Scholars

Alexandra Bakiewicz has years of experience in communications and engagement, and she has earned her degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York, Polytechnic Institute. In 2018, Alexandra founded the digital communications firm AM Bakiewicz Consulting. Having been employed at a variety of companies and international non-profits across the United States, Alexandra has worked tirelessly to amplify her clients’ voices in the digital world. While working at international non-profits, she has developed digital media strategies to further her clients’ missions on an international level. Alexandra strives to uplift the voices of emerging social sector leaders worldwide. It is her personal passion and mission to make sure their stories are continuously told.

Amelia Hagen brings ten years of experience across education, entrepreneurship, and event management. Amelia earned a Master in Science in International Event Management with a focus on Sports Mega-Events at the University of Brighton (UK) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa. She currently serves as the Entrepreneurship and Business Development Manager for the Swiss Institute of Hospitality Management and the North American Development Representative for Sport and Sustainability International. In 2018-19, Amelia developed the new Social Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking Program at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She also worked as a UNDP Environmental Management Consultant for the 2018 World Nomad Games. To further understand opportunities for grassroots development within Sports Mega-Events, she volunteered at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics and multiple FIFA events in Russia, including the 2018 World Cup. Prior to moving to Central Asia in early 2018, Amelia co-founded and led a university social enterprise boot camp in Manila, Philippines, and coached university students in developing their own sustainability-related initiatives in the UK. Throughout her global career, Amelia has fostered essential skills in diplomacy, project management, leadership, capacity building, and event management. Her purpose in leveraging international events for peace development is rooted in global education coordination and teaching experiences in Italy and Japan. She is particularly interested in harnessing the global sports event world to promote gender equity and sustainability initiatives among youth under the Sustainable Development Goals umbrella.

Anna Goltermann has two years of experience in the non-profit, government, and legal sectors. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University. Currently, Anna works for the Center for International Private Enterprise as a Program Associate for Europe and Eurasia. Anna’s work focuses on facilitating cohesion in a rapidly growing department, supporting projects in Europe and Eurasia that promote healthy economic environments, and assisting the Regional Director with a wide-range of programmatic responsibilities on a global scale. Anna’s interests involve promoting women’s economic empowerment, advancing human rights and civil liberties in Europe and Eurasia, and conducting research on regional political trends. Prior to her experience at CIPE, Anna received a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship to study in an intensive language immersion program in Moscow, Russia where she gained proficiency in Russian and participated in cross-cultural exchanges with Russian university students. During her time at George Washington University, Anna interned at Capitol Hill with Congress-member Karen Bass and worked for the Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. With these experiences, Anna cultivated a strong skill set in research, project management, and interpersonal communication.

Chloe Alexander graduated from Bentley University in 2016, where she combined her Business degree in Accounting with Liberal Studies in ethics and social responsibility. She was recognized for her civic leadership, was an active leader in the Bentley Microfinance Group, and continues to volunteer as a business competition judge each year. For three years, Chloe provided internal audit consulting, managed business services, and provided business process improvement services to banking and technology clients. After an opportunity to visit a refugee camp and meet with asylum seekers in Jordan, she decided to take the leap to pivot her career into the public and social sectors. In 2019, Chloe joined the Peace Corps as a Community Economic Development Volunteer in Ukraine, where she completed language, cultural, and technical training to successfully partner with local organizations seeking to build their capacity for social impact. Chloe hosted English-speaking clubs, assisted with grant development activities, and facilitated organizational capacity assessments to identify training opportunities. All Peace Corps volunteers globally were evacuated due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, which led to a new opportunity for Chloe to further develop grant management skills at a government agency and reconnect to her hometown of Prince George, Virginia, USA. Chloe is passionate and extremely curious about many facets of international development, including activating the private sector to bridge resource gaps between the needs of vulnerable groups and limited public and nonprofit capacity, social entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development, and the interconnectedness of religion, gender, and economic development.

Elina Valeeva has nine years of experience as an executive business consultant and is the founder and CEO of Meditivity, as well as an ambassador of Women in Tech in Russia. Meditivity is the positive behavior change app for people who want to achieve goals and live a mindful life. As a start-up founder and the leader of the Russian Women in Tech community, Elina is responsible for team management, communicating, and implementing the vision and overall direction of these organizations. Within one year under Elina’s leadership, Women in Tech Russia grew to include more than 2000 members and organized a series of events with an audience of more than 15 000 participants. In 2020, Elina got accepted to the StartUp Chile accelerator. In 2019, she was selected at the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State and the German Marshall Fund. Before Meditivity, Elina started Brainfest, an intellectual entertainment company, which, in two years, grew to include 14 cities and 25 000 participants.

Elizabeth Andrews received her Master’s degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University with a focus in economics. She has extensive experience working with social enterprises, startups, and international NGOs as a consultant, project manager, and team leader. Her passion for building women’s leadership networks and community building has taken her to South America, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe. She is currently the Director of Business Development at InsightPact, a global design consultancy firm that creates virtual and in-person spaces for inclusive and fair dialogue. Previously, she lived for four years in Bangkok where she was the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Programs at Wedu. During this time, she piloted and scaled an annual leadership Academy for young professional women across Southeast Asia and co-founded the YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy Alumni Network. Before moving to Asia, she worked at Vital Voices Global Partnership where she led the VVLead Documentarian Project across 12 countries that focused on the significance of women’s leadership networks among female community leaders. After publishing the report, she was invited by the Department for International Development to present her findings to European government officials. During graduate school, her capstone group was awarded funding to conduct qualitative research in Colombia and Rwanda on the topic of sustainable income diversification practices among artisan women and was later asked to present their published findings at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She is a Coaching Fellowship (TCF) alumna, a global leadership program that provides executive coaching for high-potential female leaders working in social impact, as well as TeamUp mindfulness Peer Coaching recipient.

Emily Brandt is a doctoral student at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she studies non-profit and citizen participation in poverty alleviation policy implementation. She previously earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of North Texas, where her capstone project researched the Yugoslav Wars’ domestic policy implications. With eleven years of experience in non-profits working in domestic violence prevention, economic development, women’s financial independence, and arts education, Emily is passionate about sustainable non-profit growth, financial transparency, and community support for development initiatives. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Emily credits her time working with the YWCA of Armenia with igniting a passion for grassroots development, women-led initiatives, and non-profits’ role in improving lives.

Georgina Capetillo has ten years of non-profit experience and holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from The New School. She earned a graduate certificate in International Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her undergraduate degree is in political science and philosophy from Howard University. Georgina is currently working for the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island as is part of their COVID-19 response team. Her work consists of bilingual outreach, coordinating PPE, and free meal distribution. Georgina managed membership engagement and growth at International Sites of Conscience, a coalition of over 300 museums, memory initiatives, and historical sites that promote transformative justice in civil societies around the globe. Previously, Georgina worked at 360 Campaign Consulting where her work evaluated data and performed outreach to newly registered voters to inform citizens about the democratic process in the United States. Her academic research at The New School centered on democracy and armed forces in Nicaragua, where she lived for 14 years. Both her research and work experience revolve around political education and community engagement in the democratic process. During her work with several civil society organizations, she focused on the relationship between community wellbeing and active citizenry in politics. As an advocate of evidence based practices, her skill set includes data-driven solutions to social participation for collective welfare.