We are saddened to say goodbye to Candida Mannozzi, Chief Operating Officer of the Association, who will retire on December 31 for health reasons. For more than 16 years at the AAG, Candida applied her considerable skills in leadership and administration, steering the organization through multiple changes and challenges, and always seeking out new opportunities to advance the geographic discipline. Through it all, she has kept a steady hand on the AAG’s day-to-day operations and served as a vital staff liaison to the AAG Council and more than 20 volunteer committees. Her dedication to a world where difference can be celebrated and accomplishments recognized is especially prominent in how she led the AAG’s extensive honors and awards program. 

“It’s hard to imagine the AAG without Candida’s wit, dedication, and tenacity,” says Executive Director Gary Langham. “Her unique ability to manage thorny situations while building trust and respect will be sorely missed. We will honor her service and dedication by sustaining the systems and organization that she made better every day.”  

Candida’s tenure at the AAG included service to past Executive Director Douglas Richardson and stepping in as Interim Director for several months in 2019, pending the arrival of Executive Director Gary Langham. Her comprehensive knowledge of the organization has been the through-line in her ability to preside over change and create continuity at the AAG from 2008 until now. In keeping with her background in international affairs, she built relationships with international partners across all sectors, and managed multi-million-dollar projects with the U.S. State Department and U.S. AID.  

Born in Rome, Italy, Candida is truly a citizen of the world. She speaks at least a half-dozen languages and began her career in East and Central Europe, just after the Berlin Wall fell. She experienced the establishment of the Czech Republic first-hand, and she developed some of its first U.S. and Western European opportunities in post-Iron Curtain Europe, arranging for academic exchanges and counseling Czech students seeking academic experience overseas. She also spent more than three years as production manager for a news and broadcasting company in the new Czech Republic, producing daily regional news, sports, and documentary reports at the same time as she directed personnel, managed operations, and prioritized work assignments among teams.

Candida’s career in the United States began at the Institute of International Education. In 2001 she took a leap to open her own bookstore in Washington, D.C., Candida’s World of Books, which soon became a go-to source for unique travel books, maps, and cultural events. When the bookstore closed in 2008, the local news source DCist remembered it this way: 

Candida’s [World of Books] had a niche, and its niche was “travel,” for want of a better word. But referring to Candida’s as a “travel” bookstore didn’t really do justice to what it offered. Sure, you could go there and pick up the latest Fodor’s or Lonely Planet guide, or maps and other travel necessities (such as journals or empty scrapbooks that invited your filling them with your observations or artifacts you discovered)….But it’s also where you could find a knowledgeable staff that knew the difference between mere “guidebooks” and travel books, and who could in turn direct you to some of the best travel narratives on whatever region you were planning to visit or wanting to know more about.” 

—Shawn Westfall, DCist, February 11, 2008 

Candida’s love of travel and adventure is one of many delightful traits we will miss at the AAG offices. She always came back from her travels with stories of diving in Belize and visiting family in her native Italy. During the AAG’s most recent meeting in Hawai‘i, Candida embraced the chance to learn everything she could about the island of O‘ahu’s historic and sacred touchstones. She was often the first of the staff to be awake in the morning, ready to squeeze in a hike or a swim before the day’s business began.  

Risha RaQuelle, Chief Strategy Officer, noted recently that Candida often signs off on her calls with the phrase “Bye for now.” It’s a cheery, comforting phrase, and that’s how we’d like to consider this goodbye to Candida, our deeply esteemed and treasured colleague.  

Bye for now, Candida. Thank you for your leadership. 

Please feel free to share your experiences in a curated space specially created for Candida. We know she will treasure your testimony.  Share your thoughts