The Off-the-Record Lecture Series is the largest women's foreign policy lecture series in the United States. Created under the aegis of the Foreign Policy Association in New York City in 1938, OTR today has some 700 members and a waiting list. Public discourse has always been an essential element of America's democratic traditions. Led by a volunteer Board of Governors, OTR is a part of that tradition and provides a unique forum for businesswomen, academics, diplomats and educators to hear and question renowned foreign policy practitioners and thinkers on a regular basis. As the name implies, the Off-the-Record Lecture Series does not allow lectures to be recorded or reported.