Mary Pflum Peterson, Bosch XV, President

Experience

Mary Pflum Peterson is an international journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and very dedicated Boschie. Pflum Peterson’s love of the RBFAA runs deep. She’s dedicated much of the past two decades to helping build the RBFAA.  She previously served as RBFAA president and events chair. During her two terms as RBFAA co-president, Pflum Peterson oversaw the creation of the RBFAA Alumna of the Year Award, the RBFAA website, and a significant increase in the number of dues-paying members. She’s additionally planned multiple RBFAA annual events in New York, Washington, D.C., and Berlin, organized numerous RBFAA roundtable discussions, booked numerous RBFAA speakers, and created and produced the first RBFAA documentary, a video that examined the rich history of the Robert Bosch Fellowship Program.

Currently employed as a national and international reporter/ producer for NBC News, Pflum Peterson’s reports appear regularly on NBC Nightly News, Today Show and MSNBC. Pflum Peterson previously worked for Good Morning America and CNN. She’s held international reporting posts in New York, Atlanta, and Berlin and spent more than two years working as a bureau chief and reporter in Istanbul. She’s filed stories from the warzones of Afghanistan and Iraq, has reported from multiple royal weddings and births, and has covered a myriad of hurricanes, tornadoes and presidential elections. More recently, Pflum Peterson has been heavily involved in coverage of the global pandemic and political divides gripping the U.S.  Pflum Peterson is the recipient of five Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, a duPont, and a WGA Award, and is a New York Times bestselling author.

Robert Fenstermacher, Bosch XVI, Secretary

Experience

Rob, the Chief Content Officer of the American Council on Germany (ACG) in New York (which also has a network of 22 chapters throughout the US), helps direct the organization’s transatlantic programming in Europe and the United States, and was formerly CEO of Cultural Vistas (and before that, CDS International), the implementing partner in the U.S. of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program. Rob has a strong understanding of how the program has evolved over the years, was engaged in the Fellowship Program selection for fourteen years, maintains strong relationships with all the stakeholders involved in the program, and has experience working on major change (through the merger to create Cultural Vistas).

During 1999-2000 as a Bosch Fellow, Rob worked at the German Ministry of Education and DaimlerChrysler examining the German apprenticeship system. In his current position at ACG, he’s once again leading study tours to Germany on this topic. Since August 2019, Rob has served as a Co-President of the RBFAA, together first with Seth Oppenheim and then Tony Ganzer.

Todd Williamson, Bosch XXXII, Treasurer

Experience

Todd Williamson is the Head of Corporate Communications at Equitable. In this capacity, he oversees strategic communications for the Office of the CEO, Government Affairs, ESG, and financial communications. He has over 15 years of experience in financial services, communications, government relations and international affairs in both the United States and the European Union.

Prior to his current role at Equitable, Todd was a Senior Vice President in the New York office of SKDK, an award-winning public affairs firm where he worked with a cross-section of corporate, financial services, social justice and non-profit clients.
Prior to joining SKDK as a Vice President, Todd was a Senior Consultant at Berlin Global Advisors in Germany where he advised EU-based companies on geopolitical risk, international trade and foreign direct investment. He was also a columnist for the Berlin Policy Journal’s “Red Herring & Black Swan” section (now Internationale Politik Quarterly).  In 2015, he was awarded the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship and provided placement at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin where his published research focused on transatlantic relations, global governance, and rising economies. From 2011-2015, Todd worked for the Global Government Relations & Public Policy team at JPMorgan Chase covering international government relations, federal policy, regulatory issues and civic engagement.

During the first term of the Obama administration, Todd served in several capacities in the Office of Congressional Relations at USDA, the Rural Development agency, and on the White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers. Previously, he was a legislative assistant for Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) for financial services, education, and budget issues.

Todd is a 2005 graduate of Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism & Communications and earned his master’s degree in communication, culture & technology from Georgetown University. His work has been published in Foreign Policy, The Diplomat, and the Atlantic Community.

Michelle Fanzo, Bosch XIV, At-large Board Member

Experience

Michelle Fanzo currently serves as the Executive Director of AIA Pittsburgh, the western PA chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Architecture Foundation, which addresses community challenges in the built environment, like affordable housing, and supports public interest design. She has 18 years of experience in public policy and international affairs, mostly at the UN, including as a speechwriter in the Office of the Secretary-General under Kofi Annan, a policy specialist in the Department of Peacekeeping, and international development postings in Asia and Africa. She was also a fellow at the World Policy Institute.  Michelle has served on a number of non-profit Boards, including the RBFAA 10 years ago, a health NGO in Nepal, and most recently as the Board President of The Global Switchboard, bridging local and global issues.

Brittany Ford, Bosch XXXVII, At-large Board Member

Experience

Brittany Ford is a non-profit and government professional with expertise in immigrant and refugee integration, policy analysis, and workforce development. She is currently a consultant for national non-profit organizations and state and local governments on issues including language access, program development, and strategic communications. In her previous role with Lucas County, Ohio, she helped found and lead the nationally-recognized Welcome Toledo-Lucas County (TLC) initiative, a regional cross-sector effort to build a welcoming and inclusive community for immigrants and refugees. Brittany is a Bosch XXXVII alumni and has a Master of Arts in International Educational Development from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Emily Olman, Bosch XXV, At-large Board Member

Experience

Emily Olman, Bosch XXV (2008-2009), Chief Media Officer at Hopscotch Interactive. She lives in the SF Bay area with her husband, Professor Jason Levis, daughter Talea (13) and son Bennett (9). Emily holds an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School and a BA in German Studies from Scripps College in Claremont, California.

As a former RBFAA Co-President and At-Large Director, Emily holds a lot of institutional knowledge that she brings to the board. Her many years in Berlin post Bosch hosting events for fellows and alumni, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, has introduced her to many cohorts of Bosch Fellows and West Coast alumni.

Furthermore, in 2018 she was a Bosch Stiftung grant recipient bringing 10 global Bosch Alumni to Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, CA on an XR professional study program that she personally curated.

Nicholas Oyler, Bosch XXIX, At-large Board Member

Experience

As a Bosch XXIX alum, husband to a lebenslustige Bavarian, and father to two incredible – though not quite yet bilingual – German-American children, strengthening transatlantic ties interests me professionally and personally. After working in local government for the last decade, my wife and I recently relocated our family to Denver for my new position with Toole Design Group, an international planning and engineering firm that specializes in creating walkable and bikeable places.

Passionate about creating sustainable and people-oriented places, I routinely draw on best practices from Germany and Europe. In fact, it was a visit to Germany after graduating high school (my first visit to any place outside of the US) that sparked my initial interest and eventual career in urban planning. The differences in German cities from their typical American counterparts – the ease of walking around, the transit that seemingly went everywhere, the vibrant street life, and more – fascinated me, and drove me to wonder why those differences existed at all. Years, studies, and academic degrees later, the Bosch Fellowship allowed me to continue posing questions and learning from German cities.

Though my Bosch year ended 10 years ago this summer, I repeatedly receive new opportunities that the Fellowship sneakily positioned me for, such as recently being invited to present at meetings of the Allgeminer Detuscher Fahrrad-Club about my work to create bicycle-friendly communities in the US.

John Parisi, Bosch V, At-large Board Member

Experience

John Parisi was Counsel for European Affairs at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission from 1991 until his retirement in 2012.  He coordinated FTC antitrust enforcement actions with those of the European Commission and other European competition agencies. During those years, he also served as a Consultant to the Congressional Study Group on Germany.  His Bosch Fellowship was spent at the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federation of German Industry.  Prior to the Fellowship, he served 11 years as a legislative counsel in the U.S. Congress.

John graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1971 with a BA in History and from Wayne State University School of Law in 1976 with a JD.  He is married to Anne Broker and they have two daughters, one of whom was born in Bonn during the Fellowship.

Christina Peters

Experience

Christina Peters is currently retired. She was a senior legal executive using broad domestic and international experience in data, technology, and the law to craft strategy and practical business solutions to complex problems. As IBM’s Chief Privacy Officer at IBM, she was responsible for information policy and practices affecting IBM employees and thousands of clients. She led a global team of legal, data protection and technical professionals at IBM who address privacy and data security in the leadership manner expected of this global brand. She led IBM’s global engagement in public policy and industry initiatives on data security and privacy, and served on the advisory board of the Future of Privacy Forum and on the Education Advisory Board of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). As a practicing attorney at IBM since 1996 (first in Germany, later in the US), Christina handled a wide range of complex transactional, policy, compliance, litigation, and cybersecurity matters in the United States and internationally.

Christina was educated at Dartmouth College (summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), where she was an Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review. After a D.C. Circuit clerkship, Christina worked at a large Washington, D.C. law firm. Prior to joining IBM, she was a Robert Bosch Fellow in Germany, where she worked at the Federal Cartel Authority and Deutsche Telekom. She speaks German and French in addition to her native English. She is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional, and has been admitted to the bars of New York, Pennsylvania (corporate counsel), Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Jackie Renner, Bosch I, At-large Board Member

Experience

Jackie Renner has over 40 years of business leadership experience in multinational settings. Until she retired in October 2021, Jackie was the President of C.F. Martin & Co., a 190-year-old musical instrument company.  Jackie was a Robert Bosch Fellow in 1984-1985. She interned at the Verband der Chemischen Industrie and Bayer AG during the fellowship.

Jackie has been active in non-profit board service. She joined the Board of Cultural Vistas in 2006 and served on it for 16 years. Currently, Jackie serves on the Board of the Valley Youth House, a Pennsylvania organization, supporting at-risk youth in the state. Jackie is the acting class representative for the Bosch I group.