About the Foundation

Established in 1980 by Ms. Una Chapman Cox of Corpus Christi, Texas, the Cox Foundation is dedicated to the proposition that the United States needs a strong, professional foreign service. It serves that objective through programs that increase public knowledge and understanding of the Foreign Service and its role in supporting US foreign policy and national security interests.

The Cox Foundation uses its resources to fund projects and activities within its area of interest, and to encourage support from other public and private institutions. Where appropriate, the Cox Foundation also contributes human resources and experience, derived from its ongoing relationships with active and retired Foreign Service Officers and the organizations to which they belong.

The Cox Foundation funds career enriching activities for Foreign Service Officers and their spouses which places them in contact with the general public, thus bolstering the Foundation's objective of public awareness and understanding of the Foreign Service. Other Cox Foundation programs address particular concerns, inherent in service abroad, of Foreign Service spouses and family members.

The Cox Foundation is guided by Ms. Cox's conviction that “our country cannot afford to be without the strongest possible Foreign Service,” the Trustees approved the following statement of the objectives of the Foundation which is incorporated in the Foundation's brochure:

  • Heighten public awareness of the Foreign Service and the importance to the nation of its role in carrying out American foreign policy.
  • Provide Foreign Service members and their spouses enriching activities that place them in contact with the general public and with supplementary development opportunities to enhance their professional effectiveness.
  • Support programs that will enable the Foreign Service to attract the best and most representative candidates the nation has to offer.
  • Support and strengthen the Foreign Service of the United States.

For the purposes and objectives of the Foundation, the Foreign Service of the United States is as defined in the Foreign Service Act of 1980.