Servas’s peace-building work is more critical today than ever before. We are seeking volunteers to run for the US Servas Board of Directors and help guide our mission forward.

As a board member, you will collaborate with an active, dedicated team responsible for shaping the strategic future of our organization. If you are ready to share your talents and leadership to foster global understanding, we want to hear from you!

For more information, please email Elections@usservas.org

by Ann Myatt James - US Servas Election Committee, elections@usservas.org)

US Servas is a 501c3 organization dedicated to fostering global understanding, promoting peace, and creating meaningful experiences through authentic travel and cultural exchange. As a part of our organization’s mission, our board of directors regularly solicits and recruits members who are committed to ensuring the continuing success of US Servas through their active engagement in governance activities to fully realize our organization’s potential for good. Specifically, our board members serve as active advocates and ambassadors for the organization and are fully engaged in the stewardship of our financial resources and partnerships necessary for US Servas to advance its mission. Please review our Run for the Board website for additional information, key dates, video introductions, and application materials.

Position

Volunteer Board of Director Member (Multiple Areas of Specialization)

Position Description

US Servas seeks 3 volunteer board members with experience in one or more areas of professional expertise and/or lived experience detailed below and who maintain a personal commitment to fully and responsibly enabling US Servas to realize its mission and potential for good. In addition to these basic requirements, our application process also requires interested candidates be

The US Servas board is a volunteer working board. Members serving on our organization’s board of directors are not paid and dedicate their time, experience, and knowledge to responsibly guiding US Servas, its mission, and collective purpose. As a part of their appointment, each board member is expected to oversee both traditional organizational governance functions, such as legal and financial oversight while actively managing its day-to-day operations through their leadership, regular attendance, and participation on at least one of six Branches of Servas to develop and operationalize the organization’s expressed commitments and interests in the areas of governance, finance, technology, member services, community, and peace activities. Our website's application and materials page provide additional details about each of these Six Branches of Servas.

Position Expectations

In addition to the above requirements, we expect each board member to:

We are looking to receive and review applications from candidates representing the breadth of the locations and unique identities of our membership. We are especially interested in those who are comfortable engaging in virtual teamwork, virtual communications, and have emotional intelligence (or soft skills) which are often considered attributes related to self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. We also fully appreciate and value applications from members with lived experience, knowledge, and/or professional expertise in one or more of the following areas of specialization:

Our Commitment to Peace and Cultural Understanding

We know that to achieve our goals, fulfill our mission, and realize our vision, our board members should represent the breadth of our membership with perspectives drawn from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, racial identities, sexual orientations, biological ages, socio-economic classes, (dis)abilities, educational attainment, household composition, living arrangements, areas of expertise, and lived experiences. We especially welcome applications from candidates representing the breadth of our members’ geographic locations (rural, suburban, and urban locales) as well as our members’ gender identities and expressions.

We welcome your questions and application to serve on the Servas US board of directors until 30 September 2026. Please visit our Run for the Board website to access the most up-to-date information about the process, key dates of importance, video introductions, and application materials. Please contact the Servas US Elections Committee elections@usservas.org if you have questions or require assistance in the completion of this application form on the basis of a disability.

Servas’s peace building work is more critical today than ever before. We are seeking volunteers to run for the US Servas Board of Directors and help guide our mission forward.

As a board member, you will collaborate with an active, dedicated team responsible for shaping the strategic future of our organization. If you are ready to share your talents and leadership to foster global understanding, we want to hear from you!

For more information, please email Elections@usservas.org

Learn What’s Up with Servas! 

Attend the annual meeting on Saturday, June 6^th at 10:00 am PT. This is your opportunity to learn more about what is happening this year, and to share your ideas with the Board. You must pre-register to receive a Zoom link to the meeting. Here is a link to REGISTER.  

Pease join your Board of Directors for our 2026 US Servas Annual Meeting., June 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (1:00 PM Eastern).  

This is a great opportunity to learn what each US Servas branch is working on and to share your ideas with the board. Watch for more information and a registration link in Open Doors and via email.

by Deirdre Marlowe

The 2025 US Servas elections held this past October seated four new board members. They come from the West Coast, East Coast and middle of the  country, and most have already been active in Servas.

Lisa Aiken, a multi-lingual Spanish and French speaker, will serve from 2026-2028. She is from Massachusetts and has worked with several committees including Volunteer Coordination as well as assisting at events and tabling for Servas at a foreign language teachers conference.

Giovanni Dubois hails from California and will also serve from 2026-2028. In addition to being a mechanical engineer, he has worked to further partnerships for Latino and other youth. He hopes to increase our outreach to youth and is ready to roll up his sleeves and support Servas.

Steven Starr was an interim Board member for much of 2025 and will continue serving on the Board through 2028. He is a retired Chicago math teacher and former industrial model and toy maker. He would like to see more time spent on outreach to younger people and a re-emphasis on peace building.

Kenneth Ventress lives across the river from NYC in Jersey City. He is a software engineer and looks forward to putting his skills to use as well as redoubling our efforts with younger members. He will serve from 2026-2027.

There will be a Board retreat later this month. It will be a time of conversation and goal setting for the new year. Look for news of the retreat in the next issue of Open Doors.

By Sarah Slover

Thank you to the nearly 100 Servas members who submitted their votes for board directors, and a warm welcome to our new board members. The ballot was closed at midnight, October 26 per our bylaws. The bylaws state that voting, must occur over the last two full weekends in October, In this case Oct. 18 to 26. We apologize for incorrect information on the website which stated that voting would end on Oct. 31st.

The election committee review all ballots to make sure they were cast by host-traveler members in good standing, and that no double votes were made. The results of the board election are now official.  The new board members and their terms are:

Lisa Aiken  •  2026-2028

Giovanni Dubois  •  2026-2028

Steven Starr  •  2026-2028

Kenneth Ventress  •  2026-2027

Although voting is closed, you can learn more about the new directors by visiting the Elections webpage.

By Marguerite Hills

For many Servas members, the administration of our organization is invisible… it just mysteriously happens.  However, behind the scenes we have more than a hundred member volunteers who keep us a viable, thriving operation. They perform a wide range of functions including membership, newsletter, finances, interviewing, youth services, peace and justice, and board members who oversee and guide each function.

Our board members each serve a three-year term, and this year there are three positions to fill. We are in the midst of that process, and you can now watch a short video made by each candidate.

Voting for board candidates will be open October 18-29.

Visit the Board Elections webpage to learn more about the candidates, and to vote (only accessible to Host/Traveler members). Visit the Run for the Board page to learn more about the board and the election process.

By Marguerite Hills 

On behalf of US Servas, we would like to thank you for your support over the years, and to ask you to consider joining our Board of Directors.  We see that you are giving your time to Servas and hope you may be ready to help by joining the Board. 

This is an exciting time; as our membership grows, leaders are needed to grow our volunteer corps, our youth and family programs and our communication effectiveness.  Serving on the Board is a wonderful way to give back to Servas and contribute to our core goal of promoting peace.  

If this sounds interesting, please join our zoom meeting - Board Expectations Session on Saturday September 6, 2025, 10 am Pacific time.  To attend, email us at Elections@usservas.org . 

For more information on the current Board and what it does, you can also visit https://usservas.org/US-Servas-Board, and linked pages.  Details on how to run for the Board and a downloadable application are available at https://usservas.org/Run-for-the-board.  Feel free to apply any time.  

Please contact us with questions at Elections@usservas.org or reply to this message. If there are other ways you would like to volunteer, please visit https://usservas.org/Volunteering and fill out the volunteer form (must be logged in).  

Sincere thanks,  

The US Servas Elections Committee   

Marguerite Hills, Ernie Baragar, Sarah Slover, Angela Coffey,  and Board Liaison Leena Desai 

by Marguerite Hills

US Servas needs talented, committed volunteers to guide the organization through an exciting time. Both challenges and opportunities abound. The Board of Directors needs leadership that will advance our organization’s mission. We need your ideas, enthusiasm, vision, and energy.  Here is a link to a document that thoroughly describes the Role of Board Director.

The US Servas Elections Committee is seeking nominees to fill three positions on the board, each for a three-year term beginning January 2026. Applicants will be considered by the committee for placement on a ballot that will be submitted to the full membership for a vote. Visit our Run for the Board webpage for details and application form.