The Global Switchboard

Jewish Family & Community Services of Pittsburgh, founded in 1937, operates on the principle that strong individuals and families create healthy communities. Our mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families through psychological, employment and social services that help individuals and families meet life’s changes and challenges, and empower […]

Jewish Family & Community Services of Pittsburgh

November 18, 2017 8:38 pm Comments Off

Brice Everett Lynn

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A native Pittsburgher, Brice’s experiences began overseas a Pitt student studying abroad in Granada, Spain. Since then, he has dedicated his career to working with faculty to create high-quality, pre-professional overseas experiences for students. In addition to study away program development, Brice has a passion for study abroad marketing, outreach, and process management, and loves nothing more than a good process map.

Bryan Schultz

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Bryan shifted his career focus to international higher education in 2011 after spending 15 years providing executive-level leadership to nonprofit organizations in Colorado and Washington DC. Bryan’s primary content area was early childhood education but he also dabbled in land trusts, strategic planning consulting, and welfare reform. Bryan earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kalamazoo College (MI) where he won the Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Research in Women’s Studies for his senior thesis titled Sexual Subordination in American Education: Political, Social and Economic Relationships and the E. Bruce Baxter Award for Outstanding Development in Political Science. Bryan earned a Master of Nonprofit Management from Regis University (CO) where he was awarded the prestigious Colorado Trust Fellowship, a partnership between Regis University and the Colorado Trust to develop leaders in the Colorado nonprofit sector. During his free time, Bryan enjoys long backpacking trips, following Detroit-based professional sports, painting, going to concerts, and exploring new places – especially those overseas.

Carrie Donovan

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Carrie Donovan is the Coordinator of Public Services at Carlow University’s Grace Library where she coordinates the research and teaching functions of the library, as well as the circulation services. As an undergraduate student, Carrie’s own overseas study experience in Madrid was transformative for her, both culturally and personally. Carrie earned a dual Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Comparative Literature and a Master of Library Science from Indiana University in Bloomington. She is excited to serve as Carlow’s campus coordinator for the Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership in support of students who seek to develop their learning and leadership through study abroad.

Jeff Whitehead

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Jeff leads Pitt’s Study Abroad office and helps undergraduate and graduate students find rewarding international education opportunities. Jeff has served for 6 years as a board member of the Pennsylvania Council for International Education. His educational background is in international affairs and business administration.

Kara Lee Mantinaos

7:52 pm Comments Off

Kara Lee is an experienced program developer and interculturalist who has worked primarily in higher education and offers cultural intelligence consulting and seminars for business, education, and non-profit sectors.

Katie Baucco

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Katie graduated Penn State University in 2004, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. After five years working as an engineer for a major package delivery company, Katie returned to school to work on her master’s degree. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in December 2010 with an MA in International Development and an MA in Business Administration, and she currently works as the Director of Operations at Amizade.

Sara Noel

7:40 pm Comments Off

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Sara joined The Global Switchboard team as the Director of Operations in June 2018 after 8 years with Amizade as the Assistant Director where she led Amizade’s Youth Ambassadors Program with South America, a US Department of State funded youth leadership exchange program for high school students from Bolivia, Peru, and the Pittsburgh region. Sara holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Michigan as well as two master’s degrees in international studies and conflict resolution from the University of Denver.

Global Wordsmiths

7:29 pm Comments Off

Global Wordsmiths provides low-cost or no-cost, high-quality language translation and interpretation services in Western Pennsylvania. We are a woman-owned, HIPAA compliant Social Enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and we are dedicated to improving language access in Western Pennsylvania.

Global Wordsmiths’ main language access initiative is The Language Access Project. The Language Access Project provides bilingual students with comprehensive interpreter training and then partners them with local nonprofits to act as volunteer translators and interpreters. Please consider applying if you are a 501(c)3, work directly with immigrants and refugees and would benefit from no-cost language services!

Sheryl Rieder

7:27 pm Comments Off

Sherry Rieder is the Systems & Business Process Manager in Enrollment at Mercyhurst University. She is also a DSO at the school. Prior to working in higher education, she was a reporter/editor/manager at the Erie Times-News for 26 years.

Tyisha N. Burroughs

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Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. Tyisha attended Penn State University, obtaining a dual BA in Political Science and Communications. She went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in International Affairs from New School University in New York City. Upon completing her Master’s Tyisha joined the Peace Corps. She spent two years working in Swaziland, focusing on female empowerment, and education, helping to create the country’s first National Robotics Competition.

Zachary Grewe

7:16 pm Comments Off

Originally from a small town in southern Indiana, Zach moved to Pittsburgh in 2013 to attend the University of Pittsburgh. While an undergraduate, Zach explored possibilities for student service learning that bridged global and local action and engagement. His academic work also focused on opportunities for transnational queer solidarity and cross-cultural understandings of gender and sexuality.

Vira I. Heinz (VIH) Program

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The VIH Program prepares women who have never been abroad for tomorrow’s global challenges by offering an unparalleled opportunity for international experiences, leadership development, and community service. VIH is a legacy program funded by The Heinz Endowments and offers scholarships of between $5,000 and $7,500 for diverse, underrepresented women to fund a summer international experience of their choosing.

Awardees also complete wrap-around programming, before and after their international experiences, and they design and execute a Community Engagement Experience (CEE).

There are fifteen member institutions in the VIH Program: Lincoln University, Arcadia University, Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh at Oakland, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Duquesne University, Chatham University, Carlow University, Robert Morris University, Thiel College, Waynesburg University, and Washington and Jefferson College.

Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE)

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ARYSE’s work includes advocacy for education equity and pro-immigrant and refugee policies, organizes summer and other out-of-school-time programming including PRYSE Academy, and provides individualized support to immigrant and refugee youth.

ARYSE’s flagship program is Pittsburgh Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment (PRYSE) Academy – founded in 2013, PRYSE is a three-week summer program that combines English and academic classes, creative expression workshops, civic engagement activities, and sports to help immigrant and refugee youth become prepared for the school year and develop confidence in themselves through sharing and celebrating their cultural identities.

Nathan Darity

September 28, 2017 12:54 pm Comments Off

Nathan completed his graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh in public health and international development before beginning work with Amizade Global Service Learning in 2009. He was Amizade’s site director in Brazil for a few years before becoming a Project Director responsible for designing health science programs, overseeing Brazil site development, and leading a variety of Pittsburgh-based initiatives. In 2014 he helped launch The Global Switchboard as a project of Amizade and in 2016 accepted the role of Executive director of The Switchboard following our transition to an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Nathan is a former member of the Welcoming Pittsburgh Advisory Council through the Office of the Mayor for the City of Pittsburgh, and the host and organizer of CreativeMornings Pittsburgh, a breakfast lecture series for the creative community.

September 26, 2017 1:40 pm Comments Off

The Global Switchboard is a 501(c)3 organization that stewards a diverse network of people and organizations to transform the Pittsburgh region into a more globally engaged and equitable community.

The Global Switchboard strives to build a region where all people value diversity, practice empathy, and work together to build a more just and peaceful world.

Alaa Mohamed

September 20, 2017 12:49 pm Comments Off

Alaa is an Egyptian-American who obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Bachelor of Philosophy in Global Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. After graduation, she became a PULSE fellow and served at The Global Switchboard. Following her year of service, she joined The Global Switchboard team full time.

Alaa loves the city of Pittsburgh and maintains an active role in the community by volunteering at different organizations like the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh (ICP), and serves on the board of Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PACIE).

Amizade

September 8, 2017 7:28 pm Comments Off

Since 1994, Amizade has worked to inspire empathy, catalyze social action, and link diverse communities through Fair Trade Learning. Over 10,000 individuals have served with local community leaders in 12 countries on 4 continents with 16 partnerships. From working with women and girls on rainwater harvesting initiatives in rural Tanzania to running at-risk youth camps in Jamaica, Amizade volunteers have transformed and been transformed.

Brandon Blache-Cohen

September 6, 2017 2:54 pm Comments Off

Brandon Blache-Cohen, named one of Pittsburgh’s 40 under 40 in 2012, has over ten years of experience in the nonprofit, service-learning, and international education sectors. Blache-Cohen first began experimenting with social entrepreneurship and service-learning while an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh. After sailing on Semester at Sea, he combined his passions of travel and social justice by helping to create a student-initiated NGO, FORGE. As Associate Director of FORGE he worked in three refugee camps in Zambia and Botswana on a slew of small-scale development projects. Since then, Blache-Cohen has worked in development for the Tahirih Justice Center in Washington, DC, as a researcher and program assistant for aids2031 in Worcester, MA, and as a consultant for several other small nonprofits and foundations.

In 2007, Blache-Cohen was named as a Social Change Fellow at Clark University, where he earned an MA in International Development and Social Change, focusing on nonprofit/NGO management. In addition to his work with Amizade, Blache-Cohen was a US delegate to the One Young World Summit in Zurich, Switzerland in 2011, has published several articles on responsible global service-learning in peer-reviewed journals, and since 2009 has sat on a planning committee for the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center. To date, Cohen has worked, studied, or traveled in around 70 countries, and has work authorization in the US and EU.

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