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.
2023-2024 Sabbatical Fellow Highlight - Jennifer Barnes Kerns
2023-2024
Jennifer Barnes Kerns grew up on her family’s allotment land in Ada, Oklahoma, the headquarters of the Chickasaw Nation. Since she was a child, tribal sovereignty and tribal diplomacy have fascinated her. This year, she will study historical and modern tribal government relations with federal, state, and local governments as well as inter-tribal government relations. She will begin training as a language carrier through participation in a Chikasha Anompa immersion course and she will raise awareness of foreign service career opportunities in Native American communities. Per capita, Native Americans enlist and serve with the Department of Defense more than any other minority group, yet this population remains the most underrepresented in the foreign affairs community. Jennifer hopes to change that and bring more diversity to the Department of State. She has previously served in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Mexico, and South Korea, with a career devoted to promoting human rights and protecting U.S. citizens overseas. Before joining the Department of State, she served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Chickasaw Nation.
2023-2024 Sabbatical Fellow Highlight - Johanna Villalobos
2023-2024
Johanna Villalobos is committed to pursuing innovation, building resilient and diverse teams, and fostering a positive workplace. She aspires to lead by example and empower others to lead from any position. Department of State employees report feeling burned out due to unmanageable workloads, limited opportunities for growth, and a lack of accountability. Effective leadership that creates the conditions for teams to manage their professional and personal well-being is more crucial than ever before. Through the Cox Fellowship, Johanna will explore the relationship between happiness and leadership. Happy people are more productive and innovative. They are better leaders, they inspire others, and they affect real and lasting change. During her fellowship, Johanna looks forward to analyzing organizations globally renowned for success and productivity to gain insight into how they utilize happiness practices to retain talent and manage healthy and productive teams. She will work with social scientists and corporate experts to explore the real-world application of happiness and leadership principles.
Simultaneously, Johanna will examine the Department from within through science-based research, industry benchmarks, and employee experience. Armed with this unconventional collection of information, Johanna will propose systemic changes that would allow the Department to not only become a ¨happier¨ institution, but also more effectively realize its global mission. Johanna has two decades of foreign policy, public diplomacy, and program management experience, having served and led teams in Bolivia, Ecuador, Morocco, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Washington.
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.