Dear Friend,
I recently attended AFSC’s 2026 Corporation plenary session with Anton Flores-Maisonet. Anton is the founding director of Casa Alterna, an organization that provides short and long-term housing to immigrants in Georgia. By cultivating supportive communities, Casa Alterna creates opportunities for healing and new beginnings to take root.
A social worker and spiritual director, Anton has spent decades building intentional communities. His work reminded me that hospitality is resistance, faith is expressed through solidarity, and love knows no borders. I invite you to listen to Anton’s words here.
Tonya Histand
Director of Public Engagement
Alumni news & notes
Civil rights leader Bernard Lafayette passed away in March. In 1963, AFSC recruited Bernard to bring his organizing work to Chicago. He led nonviolent workshops for tenants, youth, and community groups. Bernard later served as national coordinator for the Poor People’s Campaign and spent decades teaching nonviolence and peace education.
Pat Hunt passed away on April 6 at the age of 105. Pat worked for AFSC for almost four decades, directing international workcamp programs, resettling North Koreans after the Korean War, and as the coordinator of Africa programs for 14 years. You can read more about Pat’s work with AFSC in this firsthand account on Peace Works.
Avel Gordly, the first Black woman elected to the Oregon State Senate and a lifelong activist and educator, died in February. In 1983, AFSC hired Avel to lead the Southern Africa Program, which was focused on anti-apartheid and refugee relief. Avel made national headlines when she was promoted to regional director of AFSC.
Carly Goodman, who worked for AFSC’s Communications Department, recently chaired a panel at the 2026 Organization of American Historians Conference. The panel’s focus was the urgency of recent immigration history under the Trump administration. Carly is a professor at Rutgers University Camden.
Simon Fisher, former country representative for the AFSC Zimbabwe office, passed away earlier this year. Simon joined AFSC in 2008 as the first country representative in Zimbabwe. He helped establish the country program, recruit the founding team, and launch the organization’s work in the country.
Cozine Welch was a statewide organizer with AFSC's Michigan Criminal Justice Program. Cozine recently won a grant to imagine what a world without incarceration looks like.
Do you have news to share? Email us today!
Updates from AFSC
4 things to know about the war in Sudan
It has been three years since the start of the war in Sudan. What began as a power struggle in April 2023 has become a full-scale genocide. Sudan's crisis has reached a critical turning point. Today, it is crucial for both the U.S. and the international community to take decisive action toward achieving a peaceful resolution to this devastating conflict.
Bringing relief to displaced Palestinians in the West Bank
Since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli violence has also escalated acrhttps://afsc.org/news/what-you-need-know-about-war-sudanoss the occupied West Bank. In the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, Israeli military attacks have forced more than 25,000 people from their homes and its refugee camps. In recent months, AFSC and partners have provided food, medicine, and essential supplies to more than 1,000 displaced Palestinians in Tulkarm.
What you need to know about the U.S. war on Iran
The U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran is illegal, unprovoked, and a war of choice. We mourn every life lost and hold the victims loved ones and communities in the Light as we call for an immediate end to this war. Here’s what you need to know and how you can take action to end it.
From our Archives
Did you know that AFSC has an online archive? Our ever-growing library of resources includes videos, documents and program reports. Watch a documentary about a 1939 project for unemployed miners or read The Simple Art of Murder, an illustrated booklet on antipersonnel weapons and their developers. If there’s a resource you can’t find online, contact Don Davis.
More ways to take action and connect with AFSC:
- Act now to end the genocide in Sudan
- ICE out of our communities—stop deportations now!
- Tell Congress: No war with Iran!
- Are you interested in receiving life income while supporting AFSC? A gift annuity is easy to arrange. Reach out to GiftPlanning@afsc.org or visit us online.
Thank you for reading our AFSC Alumni Newsletter!