As I reflect on my one-year anniversary serving as Executive Director of the Fulbright Association, I continue to be amazed by the extraordinary people who make up the Fulbright community.
Over the past year, I have had the privilege of meeting Fulbrighters from across the country and around the world—educators, scientists, artists, diplomats, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, students, and so many others whose Fulbright experiences continue to shape their lives and their work.
One of my favorite memories from this past year was meeting Fulbrighter and architect Jerry Cooper in Atlanta and hearing his remarkable life story, which we later shared on the Fulbright Association blog.
As I stood in his office, surrounded by photographs and renderings of projects from throughout his career, I asked him a simple question: Which project was his favorite?
He looked at me and said, “The next one.”
That answer has stayed with me.
It captures something I have come to recognize throughout the Fulbright community: a continual curiosity, a commitment to excellence, and a belief that there is always more to learn, more to contribute, and another opportunity to make a difference.
When Senator J. William Fulbright helped create the Fulbright Program 80 years ago, he envisioned education and international exchange as pathways to greater understanding and, ultimately, peace. What he may not have fully imagined was that he was also helping to create one of the world’s greatest global talent networks.
Today, Fulbrighters can be found across virtually every industry and profession. They are strengthening communities, advancing knowledge, building institutions, solving problems, and creating connections across borders.
The question for the Fulbright Association is how we harness the extraordinary potential of that network.
Our mission does not begin and end with the Fulbright grant. In many ways, that experience is only the beginning. Our role is to ensure that Fulbrighters remain connected and continue to have opportunities to make an impact long after their grant period ends.
Over the past year, we have taken important steps toward that vision.
In Miami last fall, we brought together one of the largest Fulbright Association conferences in our history, creating opportunities for Fulbrighters to exchange ideas, build relationships, and imagine new collaborations.
In Washington, DC, we expanded our advocacy efforts through Fulbright Advocacy Day, bringing Fulbrighters to Capitol Hill for a record number of meetings with congressional offices and ensuring that alumni voices were heard as we advocated for the future of the Fulbright Program.
And this summer, we launched our first Fulbright Global Day of Service—an extraordinary demonstration of what can happen when the Fulbright community acts together. Across 35 countries, more than 120 service projects engaged over 2,100 volunteers and touched the lives of approximately 33,000 people.
Those numbers are impressive. But what matters even more is what they represent: a global community choosing to turn the values of Fulbright into action.
And we are just getting started.
As we look toward the future of the Fulbright Association, I believe our opportunity is to become an even stronger platform for what Fulbrighters can accomplish together.
That means connecting Fulbrighters to one another across generations, disciplines, chapters, countries, and professions.
It means connecting Fulbrighters to opportunities to lead, serve, mentor, advocate, collaborate, and continue developing throughout their lives and careers.
And it means creating pathways for Fulbrighters to bring their global experiences home—building connections across cultures and perspectives and strengthening the communities where they live and work.
At a time when the world can feel increasingly divided, the ability to listen across differences, understand other perspectives, build relationships, and work toward shared solutions is more important than ever. Fulbrighters are uniquely equipped to help lead that work.
As we celebrate 80 years of the Fulbright Program and look toward the future, our responsibility at the Fulbright Association is not simply to celebrate an extraordinary legacy. It is to ask what we can build from it.
There is much more ahead—new partnerships, stronger connections across our chapters and global community, new opportunities for service and professional engagement, and new ways to demonstrate the impact Fulbrighters can have when we bring this remarkable network together.
I hope you will join us this October in Washington, DC, at our Annual Conference as we celebrate and begin shaping the next chapter of the Fulbright Association ahead of our 50th anniversary in 2027.
After one year as Executive Director, I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished. But I am even more excited about what comes next.
And when I think back to that afternoon in Jerry Cooper’s office, I am reminded of the question we should continue asking ourselves:
What is our favorite chapter of the Fulbright story?
I hope our answer will always be:
The next one.