Marianne Mason has overseen the Cordell Hull Foundation (CHF) foreign teacher exchange since 1996, managing programs for hundreds of J1 visaholders annually. CHF sponsors teachers from fifty countries to work in private or charter foreign-language immersion (French, Mandarin, Spanish, Greek, Italian, German and Portuguese), Baccalaureate and public K-12 schools in the US designated by the State-Department BridgeUSA program.
As writer/director, Ms. Mason has produced a series of orientation courses and instruction videos narrated by native speakers of several languages to explain the Cordell Hull Foundation J-1 teacher visa exchange program. She has staged and hosted annual new-teacher orientation workshops in New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Rosa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tucson, Silicon Valley, and in Paris, France and Athens, Greece. In 2020 during the pandemic, she produced CHF program videos to explain the unique benefits that our French-American, International Baccalaureate, and Chinese Teacher Exchange programs contribute to the national interest: J-1 Visa Vitality, Baccalaureate Program Benefit, and Building Bridges With China.
Her book, J1 Visa Uncloaked–Complete Cultural Training Guide, Vol. II established her as a foreign teacher exchange expert in the J-1 visa field. Available on Amazon.com, it offers a collection of cultural adjustment orientation materials for teachers plus information about the J-1 teacher visa that supports it. She advocates for accomplished foreign educators to come to live in the US temporarily to advance future opportunities for American students, helping them to prepare to succeed and thrive on the twenty-first century world stage. Simultaneously, on behalf of CHF she advises foreign teachers on cultural adjustment to the American way of life and education systems and helps them navigate the complicated J-1 visa regulations. Cordell Hull Commentary highlights some of this work.
Ms. Mason earned a Master of Science degree in Non-profit Management from New School University in New York City and a post-graduate Certificate for Non-Profit leaders on invitation from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in Palo Alto, California. She is a previous member of two teachers’ unions, UTNO and NYSUT, having taught French in public school and technology to adults. and is fluent in French and Spanish. Formerly a professional actress, she belongs to Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity. She lives in New York City.