The Light - An Alumni Publication Summer 2015 | Page 17

Brown speaking in her new role as ​Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public
FACES OF YFU
Diplomacy 

Brown in Kenya at a Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) breakfast

KATHERINE BROWN:
Brown in Kenya at a Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) breakfast 

FROM GYMNASIUM TO THE
STATE DEPARTMENT

PROGRAM: Denmark, 1994
OCCUPATION: Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission

profile pic 
on Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State

[we have two pictures of Katherine’s exchange in the shared drive ­ they are pretty low quality 
HOME: Washington, DC
PDF’s, so not sure if we can use them. Melissa, please have a look and let me know]  

“I’ve based my entire career on my Youth For Understanding experience 20 years ago as a high
school exchange student in Esbjerg, Denmark. My classmates were incredibly worldly; they were
active in debating the future of their country and that of Europe just five years after the collapse of
Communism. I remember sitting in gymnasium and learning about the war in Yugoslavia and the
conflict in Northern Ireland. Both events had been elusive to me as a teenager in Los Altos, California.
When questions came up about U.S. foreign policy, heads turned to me. I didn’t know what to say.”
Learn more about Brown’s journey from exchange student to the State Department here. >>

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