It is with the work of many knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers that FAUSA is able to provide so much for our members. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us to explore available opportunities.
FAUSA’s Board of Directors
2023-2025 Term
President: Brenda Brinkley (1st Term)
Brenda Brinkley is a native Texan but has also lived in Phoenix and Northern Virginia (twice). She followed her husband to Bern, Switzerland in 2015 and joined FAWCO in 2015, quickly becoming active in the American Women’s Club. Starting off as the webmaster and then president, she quickly made many new friends and learned about the philanthropy and camaraderie of FAWCO. Returning from life overseas and joining FAUSA in February of 2019, she served as the newsletter editor from November 2019 to October 2021, and as 1st Vice President for the past two years. She considers the opportunity to serve as FAUSA’s president to be a great honor. Brenda retired from her career as executive administrator in July 2021. Brenda and her husband of 37 years have two children who live in Virginia. Brenda and her husband make their home in the Houston area but also spend time at their retirement getaway in the Allegheny mountains of Virginia.
1st VP Communications: Jennifer Padfield:(1st Term)
Jennifer has been a member of FAUSA since 2019 when she repatriated from Germany where she was a member of AWC Berlin. She has served as Parliamentarian for the last two years and has also enjoyed attending CSW at the United Nations and the FAWCO U40 groups. Jennifer was also a member of AWC Berlin for four years and served on the Board as Treasurer from 2016-2017 as well as serving as the under 40 club coordinator for two years before moving back to the USA.
Originally from New Jersey she has also lived in Rhode Island, Virginia and now Florida. In addition to FAWCO She has done Volunteer/ Humanitarian work with Refugee Assistance Alliance, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Democrats Abroad, Malteser (German Red Cross) and has her MBA in Corporate Social Responsibility and Non-Profit Management. When she is not engaged with FAUSA she enjoys baking and exploring with her husband and Golden Retriever.
2nd VP Membership: Linda Harvan (1st Term)
Linda grew up in northwest Pennsylvania and met her husband Tom at Penn State. They made their first move as part of their honeymoon and have lived in five states as well as Belgium (2000-2003) and Saudi Arabia (2014-2018).
As a member of AWC Brussels, Linda volunteered in the library, gift shop, and café. She was the FAWCO Rep for AWEP and later the Director of Communications, putting out the Desert Vista newsletter. She also co-chaired the FAWCO Health Team from 2017-2020.
Linda joined FAUSA after returning to the US in 2018. She has been enjoying the Online Book Club #3 and Wine Time with Amy as well as coordinating the Mids Fits group. She attended her first Getaway in 2021 and joined the Events Team in 2022 to help plan the Getaways in Santa Fe and Nashville.
Linda and Tom have two adult daughters and one granddaughter who live on opposite sides of the US, so for now they are happily staying in the middle in Dubuque, Iowa and exploring the Midwest.
3rd VP Philanthropy: Susan Frick
Susan was raised in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, IL. She graduated from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO with two Bachelor Degrees: Music Education and Physical Education and earned her MME (Masters in Music Education with an emphasis in Vocal Music). She and her husband, Murray, raised three talented daughters. She has taught music K-6, worked in Music Publishing and Distribution, gave piano and voice lessons and directed many church choirs and programs while following her husband's Ministry positions through Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming and upstate New York. In 2006, they moved to Brussels, Belgium where she joined the AWC of Brussels where she served as President from 2016-2018 and remained on the Board until they repatriated in June 2019. After catching FAWCO fever in Mumbai, Susan served as the FAWCO Region 4 Representative for a few years both in Brussels and in the US. She and Murray now live in central Missouri along the Lake of the Ozarks. Philanthropy, or Mission as it is referred to in the church, has been an important part of her life. She has served on Mission committees in many churches, attended Mission trips, and has supported and highlighted the FAWCO Target projects along with AWCB’s own HOPE projects. She feels that Philanthropy through our actions and monetary gifts are an important part for a healthy life. Susan is honored to be a part of the FAUSA Board.
Treasurer: Kathy Limbaugh
Kathy was born in Brazil and raised in Germany and England before moving to the U.S. for college. Kathy’s professional life was in I.T. and then in supply chain management specializing in global procurement and logistics often traveling for extended periods to client sites. She lived in New Zealand for 4 years where her second child was born and realized that it was a long journey for the grandparents, so she and her husband moved to Ireland (which seemed a lot closer at the time!).
Kathy first became involved with FAWCO in Dublin as their Treasurer and an active member of their Professional Women's Network. Since that time, she has also lived in Shanghai, China and Basel, Switzerland before coming to the Philadelphia area five years ago.
She is active in golf and tennis and actively volunteers with local non-profit organizations. She has two college aged children and her best friend and husband of 23 years.
Secretary: Amy Patrick
Amy and her British husband, Nicholas Weate, met in Amy’s hometown of Savannah, GA and spent 10 years in Lichfield, England after they were married. Amy joined the FAWCO-affiliated North American Connection (NAC) in 2010 and served in numerous posts, including FAWCO Representative, PR Manager & FORUM Layout Editor, NAC Newsletter Editor, NAC Charity Committee Member and NAC Marketing Manager.
Amy has been the monthly FAUSA Wine Time coordinator since February 2020. She has an extensive background in communications and the wine industry and is currently the Marketing & PR Manager for Sonoma County Vintners. The membership-based trade organization promotes Sonoma County through educational programming; advocates for its members at local, state and federal levels; and provides annual community grants and emergency relief funding through the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation. Amy, Nick, and their zoo (two dogs, one cat, and a pond of goldfish) currently live in Napa, CA.
FAWCO Liaison: Carol-Lyn McKelvey
Carol-Lyn caught FAWCO Fever while living in Cologne, Germany, from 2013 - 2017. An educator for over 30 years in multiple states, she left her life as a special education teacher and middle school principal and pivoted to the expat life with the help of the AIWC Cologne and the amazing women therein. While in Cologne, she was co-chair of the AIWCC Social Committee, assumed the role of FAWCO Education Team co-chair and became involved with the Foundation via the Silent Auction in Frankfort. Carol-Lyn, with husband Steve, repatriated to the US in 2017, rejoining their daughters, Laura (Chicago) and Kristen (Detroit). She has coordinated the FAWCO Foundation Silent Auction since 2018, shepherding it through on-site, paper bidding to the current age of virtual auctions. Currently residing in mid-Michigan, Carol-Lyn looks forward to assisting repatriating FAWCO members, as well as ensuring FAUSA members stay connected to all things FAWCO.
Director, Activities and Events: Yolanda Henry
Yolanda has traveled extensively and lived abroad for many years as her husband Mike took on various international assignments based in England and Singapore.
Yolanda was President of AW Surrey from 2004-2006. After joining FAUSA in 2007, she took two years off of volunteering before agreeing to join the FAUSA Board, Since that time she has been VP Membership (2009-2011), VP Communications (2011-2013) and the newsletter editor (2017-2019). More recently she has again been the 2nd VP Membership (2019-2023). She and her husband Mike have attended many of the FAUSA Getaways since returning from abroad.
Yolanda was also the Chair of Tabitha Foundation Canada for the past 10 years, a charity she became passionately involved with when living in Singapore. In addition to overseeing the board, she also traveled to Cambodia every few years with teams of volunteers to build houses for destitute families. Tabitha’s Wells for Clean Water was FAWCO’s first Target Project.
Yolanda and Mike live in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario in summer, and migrate to Florida to play more golf in the winter. They have three third culture kids and five grandchildren.
Parliamentarian: Kathy DeBest (appointed, non-voting)
While I have served on countless boards, the role of Parliamentarian is a first for me. With a background as a CPA, my usual role is treasurer. I have also served in the capacity of President and Secretary for various organizations.
My first FAWCO experience was in the Midlands of England as a member of the NAC (North American Connected) from 2003-2005, serving on the board as Secretary 2004-05 and working on the menu planning for the FAWCO Interim meeting held in Birmingham in 2005.
When we moved to The Hague in 2014, one of the first things I did was seek out the local FAWCO Club. I served on the board at AWC The Hague as Treasurer from 2015-2017.
After repatriating, I joined FAUSA in 2018 and was immediately approached to serve as Treasurer for The FAWCO Foundation, doing so for two terms, 2019-2023. I am still the Assistant Treasurer, helping the new Treasurer get up to speed and assisting with special projects. I also currently serve on FAWCOs Finance Committee.
My husband Jeff and I live in Ann Arbor, MI and spend a good deal of the summer boating the Great Lakes. We spend winters in Naples, FL. We have 3 wonderful daughters and one very special grandson.
Key Volunteers and Teams
Counselor Liaison (appointed, non-voting)
Jane Indreland - Jane was first introduced to FAWCO and The Foundation through the AWC of London in 1995, when she had the opportunity to attend the Nairobi Conference. She was especially interested in The Foundation and worked with others to establish the Development Grants. After returning to her roots in Montana in 1999, she enjoyed being a part of FAUSA on a national level, and became 2nd vice-president, 1st vice-president, and president (2005-2009) as well as chairing the planning committee for 2010 FAWCO Conference in Boston.
Archivist
Historian
Nancy Thornley - Editor of the Red Book, FAWCO History, new edition for the FAWCO Biennial Conference, 2016 to 2020.
Newsletter
Nicole Grillo - Born in New Zealand, Nicole began her expat career at the age of seven moving to Singapore with her family. After three years she returned to New Zealand to attend high school and college and started her career in advertising and the automotive industry. In 1993 she moved to California and then Connecticut. She moved to Frankfurt, Germany in 2014 where she joined the AIWC Frankfurt and held the positions of treasurer for two years, advisor for two years and is their current newsletter editor. She now lives in Southern California with her two cats. Nicole has 4 children and twin two-year-old grandsons. Her passions are travel, cooking reading and volunteering.
Nominating and Board Development
Rick Chizmadia
Social Media
Jennifer Padfield - Jenn Padfield is currently living in Florida by way of Berlin, Germany and originally from New Jersey. She was an active member of AWC Berlin, serving as Treasurer and Under 40 group coordinator. Jennifer recently graduated from with her MBA in Non Profit Management and Corporate Social Responsibility from University Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in Bonn, Germany. In her free time she enjoys baking and going on adventures with her husband and Golden Retriever Max. She is looking forward to getting to know more of the women of FAUSA in her role of Social Media.
Webmaster
Debbie Hastings - Debbie has served as FAUSA's webmaster since 2008. She was an active member of the Chilterns AWC in Buckinghamshire, UK as the Membership Chairwoman, FAWCO Rep, and Webmaster. She also worked closely with FAWCO and the Foundation as Webhost Coordinator for many years. Debbie is originally from Maine and returned home (via Texas) after repatriation. She now splits her time between Maine and Arizona.
Sunshine
Jean Setser
