The AFS Foundation was established on July 13th, 2004 in Zurich to protect the AFS Legacy. The AFS International Board of Trustees endowed the foundation and appointed the first Foundation Board.
At the constituting meeting that took place the very same day Ward Chamberlin stated “the Foundation is another important step to establish the AFS global community".
Ward Chamberlin further noted: "It is fitting that today we are establishing an AFS Foundation, on the day of the fortieth anniversary of the death of Stephen Galatti, who founded the AFS programs and whose inspiration has been the basis of all we have accomplished with the AFS global network in the years since his death. We dedicate this Foundation to his memory and to the worldwide struggle for peace to which he devoted his life."
Stephen Galatti
6 Aug 1888 - 13 July 1964
WWI ambulance driver (1915), Assistant Inspector General of the American Field Service at the Paris headquarters (1916-1919), Director General (1936- 1964), reactivated the AFS ambulance corps in WWII and initiated the student exchanges.