When Emilio Estefan, husband of super-star Gloria, was appointed Special Ambassador for Miami, someone asked me if cities also have consuls. The short answer is that this would make no sense. The honorary, unpaid position of “ambassador” in the context of culture, fine arts and trade has an inherent meaning of goodwill.

We should all be goodwill ambassadors, even when we don’t have the status of the Estefans. When we travel abroad as private citizens we can make a real difference in how we’re judged as Americans when we’re mindful that we’re also ambassadors of goodwill for our country.

Although consuls can/should also act as goodwill ambassadors when performing their expected functions, the moniker of “goodwill consul” (or “consul of goodwill”) doesn’t have any linguistic meaning.