Fulbright Association Names Noelle Said

as Director, External Relations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 9, 2009) – The Fulbright Association announced today that Noelle Said has been named director, external relations.  The promotion recognizes her contributions to the Association, which engages current and former Fulbright exchange participants in lifelong experiences that advance international understanding through service to communities, citizen diplomacy, and dialogue on global issues.  As director, external relations, Ms. Said is responsible for designing and implementing communications strategies that inform and involve the Association’s various constituencies and for carrying out government relations programs.

Ms. Said joined the Fulbright Association as program assistant in February 2008 after interning for several months at the International Women’s Forum in Washington, D.C.  She graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a minor in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies.  Ms. Said spent a semester in Cairo, Egypt, studying Arab politics and history and then studied conversational Arabic at the Habib Bourghiba Language Institute in Tunis, Tunisia.  In 2002 and 2003, Ms. Said spent several months in Mexico becoming fluent in Spanish.

“The national office has an excellent team dedicated to supporting and promoting the Fulbright Program through advocating increased worldwide support for Fulbright exchanges, enriching the Fulbright experience, and facilitating lifelong interaction among alumni and current participants,” said Jane L. Anderson, the Fulbright Association’s executive director.

Fulbright alumna Naomi Parekh serves as director, membership development.  On her Fulbright fellowship to Jamaica in 2005, Ms. Parekh did independent research at a group home for HIV positive children and developed guidelines for hurricane disaster relief.  She received her bachelor’s degree from Smith College, where she majored in anthropology and cultural health.  During her senior year, she enrolled in a program on traditional Chinese medicine and culture at the Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital in Kunming, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China.  In addition to her responsibilities for membership services, recruitment and retention, Ms. Parekh has developed the popular member-facilitated roundtable discussions at the annual conference.

Director of Chapter Relations Alec Jeffries previously worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a corporate analyst.  In 2004, Mr. Jeffries was trained by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on international conflict resolution and became an international election monitor during the highly contested presidential elections in Ukraine.  Mr. Jeffries has volunteered in orphanages in Kampala, Uganda, and met with both former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during his time in east Africa. He is a graduate of Colorado State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in business administration.

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