About Us

The Austin Council on Foreign Affairs is a group of people interested in discussing and understanding the rapidly changing world. Our mission is to bring together influential Austinites, in an intimate setting, to better understand the world and foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

ACFA Board (l to r): Tom Granger, Robert Hutchings, Tim Taylor, Sue Meller, James Taylor, Bob Campbell, Jack Gray, Not pictured: Meredith Friedman

l to r: Tom Granger, Tim Taylor, Joschka Fischer, Bob Hutchings, James Taylor

Founding Members (l to r): Tom Granger, Tim Taylor, guest speaker Joschka Fischer, Bob Hutchings, James Taylor. Not pictured: Sue Meller

Our Members

Gabrielle deKuyper Bekink
Sheshunoff Consulting + Solutions

Rudolf Bekink
Former Ambassador of the Netherlands to the US, Sweden, Belgium, China

Blaine Bull
Vianovo

Bob Campbell
Campbell Global Services

Kerry Cammack
Cammack & Strong, P.C.

Mark Chandler
Biophysical Corporation

Susan Combs
Former Comptroller

Geoff Connor
Attorney and Lobbyist; Former Texas Secretary of State

Joe Duran
Co-inventor of the DVR, founder of VTEL

Dillon Ferguson
Pillsbury Energy and Litigation

Joseph Ferguson
Center for Strategic and International Studies

David J. Firestein
George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations

George Friedman
Chairman and Founder; Geopolitical Futures

Meredith Friedman
Vice President, Communications; Geopolitical Futures

Pablo Marentes
Consul General of Mexico to the US in Austin

Tom Granger*
Retired

Jack Gray
Gigared

Brian Greig
Retired

Robert Hull
Consul General of Ireland

Bob Inman
Admiral, US Navy; Former Director of the National Security Agency; Former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence

Nancy Inman

Carolyn Lewis
Strength Investment Company

Lillian Loewenbaum

Walter Loewenbaum
Rocky Point Ventures

Lewis Lucke
Senior VP Grainster LLC; President Lewis Lucke LLC; Former Ambassador to Swaziland

Bob Manza
Treasurer and Board Member of the SCORE Association, Retired PepsiCo executive

Eduardo Margain
Managing Partner and Founder of Pixiu Investments

Brian McCall
Chancellor, The Texas State University System
Member, Council for Foreign Relations
Director, National Association of System Heads

Edmund McIlhenny
The McIlhenny Company

Pam McIlhenny
Philanthropist

Sue Meller*
Consultant

Susan Moore
AMD

Joe Stafford
Former Ambassador and Consul General

Duff Stewart
GSD&M

Jeremi Suri
LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT Austin

James Taylor*
Vianovo

Tim Taylor*
Jackson Walker

Tom Terkel
Four T Realty

Ben Turner
Consort, Inc.

Roger Wallace
Senior Advisor, Government Relations, Pioneer Natural Resources

Darren Woody
CF Jordan Construction

Will Wynn
Development Consultant; Former Mayor of Austin

Lee Yeakel
Federal Judge; Western District of Texas

*founding members