
Well, from an AFS-er to another, that makes sense to the
(16:57):
unfortunately large world whohas not had the chance to have
those experiences.
Why is that?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (17:04):
I think it's just a lived experience that we
see so many alumni go back homeand are motivated by their
international exchangeexperience to do something for
their own countries.
Right, I think that ambassadorssee it every day with the
alumni when they come back.
(17:25):
Ambassadors see it every daywith the alumni when they come
back no-transcript.
(17:47):
So when you start to look atthose metrics you realize you
know you've got leadershipskills.
Leadership skills that havebeen touched by understanding
another culture and being ableand willing to listen and to
consider another culture,another philosophy, another
(18:07):
religion.
Where are people coming from?
Matt Brown (18:11):
Tara, what's on your dream wish list for the
organization?
Where would it?
Where would you like it to bein 10 years?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (18:22):
My dream would be that every state in the
United States has supportivelegislation for high school
exchange, that they supportglobal education and they value
it, they don't prevent studentsfrom going abroad, they're more
(18:42):
open to having high schoolexchange students in their
classrooms, and that we havemore opportunities for teachers.
That's a real dream and I thinkthat's achievable if we continue
to work the way we're workingto get our messaging out and to
engage with the educationalcommunity.
(19:03):
That's so powerful to educationtoday is the multicultural
classroom and what role AFS canplay in that.
I also like to have a big dreamthat maybe AFS will be a Nobel
Peace Prize winner someday,after all that we've been doing
for over 75 years and that, atthe end of the day, peace is
(19:26):
part of it.
Unfortunately, we see what'sgoing on in parts of the world
and so we're reminded our workhas not been done.
So we certainly have to belooking to what happens and
hopefully what will be a shortuh coming end to the war in
ukraine, and also what happensin the middle east the world
(19:46):
travels more than it's evertraveled.
Matt Brown (19:48):
People go more places than at any time in its
history.
Yet sometimes I think,especially if you get into a
doom-scrolling news cycle, itcan feel like America,
particularly, is the mostisolationist it's been for a
while.
It's hard sometimes for me toseparate the reality from the
(20:11):
hype.
Do you ever encounter that indiscussions with parents or kids
of maybe having a fear of theworld, maybe feeling like?
I mean, I know most people whoapply for the program have
already kind of made that jumpand they're kind of open to it.
But does AMFES ever have tokind of counter that feeling of
(20:31):
walls going up around us?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (20:38):
Yes, we do.
It's there, working withparticipants and parents who are
supportive of this kind ofexperience, and that we need to
be doing more to reach peoplewho perhaps this isn't their
number one dream for their childto go on a program and be away
from them for a year.
I would say that we noticed ashift post-COVID, that parents
(21:01):
are much more involved in theday-to-day lives of their
children, that they really wantmore detail.
I think our other biggestchallenge of isolationism is
also the phone and gettingstudents to detach from this
(21:22):
crazy thing so that they canactually immerse themselves and
not just be traveling butconstantly connected to
everybody back home, constantlyconnected to mom and dad.
I think, jeff, when you went,probably you weren't calling
home all that often, right?
And then you had it was veryexpensive, you know, and you had
(21:45):
to immerse yourself, right?
You had no choice.
Now we have to be much moreconscious about making that
effort to immerse, and that'shard.
I think we still have a lot ofwork to do at AFS USA to be
reaching more communities andengaging more people.
And you know, I just want toput a plug in here it may not be
about going abroad, it may beabout hosting an exchange
(22:08):
student, and we find that thatis often a great impetus for
families once they've hosted andthey've had this amazing
experience with a student livingwith them for a year.
We do see a lot of siblingsthat want to go on the program,
or mom and dad are moreinterested in supporting their
child going abroad and havebecome part of the AFS local
(22:32):
community right.
So they're supported byvolunteers.
They're connected to otherfamilies that are hosting and
sending and that really is wherewe see this impact locally
right.
That we're.
It's not just you're in and out, you're part of a community of
AFS.
Matt Brown (22:48):
I would imagine too.
It's a much thinner linebetween even even for the best
intention kid.
It's a much thinner linebetween experience and vacation,
and I wonder how you counterthat.
You know it like this issupposed to be an experience for
(23:09):
you, you and your body, not anexperience for your Instagram
account.
Not that there's a problemnecessarily posting on Instagram
, but that it shouldn't bedriven by.
It shouldn't be driven by that.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (23:22):
That's right .
That's right and we do workvery intentionally on that.
And pre-departure orientation.
Before they go and when they'rein country the AFS country
where they're hosted, thevolunteers do support the
student, not just at a formalorientation but with liaisons
and to be sort of their guidingperson throughout the experience
(23:44):
to their guiding personthroughout the experience.
It's often hard for thatstudent to really grasp what
that means until they're there,right.
And I will say that there isalso a lot of value to having
some crisis while you're on theprogram.
You know that's a littlestartling, maybe not what we
start out with parents beforethey go, but the value of crisis
(24:07):
in learning that havingsomething hard is a learning
experience, right.
So we do find that sometimesthe students who went through
and really didn't have anylittle bit of crisis maybe
doesn't necessarily equate tomeaning that was, that was the
best experience.
It's about getting below thesurface.
Matt Brown (24:28):
It's time for the mystery question.
If you were a teenager today,what country would you want to
go to via AFS?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (24:41):
I think I'd want to go somewhere like
Thailand or Vietnam, somethingthat was someplace that was
never on my radar until I, youknow, was actually working at
AFS in the early days of gettingto work there.
But I think really just asdifferent a culture that I could
(25:03):
come up with would be what Iwould want for myself to live
over again.
I think so much of crossing aborder is so not physically
transferring over that border,but transferring over to have a
relationship with somebodyacross a border in another
country.
I think an experience like AFSis really meant to be the first
(25:28):
part of constantly living withno borders right and just being
respectful of people, and Ioften hear that one of the
greatest learnings is that theyrealize people are really in so
many ways the same, you know,and not quite as different.
And are these borders justartificially you know there, and
(25:51):
how do you mentally go acrossthe border?
It's all a journey.
It's about getting thatawakening right and kind of
building your confidence andthen wanting to go back for more
.
Matt Brown (26:01):
Sarah Boyd-Soffman.
Thank you.
We will pack this up and sendit to the Nobel Committee later
this week.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (26:08):
Please do with an express package please.
We'll put like a hundred buckson there and just kind of see.
Matt Brown (26:13):
let's just see what happens.
Nobody will have to know, Justlike FIFA.
it's not a one-time experience.
It's about opening your mindand your whole life journey is
about curiosity and wanting tolearn about other people.
Jeff Borman (00:10):
In that line.
In 1992, 93, I was an Americanfield service student, sent from
Cincinnati Ohio to Nice, france, and you talk about creating
the appetite to see the worldand laying that foundation.
It was a seismic moment in mylife for which my life was
forever better.
The AFS experience permanentlyopened my mind.
(00:32):
It didn't just open minds, itdecimated every barrier, to the
detriment of my parents, becauseif they thought I questioned
things beforehand, wait till youcome back from an AFS
experience.
Matt Brown (00:43):
Oh yeah, sometimes parents say this is not the kid
I sent off you returned to besome other child, you know just
smoking Galois cigarettes with aberet.
Jeff Borman (00:56):
That's exactly what my parents were hoping for.
Barely didn't flunk out of highschool French, got a degree in
French literature, you know.
A 20-year career journey inhospitality was entirely so that
I could live and study abroadeven more.
It changed the way I saw everysingle thing, every day, every
moment thereafter.
Matt Brown (01:21):
Hi everybody, it's no Show with Matt Brown and Jeff
Borman.
Tara Boyce-Hoffman has been anadvocate no, the advocate for
youth engaging in global travelto learn more about the world
and more about themselves.
Her life has been about theexchange of ideas at home and
(01:45):
abroad, and so typically I dothis big, long intro on all of
our guests, but I want to heartoday's bio directly from our
special guest.
Tara is president and chiefexecutive officer of AFS USA,
the organization that made suchan impact on Jeff's life, and I
want to welcome her to no Show,and I also want to ask her how
(02:08):
on earth did you get into thiscrazy business?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (02:11):
Thank you for having me today.
This is such a pleasure andthat's the best introduction I
think I've ever had in my career, so thank you.
How did I get started?
I went abroad in college.
I did not have the opportunityto go on AFS in high school but
I had a French teacher in highschool who really inspired me
(02:35):
and studied French and then wentwith Syracuse University abroad
and that experience.
I did live with a host family.
I'm still in touch with my hostsister and I have to say that's
really the seed.
It was different from AFS but Ithink that motivation to really
want to see how we can bringyoung people together all
(02:57):
started with my own personalexperience.
Matt Brown (03:01):
AFS stands for American Field Service.
Can you start things off byexplaining the reasoning behind
the AFS tagline?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (03:09):
we develop active global citizens for
American Field Service, who weremade up of the young men who
did not go to war in World War Iand World War II but wanted to
(03:30):
do something meaningful at thattime and they volunteered to
drive ambulances all acrossEurope, north Africa, south Asia
, and the American Field Servicewas a very strong movement over
the two wars and afterwardsthese young men got together
(03:50):
after World War II and said whatcan our legacy be?
You know, what is it that wecan do to prevent war?
And they concluded that bybringing young people together.
That was really the best thingthey could do.
So in 1947, we started the highschool program.
There had been collegeuniversity exchanges, boarding
(04:13):
school started really in 47, 48.
I just had the amazing pleasureof interviewing one of the last
surviving participants from thethen Czechoslovakia who came to
the United States in 47, 48.
The impact of having AFS in hislife it's as if you were talking
(04:35):
to a young student.
Today was the same awakening.
So the history of volunteerismis really what runs through the
veins of AFS people around theglobe.
And we just finishedcelebrating our 75th anniversary
of high school exchanges and aspart of that 75th anniversary,
(04:56):
the international organizationreally led us to question
post-COVID, really, what are ourgoals?
What are we really trying toachieve?
And we really found a new,invigorated spirit with our new
goal of developing active globalcitizens, and AFS defines an
(05:16):
active global citizen as aperson who's informed,
compassionate and has an ethicalcompass that drives them to
lead lives and make decisionsthat contribute to a more just,
equitable, peaceful andsustainable world.
So we have a tall glass ofwater here ahead of us in our
goal.
Afs would not be what it istoday without the volunteers
(05:38):
that we have In the UnitedStates.
We have over 3,000 volunteerswho give their time and their
dedication to running thisprogram.
Jeff Borman (05:47):
AFS recently announced a major victory.
Can you share that with us?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (05:52):
Sure, sure.
Well, you know, a large part ofwhat we do in our programming
in the United States is we havesponsored programs where we
receive grants from theDepartment of State.
But also AFS USA has its owndesignation from the Department
of State to be a J-1 high schoolexchange program.
(06:14):
Part of that comes with fundingthat comes out of the ECA of
the Department of State andunfortunately, over the past
couple of years there have beentimes where there are efforts to
defund the budget and we justhad to really pull out all the
stops to combat what was fourseparate attempts to either
(06:36):
reduce or eliminate funding ofECA, cultural exchange programs
and an assortment of things likethe Democracy Fund and money
that goes towards USIAID.
So really, as part of theAlliance for International
Exchange I actually sit on theboard of the Alliance we really
(06:56):
led an effort to respond.
And what did that mean?
That meant calling out all ofour stakeholders, having our
volunteers write to congressmenworking with in the alliance,
you know, to get messages to therules committee etc.
Etc.
And we were very pleased thatnone of those amendments passed.
But unfortunately I think it'ssomething we're going to have to
(07:19):
stay on top of for quite awhile never rest on our laurels.
So a lot of the advocacy workwe do is to ensure the greater
society understands the benefitsof international educational
exchange, cultural exchange andthe impact and the benefits that
it brings to local communitiesin terms of cultural awareness,
(07:41):
but also the economic benefitsthat exchange brings to the
United States.
Jeff Borman (07:47):
You mentioned the J-1, and I'm hoping you can help
me break down the complicatedworld of these student and work
visas.
In the hotel world where Ispend all my time, we have
highly seasonal locations,places like you know in Alaska,
where you may only have threemonths out of the year that a
place is really popular sopopular that there's not a local
(08:11):
audience or population toservice the incoming tourists.
And in locations like those, wehear hotels often say we're
leveraging our J1s or the H2 orH-2B I could probably sound like
naming Star Wars characters ifI keep going.
Could you break that down forus?
(08:32):
What are these?
How do they work?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (08:43):
Well, the J-1 visa runs through in the
vein of soft diplomacy.
So J-1 covers quite anassortment of visas, a lot of
what you were describing on workand travel, the au pair program
, high school student exchange,trainee and internship programs,
all with the expectation thatyoung people coming into the
(09:07):
United States are having alearning experience, some in
actual the workforce, but theydo return home and there is a
strong commitment to building incultural components, cultural
understanding of theseparticipants when they come on
program and that they'resupported by organizations that
(09:28):
either have staff or, in thecase of AFS, have volunteers who
support those participantswhile they're on program.
H is a different world, that is, you know, coming to work here.
It's non-immigrant, differentcategories.
I'm not going to dabble in that.
It's not really my world, butwe stay in the vein of the J
(09:50):
visa.
Matt Brown (09:52):
Is there an obstacle that you face now, that the
organization faces now, that youdidn't face 10 years ago?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (10:01):
Well, in the United States, and especially
since COVID, not just 10 yearsago we've seen an augmented
challenge of getting placementsin schools.
Finding host families has alwaysbeen a challenge, you know,
never really been super easy,but we've been able to do it.
But we do find, with moredemands on schools and educators
(10:23):
, less resources, it is a bittougher to get spots in public
high schools.
And so we at AFS USA havereally worked to prioritize our
efforts around engagingeducators, giving back to
schools, not just asking schoolsto host these students, but to
(10:45):
really look to how we canpartner with educators on a lot
of their initiatives aroundbuilding global competency into
the curriculum.
And really I mean just thinkabout what the American
classroom is like today.
It's very multicultural.
How can AFS help educatorsreally benefit in that
(11:06):
multicultural classroom and beat ease in a multicultural
classroom?
So in some states we've seen alot of proactive policy around
global competency being anofficially part of curriculum
and we love that, but notnecessarily everywhere.
So I would say schools hasbecome a bigger challenge than,
(11:29):
let's say, you know up untileven the 80s, where there was
just always, you know, an opendoor and always a capacity to
have another student in schoolgoing abroad with AFS and doing
the what at the time was atwo-day orientation.
Jeff Borman (11:48):
I don't know if that's still the case when you
arrive in your host country.
Of the things that stuck withme and there were many, but real
key was I remember ourfacilitator saying you are now,
for all the people you meetabout, to be the most important
diplomat of your country.
Yeah, that was probably themost frightening and coolest
(12:13):
thing I had ever heard in mylife.
What could possibly thesepeople have decided I should be
the diplomat for the UnitedStates of America?
Matt Brown (12:24):
It's faulty logic for sure.
Then and now I wanted to asktoo, how?
First, yeah, the process thatwould choose Jeff and of course,
jeff is a gift to the world butwhat's the process like of
coordinating these thousands ofpeople involved, right, I mean,
(12:45):
you've got all these kids, youhave all these parents, you have
them not just in country, buton the other side of the country
.
What happens when a studentdecides they want to be part of
this program?
What's their what's day?
One of that look like.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (12:59):
So you know the old days, jeff.
Probably somebody came to yourschool or a volunteer was active
in your school and theypromoted AFS.
We certainly do still try to dothat.
But of course the students thatwe have in the United States
are ambassadors themselves inthe countries where they're at
(13:19):
and we do find the strongestinfluences is word of mouth.
Someone has met an AFS student,somebody has met an AFS host
family and they think, oh, thisis kind of interesting.
So the processes you do applythese days online you would go
through an interview.
We have volunteers both locallyand also at the national level
(13:43):
who would interview you.
They're primarily former AFSparticipants, but we do have
staff who are there to runinformation sessions for the
students, run informationsessions for the parents.
It's not uncommon that astudent applies and mom and dad
don't even know that they'veapplied.
So we want to make sure that weconnect with mom and dad or
(14:04):
their guardian.
Dad don't even know thatthey've applied.
So we want to make sure that weconnect with mom and dad or
their guardian and we go througha journey with them to get to
know them.
We are very committed at AFS USAto ensuring diversity in the
students who we reach.
We want to make sure we arereaching schools across the
country and that access to theseprograms is available to
(14:26):
anybody who wants to go, notjust students who can pay for
the participation.
So we've really committed andincreased our scholarship
fundraising.
So if you were a student thatfelt like this is out of reach,
it's not out of reach.
We ask you to please look atAFS and we will do everything
possible to help finance thatexperience for you.
We're not looking for theperfect student, right, because
(14:49):
you're 17,.
You're 16 and a half.
You don't necessarily know whoyou are yet anyway, but we're
looking for that level ofinterest, that level of
flexibility and looking to anopenness to go to many parts of
the world.
Jeff Borman (15:11):
You mentioned that difference and I call it when my
wife has heard this a few times.
It was my Rush Limbaugh lesson.
This was in again the early 90sand there was, within a
three-month period of my life,sitting in the car with my
mother and saying you know,these problems would all go away
(15:31):
if everyone just thought like Ido.
And about three to five, sixmonths later I remember the
exact place.
I was in Cannes, looking out atthe water by myself, couldn't
speak the language, couldn'ttalk to anybody around me, and
thinking, thank God noteverybody speaks and thinks the
way I do, and that it could nothave been a more 180 degree turn
(15:57):
that changed life forever.
Matt Brown (15:59):
That is maybe the only positive lesson that has
ever been associated with thename Rush Limbaugh, so
congratulations, jeff.
I've heard it in other contexts, but never one that was
beneficial to humanity, and it'sgood to know that it's good to
know that it finally paid off.
Jeff Borman (16:19):
You mentioned earlier, you're on the board for
the Alliance for InternationalExchange and, by the way, happy
exchange day.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (16:26):
Yes, happy exchange day yes.
Jeff Borman (16:29):
One of the bits of verbiage that is used there.
That really stands out to meand I would love to get your
take on the.
Why is that US ambassadors rankexchange programs as the most
useful catalysts, or one of themost useful catalysts, for
long-term political change andmutual understanding?
Well, from an AFS-er to another, that makes sense to the
(16:57):
unfortunately large world whohas not had the chance to have
those experiences.
Why is that?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (17:04):
I think it's just a lived experience that we
see so many alumni go back homeand are motivated by their
international exchangeexperience to do something for
their own countries.
Right, I think that ambassadorssee it every day with the
alumni when they come back.
(17:25):
Ambassadors see it every daywith the alumni when they come
back no-transcript.
(17:47):
So when you start to look atthose metrics you realize you
know you've got leadershipskills.
Leadership skills that havebeen touched by understanding
another culture and being ableand willing to listen and to
consider another culture,another philosophy, another
(18:07):
religion.
Where are people coming from?
Matt Brown (18:11):
Tara, what's on your dream wish list for the
organization?
Where would it?
Where would you like it to bein 10 years?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (18:22):
My dream would be that every state in the
United States has supportivelegislation for high school
exchange, that they supportglobal education and they value
it, they don't prevent studentsfrom going abroad, they're more
(18:42):
open to having high schoolexchange students in their
classrooms, and that we havemore opportunities for teachers.
That's a real dream and I thinkthat's achievable if we continue
to work the way we're workingto get our messaging out and to
engage with the educationalcommunity.
(19:03):
That's so powerful to educationtoday is the multicultural
classroom and what role AFS canplay in that.
I also like to have a big dreamthat maybe AFS will be a Nobel
Peace Prize winner someday,after all that we've been doing
for over 75 years and that, atthe end of the day, peace is
(19:26):
part of it.
Unfortunately, we see what'sgoing on in parts of the world
and so we're reminded our workhas not been done.
So we certainly have to belooking to what happens and
hopefully what will be a shortuh coming end to the war in
ukraine, and also what happensin the middle east the world
(19:46):
travels more than it's evertraveled.
Matt Brown (19:48):
People go more places than at any time in its
history.
Yet sometimes I think,especially if you get into a
doom-scrolling news cycle, itcan feel like America,
particularly, is the mostisolationist it's been for a
while.
It's hard sometimes for me toseparate the reality from the
(20:11):
hype.
Do you ever encounter that indiscussions with parents or kids
of maybe having a fear of theworld, maybe feeling like?
I mean, I know most people whoapply for the program have
already kind of made that jumpand they're kind of open to it.
But does AMFES ever have tokind of counter that feeling of
(20:31):
walls going up around us?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (20:38):
Yes, we do.
It's there, working withparticipants and parents who are
supportive of this kind ofexperience, and that we need to
be doing more to reach peoplewho perhaps this isn't their
number one dream for their childto go on a program and be away
from them for a year.
I would say that we noticed ashift post-COVID, that parents
(21:01):
are much more involved in theday-to-day lives of their
children, that they really wantmore detail.
I think our other biggestchallenge of isolationism is
also the phone and gettingstudents to detach from this
(21:22):
crazy thing so that they canactually immerse themselves and
not just be traveling butconstantly connected to
everybody back home, constantlyconnected to mom and dad.
I think, jeff, when you went,probably you weren't calling
home all that often, right?
And then you had it was veryexpensive, you know, and you had
(21:45):
to immerse yourself, right?
You had no choice.
Now we have to be much moreconscious about making that
effort to immerse, and that'shard.
I think we still have a lot ofwork to do at AFS USA to be
reaching more communities andengaging more people.
And you know, I just want toput a plug in here it may not be
about going abroad, it may beabout hosting an exchange
(22:08):
student, and we find that thatis often a great impetus for
families once they've hosted andthey've had this amazing
experience with a student livingwith them for a year.
We do see a lot of siblingsthat want to go on the program,
or mom and dad are moreinterested in supporting their
child going abroad and havebecome part of the AFS local
(22:32):
community right.
So they're supported byvolunteers.
They're connected to otherfamilies that are hosting and
sending and that really is wherewe see this impact locally
right.
That we're.
It's not just you're in and out, you're part of a community of
AFS.
Matt Brown (22:48):
I would imagine too.
It's a much thinner linebetween even even for the best
intention kid.
It's a much thinner linebetween experience and vacation,
and I wonder how you counterthat.
You know it like this issupposed to be an experience for
(23:09):
you, you and your body, not anexperience for your Instagram
account.
Not that there's a problemnecessarily posting on Instagram
, but that it shouldn't bedriven by.
It shouldn't be driven by that.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (23:22):
That's right .
That's right and we do workvery intentionally on that.
And pre-departure orientation.
Before they go and when they'rein country the AFS country
where they're hosted, thevolunteers do support the
student, not just at a formalorientation but with liaisons
and to be sort of their guidingperson throughout the experience
(23:44):
to their guiding personthroughout the experience.
It's often hard for thatstudent to really grasp what
that means until they're there,right.
And I will say that there isalso a lot of value to having
some crisis while you're on theprogram.
You know that's a littlestartling, maybe not what we
start out with parents beforethey go, but the value of crisis
(24:07):
in learning that havingsomething hard is a learning
experience, right.
So we do find that sometimesthe students who went through
and really didn't have anylittle bit of crisis maybe
doesn't necessarily equate tomeaning that was, that was the
best experience.
It's about getting below thesurface.
Matt Brown (24:28):
It's time for the mystery question.
If you were a teenager today,what country would you want to
go to via AFS?
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (24:41):
I think I'd want to go somewhere like
Thailand or Vietnam, somethingthat was someplace that was
never on my radar until I, youknow, was actually working at
AFS in the early days of gettingto work there.
But I think really just asdifferent a culture that I could
(25:03):
come up with would be what Iwould want for myself to live
over again.
I think so much of crossing aborder is so not physically
transferring over that border,but transferring over to have a
relationship with somebodyacross a border in another
country.
I think an experience like AFSis really meant to be the first
(25:28):
part of constantly living withno borders right and just being
respectful of people, and Ioften hear that one of the
greatest learnings is that theyrealize people are really in so
many ways the same, you know,and not quite as different.
And are these borders justartificially you know there, and
(25:51):
how do you mentally go acrossthe border?
It's all a journey.
It's about getting thatawakening right and kind of
building your confidence andthen wanting to go back for more
.
Matt Brown (26:01):
Sarah Boyd-Soffman.
Thank you.
We will pack this up and sendit to the Nobel Committee later
this week.
Tara Boyce-Hofmann (26:08):
Please do with an express package please.
We'll put like a hundred buckson there and just kind of see.
Matt Brown (26:13):
let's just see what happens.
Nobody will have to know, Justlike FIFA.
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