25th Group of Mansfield Fellows Announced
Updated April 16, 2021
(Washington, DC) The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is pleased to announce the twenty-fifth class of Mansfield Fellows, federal employees who will be working and living in Japan in 2020-2021.
The Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program was established by Congress in 1994 to build a corps of U.S. government officials with substantial Japan expertise. This group will join a total of 169 previous Fellows, representing twenty-eight federal agencies, commissions, and the U.S. Congress.
The Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with funding provided by the U.S. Government, and is administered by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.
Members of the twenty-fifth group of Mansfield Fellows include:
– Marla Borkson, Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury
– Fred Carl, Attorney Advisor – Trademarks, Office of Trademark Classification Policy and Practice, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce
– Craig Elliott, Trade Policy Officer, Asia Pacific Division, Department of Agriculture
– Lieutenant Commander Veronica Kennedy, Foreign Area Officer, Strategic Warfighting Innovation Cell, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy
– Jeremy Krizek, Sanctions Enforcement Officer, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury
– Dr. Jared Lane Koji Maeda, Principal Analyst, Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis Division, Congressional Budget Office, U.S. Congress
– Sara Trettin, Education Program Specialist, Office of Educational Technology, Department of Education
– Major Reinier Troy Villanueva, C-17A Lead Airdrop Evaluator Pilot, United States Air Force
– Phyllisina Vinson, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the Solicitor, Division of Mineral Resources, Department of the Interior
During the year-long Fellowship Program, Mansfield Fellows participate in a seven-week intensive Japanese language program in Ishikawa Prefecture and ten months of placements, primarily in Japanese government agencies in Tokyo. By working side-by-side with their counterparts in Japan’s ministries and agencies, National Diet, and non-governmental organizations, the Fellows will deepen their understanding of Japan’s government and policymaking process. This experience — and the contacts the Fellows make in the Japanese government and in the business, professional, and academic communities — will contribute to their work on Japan and Asia-related programs and policies when they return to federal government service.
“Ambassador Mansfield would be proud to see his namesake program reach this milestone anniversary, and he would be especially encouraged by this class of fellows,” said Frank Jannuzi, President and CEO of the Mansfield Foundation. “The new Mansfield Fellows have expertise in areas ranging from education, trade, and infrastructure to health and defense. The experience the Fellows will gain will be invaluable to their own understanding of U.S. government policies in a global context. They will return to the United States next year ready to contribute to the institutional knowledge of their home agencies.”
“Ambassador Mansfield saw our two countries as possessing ‘the most important bilateral relationship in the world – bar none,’” added Benjamin Self, Vice President of the Mansfield Foundation and Director of the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program. “The Fellows will strengthen the deep, working-level understanding between the governments of the United States and Japan. Previous Fellows have helped strengthen this relationship for a quarter century, and we are pleased to help these new Fellows add to this legacy as their careers progress.”
–Original announcement posted January 30, 2020–
