Your passport to global affairs

Join or Renew Your Membership Now!

A great way to stay informed with current information from experts in these rapidly changing times is to be a member of the Naples Council of World Affairs. Membership renewal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is open. Don't forget to sign up! New members are welcome.

You will have access to lectures and programs from expert speakers, Great Decisions discussion groups, and can find purpose by participating in meaningful programs that help area students learn how to engage with their world.

We look forward to seeing you when programs resume in the fall. Click here to renew your membership -- or to join as a new member.

NCWA Board Elects New Officers for the Coming Season

Mark Schwab, President

Gunther Winkler, President-Elect

New members of the Board of Directors and new officers for the 2025-26 season have been elected.

Mark Schwab will continue one more year as president. President-Elect is Gunther Winkler, who is returning to the Board after time away when he was president of Greater Naples Leadership. 

Francisco Figueroa will be the new Board Secretary. Continuing in their former positions will be Mimi Gregory, Vice President for Programs; Carol Green, Vice President of Operations/Communications, and Robert Roussel, Treasurer.

Other Board members are Judi Lipnick, Membership Chair; Judy Baker, School Outreach Co-Chair; Alan Van Egmond, Model UN Chair; Dave Brown, Great Decisions Chair; Terry Nauck, Great Decisions Vice Chair; Martha Williams, North American Scholarships Chair and Communications Chair for Model UN and School Programs; Mark Schneider, Webmaster/ Technology Chair; Jean Foster, Hospitality Chair and Fundraising Co-Chair; Susan McManus, Fundraising Co-Chair and FGCU Liaison; and Michael Finkel, Academic WorldQuest Chair. To read their biographies, click here.

Don't rule out practical solutions to big problems suggested by high school students! 

A special competition of the 32nd Annual Southwest Florida Model United Nations conference at Florida Gulf Coast University in March challenged high school teams to offer solutions to the pollution of land-based plastics and the micro and nano plastics that increasingly harm our Southwest Florida water.

Cypress Lake High School’s team took top honors and a $1,000 prize for their presentation proposing a creative, actionable and ambitious plan to address plastic pollution along Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Their plan identified the primary sources and kinds of plastic pollutants found on local shorelines and proposed a multifaceted strategy to reduce them. Team members were Mya Jenkinson, Gus Lessinger, Valeska Perez, Penelope Lesage and Stella Busby.

They presented their winning proposal to members of the Naples Council on World Affairs, which sponsored the Model UN competition (click here). In addition, Gus was interviewed for 30 minutes by Mike Kiniry for his Gulf Coast Life program on WGCU (listen here).