More than 30 TFAS alumni and friends gathered in New York City for a “Celebrating 50 Years of TFAS” alumni birthday party on March 12. The Sunday evening happy hour at Amity Hall in Greenwich Village was part of our 50th alumni birthday parties series, co-hosted by TFAS and alumni leaders from all over the globe this year.
TFAS alumni from almost every institute and decade were represented at the gathering, including two attendees from the inaugural TFAS class of 1970 and others from our summer and spring classes of 2016.
One unique encounter from the evening was between TFAS alumni Luke Boyd (CSS 07) and Justin Lowe (IBGA 15). Luke and Justin are colleagues at The 9/11 Memorial & Museum, but only discovered they are both TFAS alumni when they spotted one another from across the room at the event.
TFAS staff members Joel Troutman (IBGA 13), Institute on Business and Government Affairs program coordinator and Joe Starrs, director of U.S. Programs also joined in on the fun. Both Joel and Joe hosted a Facebook live video featuring many of the alumni guests sharing what TFAS means to them and wishing TFAS a happy 50th birthday!
TFAS means good relationships with people from all around the world, understanding of different cultures and a great opportunity for young folks to learn about how government really works.”
– John Ebert (ICPES 74)
Watch the video to see what others said.
The evening was complete with hors d’oeuvres, drinks and, of course, a TFAS birthday cake! This successful event was led by TFAS alumni volunteer Sarah Sicard (IPJ 13), who is currently a staff writer at Task and Purpose. Sarah helped host the event to ensure TFAS alumni could come together to celebrate 50 years of TFAS connections. If you are interested in hosting a “Celebrating 50 Years of TFAS” birthday party in your city, please click here or email Brenda Hafera, coordinator of alumni programs, at bhafera@TFAS.org.
To view more highlights from this event, please visit the #TFAS50 hashtag on Instagram and view the photo gallery below.
Thank you to the TFAS alumni who attended and made this event a success: Taylor Bates (ICPES 15), Katrina Batista (ICPES 15), Luke Boyd (CSS 07), Haley Britzky (CSS 16), John Ebert (ICPES 74), Bonnie Ellman (IPJ 03), Tuvshinzaya Gantulga (AIPES 10), Mark Garrison (IPJ 00), Mark Grabowski (IPJ 97), Cecily Hastings (ICPES 05), Stefany Henriquez (CSS 16), Monica Kalandia (AIPES 07), Malinda Knowles (ICPES 04), Justin Lowe (IBGA 15), Ariana Melis (IPJ 16), David Motsonelidze (AIPES 07), Kay Nguyen (IPJ 09), B. Nelson Ong (ICPES 70), Samuel Rostow (CSS 16), Sarah Sicard (IPJ 13), Robert Sintich (ICPES 70), Ariel Sun (AIPE 10), Kristen Sword (IPJ 11), Jessica Tiburcio (ICPES 12), Joel Troutman (IBGA 13), Kylie Tumiatti (LTAP 16), Maja Vujinovic (IIPES 03) and Jianan Xu (AIPE 07).
