SPA to begin new lecture series, Community Conversations

The School of Public Affairs will launch a new lecture series Feb. 10 at the Lodge.

The new series, Community Conversations, will begin with a 7 p.m. presentation by Schuyler Foerster and Janet Foerster, “Nonprofits at Home and Abroad: Building Communities and Understanding Cultures.”

The event is free and open to faculty, staff, students and greater Colorado Springs community members.

“Community Conversations is a new SPA series of presentations and discussions highlighting the ways in which members of our community have played an integral part in transforming lives,” Terry Schwartz, interim dean, School of Public Affairs, said. “The common thread is that their efforts align with SPA’s mission to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad, through collaborative governance, public service innovation, community engagement, and research.”

About the Speakers

Schuyler Foerster is the Brent Scowcroft Professor of National Security Studies at the United States Air Force Academy. He served for three years as President of the Colorado Springs World Affairs Council and still serves on both the local and nation World Affairs Council boards. Previously, he served as president of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization that promoted understanding of international issues. He also served as chairman of Leadership Pittsburgh and served 26 years in the Air Force before retiring as a colonel.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the USAFA, a master’s degrees from Tufts University and American University, a doctorate from Oxford University and completed post-doctoral work at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Janet Foerster is the founder and president of InnerCHANGE WORKS, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the creation and implementation of community development and intercultural programs in the U.S., Nicaragua, and other countries. She is a cross-cultural training manager who brings to her work more than thirty years of experience in education, human services, and health promotion.

Previously, she was an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, the H. J. Heinz College of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, and at Webster University in Vienna, where she taught graduate level courses in intercultural management.