2024’S Bill Arnold Fellow
The Bill Arnold Leadership Award was created to remember a cherished member of our AMIGOS community. Bill Arnold passed away on August 5, 2020, after a battle with cancer. The award fund for the Bill Arnold Leadership Award was established from the support of the Arnold family and other generous donors.
Each year, we will select a volunteer or project staff member to be a Bill Arnold Fellow. Fellows must demonstrate exceptional leadership and a commitment to AMIGOS vision of a world where all people are lifelong leaders who share responsibility for our global community. The award provides each fellow with a stipend to pursue an educational or civic engagement opportunity.
About Nora Schulman
I am 16 years old and a rising senior! I am from Washington DC and participated in the AMIGOS DC Chapter. At home, I love to be with my friends and family, play volleyball, and dance. I heard about AMIGOS through a friend who had been through the program, and I really resonated with everything the program believed in. Going to Biolley, Costa Rica last summer was an experience that really changed my life; I met the most incredible people from all different walks of life. One of my favorite memories from my trip was cooking with my host mom and learning how she makes the soaps that she sells.
During the pandemic, my family and I started to volunteer with the Ward 4 Mutual Aid Society. The Ward 4 Mutual Aid Society is a nonprofit organization run completely by volunteers, created in the pandemic. They partner with DC Central Kitchen, the Central Area Food Bank and Bread for the City to supply food and other necessities to people living in Ward 4, no questions asked. It was such a special experience to be able to connect with people living just blocks from me that I would not have otherwise. Ward 4 was one of the reasons that I became interested in AMIGOS, so I am honored to be able to use this stipend to help the organization in any way I can. This summer I plan to continue to work with them and deepen my connection with my DC community.
Congratulations, Nora! ¡Felicidades!
More About Bill Arnold’s Legacy
Bill’s journey with AMIGOS started in 1965. He was part of the first AMIGOS class of volunteers and joined the program from his home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and while a student at Cornell University. Over the next three years, Bill helped launch the “youth-led program” model that AMIGOS has championed for more than 50 years. In 1966, he served as the senior member of the staff team, and in 1967, he served as Country Director of Guatemala. That summer, Bill met Cathy Anthony, a volunteer from Houston. They married in 1971 and their daughter Elizabeth also became an AMIGOS volunteer 30 years later.
The Arnolds have been an inspirational AMIGOS family. Both Bill and Cathy served on the Board of Directors and helped found the Atlanta Chapter in Georgia. Bill received his master’s degree in Latin American studies and became an esteemed leader in international business and government. He enjoyed a diverse career spanning senior roles in volunteer organizations, banking, government, and academia –all connected by his lifelong commitment to improving global understanding. Bill enjoyed positions with Texas Commerce Bank, the Export-Import Bank in Washington, D.C. appointed by the Reagan-Bush administration, Royal Dutch Shell (Head of International Government Relations), and Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business (Professor in the Practice of Energy Management) where he pioneered new courses and taught more than 1,000 students over a decade. Bill leaves behind an indelible legacy of compassion, courage, and leadership. He will be profoundly missed by his family and friends, but also by the many lives he touched around the world. His unwavering encouragement, optimism, and confidence in each of us that knew him will forever be a source of strength and inspiration.
