Mark A. Stansberry, TFAS alumnus, board member, and Oklahoma businessman, has been elected as Chairman of People to People International, (PTPI).
The organization founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 has a presence in 135 countries, over 52,000 members, 284 chapters, with more than 80,000 families and individuals actively participating in People to People International Programs.
“My work with People to People International is a great complement to my work with The Fund. The Fund reaches students throughout the world with the ideas of freedom, free markets and democracy, and to prepare American youth for leadership.”
“Likewise,” Stansberry continued, “People to People International is enhancing international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures.”
A 1976 graduate of the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES), Mark Stansberry has been active in TFAS for over 30 years. As Chairman of The GTD Group, Stansberry assists clients in developing and managing trade along with international investments. The company has experience in banking, environment, government relations, and energy issues: a passion Stansberry began to acquire during his summer with TFAS.
“The Fund’s Institute at Georgetown made a tremendous impact on me as a college student and prepared me for future leadership roles. I became very interested in energy policy due to my assigned research for then U.S. Senator Dewey F. Bartlett. Upon college graduation, my first job was energy related.”
“The Fund is important because it provides students a true picture of freedom and democracy. It has also made a tremendous impact on so many students who have gone on to become leaders in the classroom as teachers and professors, as business leaders, community leaders and other professions.”
Stansberry is a 1977 graduate of Oklahoma Christian University. Stansberry and his wife, Nancy, of Edmond, Oklahoma are also active in their church. They have been married for over thirty years and have three grown children and three grandchildren.