
Welcome to the Una Chapman Cox Foundation
The Una Chapman Cox Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the effectiveness and professionalism of the U.S. Foreign Services.
Explore Our ProgramsIn Memoriam: Ambassador Lino Gutiérrez

Executive Director ~ UCCF ~ 2010-2022
March 26, 1951 – May 3, 2025
The Foundation

The Cox Foundation lends its support to programs that align with its values and goals.

The Foundation was founded by Mrs. Una Chapman Cox, an enthusiastic world traveler whose encounter with a Foreign Service Officer would have a lasting impact on her life.

The Leadership at the Cox Foundation is comprised of our Trustees and Policy Council, who offer insight into many programs and program decisions.
Cox Foundation Highlight: Fellows for the Modernization of American Diplomacy Conference Visit

Executive Director Powell attended a conference of Science Fellows for the Modernization of American Diplomacy at the State Department Foreign Service Institute on September 5. The conference, supported by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, brought Science Fellows from multiple U.S. Government agencies to join the State Department’s policy and training communities for the first time to discuss emerging areas of global diplomatic engagement, including climate, health, cyber technology, and artificial intelligence.
2024-2025 Sabbatical Fellow Highlight - Victoria Nibarger

2024-2025
For Victoria Nibarger, Kansas represents family, community, and her roots. Her childhood in Kansas instilled a pride for the country that prompted her service as a U.S. diplomat. Over the past fifteen years, the Foreign Service has taken her to Jamaica, Serbia, Ukraine, and Washington, D.C. In her most recent assignment, Victoria helped bolster U.S. leadership within the Community of Democracies, a global coalition of democratic partners based in Warsaw, Poland.
After working to advance U.S. democracy and human rights priorities overseas, Victoria will return to Kansas via the Fellowship to promote democracy at home. She will connect students and young leaders in the heart of America with counterparts throughout the world, and she aims to encourage respectful bipartisan dialogue. Victoria will work to reach students in Kansas and throughout the Midwest. She hopes her story might inspire others to pursue a path of public service.
Victoria is married to fellow Kansan Daniel Nibarger, also a Foreign Service Officer. They look forward to better acquainting their three children with the region they call home.
2024-2025 Sabbatical Fellow Highlight - Toby Wolf

2024-2025
Growing up in the industrial Midwest, Toby Wolf saw towns and cities that prospered from international business as well as those that were left behind. These experiences led to a focus on commercial diplomacy when he joined the Foreign Service as an economic officer. Through the Cox Fellowship, Toby is leading an initiative to explore the impact of commercial diplomacy on U.S. companies, workers, and communities. During the fellowship year, Toby will engage with business, government, and local stakeholders across the United States to study and highlight partnership models that have delivered benefits to American communities. The initiative aims to energize cooperation across government and industry and to connect with people whose work and lives have been impacted by our commercial diplomacy. In Foreign Service assignments in France, Russia, Japan, and Switzerland, Toby has assisted U.S. companies and facilitated foreign investment into the United States, creating jobs and global connections for communities around the United States. Most recently, Toby helped lead commercial training at the Foreign Service Institute, where he expanded course offerings for the diplomatic workforce and deepened collaboration across U.S. government agencies and the private sector.
Our Programs

Meridian-Cox Foreign Service Fellowship For Emerging Leaders
The Foundation is currently collaborating with Meridian International Center to create an enrichment and training program seeking to expand awareness and access to Foreign Service careers to students from underrepresented communities across the United States.
Learn MoreThe American Diplomacy Project
The Foundation is currently supporting The American Diplomacy Project, an ongoing initiative aimed at focusing on the future of the United State’s Foreign Service.
Learn MoreSabbatical Fellowship
The Foundation began with the Cox Sabbatical Fellowship, a program that offers promising Foreign Service Officers a stipend with the chance to recharge their batteries and reaffirm their personal commitment to the Foreign Service through for one year.
Learn MoreCox Language Awards
The Foundation partners with the Foreign Service Institute to support highly competitive annual awards for excellence in foreign language instruction.
Learn MoreLatest Report

American Diplomacy Project II, Blueprints for a More Modern United States Diplomatic Services
Publish Date: September 2022
The American Diplomacy Project – Phase II, in collaboration with the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and ASU, built upon on the original report published in 2020 by Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs which centers around four “blueprints” that are critical to State Department Reform.