June 2014

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ASSOCIATIONS
141 June14
All-Stars
The American Association of Singapore’s General Manager TONI
DUDSAK (seated, above right) explains its colourful 97-year history,
and how she came to lead the organisation.
Toni Dudsak is a classic example
of the newly arrived expat that
the American Association of
Singapore (AAS) strives to lend a hand
to. Four years ago, the high-spirited
former New Yorker reached out to the
association for help; today, she is its
general manager.
Toni has long experience of working
in international expatriate associations,
however. She served as Executive
Director of the Luxembourg-American
Chamber of Commerce in New York for
six years, and Chief Operating Officer of
the American Chamber of Commerce in
Luxembourg for seven.
So, when she relocated from New
York in 2010 with her husband and now
17-year-old son, she immediately turned
to AAS and the Career Resource Centre
for Expats (CRCE). Laughing, she says,
“My husband knew that I needed to
work: I’d always had a job in different
parts of the world where we have lived.
So I started looking immediately.”
It was a difficult process initially,
as many new arrivals find, but after a
few months she got a job with AAS as
sponsorship manager. “In that first year,
I got to know the people and admire the
achievements of AAS,” she says. “I was
deeply taken by its rich history and the
strong, diverse community,” she says.
She has held the general manager role
for three years, and is the association’s
biggest advocate, singing the praises
of the hard-working multicultural staff
of nine, the executive committee, and
the affiliate American organisations (see
box on next page), that work together to
serve their 1,400 member families.
Toni says it’s estimated there are
26,000 Americans living here, and these
fabulous organisations are the lifeblood
of the tight-knit community. “Years back,
there were no groups or associations
providing any of these services, no
programmes for trailing spouses, no
newsletter, social events or sports. AAS
was the first, and now all the country
associations do those things,” she says.
Toni was enthusiastic about moving
to Singapore, as she feels it shares
similarities with Luxembourg, where
she and her family spent nine years.
“Both countries are wealthy, very
small and have easy access to other
countries. We loved Luxembourg; it
was a great time personally, as my
son was born there, and professionally
too, as I become very involved with the
international community.”
Clearly a motivated and driven
person, Toni believes that much can be
accomplished by the AAS when people
pull together, both within and outside
the organisation.
“We work closely with other country
chambers and associations on common
events and promoting links in the
community. We raise money for charity,
and always strive to improve the value
we give to members. Our Singapore-
American newsletter, which started in
1958, has a circulation of 6,000, while
the 13th Living in Singapore book (first
published in 1977) is a comprehensive
resource for the entire expat community
here,” she says.
“We also need to keep up with the
needs of members and understand
how they experience Singapore. The
city and its expats are changing; more
people used to be on expat packages,
whereas now it’s a younger crowd and
more people come on local packages.
I see more couples where both are
seeking work. CRCE is very important
in helping with career information and
resources, and attracts a great pool of
qualified people.”
After more than 13 years abroad, have
Toni’s views of the US changed?
By Katie Roberts
Left to right: Haily Lai, Alka Chandiramani,
Valerie Tietjen, Claire Slattery, Danielle
Spinks, Scot Mario, Toni Dudsak (seated),
Mary Ferrante and Anne Morgan.
Photo by Eric Janes.
American