Faculty Name

Title

Organization

Professional Bio

Adam Guo

Deputy Head of Senior School & Director of University Counselling

King's College School Chengdu

I worked in international admissions for 10 years at a liberal arts college and a small comprehensive university, then joined K-12 education in 2020 to lead the College Counseling office. I moved up to secondary school administrator in 2022 and also oversee 30+ international programs’ College Counseling Program as the Co-Director of College Counseling at Dipont Education Group.

Alexander Alvendia-Wienkers

Director of Admission

Rice University

Alex Alvendia-Wienkers oversees Rice’s Office of Admission which includes its robust recruitment and highly selective evaluation efforts for undergraduate students to theUniversity.Prior to Rice, Alex spent eight years at the University of Southern California overseeing undergraduate international student recruitment, worked in a publicly traded educational technology startup, and interned at the White House within the Executive Office of the President of the United States during former President BarackObama’s second term. Alex also helped create and lead the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice committee within the University of Southern California admission office. He developed an interest in college admissions during his undergraduate years, when he worked as a tour guide and an admission office ambassador for his alma mater.Alex holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Public Relations from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the George Washington University.

Anna Dechert

Senior Associate Director of Admissions

Dartmouth College

Anna Dechert is a Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Dartmouth College, overseeing the campus programming and International admissions teams. Anna has previously worked in international admissions at Bennington College and served as Director of Admissions at NYU Abu Dhabi. Anna's career has often focused on work with high-achieving low-income international schools, striving to empower students from contexts with less familiarity with selective US liberal arts to be successful in the admissions process. Anna's regional expertise lies primarily in the Middle East and North Africa, having lived abroad for nearly a decade in the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan, and currently works with schools in parts of East Asia as well.

Anna-Theresa Wise

Associate Director of International Recruitment

Hamilton College

Dr. Anna Wise is the Associate Dean of Admission and Director of International Recruitment at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, where students hail from 51 countries and represent 8% of the student population. She has recently completed her doctorate at Northeastern University and is a frequent contributor to the field of international higher education, serving in various capacities for NAFSA and Study Maryland. Dr. Wise has presented at conferences in 6 different countries, and has traveled to nearly 40 nations to assist international students in their pursuit of higher education.

Clay Hensley

Senior Director, International Higher Education Outreach

Independent

With more than two decades of experience supporting the international engagement of higher education institutions globally, Clay Hensley frequently presents on issues impacting international education & student mobility. Clay currently serves on several advisory boards, including those affiliated with the U.S. Department of State’s Open Doors Report, the IC3 Movement, & International Education Advantage (Intead), respectively. Previously, he has served on the Council of International Schools (CIS) Advisory Group as an affiliate member. Clay currently works with several partners, such as the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Cialfo, Ithaca College, Northeastern University, IELTS, among others. Previously Clay led international higher education engagement for the College Board, and was awarded the annual Distinguished Service Award by the International Association for College Admission Counseling (Int'l-ACAC, formerly OACAC) in 2013. Clay has also taught at the secondary and the tertiary-level.

Dane Rowley

Director of International Admission

California Lutheran University

Dane has been working with students from the United States and around the world in outreach, counseling, admission, advising, and teaching for 19 years. He currently serves as Director of International Admission at California Lutheran University where he is responsible for all international undergraduate and graduate student enrollment. He previously served as Dean of Admissions at Augustana College, Illinois. Dane’s undergraduate degrees are in History and Political Science and has a master’s degree in Higher Education Counseling and Guidance. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Minnesota focused on International and Intercultural Education. Dane has lived, worked, and studied abroad in three countries, has traveled to dozens of others, and is passionate about educating leaders for a global society.

Daphna Berger

International Marketing & Recruitment Advisor

Utrecht University

Daphna currently works for Utrecht University, one of the Netherland’s public research universities, where she is responsible for international student recruitment as well as the coordination of internationalization projects university wide. She brings over 10 years of experience in international higher education where her expertise includes international student recruitment, student onboarding & community management, and internationalization outreach & advocacy. Internationalization is in her blood, her own bicultural and bilingual upbringing paving the way for a fascination for different cultures, customs and languages. She earned a BA degree in European Studies and English Language & Culture and a Master’s degree in American Studies. In her private life she is addicted to traveling, yoga and cooking up anything that reflects her Middle-Eastern roots.

Francine Mohammed

Guidance and University Counsellor

UWC Atlantic College

As an educator for over 30 years both in the Caribbean and the UK with roles as Vice-Principal, Dean/Head of Sixth form, School Counselor and teacher, I am a firm believer in access to education moving barriers. With a very multicultural background, I enjoy working with students from a variety of backgrounds as I do consultations, advise and support these students to not only find fit but enable them to be empowered by the education that they will receive. I have been privileged to be an International ACAC Scholar and I now mentor not only individuals in the organization but others within my organization and home country.

Heidi Buffington

Director of Admissions

Saint Louis University - Madrid Campus

Heidi Buffington has worked for 20 years in university-level strategic enrollment management and enrollment communications and marketing. Buffington grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA) and studied abroad in Córdoba, Spain when she was a junior at the College of Wooster (Ohio). After graduating with degrees in biology and Spanish, she returned to Spain to pursue a Master's in International Studies from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic School. Buffington joined the Madrid Campus of Saint Louis University in 2004 as a Study Abroad Advisor. She later served as an International Admissions Counselor and Graduate Admissions Coordinator, recruiting first-year, transfer and graduate students from the U.S.,Western Europe and Asia. Buffington was appointed Director of Admissions in 2016. In her years of work in international education, she prides herself on helping students have life-changing experiences by studying in Spain, in an internationally-diverse environment that fosters cross-cultural understanding.

Jim Crawley

Director of Global Recruitment

Hope College

Jim Crawley is the Director of Global Recruitment at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has over 5 years of experience in higher education, with over 20 of the years in international recruitment. He has worked at both public and private institutions, as well as for an international English language provider. He presents regularly at the state, regional, and national level on topics related to international recruitment and admissions.

Jonathan Tate

Deputy Head of Sixth Form

Dubai College

I have been teaching Art for 22 years now and have been counselling students in their US applications for 14 years. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have not one but two jobs that I love and consider to be of value. When I began each of these roles I was at best average at them, but due to years of experience and the support of kind and caring colleagues and the members of International ACAC, I now feel that I am really pretty good at both!

Kim Zwitserloot

Director International Recruitment/Lecturer in Economics/Tutor

University College Utrecht

Kim Zwitserloot works at University College Utrecht as an assistant professor in economics, tutor (academic advisor with pastoral care responsibilities), and is responsible for the recruitment of international students. What do all these have in common? Communication, sharing knowledge, building relationships and offering support. She has also worked as a lecturer at the Utrecht University School of Economics, Maastricht University and Inlingua Venezuela. During her student days she was active as a trainer in the human resources working group of the European student organisation AEGEE.

Manju Sharma

University Guidance Counsellor

B D Somani International School

I am an Educational Psychologist and have been working with schools in India since 1994. I taught various curricula, including the Indian national curriculum, International Cambridge, and IBDP. I take workshops for teachers, counsellors, parents and students for college and career guidance. I have collaborated with colleagues from high schools and universities to present sessions.

Misco Mungai

Program Director

HALI Access Network

Misco is a passionate advocate of equal youth access to opportunities and quality education for sustainable and inclusive development. She is a certified Project ManagementProfessional with nearly 10 years’ work experience in administration, program design, andyouth development in the non-profit and education sectors. Most recently, six of these were spent designing programs, curriculums and experiences to equip high school students and graduates with skills and competencies to define and thrive in their post-secondary pathways locally and internationally. During this period, Misco supported hundreds of African students to access university admission and financial aid/scholarships abroad. She has primarily worked with high-need students attending schools on the national curricula. At the HALI Access Network, Misco is building the capacity of over 40 access organizations in sub-Saharan Africa and building relationships with higher education institutions and other companies to increase the number of youths from the continent accessing quality higher education.

Molly Witt

Associate Director

University of Vermont

Molly has over 15 years of professional experience within the field of International Education, including the last nine years at the University of Vermont. Molly currently serves as an Associate Director of Admissions overseeing the International and Transfer Admission processes. Before beginning her journey at the University of Vermont, Molly earned her undergraduate degree in German in 2005. In 2008 she earned a Masters in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Global Education. Molly’s entire professional career has been focused on internationalization and student success: she has worked in Study Abroad, International Student Services, and International Admissions. Her experience within International Admissions began in 2007 and has brought her all over the world to help international students achieve their dream of coming to the United States.

Ning Deng

Director of College Counseling

Beijing BISS International School

Ms. Ning Deng has served as the Director of the College Counseling Office for several well- known Chinese schools’ International programs. She is the Executive Board Member of International ACAC and a fellow of the "Inviting Visitor Leadership Program” by the Department of States. Ning has won the "Best Contribution Award" given by Education USA, holds College Counseling Certificates from UCLA and is certified strength coach by Gallup. She is an active presenter in multiple college counseling training programs. She is an experienced college counseling office engineer with 12 years of professional development and a pioneer of China's college counseling profession. She has advised students with diverse backgrounds on getting offers from prestigious universities. Her current interest is developing an ethical practice counseling model in secondary education with standards, assessments, training, and professional development to best advocate for international students.

Paul Teulon

Head of Global Recognition

International Baccalaureate Organization

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulteulon/?originalSubdomain=uk)

Shannon Bracken

Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Ontario Tech University

Shannon Bracken is the Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Ontario Tech University. Shannon’s portfolio includes the leadership, strategy and operation of admissions, recruitment and communications of undergraduate domestic, international, indigenous and college transfer students as well as recruitment for the university’s English Language Centre. Shannon is currently the Chair of the OURA Professional Development Committee, and a member of the Professional Development Committee of International ACAC. Shannon has a career in higher education spanning over 15 years, working in both university and college environments. She holds a Masters of Arts in Higher Education Administration and Leadership, specializing in international education, from Royal Roads University.

Shikha Vij

Career and College Counsellor

Step By Step School

I have been a member of the International ACAC since 2016 but counselling students since 2009. A psychologist by pedagogy, I truly enjoy my time with students. I have also been a mentor in the International ACAC and have trained cohorts in IC3 India. I firmly believe we need to support the counselling community. These roles have helped me grow and learn as well. Based in India, I have worked with IB , A-level, and CBSE ( national curriculum) students. One of the most rewarding parts of my job has been supporting high-need students. I was also blessed to have served as the facilitator for International ACAC regional in 2021.

Tannaz Daver

Head of University Counselling

Saint Joseph's Institution International

I have been working in international schools in Japan, Belgium and Singapore since 1990, initially as a Mathematics teacher. I have been a school based university counsellor since October, 2009, when I joined SJI International in Singapore part-time. We were a new school then and I set up our counselling programme. We have since grown to three full time counsellors. I am one of the co-founders of the Global University Counsellor Connect (GUCC) which is held at our school annually, with a mission to provide professional development for our colleagues in our region. I have presented at GUCC, IB conferences, CIS-EARCOS in Bangkok and International ACAC, as well as served as faculty for the Pre-Institute in 2019. I am currently a mentor in the International ACAC Mentor program.

Zaa Nkweta

Student Recruitment Coordinator

Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Zaa Nkweta is a higher education professional skilled in the field of international recruitment and admissions. He currently serves as the Student Recruitment Coordinator at Canada’s top arts and design university Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Zaa has worked in recruitment and admissions at small, medium and large size institutions and has a demonstrated track record of delivering and surpassing recruitment targets and goals. His nine years of experience has seen him as the Manager of Admissions and Recruitment for the University of British Columbia’s MBA program, as well as recruiting for the University of King’s College in Halifax and Vancouver Island University on Vancouver Island. His background as a foreign correspondent, international journalist and University lecturer has given him keen insight in assisting and guiding international and third culture students.