Born in New York, Nicole moved to the Netherlands when she was six weeks old and has since traveled, lived, and worked overseas and in the U.S.

An accomplished environmental educator, trainer, and director as well as a respected facilitator and teacher of adult education, Nicole has also worked as an independent environmental law and education contractor in the Baltic countries, served as political and legislative director at the Vermont State Employees’ Association, and been elected to the city council for two terms in the capitol city of Vermont.

In 2005, she and her husband joined the Peace Corps and served in Senegal, where they developed a successful solid waste management project. Nicole remained in Senegal to work for WWF to continue the project, as well as to conduct a feasibility study to expand it into two more cites in Senegal.

In 2009, Nicole became the Director for Peace Corp’s Small Enterprise Development and Eco-Tourism Program in Senegal. She supervised the work and cultural integration of 46 Peace Corps volunteers, providing technical, logistical, and administrative support.

Nicole loves to travel and visit new places and cultures; is fascinated by what motivates people to change their social norms; loves African art, culture, people and food; and wants to retire some day on a small farm near the ocean.

Nicole holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Tulane University, a Master’s in Adult and Environmental Education from Northern Illinois University and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School.

Isabela was born and raised in Brazil, but developed her passion creating cultural and educational bridges between Brazil, the U.S., and other foreign countries through her own experiences studying abroad.  Over the last 16 years, Isabela has enjoyed a diverse and varied career in performing arts, experiential education, and social projects with youth and adults in Brazil, Nicaragua, Mexico, Australia, Spain and the U.S.  Isabela’s unique experiences range from performing with Cirque du Soleil, Wise Fool, and Teatro de los Sentidos to contributing to community-oriented projects such as Bridging for the Arts with the Miami Performing Arts Center to working for a Sister-City Project in Nicaragua and the UNESCO Universal Cultural Forum in Mexico.  Combining her work in education and the performing arts with environmental awareness and sustainability, Isabela founded the Organization of Permaculture and Art  (OPA) in 2004 in Bahia, Brazil.  Most recently, she  worked with the experiential educational company Where There Be Dragons as the Brazil Course Director.

Isabela is enthusiastic about sharing her deep knowledge of Brazil and contributing to an amazing, life changing experience for Global Citizen Year Fellows.  She holds a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Colorado.

An Ecuadorian national, Eileen has committed the last 8 years of her life to education, international cooperation, and social entrepreneurship on three continents. Her career has revolved around helping future leaders develop their own understanding and capacity to solve some of the world’s most difficult problems.

One of Eileen’s early overseas experience in Zambia drove her to develop a scholarship program that has evolved into what is now SEED Canada, an organization supporting scholarships for high school and university students in Kenya and Zambia. Professional overseas experiences that followed include work with government officials in Ghana as an African Program Staff for Engineers Without Borders Canada, work in Costa Rica for the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, and volunteer work in India and Ecuador.

While in Canada, Eileen’s most recent home base, she remained connected to work overseas, sourcing social innovations as Global Marketing Coordinator for Ashoka’s Changemakers and, most recently, serving as Executive Director of Education Generation, a crowd-funding platform supporting students in the developing world to attend some of the world’s most innovative programs in their home countries. Through these experiences Eileen has worked extensively with youth, developed training programs, supported organizations delivering world-class innovation, and built and led dynamic teams. After having spent the last 12+ years abroad, Eileen is excited return to her native country and spearhead Global Citizen Year’s program there as the Ecuador Country Director.

Eileen holds a B.A. from McMaster University, Canada and a Post-Graduate Degree in Latin American Human Rights and Public Policy from the Henry Dunant School of Human Rights, Chile.

Ever since childhood, Andy has had an appreciation for cross-cultural interactions. He was born and raised in Ecuador with an Ecuadorian Father and an American mother; after high school, he traveled, worked, and studied in Ecuador, the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Through out his career, Andy has focused on contributing to building socially just ties among diverse cultures. He has worked in community development and international education both at the international and domestic level. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa and worked with at risk youth in Washington D.C. During his graduate school years, Andy discovered a specific passion for designing and executing inter-cultural exchange programs. In Ecuador, he operated teacher and volunteer abroad programs for LanguageCorps and the Peace Corps.

Before joining Global Citizen Year, Andy also worked in Washington D.C. organizing international recruiting tours. He then returned to Ecuador eager to bring his enthusiasm for education and social change to Global Citizen Year, with a primary goal of effectively facilitating the link between the host culture and the Fellows to ensure growth for both parties.

Andy holds a B.A. in International Relations from Louisiana State University and an M.A. focused in International Education from The School for International Training (SIT).

María Cristina is an Ecuadorian professional with a multicultural formal training and several years of experience in diverse areas of development. She has successfully directed Family Support and Literacy Programs dedicated to improving the lives of Central American immigrant families with young children in Northern California. Her experience also includes her work in Ecuador with different organizations including World Teach, Peace Corps and others focused on issues of sustainable development and climate change. Beyond these professional experiences, María Cristina’s interests extend to child development, climate change and poverty reduction policy, peace education, and sustainable development.

María Cristina holds a B.A. in Social Development from the Pontific Catholic University of Ecuador and an M.A. in Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development from the United Nations Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Studies, complemented with an Executive Program in Sustainability Management, from INCAE Business School in Costa Rica.

Hassana Hedrick Diallo was born in the rural community of Dindefelo, in southeastern Senegal, and lived there until the age of 10, when he was adopted by Peace Corps Volunteers who had served in his village. He returned with them to the States, where he learned English and attended at The Maret School in Washington, D.C. before going on to graduate from Olympia High School in Washington State. Throughout his time in the U.S., he returned every year or two to Senegal, never losing his native languages or his connection with Senegalese culture. After graduating from college, he worked in two positions in Washington state government, focused on customer relations and training. In 2008, a year after his father returned to Senegal to become the Peace Corps Country Director, he also returned to Senegal to start a new venture, focused on the agricultural supply chain, which now employs 6 people. While doing this, he also worked with and mentored several Peace Corps Volunteers in the Kedougou region.

Previously, Hassana also worked for Malaria No More, educating the Senegalese population on malaria and its preventions. He was the Malaria Education Coordinator in the Senegal Office and was charged with recruiting and schools to incorporate a malaria education curriculum to students and with overseeing its implementation.

Hassana has traveled throughout West Africa and some parts of Europe and is fluent in English, French, Pulaar and Wolof. He holds a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College in Washington state with a focus on business management and entrepreneurship.

Oumou Gueye was born and raised in England to a Senegalese father and a Ghanaian mother. She moved to Senegal with her family at the age of 12 for a year before spending five years in New York where she attended the UN international school. She has attended schools on three continents and speaks English, French and Wolof fluently with a basic knowledge of Italian. After moving several times between London and Dakar, Oumou returned to Senegal in early 2010.

As the eldest of three children -and the eldest grandchild in her family- Oumou spent a lot of her youth taking care of others. This fueled an interest in education which led to teaching and mentoring high school students in both London and Dakar throughout the last ten years. She has also spent nine years in the voluntary sector working in community as well as international development where she strengthened her mediation, linguistic and training skills.

Oumou holds a BA honours in Social Anthropology with a minor in Development Studies from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults.

Assane Diallo was born and grew up in Rufisque, one of the former French colonial cities in Senegal. He has worked as a history, geography and civil rights teacher at a private high school. He joined ACI (Africa Consultants International) in 1998 as a language instructor and cultural guide, where he had the opportunity to work with Americans of many ages, from 7 to 67 years old, including students from the Study Abroad Programs, families of missionaries, Fulbright lecturers, Researchers, US Army Officers, and various ex-pats from all over the world. Assane also worked as a private French and Wolof tutor for numerous organizations and individuals of various nationalities.

Assane traveled to the U.S. in December 2010 in order to help his adopted son obtain crucial health care. While in the U.S., he also taught French at the Islamic Academy of Alabama. In addition, he tutored students and was a guest speaker at the French Department at Samford University as well as the Birmingham International Center.

Assane holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Dakar (Cheikh Anta Diop). He is fluent in Wolof, Pulaar, French, English, and proficient in Spanish.

Lila was born in Egypt and moved to the United States as a young child.   She grew up between South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia, enjoying the culturally diverse upbringing common to families with international backgrounds. Devoted to service from a young age, Lila truly began to realize the value of international cognizance and service while studying at the University of South Carolina.  There, she had the wonderful opportunity to work and volunteer abroad in Santiago, Chile, and later to study and work with an immigration research institute in Madrid, Spain.

Lila is deeply familiar with Ecuadorian culture and society after spending three years in that country with the Peace Corps, where she worked with indigenous youth from the Amazon and the Sierra, overcoming intercultural differences  to promote good health practices and preventative education. Lila is committed to promoting the vision of a bridge year program for American students and draws on her experience in youth empowerment and international development to help realize this vision with the Fellows in Ecuador.  Outside of serving as part of the Ecuador country team, Lila’s other interests include public health, reproductive health rights and gender issues, sustainable development, food security and nutrition, and environmental issues.

Lila holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina.

Solamon “Sol” Estin was born in Bahia, Brazil and grew up between there and Ashland, Oregon. In 2010, Sol was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Colombia, where he performed 10 months of teaching, academic advising, and research based at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín. During that time, Sol developed his research background in the areas of international relations, public policy, economic development, urban planning, and student empowerment.

Sol recently participated in the State Department’s meetings for the US-Brazil Joint Action Plan on Racial and Ethnic Equality (JAPER) in Washington, DC.  He was also awarded a second post-graduate fellowship, a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, to study Political Science at the Master’s level at UFBa’s Schools of Social Sciences in Salvador.  Through this Fellowship, he has been able to serve the community of Bahia while also working toward his main passion: spurring socioeconomic development in Latin America.

Sol holds a B.A. with Honors in Political Studies, with an emphasis in International Political Economy and a Minor in Latin American Studies, from Pitzer College.

Yuri spent his childhood in Latin America, where he developed a deep appreciation for the region at an early age. After graduating from high school in The Netherlands, he took a bridge year during which he lived in France before traveling through several Asian countries on a six month trip that inspired him to study International Relations and Sociology on his return. During his studies, he lived in England, Spain, and Slovakia, acquiring international work experience through various projects and organizations.

After graduating, Yuri returned to Latin American and has spent the past two years living in Riobamba, a small city surrounded by some of Ecuador’s most spectacular volcanoes. There, Yuri has worked with local and international organizations on organizational and business development. Besides traveling, Yuri enjoys mountain climbing, rock climbing, and sharing his passion for the wonderful diversity his beloved Ecuador has to offer.

Yuri holds a B.S. in International Relations and Sociology from Aston University, UK, and an MS in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from the Humanitarian Aid Studies Centre, Spain.