As the Vice President for External Affairs, Francey Lim Youngberg manages the teams responsible for marketing, communications, fund development, vehicle donations, volunteer recruitment, and special events.  She brings to Melwood 30 years of experience from the private, nonprofit and public sectors including congressional and intergovernmental relations, public affairs/public engagement, fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer management.  Previously, Francey was a presidential appointee under the Obama Administration.  For seven years, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Engagement and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs for the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  She was responsible for managing the key stakeholder relationships of the HUD Secretary to advance the Agency’s budgetary and policy priorities in Congress and in the media.  Francey also represented HUD at several White House councils and initiatives. She led HUD’s team in creating the multi-year agency plans and delivering on their stated goals.

Prior to joining HUD, Francey advised clients for 10 years on cultural competency, merchant and community outreach, minority recruitment, language access needs, and fundraising. Her clients included the Smithsonian, D.C. Government, D.C. Metro Police Department, H Street Community Development Corporation, as well as federal agencies and nonprofits.

Prior to consulting, Ms. Youngberg was a tax attorney for Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia, and Hogan & Lovells in D.C. and a regulatory attorney for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She left legal practice to serve as the founding Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.  Ms. Youngberg graduated from Wellesley College and Harvard Law School.  

Rotarians from the RC of Kathmandu Mid-Town and Dr. Milan Maharjan, Chairperson of Ear Care Nepal (ECN), appear in the picture below.  The big piece of equipment is an operating microscope that will be used in the performance of ear surgeries.  To the right is a portable, battery operated audiometer, which is used to facilitate ear screening without access to electricity.  This piece of equipment is needed to overcome problems posed by frequent power outages in Nepal; and an impedance meter, a very important diagnostic tool that ECN can now use to perform better diagnoses of ear problems prior to surgery.  Global Grant 1637950 provided this equipment at a cost of approximately $19,000.  The Grant is also paying for the screening of 5000 Nepalese children for hearing problems and ear surgery for 100 good candidates for ear surgery to prevent or reduce hearing loss.

The Rotary Club of Potomac-Bethesda is the international sponsor of this Global Grant.  The Rotary Club of Kathmandu Mid-Town is the host Club.  Additionally, financial contributions were provided by the Rotary Clubs of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Metro Bethesda, and Pleasant Valley, New York, as well as various individual donors.