GYA Staff
Keri McWilliams joined the Gap Year Association as the organization’s Executive Director in January 2022.
Born and raised in Montana, Keri currently resides in Missoula, MT where she also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. Keri has been introducing University of Montana students to the importance, role and purpose of the nonprofit sector since 2014.
With nearly 20 years of experience in fundraising, grant writing, program management, board governance and nonprofit finance, Keri has worked for, and consulted with, a variety of nonprofit organizations over her professional career.
It was through her own gap year experience with AmeriCorps that Keri developed her interest in and passion for the nonprofit sector. During her gap year, she lived in community with 16 other young adults while volunteering at a large homeless shelter in downtown St. Paul, MN.
Keri holds a B.S. in Health Promotion from the University of Montana and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a Certificate in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Oregon. When not in the office or classroom, she can be found on adventure of some sort involving hiking, backpacking, cycling, or kayaking with her canine companion, Kona.
Mel was born and raised on the island of Kauaʻi, where she developed strong opinions about wearing shoes in houses (vehemently opposed). She eventually moved to the U.S. mainland, where those opinions were challenged on a daily basis. However, it gave her good practice in navigating different cultural landscapes with an open mind, which is something she continues to value to this day.
Mel holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Oregon and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked as a field instructor, mentor, manager, and director for various experiential education programs, both abroad and across the northwestern U.S. She believes that some of the most profound educational experiences occur outside of classroom walls, and that some of the most powerful teachers come in the form of landscapes and communities explored with respect and curiosity.
Mel currently lives in Missoula, MT, centered within the homeland of the Seliš-Qlispé people. She enjoys traveling through alpine terrain, swift-moving water, and temperate rainforests, ideally with her husband, daughter, dog, and a really good fantasy novel in tow.
GYA Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is composed of leaders in the fields of gap year education, mental health, higher education, experiential education, international education, and management.
The Board is responsible for overseeing the Gap Year Association’s organizational strategies and goals in alignment with its nonprofit mission.
Rae Nelson is a gap year author, researcher, parent, and Vice President of Haigler Enterprises. She is co-author (with Karl Haigler) of The Gap-Year Advantage: Helping Your Child Benefit from Time Off Before or During College (2005) and Gap Year, American Style; Journeys toward Learning, Serving and self-Discovery (2013).
Rae has held leadership positions in education policy and practice in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. These include serving at The White House as Associate Director for Education Policy and as Vice President/Executive Director of the Center for Workforce Preparation, a not-for-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For the last twenty years, she has consulted with companies of all sizes and educational institutions to help ensure current and future workers have the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to fulfill their potential. She has a B.A. in English from Cornell University and a M.A. in Public Policy and Communications from The American University.
Sandy Storer has professional experience as a family therapist, school social worker, transition specialist, and pre-college coach, Sandy has an extensive history of helping young adults find, and flourish, on their path. She has worked in clinical, public school, and university settings and has a particular interest in the challenges involved in the transition to college. Sandy grew up in a family where weeks-long backpacking trips and traipsing about in a Volkswagen camper were the norm. She learned to be comfortable with the unknown, planning on the fly, and solving problems with whatever was at hand. In 2003, seeking to provide that same spirit of adventure for her family, she led her own children (ages 7, 10, and 13) on a gap semester in Central America. It was a pivotal time for her family, collectively and individually. In 2013, Sandy used a personal gap year to pursue her interest in photography and find a way to make meaning of her hobby. Sandy now donates her photography services, traveling regularly to Uganda with a youth-led non-profit as both a volunteer photographer and trip co-leader. She cannot imagine her life today without the gains from these gap experiences and enthusiastically encourages others to give one a try!
Julia Rogers is a traveler, writer and speaker, as well as the founder of EnRoute Consulting— a social enterprise dedicated to fueling the gap year movement and developing a generation of compassionate, driven and resourceful global citizens.
Julia works with educators, service-learning organizations, non-profits, government entities and families to further experiential education, encourage ethical travel and transform higher education. In her work with families, she provides mentorship and logistical support for young people who take gap time after high school. In 2019 Julia delivered a TEDx talk about the power and opportunity of the gap year pathway.
Julia is an alumna of Hamilton College in New York and a recent graduate of the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute. A perennial traveler, Julia frequently conducts site visits to gap year programs near and far. Her favorite destinations are Morocco, New Zealand, Laos and Cuba. When not planning her next adventure, she enjoys playing in the mountains of Stowe, Vermont with her husband and two daughters.
Ryan Allen is a founding director of Irish Gap Year.
He is a colourful outdoor enthusiast and brings over 15 years of experiential educational and outdoor knowledge to the team. He has taught outdoor/experiential education and worked in management capacities in Ireland, America, Norway and New Zealand and holds degrees in literature and American Studies from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Ryan loves getting out in the field with students and feels particularly fortunate to have the opportunity to marry his passions with his career.
Ryan is a proud father of two, Tommy and Maggie, both under two years of age and lives in County Donegal, Ireland.
**The Gap Year Association reserves a board position for a democratically elected representative for each of the Professional Membership groups: Accredited Gap Year Providers, Accredited Gap Year Consultants, and Official Gap Year Colleges.
Jason Sarouhan was deeply imprinted by the diversity-focused curriculum of UC San Diego’s Thurgood Marshall College and his major studies of physical anthropology and primate behavior. Exhausted by fifteen years of academic study, Jason took a semester off from university and spent five months participating in a conservation and wildlife field program in Tanzania, as well as traveling through Uganda and Madagascar. During this gap time, a month-long independent study project with one of the last known tribes of hunter-gatherers rekindled his love of learning and he returned to college with a renewed sense of focus and academic confidence.**The Gap Year Association reserves a board position for a democratically elected representative for each of the Professional Membership groups: Accredited Gap Year Providers, Accredited Gap Year Consultants, and Official Gap Year Colleges.
My family has always been passionate about travel, but when I discovered studying abroad wasn’t an option with my university and neuroscience major, I knew I needed to take a gap year.
I come from a prominent Italian family–my grandparents live in Naples and my mom spent her childhood in Italy–so my number one goal was to travel there and learn Italian. I wanted to be able to connect and communicate with my extended family because the language barrier had strained my whole life. When I realized I could take a gap year and immerse myself in Italian culture, focus my semester on language learning, and make such lasting friendships with my cohort, I knew I needed to jump on the opportunity.
Throughout that semester, I was able to level up my Italian and build a strong relationship with my host family, who I have stayed in touch with to this day; I also decided to extend my trip and lived with my grandparents in Naples for almost two months. For the first time ever, I was able to truly communicate and connect with them in a way I had never been able to. It was an extremely impactful experience.
Once I finished my gap semester, I knew I wanted to stay involved with the gap year community as much as possible and continue to share how meaningful my experience was. I helped at student orientations, on alumni panels, and speaking with prospective students and parents. After graduating college, I flew directly to Rome to work as a Student Life Coordinator on one of EF’s gap programs; from there, I decided to take a full-time job with EF Gap Year.
Tanya Gallo is the Founding Director of The Living City Project. She is an urban planner and educator with a focus on resilience, public space and educational access. At 100 Resilient Cities, she led a global network in resilience strategy development in collaboration with cities. Tanya was a consultant with HR&A Advisors, managing urban development projects including the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, the community rebuilding plans in hard hit coastal communities across NYC after Hurricane Sandy. Tanya designed and led DreamYard’s ACTION program, an award-winning arts and social justice program for Bronx high school students. She received her MSc in Urbanization and Development at the London School of Economics and was a 2008-9 recipient of the Charles H. Revson Fellowship at Columbia University, awarded annually to ten city leaders in New York City. Tanya has published articles on public space in Beirut and lectured at the Pratt Institute, AIA and Columbia University Summer Program. Tanya is a graduate of Hampshire College and the London School of Economics.
Alia Pialtos is the COO of Go Overseas, a community-centered website used by over 6.5 million people each year to search for meaningful travel programs, read verified reviews & articles, and discover scholarships for a wide range of experiences: gap year, high school abroad, study abroad, internships abroad, teach abroad, TEFL courses, language schools, and tours & trips. Since 2016, Alia has also served as the Director of USA Gap Year Fairs, collaborating with high school counselors to produce 40+ annual events that connect students, parents, educators, and counselors with gap year providers, experts, and alumni. Through this work, she supports digital and on-the-ground community engagement initiatives that aim to educate, inspire, and empower more people to pursue opportunities for experiential learning.
Working within and in partnership with non-profit, private, and public organizations, Alia has held various leadership roles within education, gap year admissions, marketing, and operations. As an artist/educator turned COO, Alia brings a creative, mission-driven approach to marketing and business development. Taking an active role in shaping her own educational paths between high school and college, then again between college and graduate school, Alia earned a B.F.A. in Ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art & Design and an M.F.A. in Studio Art at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She now lives in Massachusetts, where she still maintains a studio practice and travels whenever possible.
Brynna is a brand director, photographer, and communications expert based in northern Italy. Prior to Verto Education, she lived in Costa Rica for five years as Director of Marketing and Communications at Outward Bound Costa Rica. She worked as Lead Photographer for Shutterfly and in marketing for a New York-based nonprofit aimed at ending extreme poverty by creating jobs in Kenya and Uganda. She believes that travel paired with experiential education helps people of all ages grow personally, cross-cultural barriers, and discover or rediscover their life direction.
Brynna, her work, and writings has been featured in several publications including The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Mountainsmith, FormAssembly, Upworthy, The Tico Times, and more. She has earned two regional awards in Photography Excellence.
She has a B.S. in Spanish and Health Services from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brynna is a certified COVID-19 Contact Tracer with Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, NAUI Open Water Scuba Diver, and Recreational Rappel Operator.
Dr. Ritza Santiago is a member of GYA’s Research Committee. She has researched international and domestic gap year programs and related topics for the last eight years, conducting postsecondary surveys with teens in the northeast region of the US. Her dissertation explores how her research participants (gap year students) finalized the decision to take a gap year during the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved factors like poor communication from their committed institutions and family input. Similarly, all participants stated that they hadn’t previously considered a gap year; however, the effects of COVID-19 allowed the option to be explored. Each participant reported this “detour” as a positive experience and would recommend it to fellow peers.
Aaron has been involved in the Gap Year space for well over a decade: first as a field instructor working directly with students and currently as the Director of Student Programming at Where There Be Dragons. Before joining Dragons, Aaron worked as the Program Coordinator for UCLA Outdoor Adventures where he managed the university’s group wilderness excursions and outdoor leadership training program. He completed his masters degree in History at UCLA with a focus on U.S. economic influences in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Aaron has spent over 700 days in the field as a Gap Semester instructor in Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, and Indonesia. In his current administrative role, Aaron oversees curriculum, program logistics, staff training, and community sustainability practices for Dragons Gap Year programs. Aaron has led trainings on risk management, leadership development & facilitation, and cross-cultural communication at schools and conferences around the country including for GYA, The Forum on Education Abroad, Wilderness Risk Management Conference, GEBG, and more. His current passion is to find ways to integrate Positive Psychology research into experiential education and facilitation. Aaron speaks Indonesian, Spanish, and passable English. He is a Wilderness First Responder, avid surfer, and believer in travel’s potential to transform us into a more just, compassionate, and awake global community. Joining the GYA Board represents an opportunity to continue to deepen his contributions to the Gap Year field and advance a shared mission of making Gap Year experiences more accessible to a larger audience.
** The Gap Year Association reserves a Board Position for a democratically elected representative for each of the Professional Membership Groups: Accredited Gap Year Providers, Accredited Gap Year Consultants, and Official Gap Year Colleges.
Sophia believes wholly in the power of experiential education and has spent more than a decade working within the gap year field as an instructor and Executive Director of Gap Programming at ARCC. A gap year alumna, Sophia’s gap year was with City Year, Americorps volunteering in an under-resourced high school in Philadelphia. She spent her college years between New Hampshire, DC, Cuba, and Spain, then had the opportunity to co-create and lead an inaugural gap semester program in East Africa. Upon completion, she was hired to develop and grow ARCC’s Gap Year program. As Executive Director, Sophia has dedicated the last 12 years to building an award-winning experiential education program focusing on global citizenry, cross-cultural relationship building, and leadership development. Her programs travel to 19 countries and have served over 1000 students. Aside from her role as ED, Sophia has extensive experience facilitating training in leadership development, crisis-management, conflict resolution, and cultural awareness, she has promoted the gap year through speaking engagements across the country, and has presented at the GYA Conference. Sophia stepped away from ARCC in December 2022 upon the birth of her daughter, Zoe.
A perennial adventurer living in Bend, OR, with her husband and daughter, Sophia is a certified Wilderness First Responder and SWIFT Water Rescuer. Her happiest adventure memories are from rafting down the Colorado River, she aspires to read 70 books each year, and she is proficient in German and Spanish.
Drew Beasley (former GYA Board Ambassador) is more than a gap year alum, he is a passionate and outspoken advocate for the benefits of experiential education. After his first semester of college as a music studies major, Drew took a gap period to South Asia where he practiced intercultural communication, explored his strengths, and refocused his college trajectory. He is a dean’s list student at DePaul University.
Drew has remained an active and involved member of the gap year community by sharing his story through speeches, writings, panels, and podcasts. He’s enjoyed working alongside prospective gappers to ensure they find an option that fits their needs. Outside of the Gap Year Association, Drew works at the Chicago-based Coleman Entrepreneurship Center helping students bring their business ideas to life. Drew will begin leading service-learning trips this summer and he will graduate in 2022 with a dual degree in Media and Peace Studies.
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Rob Smariga (former GYA Board President) serves as Director of Operations and Finance for BSCS Science Learning, a nonprofit engaged in K-12 science education. He provides management oversight for the corporate IT, HR, accounting, payroll, contracting, and facilities functions. He also leads BSCS’s budgeting, forecasting, and reporting efforts and serves as corporate treasurer.
Rob has nearly 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including fifteen years in COO and CEO roles with education, youth mentoring, and public health mission-oriented organizations with international, national, and statewide scopes of service. Previously, he served as CEO for the Association for Experiential Education and COO for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma. He has worked in organizations supported by federal and state government awards, foundation grants, private donations, and fee-for-service activities.
Rob earned a B.A. in social and behavioral sciences from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in nonprofit management from the University of Georgia.
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Jonathan Gibson is the Director of Student Recruitment at Wayfinding Academy. As a small child, Jonathan loved giving hugs and taking risks (his mother will happily tell you the story of how, at under 9 months old, he climbed onto the kitchen counter to turn on the toaster oven). He wouldn’t realize it until much later, but these values are at the core of who Jonathan is and how he lives his life. Jonathan is a genuine, caring person who thrives on forming connections and building community. He is passionate about personal growth and self-discovery and has spent his career as an experiential educator honing his skills to facilitate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Along the way, Jonathan has received extensive education and training in social and cognitive psychology, social emotional learning, leadership, and group development (at Duke University where he earned a Bachelors degree in Psychology, National Outdoor Leadership School, and beyond). He has also sought out valuable life experience in various roles such as World Traveler, Mad Scientist, Hug Trainer, Preschool Teacher, and Wilderness Instructor. His most recent (and most challenging) undertaking has been the role of Daddy to his lively daughter Lilah. Jonathan strives to grow and further discover how to be true to himself, and he looks forward to continuing this journey along with his Wayfinding students.
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Mitch Gordon is the CEO/Co-founder of Go Overseas and the Entrepreneur in Residence at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Mitch is an entrepreneur, starting a number of companies in the field of travel & education. His current company, Go Overseas, with over 600,000 monthly visitors, has become the authority for researching international education programs around the world. Mitch is a frequent presenter in the areas of entrepreneurship, business and international education. Mitch previously lived in Taipei, Taiwan for 5 years and currently resides in San Francisco. He received his BS from Binghamton University and is completing his MBA at UC Berkeley. Mitch is also a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). When he’s not working you can find Mitch on a run, hiking, traveling or reading.
Joe O’Shea serves as the Director of Florida State University’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement and is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Philosophy. He received a BA in philosophy and social science from Florida State University, where he served as the student body president and a university trustee. A Truman and Rhodes Scholar, he has a master’s degree in comparative social policy and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Oxford. Joe has been involved with developing education and health-care initiatives in communities in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. His research and publications are primarily focused on the civic and moral development of people, and his recent book, Gap Year: How Delaying College Changes People in Ways the World Needs, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press. In 2013, Joe was elected to serve a three-year term as a Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research, the leading national organization for the promotion of undergraduate research and scholarship.
At 25, Cecilia Polanco owns and manages So Good Pupusas, a social justice food truck serving Salvadoran pupusas, and their partner non-profit Pupusas for Education, which awards college scholarships for undocumented students. Born in California to Salvadoran immigrant parents, and raised in Durham, Polanco was the second student to graduate from Durham’s Northern High School as a UNC Chapel Hill Morehead-Cain Scholar in twenty years. As a recipient in the first class of Global Gap Year Fellowship, Cecilia took a gap year between high school and college to volunteer and travel abroad as a global citizen. Her passions lie within access to higher education, business as a force for good, and advancing racial equity. Since graduating Carolina in 2016, Cecilia has been a HPJ Fellow with the social justice consulting firm Frontline Solutions, a Smith Fellow for the Southern Foodways Alliance, and a Fellow with the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation. She is on the board of the Helius Foundation (small business consulting for need-based and entrepreneurs of color), NC SLI (high school honors and college prep program for Latinx youth), the Gap Year Association (national gap year accreditation organization) and serves on the City of Durham Women’s Commission. Recently she was recognized as a Local Food Hero by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, and also works as a facilitator on their Committee on Racial Equity in food systems team. She hopes to one day open a second truck or restaurant as a platform for community culinary entrepreneurs to start their businesses, and to return to school to obtain a Masters in Business Administration or Education.
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Jane Sarouhan, co-founder of J2Guides, has been an experiential education and gap expert for 25 years. She is a GYA Accredited Consultant, co-chair of the Alumni Committee, and former Board Member. She has been a keynote speaker at the USA Gap Year Fairs since 2011, and promotes the gap year on a national level for schools, conferences, and press. Jane travels the world to vet quality placements, advises new programs on best practices and strategic development, and best of all works closely with families to curate the gap year options that will best meet the needs, interests, goals and budget of each courageous gap year student.
Marion Taylor was born and raised in Colorado, and is married with four children ranging in ages from 21-30. She has worked for 35 years in the field of Social Work with non-profit organizations and foundations focuses on families, women, and children, both domestically and abroad. She serves as the keynote speaker at gap fairs, high schools, and colleges in Colorado. Marion “walks the walk” by getting out in the field to vet and personally experience gap programs, as well as by offering financial assistance to diverse students of all means. Marion flanked her own college years with a gap year at the University of Grenoble, France, after high school, followed by three years in a rural development program with Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa, after college. In 2015, Marion taught English to women in Tanzania and volunteered with women’s co-ops in Rwanda. In addition, she has immersed herself in two different Spanish language programs in Antigua, Guatemala, and Cuenca, Ecuador. In the fall of 2018, Marion volunteered at an elementary school in Batase, Nepal. She is involved with the launch and expansion of a women’s empowerment curriculum called Street Business School in Uganda and the greater Africa continent. Her eldest two children had gap experiences of their own, with her son having worked in Utah and Colorado and having successfully completed a rigorous semester wilderness course in the Himalayas, India. Her daughter finished college a semester early and volunteered as a preschool assistant in an emergency foster care center in a township outside Capetown, South Africa.
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Candice Washington, serves as the National Director of Education & Experiential Learning at Hostelling International, USA. Candice has two Masters Degrees in Legal and Ethical Studies from the University of Baltimore, and in her free time, she is a voice over artist, currently featured in, amongst other places, the National African American History Museum in Washington, DC. She has experience working for Middlestates Accreditation Board, and is a believer in experiential learning.
Scott Burnett along with his wife, Rachel Sanson, co-founded Pacific Discovery in 2001, utilizing experience gained through working in environmental and outdoor education, teaching, tourism, grass-roots community development and extensive travels. From the start the focus was offering deeply meaningful programs where students would gain new insights and ways of thinking about our world, through educational journeys. These journeys were ethically sound, ensured a positive outcome for host communities, and a lower impact on the environment. Initially based in Oregon, they relocated Pacific Discovery’s home to New Zealand in 2005 to raise family.
Sarah Smith came to UNC in 2006 to study archaeology but soon realized her passion was in public service. In 2010, she earned her B.A. in anthropology with minors in social & economic justice and Asian studies before joining the staff of the Carolina Center for Public Service. As Student Services Specialist, Sarah worked directly with the Buckley Public Service Scholars program, the Service-Learning Initiative (APPLES), and the Bryan Social Innovation Fellowships.
Sarah recently completed her M. Phil. in international peace studies from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. During her two years in Dublin, she helped develop policy for Trinity around ethical development volunteering and taught a course on intercultural competencies in partnership with two NC schools.
Matt has been involved in education for the last 20 years in a variety of capacities, from teaching students in a classroom setting to managing strategic partnerships in an ed-tech company to leading admissions and enrollment teams at the college level. He is currently the Vice President for Enrollment at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC – GYA’s first Official Gap Year College Member.
Matt earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in New York, and an Enrollment Management certificate as part of ongoing study in a Master of Higher Education Administration degree from Bay Path University in Massachusetts.
Luke Parrott is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed his undergraduate studies at Miami (OH) University with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management. He completed graduate work at Eastern University with a Master of Arts in International Development in 2015. In 2009, he co-founded the Kivu Gap Year with Andy and Jamie Jo Braner. He has been taking students around the world to be listeners and learners of other cultures since 2007. His greatest interests are in the sociology, anthropology, and psychology of global human development. He occasionally blogs about life, faith, and culture here.
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Liz Hilton is a budding philanthropist living in Seattle, WA. Happily married to her partner in life Mike, she has two amazing daughters, Emily (25) and Megan (22). Finding an inspiration to service during the COVID-19 pandemic, Liz has launched a pilot mentoring program with Teach For America WA. This College COVID Corps will connect college students with Juniors and Seniors in High School, to not only keep both students and mentors engaged during the challenges of remote learning but also to hold space for a mental health conversation. Her goal is to capture the power of the Gap Year to help ground our college-bound youth, especially those from communities of color in poverty, to not only survive the stress of modern-day life but also to thrive.
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Elizabeth Bezark strongly believes in the power of intercultural engagement to craft deeper levels of understanding and shared humanity in our world. She uses her passions for and expertise in increasing ethics and equitability across global partnerships to significantly advance GYA’s adaption to the Fair Trade Learning standards. She serves on the GYA admin team as Associate Director of Communications and served on the Board of Directors as the Alum Representative in 2020-2021. Elizabeth continues to support the Gap Year Association by assisting with accreditation reviews, developing goal-setting systems for GYA’s current and proposed Committees, and writing GYA’s newsletters.
She lived in France and Perú, and she traveled to Thailand, Laos, and Costa Rica in personal and professional pursuit of meaningful travel, intercultural engagement, language learning, and experiential education.
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Daniel Dozier took a gap year after his freshman year at Middlebury College in Cape Town, South Africa, where he learned he had an interest in more than French language and culture. He subsequently transferred to Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, won the Raymond Dinsmore Scholarship and spent eight months traveling around the world conducting primary research for his honor’s thesis before graduating in 2006. He has continued his pursuit of sustainable travel research in graduate school at the George Washington University School of Business and has had nine unique study abroad experiences throughout his academic career. Daniel first started fundraising on the Obama campaign and has advised a variety of clients from progressive campaigns and causes to global corporations, cities, national organizations and movements on was to empower constituents using storytelling, donor solicitation, planning, participation and multiple stakeholder engagement strategies. He holds a BSFS and MTA and resides between Chicago, Paris and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
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Bob Clagett is the Former Director of College Counseling at Colorado Academy in Denver. Before joining Colorado Academy, he was the Director of College Counseling at St. Stephen’s school in Austin, Texas, and before that was the Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College, where he was responsible for the college’s admissions policy. He served in that role for 6 years until 2011. Bob was also Senior Admissions Officer and Associate Director of Financial Aid at Harvard College for 21 years. Bob received a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1973 and a Master’s in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1991. He taught German and history at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA, before joining the Harvard Admissions Office in 1984. During sabbatical years, he served as a faculty member at the International School in Hamburg, Germany, and as Director of College Counseling at the Lincoln School in San Jose, Costa Rica. In recent years, Robert has shared his experience and research on the benefits of Gap Years for undergraduate academic achievement. His work has been highlighted in various major media outlets, including the New York Times Blog articles “As Jan. 1 Application Deadline Nears, an Argument for a Yearlong Breather” and “From the Mail Bag: On Taking a Gap Year”.
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Erin Aucar is a lifelong learner, connector, and organizer based in Washington, D.C. She works full time as the DC Regional Engagement Manager for the Center for Career Development at the University of Notre Dame. She previously served as the National Outreach Manager for Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS), an international nonprofit providing immersive summer and gap year programs in Latin America, where she first became involved in GYA.
Though she did not take a gap year, Erin has enjoyed a variety of experiential learning & service opportunities, serving 2 months at the Andre House Homeless Shelter in Arizona, studying for 5 months in Santiago, Chile, and traveling on a 1-week Pilgrimage to Poland. With AMIGOS, Erin also served as an in-country Project Supervisor in Nicaragua for 7 weeks. Her most recent adventure was taking a “gap month” from work and school to walk the 500-mile Camino de Santiago in Spain.
In 2020, Erin graduated with a Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from American University. In her free time, she enjoys running, baking, and supporting Catholic Entrepreneurs like Hallow & SENT Ventures.
Board of Advisors
The Board of Advisors have an active and critical role in the review process for accreditation-seeking gap year programs. We are proud to have a strong cadre of advisors well-known for their support of gap years and their contributions to higher education:
Dr. Janice Abarbanel recently served as NYU Berlin’s onsite psychologist and health educator. Her interest lies in the interface between studying abroad, the life stage of Emerging Adulthood, and emotional health — an outcome of her work as a US Peace Corps Volunteer and in her clinical practice in Washington DC. A graduate of Harvard and trained as a clinical psychologist in New Haven and Los Angeles, she now writes and speaks about the “Emotional Passport”, teaching study abroad staff, college and high school counselors, and faculty in the US and abroad about how emotional skill-building supports academic success and personal development. She writes, “The reality is that moods shift when cultures shift, and students can be prepared to notice when intense feelings arise in order to develop strategies to self-calm. This is part of leadership training or the ability to lead oneself during times of emotional challenge. In the process of being preoccupied with integrating new experiences, we are not often immediately open to processing academic demands.” Janice is the author of “Moving With Emotional Resilience Between and Within Cultures,” in the Intercultural Journal of Education, November, 2009.
In October 2014, Janice relocated to Boston to broaden her availability to US colleagues in international education. She is enthusiastic about supporting students, families, staff, and faculty engaged with gap year experiences.
Chuck Barnes is an energetic and enthusiastic individual with a passionate commitment to student development and the learning experience. He is skilled in the design of challenging, inspiring and inventive activities that address diverse needs and interests of students. Chuck possesses outstanding communication skills and has been incredibly successful presenting information so students are engaged and learning.
Chuck has extensive experience in experiential education, especially as it pertains to long trips or courses that work with students in wilderness settings. For eight years he led wilderness canoe trips for students in the Canadian North. For the past twenty-one years he’s been working at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) as a science educator, bringing science programs to schools and summer teaching venues all over the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska.
Chuck has worked with a variety of students from kindergarten to adults, but he’d tell us one of his most proud accomplishments was working as the summer teacher at Saint Mary’s Home for Boys. For over twelve years he brought science alive to teens with behavioral, emotional and/or mild learning disabilities.
Chuck was a participant in an Outward Bound course in high school, backpacking Death Valley for three weeks and subsequently embarked on a NOLS semester in the Rockies. He has traveled extensively through Central America, Europe and also India. His love of interacting with different cultures continues to fascinate him, exploring and appreciating our amazing world.
Kristy Blue has a professional background in college admissions where she has worked for over 6 years as a California-based admissions counselor for out-of-state universities. She spearheaded the development of the University of Minnesota’s first regional position and is currently working as Augustana College’s (IL) first out-of-state regional admissions director.
Traveling through New Zealand with the USA rugby team after graduating from college, Kristy became hooked on the idea and merits of cross-cultural exchange. She has since taken two gap year breaks from the admissions profession, backpacking throughout Europe and South America and volunteering with self-led gap organizations WWOOF and Workaway. While volunteering in Spain in 2010, she stumbled upon the founder of the Workaway organization and has been helping connect other volunteers and hosts as a program ambassador.
Kristy knows firsthand the excitement of experiencing life in another country and the importance of cultural immersion. She finds it rewarding to work with students applying to college and guiding them during such a pivotal time in their lives. In joining the GYA advisory board, she hopes to blend her passions of higher education and travel to help provide the opportunity for people to create their own meaningful gap experiences abroad.
Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim Programs, is one of the original Interim students. When her father, Cornelius Bull, founded Interim in 1980, it was the first Gap Year counseling organization of its kind in the US and Holly was inspired to take a Gap Year before college. She followed up on interests in marine biology and Greece and split her year into volunteering at an aquaculture research institute in Hawaii and attending an academic cultural study program in Greece. She came away with a finer appreciation for learning for its own sake without the pressure of tests and grades, and the realization that she did not want to be a marine biologist.
After two years of college, Holly took a second Gap Year to travel in India and Nepal, attend a semester program in Athens, and engage in service work in Appalachia. Following her B.A. in Anthropology at the University of Virginia, she joined her father in his work at Interim and began counseling students through their own gap-year experiences. For two years, she also directed the U.S. office for her original program in Greece.
In 1994, Holly completed her Masters in Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and continued her counseling work at Interim, interspersed with site visits to programs in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Europe and Turkey. She has attended a number of 2-4 week programs: a wilderness survival skills school, a humpback whale research project, dude ranch work, and a yoga teacher training course.
To date, Holly has placed over a thousand individuals in programs in the 20+ years that she has been counseling students (and adults) through the gap-year process. She has presented at NACAC, NJACAC, TACAC, HECA, and IECA and been a keynote speaker for many of the annual Gap Year fairs taking place nationwide. She and her fellow counselors have been interviewed for over 70 Gap Year articles and more than 15 TV and radio shows, and Interim is referenced in most books on the Gap Year.
Ted De Villafranca has over 25 years experience in all areas of admissions work from selective college and university admissions to independent boarding school admissions, Ted has a breadth of experiences and perspectives. He worked at the Peddie School for over 17 years as Dean of Admissions and College Counseling and served on the Arts Faculty as a choral director. He was the recipient of the Finn Caspersen Award for devotion and service to the Peddie community. He also directed the college counseling programs at Virginia Episcopal School and Berkshire School where he was the Sixth Form Dean. Ted also worked in college admissions at Manhattanville College and the University of Richmond. Known within the admission and counseling community as someone who works tirelessly for his students, Ted has a broad and deep network both in the United States and Canada. Having traveled and recruited abroad, he knows school systems far and wide. A graduate of Kent School, Columbia University and Rhodes College, with post graduate work at Westminster Choir College, Ted has presented at national and regional conferences and sits on the advisory board of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and was recently recognized in Who’s Who of American Educators. Often quoted in the New York Times, Ted most recently served as their on-line expert for college admissions. Based in Princeton, Ted also oversees the Edvice office in Montreal.
Ellie Donnell started Gap Year Design to help students and their families design Gap Year experiences that are meaningful, rewarding, and thoughtfully planned. By working one-on-one with students throughout North America, Gap Year Design seeks to take the anxiety and guesswork out of planning a Gap Year by providing personalized counseling and consultation services. Having taught in Switzerland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and California, Ellie has more than a decade of experience working with young people as a classroom teacher, trip leader, coach, and Gap Year counselor; she currently teaches at Marlborough School in Los Angeles and volunteers as a creative writing instructor for incarcerated youth through InsideOUT Writers. Ellie is a committed advocate of Gap Years and a strong proponent of experiential education and global education. She grew up overseas in Japan, England, and Italy and has an undergraduate degree from Williams College and a masters degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Madelaine caught the travel bug early while visiting her mother’s family in France as a child. When Madelaine left the nest for college, she started to feed her travel bug independently: studying abroad in Senegal, teaching English in France, and exploring Latin America, Europe, North Africa, and the U.S. Since graduating from Northwestern University in 2008, Madelaine has committed herself to helping young people build cross-cultural understanding, self-awareness, and leadership skills in a number of educational settings. She has led a gap year program in Senegal and served as the Assistant Director of Residential Life at a small liberal arts college. She is also a certified Gestalt Coach and enjoys working one-on-one with individuals to help them achieve growth through personal challenges.
Madelaine is currently a masters student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she is learning more about the impact of experiential education on human development, the value of cross-cultural appreciation in education spaces, and the importance of making education more accessible to all. Madelaine is a firm believer in the transformative power of cross-cultural education, nature, and Daylight Savings.
Under the leadership of Executive Director, Phyllis Folb, the American Israel Gap Year Association (AIGYA) produces an Israel centered gap year fair. With more than 20 years of professional experience working in the Jewish community, Folb produces the regional fair and which has enjoyed steadily increasing attendance by GapYear programs, Gap Year friendly colleges and students, parents and educators in California as well as families from Arizona, Nevada and Washington attend.
Additionally Folb, is the CEO of Find Your Right Direction Educational Services specializing in College advising & Israel gap year programs. She assists in the smooth transition from gap year to post-secondary education as a college/gap year counselor. Her firm also creates educational events and workshops.
“Benny” Garcia is a management coned officer, who has served in Santo Domingo, Guatemala City, Port au Prince, European Bureau, Lima, Brasilia, US Mission to the United Nations, Columbia University School of Public and International Affairs, Vienna, Baghdad, Brasilia (twice) and the U.S. House of Representatives.
He now serves as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Continuity Counseling within the Division of Career Development and Assignments of the Bureau of Human Resources.
Born in Slovenia. Benny hails from the New York City metropolitan area born of Cuban parents. His grandparents were from Cuba, Jamaica, Panama and the USA. He is a retired attorney and retired naval reserve officer. Benny graduated from the United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University School of Law.
Pam is a consummate marketing professional. Her talents are many, her strength is the ability to find the story, find the audience, tell the story. In other words, strategic marketing and messaging expertise. Her highly accomplished career echoes with achievement at the highest levels. Pam excels at strategic messaging and brand positioning, community outreach, social media, business development, storytelling, public relations and public affairs. She has a B.A., English, from UC Berkeley, a Masters in Communications and Digital Media from the University of Washington, a Certificate from the Evans School of Public Affairs in International Development Management & Policy, and has studied at the International School of Digital Transformation, in Porto, Portugal.
Steve LeMenager brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise at the university level and is a highly regarded leader in U.S. college and university admissions, having served for many years as the Director of Admission at Princeton University. He spent 24 years at Princeton in senior leadership roles, not only in the Office of Admission, but also in the Office of the Executive Vice President, the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life, the Office of Communications and the Office of Development. Steve has presented at numerous national conferences, including the College Board, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). Prior to Princeton, Steve was a high school teacher and basketball coach in Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College (A.B.) and Harvard University (Ed.M.) and is an active member of his community, having served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, in Princeton, New Jersey.
John is the current Director of Princeton’s groundbreaking Bridge Year program. Before joining Princeton, he was the director of student services at the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) Study Center in Seville, Spain. He was responsible for the development, management and assessment of non-academic support services for all CIEE study programs in Seville, including orientation and re-entry, housing, extracurricular activities, and health and safety. He also works with other administrators to develop and maintain a learning environment that promotes engagement in local society and fosters the intellectual, cultural and personal development of the center’s college and pre-college program participants.
Prior to CIEE, John spent 10 years managing international student services at Georgetown University. He was international student adviser and program coordinator from 1992 to 1995 and associate director of international student services from 1995 to 2002. In the latter capacity, he developed and managed support services, including immigration services, extracurricular activities, new student orientation and advising, for some 1,400 international students at Georgetown.
John worked previously for AFS Intercultural Programs as an orientation logistics coordinator and summer program coordinator. He holds a BS from Miami University of Ohio and an MA in Latin American studies from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.Following his high school graduation, John participated in a 12-month high-school AFS home-stay program at the Lycee Polyvalent Mixte de Lucon in France. As a graduate student, he also studied in Quito, Ecuador.
Eric Mlyn is the inaugural director of the Duke Center for Civic Engagement/DukeEngage. Prior to taking this position, he was Director of the Robertson Scholars Program, a joint merit scholarship program at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a firm believer in the transformative power of experiential education, and has been building programs in this area for over a decade. A political scientist with a BA from Tufts University and a PhD from the University of Minnesota, Eric’s academic and administrative work over the last 25 years has in one way or another concerned itself with the role that society plays in fostering and strengthening democracy.
William (Bill) Morse earned his Yale B.A. and Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures. After graduation from college, teaching one summer as a tennis pro in New Canaan (he was on Yale’s varsity hockey and tennis teams), and one year at Deerfield Academy, he earned enough to cover living expenses for a full year in Paris. Several years later, as a graduate student, supported by a French Government Grant, various Yale scholarships, and an honorary award from the Alliance Francaise de New York, he spent a second year in Paris, pursuing his research. Before leaving Yale he was privileged to teach the first class of women undergraduates. Following four years on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, he returned to New Haven where he became Assistant Dean of Yale Graduate School, then Assistant Director of Yale Undergraduate Admissions. For thirty-three years, he has been an educational consultant. He is a member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA) and the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC). Over the years he has served as President of the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association, on the Board of Visitors of Elon University and the Board of Directors of IECA. Relevant to the Gap Year Association, for over ten years, he served as a trustee of Ithaka Cultural Studies. He sent about four dozen students to Greece for a gap semester or year. He is currently a trustee of Buxton School and on the Board of Directors of the Yale Alumni Fund. Also relevant to the GYA, along with his wife, Cecelia, an archaeologist, he has participated in a series of Yale Alumni Service Corps projects, teaching music and advising disadvantaged students in small towns and villages in China, India and West Virginia. Their travels include France, Greece, Italy, Spain, England and Ireland, as well as Egypt, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and Cuba. Google William Morse,”Teaching in China”, or “Why Music? Why Irish Music?” On the subject of the gap year, the admissions dean of a rival Ivy has written a seminal article, Time Out or Burn Out. Along similar lines, with a different emphasis, William fully lives and counsels a rejoinder, Time Out to Turn On. Rather than “getting students in” he sees himself as a mentor and guide, whose mission is to help students find themselves, their path and their passion.
Sarah Persha, MA, is a family systems therapist and educational consultant whose career focuses on working with children, teens, young adults and their families by providing educational options and guidance through the educational years and life transitions. She assists children, teens and young adults as they explore the educational paths leading to a motivated and purposeful adulthood, and provides ongoing Parent Education for all of the stages of development, including the delays in maturity and executive functioning skills often accompanying sub-optimum young adulthood. As a young adult transition counselor, Sarah supports both young adults and their parents in successfully navigating the task of healthy independence in the launching years (high school completion, college and career development). Sarah develops educational plans and placement options for younger children, through middle school, high school and college, as well as pre-college choices with fifth and Gap Year opportunities, internships, and study abroad.
Current/Previous Affiliations
Aspen Education Group, 1988-1999, with roles as teacher, counselor, mentor, intervention specialist, parent educator, and Director of Admission in private therapeutic schools. Therapeutic school curriculum consultant to several national organizations, ongoing. Associate of Dean Doering Educational Consultants, 2007-present. In private practice serving families in the northwest with main office in Bend, and associate offices in Portland, Seattle, and Boise, 2005-present.
Memberships
IECA, Independent Educational Consultants Association
NATSAP, National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
HECA, Higher Education Consultants Association
Marie launched TeenLife Media in 2007 after moving to Boston with her husband and two middle school sons and discovering that there were no information resources for families with older children. She got started by selling a printed “TeenLife Guide to Summer in Boston” to parents in area schools – the first edition listed 240 local summer programs for students in grades 7-12. Today, TeenLife’s award-winning website lists thousands of summer and Gap Year programs, schools, college admission resources, and volunteer opportunities for teens, nationwide. Marie has worked for McKinsey, American Express, Scudder Stevens & Clark, and Nelson Publications (a financial publisher) in marketing, business development, and “intrapreneur” roles. She graduated from the American School in Paris, holds a BSE from Princeton, and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Mark Sklarow’s a Philadelphian, despite living in the DC-area for over 25 years. He earned his BA and MA from Temple University in Political Marketing and Educational Administration. Mark has taught Political Science at the college level and taught Social Sciences and served as Dean of Students at an independent day school in Philadelphia. During these years he also served as Director of Student Councils for the city and directed state student leadership camps.
Mark came to DC as Program Director, and later Acting Executive Director of Presidential Classroom, a national civic education organization. He has also served as Director of Creative Response/City at Peace youth programs, an international organization promoting cultural understanding and non-violence through performing arts exchanges. He joined IECA as its first full-time executive director in 1994 and is now beginning his 20th year with the Association as Chief Executive Officer. He was a founder and remains an ex-officio member of the IECA Foundation.
Outside of work, Mark has been a Board Member and President of his synagogue. His eldest daughter, Michelle is a graduate of the University of Delaware in Visual Communications and now works as a senior event manager for Marriott Hotels. His youngest daughter, Jaimie graduated with a degree in Social Work from George Mason University and is now a case manager for ED children in the foster care system. His wife of 33 years, Mindy, is a speech pathologist in Fairfax County Schools, counting the days ’til retirement—unlike Mark who cannot imagine anything more enjoyable than the work he’s doing. When not attending to any of these, Mark would just as soon be watching a good political debate, cooking, lying on a beach or attending a Washington Nationals game.
Susan developed an incurable case of wanderlust during her gap year in Chile, and spent the next 12 years traveling – learning new languages, grasping the fluidity of culture, and reaffirming her eternal optimism in the goodness of strangers. She earned a bachelors degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish from the University of Virginia and a masters in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico. Susan led gap year programs in Asia and Latin America before directing Northwood University’s semester in Europe program.
In 2015 Susan founded Free to Roam Adventures, an organization that bridges the gap between gap years and higher education by developing customized gap semester programs for colleges and universities. Combining her background in interdisciplinary cultural studies with her keen understanding of the intercultural development process, she integrates academic and experiential learning into gap semesters that develop students personally and intellectually. Free to Roam Adventures collaborates with institutions to develop integrative gap semesters that inspire students to approach their college experience with greater clarity and purpose, as active and engaged global citizens.
Susan hopes to make gap experiences more accessible by integrating them into the freshmen experience, thus making a gap semester eligible for financial aid and scholarships. She has worked closely with many in the gap industry and sees great value in the wide variety of experiences available to students. By joining the advisory board she hopes to add to the discussion of gap year accessibility, as well as, how we can inspire all gap year students to think critically and become active agents of change in their communities.
Katherine Stievater founded Gap Year Solutions to help students successfully transition to college with a customized plan that builds life skills through “Real World Learning”. She is a professional member of IECA, and has written articles about the myths and benefits of gap years. She is constantly astonished to hear how little understanding people actually have about this amazing opportunity! Katherine loves sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for this growing field, and travels the country speaking to students and their parents at libraries, schools, NACAC, other college fairs, IECA events and USA Gap Year Fairs.
Katherine was inspired to play a leadership role within the gap year community as a result of her experiences with today’s teens and her family. She has been serving as an alumni interviewer for applicants to Georgetown University for many years. Her four boys have helped her see firsthand the increasing levels of stress and anxiety among today’s teens. Katherine’s oldest son spent his junior year of high school at a Spanish language school in Spain, and the second oldest completed a gap year before college which included three months in Cuba. She understands today’s students, the complex demands they face, and the transformative potential of a year off the traditional path.
In addition to founding and leading several community organizations in her home town of Belmont, MA, Katherine has served on various boards and had a successful career as a retail buyer, including with Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. Her favorite travel destinations outside the U.S. are Barcelona and Argentina. Back stateside, her slice of paradise is a beach in Maine where she enjoys long walks with her dog, and disappearing in a book.
Sandy Storer is the founder of, A GAP AWAY, a gap year consulting practice based in Sudbury, MA. Sandy’s consulting philosophy is the natural outcome of 30 years professional social work experience, a lifetime of adventurous travel, and an appreciation for the value of taking time for personal growth. Her work is based on the premise that time spent up front to develop a clear, personal “gap year vision” drives goals, purpose, experience, and growth in an intentional and powerful way.
Sandy graduated from Northwestern University, received her MSW from Boston University, and studied at the Family Institute of Cambridge. She has work experience as a family therapist, school social worker, transition specialist, and pre-college coach. Following completion of a LEND Fellowship (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School/Shriver Center, Sandy pioneered the Transition Services program at NESCA, a leading educational assessment practice in the Boston area.
In 2003, Sandy led her family on a gap semester in Central America. In 2013, she used a personal gap year to pursue her interest in photography, and Sandy now donates her photography services to non-profit organizations in Boston and Uganda. She understands how valuable the gap year experience can be and is passionate about helping others realize their own gap year vision.
Jill Tipograph, Co-Founder, Early Stage Careers, and Founder of Everything Summer, LLC is a nationally recognized educational consultant and career expert. Early Stage Careers® provides tailored career coaching to students, recent college graduates and young professionals to successfully transition them into their career guiding them to obtain and optimize internships and first jobs; it bridges the gap between college and career. Everything Summer® is a boutique independent consultancy, aligning its clients’ interests and extracurricular activities to help students find their passions, designing the ‘right fit’ summer, gap and year-round experiences. The practices are based in New York City and service clients nationally and around the world.
Jill is considered the ‘go to’ media resource for youth and early careerists having been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Business Week, Inc., Bloomberg, NBC’s Today Show, ABC and NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, New York Post, Yahoo Finance, Fast Company, Monster and more. She is also a select member of the Forbes Coaches Council, the Independent Educational Consultants Association and speaks on teen and career topics at educational institutions, organizations, and corporations.
Prior to advising, Jill spent many years as a corporate executive, honing her skills in client service, research, analysis, marketing and planning. Jill is the parent of two happy, independent, entrepreneurial young adults who have been campers and camp counselors; participated in a variety of pre-college summer programs; and completed multiple college internships. One of Jill’s children created her own 100-day global gap experience between career changes.
Ms. Kieu L. Vo has been in the field of education for over two decades in various sectors: higher education, vocational, avocational, non-profit, for-profit, international, secondary, English as a Second Language (ESL), and massage/holistic health. Her passion and dedication for quality education stems from her desire to help all students reach their fullest potential. With an educational background in economics from the University of Washington and a Master’s degree in International Relations, Ms. Vo has held an array of positions from Executive Director, Director of Admissions and Enrollment, Director of ESL schools to Managing Director and Vice-President of International Programs.
Currently, Ms. Vo is the Executive Director of International College of Holistic Studies, School Director of Q International School, Board Member and Executive Chair for the Citizen San Diego Diplomacy Council. Over the years she has volunteered her time with the Young Scholars Program and NAACP Elementary School Reading Program.
Ultimately, Ms. Vo mission is to further enhance the direction of education, as it resonates with her own personal motto of “students come first.” In an effort to establish stronger ties between education standards and maintaining students’ best interest, Ms. Vo hopes to strengthen the education sector by improving upon fair, ethical, standards, policies and evaluations.
Emily Wolper is a college admissions consultant who runs both a private practice and the college admissions coaching capability of premier tutoring company, Private Prep. She is a former Columbia University admissions officer who read thousands of applications and served on numerous selection committees. Upon leaving Columbia in 1999, Emily, who holds a BA in Religion from Vassar College and an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University, began consulting to applicants privately, sharing knowledge that she gained during her years on the admissions side. She is a frequent lecturer, panelist and workshop leader and is a proud member of the leading professional associations NACAC, IECA and AIGAC.
Emily is deeply committed to helping students discover and express their academic and extracurricular passions. This particular interest arises from her own love of singing, yoga, travel and community service, all of which enrich her life. She sings with The Harmonium Choral Society, where she performs in both formal and “outreach” concerts. She is also an active alumna of Vassar College, having served as the President of the Vassar Club of New York from 2004-2008. Emily is honored to be involved with GYA and believes that a gap year would be ideal for most of us! Email Emily at: ewolper@mindspring.com