Meet Our Staff

Donna Wrightson Country Program Manager, EF Foundation

Ever since I can remember, my family has hosted exchange students. It was such a great experience for me as a young child being exposed to different cultures. We had girls from Germany, Norway, Finland, Japan and many other places! I remember spending time with them – they were always patient and happy to talk to me and tell me things about them and their country. Then when I was in secondary school I became good friends with a girl from Finland, Hanna. She was spending a year studying A Levels in the sixth form with us. It was amazing how she fit in so well - she was part of 'our gang' in no time and we spent the year as great friends. Even now years on, we still keep in touch.

So spending time with people from other countries and cultures has always been very important to me, along with travelling and experiencing those cultures myself. The opportunity to work at EF Foundation has been a great one and I enjoy it very much. For nearly three years I worked in the office in the UK as a Regional Manager and now I am working in the Australian office as the Country Program Manager. It is not only great to learn about how this program works in another country but I am also like an exchange student myself! Getting to know my new 'home' and understanding things here really helps me see it from the other side! This is a really rewarding job. It is great to match students and host families and be part of making things work. The experience is such a positive one for both the students and host families as they learn and benefit so much from each other. It isn't just a one way thing! It is also great to work with colleagues in offices all around the world to achieve the same goal. In the ever changing environment of the world today I think promoting understanding and awareness through cultural exchange is incredibly important and I am proud to be a part of it.