Global21Staff
(for past staff, click here)Lita Tandon , Executive Director
Lita will never forget her excitement as the intriguing email describing Global21 graced her inbox. The daughter of Indian born parents with a strong love of travel, Lita has been lucky enough to spend her life traversing the globe, developing a constant wanderlust and an insatiable curiosity about the world. She has spent her last few summers abroad and participated in extensive wolrdwide service trips. As an economics and psychology double major, Lita has a strong interest in behavioral finance, business and education, particularly the service side, and hopes to go into non profit development and management after Yale, potentially joining the Peace Corps. At Yale, Lita is the business manager and tour manager of her a cappella group, Proof of the Pudding and enjoys playing the piano, running and buffalo chicken wenzels from Elm Street's own Alpha Delta Pizzeria. Sabrina Snell, Editorial Director
Before arriving to Yale, Sabrina deferred matriculation for a year to travel to Bolivia as an exchange student with a full scholarship from the American Field Service. In summers 2005 and 2007, she returned to Bolivia to conduct a study of the Movement Toward Socialism, interviewing its leader, the current President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, as well as many other representatives of government, industry, and labor. As an anthropology major, she maintains dual interests in Latin American political culture and post-Mao reform in China (she is in fourth-year Chinese at Yale). Prior to joining Global21 as Editorial Director, Sabrina was Managing Editor for The Yale Globalist, and in that capacity, organized a two-week trip to Venezuela in May 2007 in which thirteen members of The Yale Globalist assessed the impact of domestic policy under the Chávez administration. When not engaged in fostering dialogue among Global21 chapters, Sabrina coordinates a tutoring program at a local bilingual school and enjoys her daily jog along the New Haven waterfront. Joshua Tan, Operations Director
On the night-time train from Xi'an to Beijing, Josh met the other half of China. They were a family from the countryside--the young father and mother, with faces bronzed from a lifetime of fieldwork in the sun, and their little child, a wan girl of three that still looked like an infant, unable to speak, unable to walk, unwilling, it seemed, to laugh or cry or react at all. On the shoestring budget that their village had pooled together, the three had travelled from city to city, doctor to doctor, and upon were now traveling to their last stop in Beijing. As he looked at the child, for the first time in his life Josh felt truly helpless, but then he saw the parents and that despite all that they had endured, they were still upright, they felt blessed, they had hope. And what Josh regretted most from his time in China was that as the three walked off the train, he only waved goodbye. Hande Altun, Public Relations Director
Hande joined Global21 her freshman year, being fascinated by the dedication of its members in forming a global network of students who want to have a voice in world's issues. In summer of 2006, she established a Globalist chapter in Turkey, her home country; and this year she is the Public Relations Director of Global21. Hande is especially interested in international relations, media relations and communications. In 2005, she won the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Student Award for International Understanding, and from then on, she continued to be involved with organizations that promote international understanding and leadership. She is currently the treasurer of Yale Friends of Turkey, an organization introducing Turkish culture and views to Yale community. Having worked in four films, Hande is also passionate about film making; and she is the Head of Development of Bulldog Productions, the only film production company at Yale. Hande is fluent in Turkish and English, proficient in Spanish, and she hopes to be intermediate in French by spring 2008. She spent the summer of 2006 in Spain, learning about Spanish culture, traveling and improving her language skills. In the summer of 2007, she was an intern in CNN Turk, where she had a chance to observe the Turkish elections from an insider's perspective. Hande is a junior political science and psychology double major. Amandla Ooko-Ombaka, Director of Investor Relations
As a Kenyan resident and national who has lived in the USA & England and travelled extensively with Africa, Asia, North America and Europe, Amandla has constantly been defining and re-defining the concept of global citizenry specifically what it means to be a global leader. She got involved with Global21 due to her belief in the foundations' ability to provide a forum through which college students can examine existing global differences and inequalities in context, in addition gauging a true sense of international co-operation and understanding. Amandla is a potential Economics and Mathematics major at Yale and is on the executive board for the Leadership Institute. She has an infectious passion for dance (she dances competitvely for 2 dance groups on campus) and modern languages - she speaks English, Kiswahili, French and Spanish. Julian Rajeshwar, IT Director
Julian was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and has been involved in Global21 since his freshman year and he nurtures a strong appreciation for the rapid pace at which the global community is becoming more connected through technological innovation. He is also deeply interested in the role of human spirituality in uniting newly-connected groups of otherwise disparate peoples. Last summer, Julian interned in the quantitative research department of the Glenmede Trust Company.
Evan Leitner , Director of Human Resources
Evan is a recent addition to the Global21 team. His passion for global affairs and international development flared at a young age and manifested itself in an upbringing rife with travel to Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. As staff writer for the Yale Entrepreneur and the editor for the Yale Journal of Human Rights, Evan has tried to mesh an interest in finance, development and globalization. He hopes to help broaden the spectrum of Global21 fundraising efforts and ensure self-sustainability in all chapters. His summer was spent doing human rights research in Malawi and later working for an international brokerage house in both New York and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Alice Baumgartner, Associate Editor
Rushad Dordi , Associate Editor
Rushad joined the Global21 team as a sophomore because of its dedication to furthering an understanding of globalization by bringing together people from across the world. A double major in economics and molecular biochemistry, Rushad is fascinated with health-care finance and public policy, and especially in comparing the ways different countries deal with problems in public health. Aside from Global21, Rushad serves as the Business Manager for the Yale Journal of Medicine and Law, and is actively involved with community service in the New Haven area. In his spare time, Rushad enjoys reading and learning American and European history, and messing around with friends. Jesse Marks , Associate Editor
A proud Bostonian and member of Yale's Berkeley College, Jesse plans to major in economics and international studies. He's especially fascinated by globalization and international security. As a freshman, he jumped on the first opportunity to join Global21 and is excited to build friendships and engage in political dialogue with students from all around the world. Outside of Global21, Jesse is a staff writer for the Globalist, serves on the Freshman Class Council, and coaches New Haven Youth Soccer. In the summer, he works as a soccer referee and an outdoor education instructor.
Rachel Wolf, Associate Editor
Born and raised in Palo Alto, California, Rachel left her hometown university's mission-style arches for the twin courtyards of Yale's Saybrook College. Enthused by the prospect of using magazine journalism to spark critical interest in international affairs, Rachel joined the Global21 editorial staff her freshman year. She is also actively involved in both the Model UN Team at Yale and the Yale International Relations Association. Outside of Yale, Rachel has worked as a field interviewer for a microfinance organization in the Dominican Republic and a staff writer for a page of the San Jose Mercury News. She plans to pursue a major based in political science and a vocational future in either government or nonprofit. Ilan Szekely, Public Relations Associate
Ilan was born and raised in Venezuela, but after his junior year of high school, he was awarded a scholarship to study the IB diploma in Hong Kong, under the United World College (UWC) program for two years. During this time he traveled extensively around East and Southeast Asia. Most notably, he was a member of the second student group ever to visit North Korea, with the aim of inviting two North Korean students to study in the Hong Kong UWC. Ilan has worked with the Asian Migrant Center in Hong Kong, where he provided STD-prevention training to Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers. In Venezuela, he has worked with Proyecto Alcatraz, a criminal rehabilitation program, where he taught geography and basic English to young, convicted fellons. At Yale, Ilan is a member of the Model UN Team. He plans to spend his summer in Beijing studying Chinese intensively. Anichya Gujral , Financial Associate
Anichya was born in California and went to school in Ojai and Montecito until the age of eleven when he was sent to boarding school in rural India. He spent four years studying at the Rishi Valley school before returning to America to finish high school at Phillips Academy. The contrasts that he has witnessed between these different educational environments have flared his passion for global affairs. Throughout his life, Anichya has been exposed to political discourse as his family is active in international politics. He loves to travel and has been fortunate to have visited around 50 countries over the course of his life. He spent last summer working with a startup Venture Capitalist networking firm based out of New Delhi. At Yale he was a summer tour guide last summer and loves to play golf. Jhenette Lauder, Financial Associate
Jhenette has always had a passion for travel and exposure to new and different cultures. She truly believes that diplomacy can only be maintained through our understanding of and willingness to learn about others. She spent the summer after her sophomore year of high school in France and Italy with the program Experiment of International Living. And in her senior year she participated in a Global Connections community service project in Guatemala. Therefore, even before starting her freshman year at Yale in 2006, she was well aware that the many international opportunities offered there would be of much interest to her. It is not surprising then that she dedicated her first year in college to the largest student run international organization, AIESEC, working hard to provide Yale students internships abroad. She spent her summer studying Spanish in Ecuador and continuing her involvement with AIESEC in Peru. Now in her sophomore year, she looks to continue her work in encouraging and supporting international relations, especially amongst the youth, by joining the Financial Team of Global21. She believes that its mission is an important one to support and actively work at fulfilling. Hasib Nasirullah, Financial Associate
Hasib joined Global21 his freshman year because of a strong fascination with international relations, world politics, and global business. A first generation American of Bengali heritage, he developed a love for traveling and exploring the food, heritage, and lifestyles of other cultures at a young age. He strongly believes understanding and appreciating other cultures is the first step to better international cooperation and global harmony. Prior to joining Global21, Hasib worked in fundraising and project management with several organizations at his high school. He has attended two service conferences, HOBY and Freedom Foundations, and finished a summer program in Economic Development at Brown University. In addition to English, he speaks proficient Bengali and Spanish, and is presently learning Arabic. A prospective double major in NELC and Political Science, Hasib plans on eventually attending law school. He lives in South Florida where he has spent the past two summers interning in both the laboratory and legal divisions at Andrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Louisa Xu , Financial Associate
Louisa Xu, a freshman in Saybrook, comes to Yale from a large, public school in Plano, Texas, where she has lived for seven years. In high school, she was heavily involved in National Honor Society, Teen Court, and conducted biological research at a local university. At Yale, in addition to Global21, she is involved in the Yale Herald and Yale Students for Christ. An avid fan of nineties pop music and nineteenth century European art and literature, she enjoys ice-skating and reading New Yorker cartoons. She hopes to work in finance and investment in the future, possibly in China.
Alexandra Cavoulacos , Executive Director Emeritius
Born of a Greek father and a Belgo-Hungarian mother, Alexandra has spent her life moving back and forth between France and the United States, and knows from personal experience how difficult it can be reconcile important cultural differences. A political science major, Alexandra is fascinated with transatlantic relations. Her interest in Europe and international relations drew Alexandra to Global21 as she believes that leadership development and networking amongst students with similar aims and beliefs is critical at a time when the world is growing closer together. Alexandra is bilingual in English and French, speaks proficient Spanish and German, and is currently learning Modern Greek. She is currently looking into a career in consulting |
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