NYC Metro and Hudson Valley

Team Overview

A number of years ago a few dedicated AFS volunteers in the New York and southern Connecticut region agreed to take on leadership roles and formed a chartered chapter with AFS, which is now known as the AFS NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team.

Today AFS NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team covers a large geographic territory, comprised of southeastern New York and Connecticut, including all of New York City, Long Island, Delaware, Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties, as well as Fairfield County, CT.

We now have approximately 88 registered AFS Volunteers in our Area Team including many returnees (both recent and some dating as far back as the 1960’s), former and current host parents and siblings, as well as those who have not formerly participated with AFS but share our mission to promote a more peaceful and just world.

Annually, we send over 100 students to approximately 20 different countries abroad. Our Area Team also regularly hosts students, including those with YES and Congress-Bundestag scholarships. Likewise, many participants in our Area Team have been awarded scholarships to study abroad with the YES and Congress-Bundestag programs as well as the National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program (NSLI-Y).

Area Team Leadership

Area Team Chair - Elinor Levy

Elinor has been the Folk Arts Program Manager at Arts Mid-Hudson since September 2016, working with communities in the region to uphold cultural traditions and practices. Her first involvement with AFS dates back to the 1980’s when her mother was co-area team chair in the San Francisco Bay Area, and her family hosted a young woman from New Zealand. She rediscovered AFS at the 2016 Kingston Multicultural Festival and is thrilled to be a part of the AFS NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team as both our Chair and a Liaison. Contact Elinor

Support Co-coordinator - Antoinette Sarna and Mitch Weisburgh

Antoinette has been a high school guidance counselor for many years. She first became involved with AFS in 1993 when her school’s AFS club was looking for an advisor for their AFS Club. She advised the Club until a few years ago when the budget deficit forced it to shut down. During these years, she traveled to several states with AFS and local students on “domestic” cultural exchanges. Antoinette has helped many exchange students as they navigated through her school and community and is the resident school contact person for students interested in going abroad. She is a former Co-Chair for our Area Team and has also served as a Liaison. Contact Antoinette

Mitch is an AFS Returnee (Bolivia) and hosted AFS students numerous times. He is currently one of the team’s Support Co-coordinator and has also helped with orientations and interviews of host families and students. Contact Mitch

Volunteer Coordinator - Lizzie Cheshire

Lizzy is an AFS Returnee, Italy. Since returning from program in 2015, she has volunteered with AFS local chapters in Los Angeles and New York, as well as volunteering as a cultural resource at Departure Orientations in New York. As Volunteer Coordinator, she works to recruit and engage volunteers in the local NYC area, as well as organize volunteer events to build connections and a strong network among AFS NYC Hudson Valley volunteers. Contact Lizzy

Returnee Coordinator - NY Metropolitan Area - Talia Oren

Talia is an AFS Returnee (Bolivia, 2001). She is currently the team’s Returnee Coordinator and works to strengthen the local AFS community in NYC by creating opportunities for returning AFS students, families and volunteers to connect and organize in meaningful and interesting ways across the city. Contact Talia

Treasurer - Julie Walsh

Julie is an AFS Returnee, Belgium Flanders and has been an AFS Volunteer for some time. In addition to being Treasurer, she has served as a Liaison, has volunteered at orientations, and has conducted numerous host family and student interviews. Contact Julie

Open Volunteer Positions

Hosting Coordinator – Position Open
Sending Coordinator – Position Open
Liaison Coordinator – Position Open
Orientation Coordinator – Position Open

Returnee Coordinator – Southern NY, Hudson Valley, and Connecticut – Position Open

All Scholarships

How to Apply to our Local Scholarships

As funding permits, the NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team offers three local scholarships on an annual basis. Applicants residing within the NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team may apply for one or more of the local scholarships, based on the criteria of eligibility for each scholarship, and are eligible to receive only one of the three scholarships if accepted for an AFS study abroad program.

Applications are generally due at the beginning of April, with recipients notified by the beginning of May. Descriptions of the three local scholarships (Kirby Capen, NYC Metro & Hudson Valley, and Sharon Lage) are above.

In order to apply, applicants must first submit an application for an AFS study abroad program and will be prompted to apply for local scholarships during that process. Any specific questions about the local scholarships may be addressed to NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team Chair, Elinor Levy: [email protected].