About Us
Board of Directors
Corporate Members
Staff

The Columbia World Affairs Council is a member of the national World Affairs Councils of America network with more than 90 local Councils, located in more than 40 states, including the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, over 350,000  participants, and many affiliated organizations.

​The Columbia World Affairs Council is also a member of Sister Cities International,  a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of "sister cities". More than 2,000 cities, states and counties are partnered in over 140 countries around the world.

Dickson Monk:
​Executive Director

Dickson Monk joined the Columbia World Affairs Council in June of 2016, becoming executive director in January 2017. He is dedicated to advancing the trajectory of his hometown towards a thriving and innovative international center in the Southeast and passionate about cultivating a supportive and connected global community. 

After eight years of working in the publishing industry at Bruccoli, Clark, Layman, he joined Columbia’s nonprofit community as communications manager for the Columbia Museum of Art and, later, as director of marketing and communications at Historic Columbia. Dickson currently serves on the boards of South Carolina Sister Cities, Columbia Council for Internationals; and previously, International Association of Business Communicators of South Carolina, The Anchor Institute, American Advertising Federation, and the Media Club of Columbia. He is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows. Dickson can be contacted at dmonk@columbiaworldaffairs.org

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Doria Kim:
Program & Membership Director

Doria Kim joined the Columbia World Affairs Council as a fellow to further public understanding and awareness of international affairs through CWAC programs and membership. She is a Columbia native and an avid traveler, traveling to over 20 countries to see and learn more about the world. 
 
Doria earned her B.A. from the University of South Carolina in Political Science and Economics. She also studied abroad at Moscow State University to advance her knowledge in Russian language, politics, and economics. Through her interests in both domestic and international affairs, she has worked at the federal, municipal, and non-profit organization level. She was a political intern for the State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea Chair research intern at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mayor’s Fellow at the Office of Mayor Steve Benjamin, and Program and Membership Coordinator intern at the Columbia World Affairs Council.  Doria can be contacted at programs@columbiaworldaffairs.org.

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Craig Witmer:
International Strategy &
​Economic Development Intern

Craig Witmer joined the Council to support its work in business diplomacy and economic development. He is a Graduate Student at the University of South Carolina earning his Master of International Business through the Darla Moore School of Business focusing on International Trade, Investment, and Global Strategy.

Prior to joining the Council, he worked for a boutique law firm in New York City, a startup moving company in Brooklyn, and a highly-acclaimed restaurant in Maplewood, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University where he earned his B.S. in Diplomacy and International Relations and read Philosophy through the University Honors Program. As an undergraduate, he worked across international affairs, local government and NGOs at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Delegation of the Basque Country in the United States, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Malta to the United Nations, and Village President of South Orange. Craig can be reached at cwitmer@columbiaworldaffairs.org. 

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Bob Coble:
​Chairman

Bob Coble, former Mayor of the City of Columbia, joined the Columbia World Affairs Council as Chairman in 2010. Aside from his leadership in Columbia World Affairs Council, Bob is a leader within Nexsen Pruet. He serves as chair of the firm’s South Carolina Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Group.  He has also been named Ambassador of the Year by the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Columbia Urban League Board. 

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Fred Monk:  
Chairman Emeritus

​​Fred Monk recently retired as Senior Advisor, International Strategy & Trade at the South Carolina Department of Commerce. He is particularly focused on leveraging South Carolina’s international partnerships for economic, educational and cultural development.
 
Fred helped create and develop the Columbia World Affairs Council in 1992, which has helped the state raise the level of awareness of its international connectivity and establish new international relationships. He was involved in the formation of the sister-state relationships with Queensland, Australia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
 
He was designated chairman emeritus of the Council, received the Council’s Global Vision Award in 1999, and currently serves on the Council’s Board of Directors. Besides helping forge the sister-state relationships, he has been involved in developing Columbia's sister-city relationships with Kaiserslautern, Germany; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Accra, Ghana; Chelyabinsk, Russia; Yibin, China; and Taichung City, Taiwan.

He currently helps spearhead the Council’s Network Cities Program, which connects Columbia for business and education with partnership regions and their universities in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Romania. 
 
Fred is a graduate of the University of South Carolina College of Journalism and worked at The State (South Carolina’s largest daily newspaper) and The Columbia Record from 1970-1997. He was business editor of The State from 1981 to 1997. He helped develop and served as president of The South Carolina Export Consortium, a non-profit organization that helped small to medium-size companies identify and export to international markets, from 1997 to 2014. He represented South Carolina on the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Export Trade Advisory Council. Besides serving as senior advisor, he is the state’s representative on the Global South Carolina Alliance involving Estonia and Israel and the South Carolina Military Base Task Force. He also serves on the board of the University of South Carolina’s Center for International Business and Research.
 
He served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, and later was the Public Affairs Officer with the South Carolina Air National Guard, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is a past president of the national Society of American Business Editors & Writers, and served on the partnership board of the USC College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He helped create the 3 Rivers Music Festival, which he chaired in Columbia for seven years and is the former president of the Earlewood Community Citizens Organization. He currently chairs the Columbia Parks & Recreation Foundation.

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Tia Williams Nelson:
Board Member At-Large 

​Tia Williams Nelson joined the Columbia World Affairs Council as director of communications and development in March 2019 to showcase SC while bridging the vast cultural and economic opportunity between global and regional stakeholders. In September 2019, she transitioned to innovations programs manager at the South Carolina Department of Commerce while remaining an active Board Member At-Large for the Council's Board of Directors. She is a West Columbia native and economic development professional with a passion for thriving, healthy cities.
 
Tia earned her BS from Clemson University and Masters in Urban and Regional Planning with a certificate in economic development from Virginia Polytechnic and State University in 2009. She also attended the world-renowned Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia, with an emphasis in intercultural communications and development. For nearly a decade, Tia served as a publisher, franchise owner, entrepreneur, and marketing expert in various private sector capacities, including co-owner of SERVPRO of Cayce/ West Columbia and Lexington, publisher of Midlands Anchor, and founder of a regional community think tank, The Anchor Institute. Previously, Tia worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Joe Wilson’s Office.
 
Tia’s community involvement and achievements include recognition as Lexington Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professional of the Year, Roaring Ten Award Recipient (Distinguished Clemson Alumni), former roles as Chair of Lexington Young Professionals, Secretary of Columbia Opportunity Resource and Co-Organizer of One Million Cups, Columbia. She has served six terms as an appointed board member of the Regional Education Center Advisory Board. Tia can be contacted at tnelson@sccommerce.com. 

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