Three RPCV women in the news today

Fanshen Cox (Cape Verde 1993-95)

Fanshen Cox

Award-winning playwright, actor, producer & educator, Fanshen Cox is the writer/producer/performer of One Drop of Love, which traveled across the U.S. and internationally from 2013-2020. Fanshen is also a Producer and Development Executive at Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Pearl Street Films. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cape Verde, West Africa, and holds a BA in Spanish & Education, an MA in TESOL, and an MFA in TV, Film & Theatre. She has been honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards from CSULA and from Teachers College, Columbia University. She serves on the board of The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and on the Kennedy Center’s Turnaround Arts Equity Advisory Committee. Fanshen is also a co-author of the Inclusion Rider which was announced at the 2018 Oscar awards by Frances McDormand.

Julia Chang Bloch (Malaysia 1964-66)

Julia Chang Bloch

Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch is founding president of the US-China Education Trust. She was the first US ambassador of Asian descent in US history. She has had an extensive career in international affairs and government service, beginning in 1964 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia and culminating as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal in 1989. From 1981 to 1988, Ambassador Bloch served at the U.S. Agency for International Development as Assistant Administrator of Food for Peace and Voluntary Assistance and as Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Near East, positions appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. She also was the Chief Minority Counsel to a Senate Select Committee; a Senate professional staff member; the Deputy Director of the Office of African Affairs at the U.S. Information Agency; a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and an Associate of the U.S.- Japan Relations Program of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard.

Shannon R. Fauver (Morocco 1998)

Shannon R. Fauver

Kentucky is one of only ten states that elects judges at every level of its court system through nonpartisan elections. The District 30, Division 7 seat has been held by Judge Jennifer Bryant Wilcox since 2009. Wilcox is facing three challengers. One of the challengers is Shannon R. Fauver who focuses on on bankruptcy and Social Security disability litigation.

Shannon says, “I believe that the best candidate for Judge should know the law and have practiced the law and have the experience to make decisions based on the law. I have been a lawyer for 18 years and have represented over 3,000 clients from Traffic Court to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Along with my legal experience, and my service with the Peace Corps, I am able to understand people from all walks of life and will treat them with the dignity and respect that everyone is entitled to no matter their social status, race or religion.

“District Court covers matters from small claims, traffic court to evictions. At some point most people’s first time in Court will be District Court, they need to have a judge that will understand that this will be a new experience to them and don’t want to be treated with anything other than respect. A person also needs to know that a judge will listen to them and they will not be treated dismissively just because they are in the Court system.”