Facilitators

Lydia Barraza is the Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy Bangkok. Her last tour was as the State Department’s Spanish-language Spokesperson and Director of the Miami Media Hub. Lydia previously served as Deputy Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, during the re-establishment of diplomatic relations.

Prior to Cuba, she served as Spokesperson and Public Affairs Officer in Lahore, Pakistan, and as Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in New Delhi, India. She began her career in Lagos, Nigeria, where she worked in the consular and political sections. Before joining the Department of State, Lydia was a fellow for the American India Foundation in India, where she worked on HIV/AIDS education. Lydia is from Texas and holds a degree in political science and international studies from Southern Methodist University. She speaks Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, and Thai.

At the U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Adisorn "Pae" Laopiroon works as the Alumni and YSEALI Program Coordinator. His responsibilities include coordinating alumni outreach and Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) programs for Bangkok and the Consulate in Chiang Mai, as well as logistical planning for YSEALI Academic Fellowship Institutes and YSEALI Regional Exchange Programs.

Pae was born in Surin Province, in the northeastern portion of Thailand, in a medium-sized town. He graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a bachelor's degree in

international relations and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from California State University, Long Beach. From 1994 to 1995, he was a member of the American Field Service (AFS) program and attended Torrington High School in Connecticut for a year. Pae returned to the Public Affairs team in April 2005 after completing his master's degree in the United States.

U.S. Mission to ASEAN's Public Affairs Officer Jason Seymour is the Mission's spokesperson and oversees leadership training programs for young Southeast Asian leaders. Jason is passionate about many causes, including human trafficking and sustainable development. He previously served the U.S. Department of State in Equatorial Guinea, China, Mexico, Israel, and Pakistan. Before joining the U.S. Department of State, he was a journalist and completed academic programs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and in Spain and Brazil.

Dian is the Alumni Coordinator at the U.S. Mission to ASEAN, where she builds the engagement of the current participants and the alumni of the U.S. Mission to ASEAN exchange programs, including the YSEALI and Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholar Initiative Program. As the Alumni Coordinator, Dian meets many outstanding ExchangeAlumni and inspiring youth activists that continually drive her passion for channeling and supporting them to make lasting impacts in their communities. She also works as the official YSEALI social media manager, leading the public outreach and community engagement with more than 150,000 YSEALI members in Southeast Asia. Through various platforms, Dian creates interactive content for YSEALI campaigns and programs that aim to continue inviting aspiring youth in the region to make a change in their communities. She graduated as one of the top five best graduates from a national university in Indonesia.

Jason Thornton is the Regional Alumni Coordinator for East Asia Pacific at the Office of Alumni Affairs within the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In this role, he provides best practices and resources to U.S. Embassies to support their alumni engagement efforts. Prior to joining the Office of Alumni Affairs, Jason lived in Seoul, South Korea for 10 years, five of which were spent working on exchange programming at the U.S. Embassy Seoul's Public Affairs Section. Originally from the Florida Panhandle, he holds a bachelor's degree in international affairs from Florida State University.

Matt Bikoff is the Regional Alumni Coordinator for South and Central Asia at the Office of Alumni Affairs within the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In this role, he supports the U.S. government's public diplomacy efforts and guides alumni network development. He also manages small grant funding opportunities for international exchange alumni and training curricula for U.S. Embassy staff.

At the Office of Alumni Affairs, Matt has also covered the Western Hemisphere and U.S. alumni coordinator portfolios and served on the outreach team. Prior to joining the State Department, Matt worked at World Learning, where he implemented the Leaders for Democracy Fellowship, a State Department-funded and facilitated exchange for civil society leaders from the Middle East and North Africa. From 2013 to 2015, Matt served as a Youth Development Coordinator in Cameroon with the U.S. Peace Corps. In Cameroon, he created and managed projects focused on public health, gender equality, youth entrepreneurship, and civic activism. He holds a B.A. degree in psychology and Jewish studies from Indiana University-Bloomington.

Maria Eliades is the Digital Outreach Specialist in the Office of Alumni Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where she creates social media content and analysis, and is a co- producer on the office's podcast, Voices of Exchange, and on the 30-minute live show, MentorTalks. Maria has a background in journalism, digital PR, and international higher education.

Prior to working for the Office of Alumni Affairs, Maria lived in Istanbul, Turkey and in Oxford, United Kingdom, where she worked as a cultural journalist and as a university instructor at Bogazici (Bosphorus) University, as well as the director of development and

communications at a community-based organization (CBO) in New York. She holds a B.A. in English languages and literatures from Drew University, a CELTA, and a M.St. degree in modern languages from the University of Oxford.

Jessica Mead is a senior program officer at World Learning. She has served as the project manager on Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars (Alumni TIES) since October 2015. Prior to Alumni TIES, for eight years Jessica managed academic and professional exchange programs funded by the U.S. Department of State and USAID, most notably the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (UGRAD). In addition to her work in global exchanges, Jessica developed the Advancing Leaders Fellowship program for alumni of World Learning programs.

Prior to World Learning, Jessica was an English professor in Santiago, Chile at DuocUC, an account executive in the international division of Powell Tate|Weber Shandwick, and a major gifts officer at the New England Regional Anti-Defamation League. She has a M.Sc. degree in the history of international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a B.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College.

Ashley Henry is a senior program associate at World Learning and joined the Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars (Alumni TIES) team in October 2018. Ashley supports the implementation of the Alumni TIES program as well as the administration of the Alumni TIES small grants program.

In 2016, Ashley graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. degree in international economics with a focus in German. During her time there, she studied abroad for five months at Heidelberg University in Germany. Prior to World Learning, Ashley worked as a business development manager at Collage Group, where she helped clients to better understand and successfully market to U.S. multicultural and youth consumers through market research.

Margaret Capella is a program coordinator at World Learning. She supports the implementation of the U.S. Department of State’s Leaders Lead On Demand program and the Digital Communication Network as well as the administration of the U.S. Speaker Program.

Prior to World Learning, Margaret worked on the Police Professionalization Exchange Program with Global Ties U.S. and on youth exchange programs at Youth For Understanding USA. She has a M.A. degree in international education from George Washington University and a B.A. degree in international relations from Saint Anselm College. Prior to starting her

graduate program, Margaret was an English teacher for three years at Kasetsart University Laboratory School in Chonburi, Thailand.