Fulbright’s Greater New York Board of Directors and AdvisorS

Board Officers:

JOSEPHINE DORADO (President)
Fulbrights: Netherlands, 2003-2004; Austria, 2016
Josephine Dorado is an award-winning creative technologist, educator and VR/XR developer with an entrepreneurial spirit and a focus on social impact. With a portfolio of work that has garnered multiple Fulbright awards and a MacArthur Foundation award in Digital Media & Learning, her focus is on innovation in hybrid online spaces with a lens toward immersive learning and international cultural exchange. Josephine brings to the board extensive experience in chapter management as well as alumni programs that nurture social entrepreneurship and youth mentorship. She founded the Fulbright NY Alumnus-in-Residence program (FAIR), the Fulbright NY Open Salons and the Global Curriculum Toolkit, and has also previously chaired Fulbright’s Chapter Advisory Board and has been on Fulbright Association’s National Board of Directors as well. Josephine is the founder of Katabi, a platform of ready-made webVR meeting and social spaces. Previously, she founded Kidz Connect, a virtual cultural exchange program that connected youth internationally through creative collaboration and theatrical performance in virtual worlds, and has also worked with refugees to create virtual reality media narratives of their journeys. In addition, Josephine is also an occasional TechCamp trainer for the State Department and was a former professor of media studies at The New School. Her speaking engagements include Talks @ Google, TEDxFulbright, SXSW, IgniteNYC and SIGGRAPH. She balances her work in online spaces with her passion for teaching Pilates, combining a technology-infused life with a physical, embodied way of being. For more information, go to her website at www.funksoup.com.

VIVIENNE AERTS (Vice President)

Fulbright: Dutch Fulbright alumna to U.S., 2012
After getting her Masters in Clinical psychology from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, as well as a degree in Choir Conducting at the Conservatory, Vivienne Aerts worked as a therapist in a private practice and as a choir conductor and singer for a couple years. In 2012, she received a Fulbright to study jazz and vocal performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In December 2014, she graduated and has been residing in New York City where she gave a debut performance at the Blue Note Jazz Club and is currently working on her third album. Since, Vivienne has shared the stage with both national and international Jazz icons such as Lee Konitz, Kenny Werner, Chris Potter, Joe Cohn, and Florian Weber. Besides this, she works with pianist Kenny Werner and the Effortless Mastery Institute at Berklee. Together with her husband who is a Pastry Chef she organizes events and performances under the name Vervool using jazz, haute cuisine and modern art. www.vivienneaerts.nl

TOM GAFFNEY (Board Secretary)
Fulbright: Macau, 2008-2009
My name is Tom Gaffney, and I’m proud to say that I’m an alum of the Fulbright program, having had the opportunity to live in Macau in 2008 thanks to a research grant. My project was to study the impact of casino liberalization in Macau (both the economic and the political impact). Outside of my research, I was lucky enough to spend a year doing some of my favorite things: namely, meeting lots of interesting people and exploring new places. I am a native New Yorker (well, a native Westchester resident at any rate) who now lives in Manhattan. I just graduated from a master’s degree program at Columbia, where I studied public policy and economics. Before that, my background was in newspaper journalism and I worked for The New York Times for five years. Now I’m looking for the next adventure!  In my spare time, I like playing basketball and chess, running, checking out museums and exhibitions, trying out new restaurants, and kibitzing with friends over drinks or coffee. 

KATIE BAKARICH (Treasurer)
Fulbright: Germany, 2009-2010
Katie attended Fairfield University in Connecticut, majoring in Accounting and graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2008. During the summer of 2006, Katie had the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy. This experience furthered her desire to spend time abroad after graduating. During high school and in the summers off during college, she studied German and developed an affinity for the culture and language. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Katie spent her Fulbright year at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. While there, she attended courses and conducted research on German accounting and the EU business environment. When she returned to the U.S., she joined the public accounting firm McGladrey LLP, for whom she had interned during college. Katie served as an external auditor for three years, conducting financial statement audits of companies in a variety of industries and obtained her CPA license for the state of New York. In 2012, she began a full-time PhD program at The City University of New York (Baruch College) in accounting, with the goal of becoming a professor at a business school focusing on international accounting and business.

General Board Members:

CHRISTINE ARROZAL
Fulbright: South Korea, 2007
Christine is a higher education professional who discovered her passion for working with college students after serving as an orientation coordinator and team leader for Fulbright Korea's ETA orientation program for three years. Working in higher education administration allowed her to use her backgrounds in business, event planning and teaching on a near daily basis. Christine is also a military brat whose love of travel and learning about other cultures was born from having moved around several cities in Guam, the Philippines and Southern California as a child. After college, she spent five years bouncing around Korea before moving to New York City in 2012 for graduate school. She came with a one-year plan but fell in love with New York, the diversity of the people who call this city home and the infinite possibilities the city seems to offer.

MASCHENKA BRAGANCA
Fulbright: Austrian Fulbright alumna to U.S., 2010-2012
Maschenka was a Fulbrighter from Austria to the US, where she attained her Master's degree in Security Studies and simultaneously worked at a DC think tank. Her big passions are foreign policy and cybersecurity, which she was fortunate to be able to pursue professionally. Before coming to the US, Maschenka studied political science and theology/philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, in Austria. After her Fulbright, she spent a few years based in Vienna, where she worked as a policy advisor and lecturer but also travelled extensively throughout Asia working for a multinational cybersecurity firm. One and a half years ago she moved to NYC, and in her free time, she enjoys cooking, hiking (like a real Tirolean), roadtripping, as well as the arts, especially music, which in NYC of course there is no shortage of!

LINDSEY BURGESS
Fulbright: Morocco, 2016-2017
Lindsey M. Burgess is the Manager of Development Communications for the Africa-America Institute (AAI), the flagship U.S. organization connecting Africa to America since 1953. Before her tenure at AAI, Lindsey was a ghostwriter for tech entrepreneurs at the Africa Expert Network, a PR firm that provides U.S. and European investors with expertise in key emerging markets. In 2016, Lindsey accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Casablanca, Morocco, where she was a professor to over 300 students. It was in Morocco where Lindsey’s fervent belief in cultural diplomacy deepened, and she made a commitment to always incorporate elements of cross-cultural exchange in her work. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College and a Columbia University School of Journalism alumna. She currently serves on the New York Historical Society’s Frederick Douglass Council and Young Friends Advisory Board. Born and bred in the South, naturally, Lindsey enjoys fellowshipping and writing.

RONIT LEVIN DELGADO
Fulbright: Israeli Fulbright alumna to U.S., 2011-2013
Ronit Levin Delgado is an Israeli multimedia artist who currently lives and works in New York. She has a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (2008), and during her studies, she was chosen for the exchange students program and studied for a semester at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg. In 2011, Ronit won the MA Fulbright program in Israel and was sent for her MFA in studio arts at Montclair State University. During her studies, she was selected to be the Assistant Set Designer for ZINNIAS: The Life Of Clementine Hunter, by Director Robert Wilson at Alexander Kasser Theater, NJ. After her graduation in 2013, she did the Academic Training program for a year, working with the world-renowned artist Nir Hod as his studio assistant at his Meatpacking Studio. Ronit has exhibited in group exhibitions in in Israel, Europe and the U.S., such as Magnan Metz Gallery and Pratt Manhattan Gallery in NYC, Solo Gallery and Index Gallery in Newark, Cardiff, Wales and Leeds in UK and Ramle Station for Contemporary Art and Hertzelilinblum Museum in Israel. www.ronitlevindelgado.com

ELIANA KANEFIELD (Advocacy Co-Director)
Fulbright: Argentina, 2018
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Eliana is currently working at Empatico, an education technology startup that works to foster empathy among students through virtual intercultural exchanges. She returned this past January from a Fulbright ETA in Argentina where she ate an arguably unreasonable amount of dulce de leche and also led cultural exchanges and English classes in rural community centers, teacher training programs, and a binational center. Eliana earned her BA in Human Rights and Hispanic Studies at Columbia University, and has pursued conflict-resolution and human rights work in Manhattan public schools, as well as conducted research on intercultural health interventions for the Gender Human Rights and Culture team at the UN Population Fund. Outside of work, you can find Eliana trying new dance classes, volunteering as an English language partner, hosting potlucks, and searching for green spaces in the city.

JONATHAN GOODMAN LEVITT (Director of Fulbright Film Series)
Fulbright: United Kingdom, 1999-2000
Jonathan’s films as a director and/or producer have been supported by broadcasters and funders including BBC, PBS, NHK-Japan, Ford Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, and Sundance Institute. Personally or through his company Changeworx, he has worked on documentary features that follow people from five continents as their lives unfold over multiple years.  Changeworx’s latest film is Among the Believers, a non-judgmental investigation of the Red Mosque madrassah network made collaboratively over six years by a Pakistani Muslim, Indian Hindu and American Jew (Jonathan). Released theatrically and broadcast on public television in 2016, Among the Believers has won over thirty awards internationally, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, Cinema Eye Honor, and Asia Pacific Screen Award. Jonathan’s recent directing project Follow the Leader was featured on C-Span, CNN and Fox; released by Angelika Film Center, PBS stations and Cinedigm; and was the only documentary to premiere in Tampa & Charlotte during the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions. His first feature, Sunny Intervals and Showers (Director, Producer, Editor, Camera, 2003), screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest, Chicago and One World Human Rights Film Festival; aired within the BBC Storyville documentary series; and was nominated for Grierson (British Documentary) and Mental Health Media Awards.  Jonathan studied social psychology, political philosophy, and art at Stanford University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the U.K.’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) in 1999. He has been based in Brooklyn since 2008. www.changeworx.com

DAVID HAMBURGER
Fulbright: India, 2016-2017
David was a 2016-2017 Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistant placed at Kailash Vidyamandir, an all-boys, primary, and lower secondary school in Kolkata. David was the first Fulbrighter placed at Kailash and the school’s first full-time English teacher in five years. In addition to helping his students become experts in the foundations of the English language, David did his best to introduce them to American culture— from trick-or-treating, to dancing to Michael Jackson, to explaining the differences between cricket and baseball. David also fundraised $10,000 from 116 donors that helped to build the 167-year-old school its first library, paint murals, and make crucial infrastructure improvements. David is currently living in New York City and is a Work First Foundation fellow, where he helps prepare New Yorkers on government assistance for jobs and researches unemployment issues.  David received his B.A from Columbia University in Political Science.

JULIA KERBS (Newsletter Editor)
Fulbright: France, 2017-2018

JOHN MCQUADE
Fulbright: Germany, 2009-2010
John is a native New Yorker who has been extremely fortunate to travel the world and experience many different continents, cities, and cultures. Fulbright has been instrumental in expanding his personal, academic, and professional careers, and he hopes to continue doing so. John spent his Fulbright from 2009-10 in Germany, where he taught Economics and English. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College in German Studies, and his MBA from Columbia University. By day, John advises wealthy families and foundations on investments, tax, and financial planning. When not working, he enjoys running, spending time with his family, reading about business, sports, technology, and science fiction, and "quantified self" movement.

KIRSTEN NICHOLAS
Fulbright: Cyprus, 2017-2019

KARL RAMOS
Fulbright: Turkey, 2012-2013
Karl earned his M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in New York in 2010 and is currently the Associate Director in Strategic Enrollment Management for The New School’s Graduate programs. During the 2012-2013 academic year, Karl was a Fulbright ETA in Zonguldak, Turkey. He taught English courses at Bülent Ecevit Üniversitesi and served as a cultural ambassador between the United States and the Zonguldak community. Karl also established The Media Club, a project for students exploring video production and storytelling to spotlight community issues such as migration, diversity, and social inclusion. After a fruitful Fulbright year, Karl served as a Professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan for one year, then as a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, Malaysia. He is currently enjoying living in NYC again, as well as playing hockey and boxing.

SAMUEL RAVETZ (Advocacy Co-Director)
Fulbright: Spain, 2016
Upon graduating from Occidental College in May 2016 with a degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs, Sam was lucky enough to teach English as an ETA in Madrid, Spain. Sam helped his students compete in Global Classrooms, similar to Model UN, where the highschoolers practiced researching, presenting, and debating complicated global issues, all in English.  Outside of the classroom, Sam enjoyed spending time with his local basketball team and practicing salsa. After moving back home to New York City, Sam joined Bombas, an apparel company that donates an article of clothing for each article sold, as the Giving Relationship Manager, where he works in tandem with over 2,000 “Giving Partners” across the country to find the best destinations for these donation products.

KRISTA SANDE-KERBACK
Fulbright: Germany, 2006-2007
Krista Sande-Kerback served as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant at a comprehensive school in Hamburg, Germany from 2005-2006, working with students in a primarily Muslim migrant community. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College (2005) where she studied Geography, Public Policy, and German. Krista completed her MBA at Columbia Business School (2014) and also took courses around immigration, multiculturalism and Turkish for a year at the Universitat Hamburg as part of her Fulbright. Krista is currently a Senior Analyst at IBM and is part of a global team of market research analysts and consultants that conduct projects on topics of importance to IBM business leaders and strategists, accelerating the understanding of new or emerging markets. www.linkedin.com/in/kristasande

AMAKA CYPRIANA UZOH
Fulbright: Brazil, 2012
Amaka Cypriana Uzoh is a healthcare management strategist that currently lives in New York. With Fulbright research support, Amaka spent 2012 in São Paulo, Brazil conducting health systems optimization research on Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), Brazil’s federally-funded public health system. Today, she focuses on financial and operational restructuring/turnaround for hospitals and health systems as a Senior Associate with Alvarez & Marsal’s Healthcare Industry Group. Amaka grew up in both Hudson Valley New York and San Jose, CA, but has been heavily influenced by family’s Eastern Nigerian roots and her endearing higher education host cities across the U.S. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Harvard University in Cambridge, an MBA with a Concentration in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and an MD from Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta.

MELDA YILDIZ
Fulbright: Azerbaijan, 2009 & 2016
Melda has been an Assistant or Associate Professor (tenured) of Education at William Paterson University and the same at Kean University in Global Studies. She received a BA in Teaching English from as a Foreign Language from Bogazici University in Turkey, an MS in Instructional Technology from Southern Connecticut State University, and an Ed.D. from UMass Amherst. She has also served as a co-president of Fulbright's NJ Chapter with Dr. Richard Marranca and president of the NJ chapter since 2013. She recently moved to New York after accepting a department head position at NYIT and served her second Fulbright assignment in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2016. 

Board Advisor:

DAN KOMAREK
Dan Komarek is an associate at Vinson & Elkins and represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies, including mergers & acquisitions, executive compensation arrangements, general corporate matters and restructuring. Dan received his J.D from Columbia Law School in 2007 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Human Rights Law Review) and his B.A. in History from University of California at Berkeley in 2004 (High Honors and Distinction). He was admitted to practice in California in 2007 and New York in 2012.

Board Emeritus:

ROSALBA DEL VECCHIO
Fulbright: Italy, 1980
Dr. Rosalba Corrado Del Vecchio is Director of the Master Degree Program in School Building Leadership for aspiring principals and administrators in the non public schools. She also teaches Master and Doctoral level courses and mentors students in the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership (DAIL). A member of the St. Vincent de Paul team for the Catholic Institute, she provides professional development to principals and board members of the new academies in the Diocese of Brooklyn and coordinates The Catholic Principals Academy (TCPA), which prepares future school administrators for the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn. A proponent of global programs, Dr. Del Vecchio taught in the first DAIL Instructional Leadership global initiative, on the Rome campus. She received the Global Certificate Program sponsored by St. John's Office of Global Studies and the Center for Teaching and Learning. An active member of St. John's Chapter of the Ladies of Charity, she served as the former Chair of the Spirituality Committee.
Prior to her work at St. John's, Dr. Del Vecchio served as a high school teacher of Spanish, Italian, French and English, then as a school building and central office administrator in one of the Big Four Districts in New York State. For over ten years, she was Director of Funded Programs responsible for the management of over $ 60 million in categorical and competitive grants in the Yonkers Public School District. A grant proposals reader for the U.S. Department of Education and New York State Education Department, she is also a Board of Directors member of the Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE) Foundation, which seeks to provide career and college opportunities to underserved children.
A former Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Dr. Del Vecchio was Vice President of the Fulbright Association of Greater New York and continues to serve on its Board. She is the founder of the Youth Mentoring Initiative for International Understanding, a partnership program with the Fulbright Association of GNY, Sarah Lawrence College and an urban school district.
A graduate from Fordham University, Dr. Del Vecchio specializes in educational leadership, administration and policy, with a concentration on partnership development and professional development of aspiring school administrators. Recently, she traveled to China, where she presented a paper on the preparation of the next generation of school leaders, at the International Education Leadership Conference sponsored by the Beijing Institute of Education, The Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, Global Interactions, the National Staff Development Council, and The Council of Chief State School Officers. The Business Review Cambridge just published her article on The Disconnect between workplace and graduate school motivation, written in collaboration with a colleague from Tobin School of Business.