WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington, DC-based nonprofit Global Ties U.S. announces the addition of one new member to its Board of Directors as well as a new Chair and Vice Chair. These updates took effect on January 1, 2025.
“I am thrilled to welcome Crystal Bock Thiessen to the Global Ties U.S. Board of Directors and congratulate our new Board Chair Patricia Preston and Vice Chair Romesh Ratnesar on their elections,” said Katherine A. Brown, Ph.D., President and CEO of Global Ties U.S. “The combined expertise and talent of this Board and its commitment to our mission are significant assets to our organization and our nationwide Global Ties Network; I am deeply appreciative of their thought leadership and engagement.”
Crystal Bock Thiessen is the executive director of Global Ties Nebraska, where she has served as a board member since 2014 and as board president from 2017-2020. An English language educator, she taught in Sapporo, Japan for three years, and in Lugansk, Ukraine for one year as an English Language Fellow in conjunction with Georgetown University and the U.S. Department of State. Crystal has worked as a U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist since 2013, training English teachers in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Currently, she is an ESL instructor at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where she has been since 2012. Besides teaching, she has a background in photography and art, which she loves to bring to various creative endeavors, as well as a passion for travel, which has fueled her visiting and photographing 55 countries and 36 U.S. states.
Patricia Preston is the new Board Chair. Patricia is the executive director of the Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA), a Global Ties U.S. Community-Based Member that promotes awareness and understanding of the world and its people, places, and cultures through education and engagement. She brings extensive international and nonprofit sector experience to her role at the VCWA, having worked on policy and gender issues in the United States and abroad. She succeeds Patricia Harrison, Ph.D., divisional vice president of professional exchange programs at World Learning, who stepped down as Chair but remains as an Ex Officio Officer on the Board.
The new Board Vice Chair is Romesh Ratnesar. Romesh is senior vice president of engagement at the Atlantic Council. Prior to this, he managed Bloomberg Opinion’s 10-person Editorial Board, and he was also a Bloomberg TV, radio, and social media commentator. Romesh previously served as deputy editor and international editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and deputy managing editor of TIME Magazine, where he was also a staff writer and foreign correspondent reporting extensively from the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. He also worked from 2015-2017 as chief of staff to Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Richard Stengel.
Remaining as Treasurer and Secretary of the Board, respectively, are Tara Panek-Bringle and Elizabeth Kumbhari.
“This is an exciting time for citizen diplomacy and especially the Global Ties Network,” said Board Chair Patricia Preston. “We’ll celebrate this year the 85th anniversary of the International Visitor Leadership Program—the flagship professional exchange program that unites our nationwide network—followed in 2026 by the 65th anniversary of Global Ties U.S. and the 250th anniversary of country. I look forward to working alongside my esteemed colleagues on the Board and across the Global Ties Network to shape and continue this important work for generations to come.”
Global Ties U.S. extends profound thanks to Jacqueline Miller, President and CEO of the World Affairs Council – Seattle, and Robin Lerner, Senior Director of Academic Engagement at Microsoft, who concluded their terms on the Board of Directors at the end of last year. Their decade of service to Global Ties U.S. and the Network made an indelible impact on our work and operations; we are most grateful to them both. We also thank Patricia Harrison for her tenure as Board Chair and look forward to our continued work with her as she transitions to an ex officio role.
For a full list of the Global Ties U.S. Board of Directors as of January 1, 2025, see HERE.