It's Easier Now: Lecture Guests Will Sign Up Online
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We've made it easier to tell others about the gem that is NCWA! Guests at our lectures will handle their registration online this season. Last year, members could invite guests but had to go through the details of registering them. This season, members can invite them, but guests will register themselves. Easy! Guests can reserve a seat to attend one lecture during the season for themselves and one other person. If there are two guests, they must attend their selected lecture at the same time. Guests are limited to only one free lecture per season, after which we hope they will consider membership. All members have to do is tell their friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and other like-minded people about the superior quality of
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adult and youth programs offered by NCWA in Naples and how it helps them to better understand our rapidly changing world. Don't forget to tell them that we're nonpartisan, non-profit and a place where friendships are built. Then send them to the NCWA website's home page to register. Guests can reserve their free passes for one or two persons by clicking here. Or they may scan the QR code below: 
Great Decisions will announce the details of its guest program soon.
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Join Us for an Exciting Lecture Season!
Naples United Church of Christ
5200 Crayton Road, Naples
3:45 and 7:30 pm (except as otherwise noted)
In person and livestreamed
Our Enduring Global Crises
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December 8, 2025: Ambassador William Taylor [US Ambassador ret. Ukraine]: Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. "Russia's War on Ukraine: an Update"
January 12, 2026: Mona Yacoubian, Senior Advisor and Director, Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and international Studies. "The Middle East at a Hinge Moment"
January 26, 2026: Daniel Alpert and panelists from The International Club of Business Economics: “Impacting the Global Economy” (one session at 4:30 pm, followed by social mixer with panelists; details to be announced)
February 9, 2026: Michael E. O’Hanlon, Brookings Institution, “To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategies Since the Revolution, and Lessons for Today”.
February 23, 2026: Tim Ditter, Senior Research Scientist, U.S. Center for Naval Analyses. “Advances in Chinese Military and Uncrewed Technology”.
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March 9, 2026: Prof. Paul Webster
Hare, Master Lecturer, Boston University. “Diplomacy and Negotiation: Cuba and Latin America”.
March 23, 2026: Louis Mead Treadwell, 11th Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and Former Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. "High Latitudes and High Stakes: Economics, Environment and Security in an Accessible Arctic."
April 7, 2026, TUESDAY: Ambassador Douglas Lute, [usa ret.] Former assistant to President Bush and National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. “A Global National Security Conversation.”
Available to members
in our archives:
November 3, 2025: Distinguished Fellow Barbara Slavin of the Stimson Center in Washington, “Conflict: Iran.”
November 17, 2025: Edward Luce, National Editor of the Financial Times, Author of "ZBIG", a Cold War biography of Zbigniew Brzezinski.
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NCWA Adopts Vision and Values Statements
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NCWA's strong Mission Statement has been embedded in its bylaws for many years, but as we broadened our outreach into the community and our programs serving area students, the Board of Directors felt it was time to add statements describing how we envision our role into the long-term future and what we believe in. The Vision and Core Values statements below were recently added to guide our leaders and members and to inform the community about NCWA.
Our Vision
We envision a community that thinks critically engages thoughtfully, and fosters respectful dialogue on international affairs to build a more informed and actively engaged society.
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Our Mission
The mission of NCWA is to educate, inspire and engage our community in international affairs and critical global issues.
Our Core Values
- Lifelong Learning, Optimistically Pursued
- Global Issues, Local Impact
- Firsthand Access to World-Class Thinkers
- Many Views, One Respectful Room
- Youth Pathways to Leadership
- A Caring Community of Friends
- Equity & Access
- Integrity & Trust
Click here to view an expanded version of our Core Values with more description.
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Officers Leading Our Board for the Season
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Mark Schwab, President
Gunther Winkler, President-Elect
* * * NCWA Foreign Affairs Book Club
Dives Deeply into Foreign Policy November 4: ZBIG: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet by Edward Luce
December 2: The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman by Karen Elliot House.
January 6: Wasteland by Robert Kaplan
February 4 (Wednesday): TBD
March 3: TBD
April 7: TBD
The club meets via Zoom from 12:00 to 1:30 pm usually on first Tuesdays of the month for six sessions during the season. To get on the mailing list, click here. For Zoom link and more information, go to our Book Club page.
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New members of the Board of Directors and new officers for the 2025-26 season were elected last spring. Mark Schwab will continue this season as president. President-Elect is Gunther Winkler, who is returning to the Board after time away when he was president of Greater Naples Leadership. He will assume the top position in April. Francisco Figueroa is new Board Secretary. Continuing in their former positions will be Mimi Gregory, Vice President for Programs; Carol Green, Vice President of Operations and Communications, and Robert Roussel, Treasurer. Other Board members are: Judi Lipnick, Membership Chair; Judy Baker, School Outreach Co-Chair; Alan Van Egmond, Model UN Chair; Dave Brown, Great Decisions Chair; Terry Nauck, Great Decisions Co-Chair; Also, Martha Williams, North American Scholarships Chair and Communications Chair for Model UN and School Programs; Mark Schneider, Webmaster/ Technology Chair; Jean Foster, Hospitality Chair and Fundraising Co-Chair; Susan McManus, Fundraising Co-Chair and FGCU Liaison; and Michael Finkel, Academic WorldQuest Chair. To read their biographies, click here.
Did You Miss a Lecture? The lecture archive is available for members.
To access the archive, first sign in.
Then, click this link
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 Applications are open for summer scholarships to prestigious summer study programs in July 2026 for area high school students. Go to our scholarship pages for more information (click here for domestic scholarships and here for international scholarships) or click here to apply.
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Mo Winograd, Dedicated NCWA Leader, Passes Away 
Mo Winograd, former NCWA Board member and a dedicated leader in the Great Decisions and Southwest Florida Model UN programs, died September 5 in a hospital in New York City after a long struggle with cancer. To access our page in memory of Mo's contributions to NCWA, the many ways she impacted lives, as well as for instructions on how to donate to a scholarship fund in her name, please click here.
Deadline for summer
scholarship applications December 15
Deadline for teacher
recommendations for applicants January 10
Great Decisions meetings begin January 19
Middle School Academic WorldQuest February 28
Model UN competition at FGCU March 2-3
Great Decisions meetings end March 13
High School Academic WorldQuest March 21
Final lecture April 7
Annual Meeting and
election of new Board members April 7
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Member Survey: High Satisfaction,
Suggestions Made for Improvements
NCWA's recent member survey showed it is healthy and stable two years after the end of the pandemic. Member satisfaction remained very high, although members said improvements could be made in programs and in staying relevant in changing times. To learn more, click here.
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