The Board of Directors of the Vermont Council on World Affairs announces the appointment of Patricia Preston to the position of Executive Director on January 1, 2016. The VCWA's current Executive Director, Dr. Gail Stevenson, will be retiring after more than six years at the helm of the organization. "Global affairs has been my passion my entire life," notes Dr. Stevenson, "and the VCWA has been a leader in bringing the world to Vermont, and Vermont to the world."
Dr. Stevenson will continue her consulting work on climate change in the cryosphere (the earth's ice and cold regions) with the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative in Hinesburg and will continue her work with the board of the Howard Center, where she will become board chair next year.
Patricia currently serves at the Assistant Director of the VCWA. Patricia brings to the Executive Director position a wealth of experience across education, the public sector and non-profits. A Vermont native, Ms. Preston is a graduate of UVM with a degree in Secondary Education and holds a Master's degree in International Education from NYU. She studied abroad in England and has traveled extensively around the world, including work as a teacher and curriculum developer in Tanzania. Ms. Preston worked for both the United Nations on women's issues and the U.S. State Department's Office of Global Food Security. She is also President and Founder of Las Mariposas, a non-profit that provides nutrition and hygiene education to children in rural Guatemala. "I'm pleased to help continue to develop an organization I'm already so proud to be a part of," notes Preston. "Gail has been an invaluable part of this organization and will be sorely missed; yet, I look to the future of the VCWA with excitement at the possibilities yet to come. "
U.S. Senator Warren R. Austin and a group of other distinguished Vermonters founded the Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA) in 1952. For almost 65 years, the VCWA has worked to promote awareness and understanding of world affairs through education and engagement.