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Megan Bhatia, Placement Services Director
Megan was introduced to the international community at a young age thanks to her parents who decided to host exchange students from around the world. It was an easy choice for her to become an exchange student, so after finishing high school she spent a year in Namur, Belgium. Megan graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2002 with a Major in Communication, and a Minor in Spanish, spending her senior year living in Barcelona, Spain. With the spirit of an entrepreneur, Megan enjoyed selling real estate in Chicago for 6+ years, but always knew that international exchange was her passion. At CCI, Megan has been able to bring all the energy she has for international understanding, combining it with the skills she learned working for herself. As the Placement Services Coordinator, her main role is to support the Field Staff who work all across the U.S. placing exchange students in their communities. |
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Aisha Brangran, Grant Programs Services Director
Aisha became part of the CCI team in May of 2005. She has experienced cultural exchange first-hand while studying abroad in Spain. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at UCLA and began working in the social service field shortly thereafter with a variety of populations including severely, emotionally disturbed adolescents, battered women and their families and former adult prisoners. Aisha received her Master's degree in Social Work at the University of Chicago in June 2008. As Grant Programs Services Director at CCI, Aisha's responsibilities include overall oversight of the FLEX and YES government grant programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Students in the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) program are from former Soviet Union countries while students in the Kennedy-Lugar YES (Youth Exchange and Study) program are from countries with significant Muslim populations. Both programs aim to promote mutual understanding among countries. Aisha enjoys working closely with the highly motivated scholarship students, international partners, the U.S. Department of State, CCI's extensive field network and wonderful staff in the Chicago office.
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Ellie Hilgart Bucciarelli, Academic Year Program, Student Counselor
Ellie is back in the work world again after taking a few years off to stay at home with her children. Ellie held the position as an Elementary School Counselor at the Shanghai American School, Shanghai, P.R. China for five years. There she worked with the expatriate population serving over 20 countries. Stateside, Ellie has worked for both the Chicago and D.C. public schools as a school counselor and teacher. Ellie holds a Master’s in Human Services and Counseling from De Paul University. She loves to travel, but believes the best way to get to know a culture is to both live and work there to experience it all. In her spare time, Ellie loves to hang out at the beach with her family and hunt for sea glass. |
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Dennis Evashenk, Intern
Dennis became part of the CCI team in March of 2011. He experienced cultural exchange while in high school, studying in São João da Boa Vista, São Paulo, Brazil. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Dennis likes to call Chicago home, but is always looking for new places to travel. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at DePaul University studying Business Management, Hospitality Leadership, and minoring in International Business. Dennis focuses his time on assisting placement services as well as working closely with the field staff. In his spare time, Dennis enjoys playing board games with friends and family. |
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Allison Graham, Academic Year Program Outreach and Training Manager
Allison joined CCI in October 2010 excited to have found the perfect place to combine her passion for cross-cultural understanding and excitement for marketing. Allison has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Culture and a business management honors certificate from Indiana University. She also studied abroad in Canberra, Australia, which jump-started many personal trips abroad and her own experience in cultural exchange. Prior to CCI, Allison worked for five years in marketing, fundraising, and event planning at a Chicago nonprofit. As the Outreach and Training Manager, Allison focuses her time guiding the strategy to recruit local coordinators and host families, promoting the Academic Year Program, and training field staff. |
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Lucas Hollow, Academic Year Program Manager
Lucas' first abroad experience came at the age of 16, when he lived with a German family in the small town of Varel. For his undergraduate studies, Lucas attended Eastern Michigan University in the city of Ypsilanti. There, he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Literature. During his senior year he completed a semester abroad in England at the University of Derby, and managed to backpack through the countries of Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and France. Following this, Lucas gained experience as a substitute teacher, camp counselor/director, and as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Chicago. These life-changing experiences led him to the University of Dayton, where he completed a Master’s degree in Community Counseling while acting as a Counselor Trainee at a mental health nonprofit, and working as a Graduate Assistant for the university. All of these opportunities have prepared Lucas for CCI, where he processes AYP student applications, communicates with international partners, and assists with problem solving and conflict resolution throughout the academic year.
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Kathy Hundley, Program Manager, Private School Placement Program
Kathy joined CCI in December, 2008 shortly after moving to Chicago. Before this she lived overseas for 18 years with her husband and two daughters adjusting to the diverse cultures and customs of Jerusalem, Warsaw, Rome and London. In the past Kathy has worked in various divisions of IBM and has also taught middle school and high school sciences. She has a Bachelor’s degree in biology and a Master’s degree in Public Health. As part of the AYP staff Kathy is currently the Program Manager for the Private School Placement Program. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area. |
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Erin Kelly, Academic Year Program Manager
Erin joined CCI as a Program Assistant in October 2010 and became a Program Manager in July 2011. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2009, where she received degrees in Anthropology, International Studies and Spanish. During her junior year of college, Erin studied abroad in Santiago, Chile where she taught English at a public high school and volunteered building houses for local families, in addition to taking classes at Chilean universities. In the summer of 2010, she traveled for three months around the world, during which she visited 17 countries and co-produced a documentary about individuals making a positive difference on a grassroots level. Prior to working at CCI, she worked at a marketing and communications consulting company for nonprofits. As a Program Manager, Erin is responsible for processing AYP student applications, communicating with international partners, and problem solving and conflict resolution with issues that arise during the school year. She also maintains the AYP database. |
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Megan McGaughey, General Director of Academic and Grant Programs
Megan has been a part of CCI since 2001. She has worked in various capacities for the Academic Year Program. In 2004, she began overseeing the Academic Year Program as Director of Student Services. Megan has a Master's degree in International Administration and has studied abroad in Trinidad and Tobago. She oversees the daily operation of the Academic Year Program while communicating with both our international partners and extensive national field network on a daily basis. |
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Jillian Sims, Academic Year Program Assistant
Jillian completed her Bachelor’s degree in Drama Performance and a Creative Writing minor, with honors from Winthrop University in 2007. She spent her junior year abroad studying Drama and Creative Writing at Kingston University in Southwest London. Jillian returned to London for six months after graduating university to work for the UK’s top event staffing agency. During her time there, she had the opportunity to be part of historic and exciting events such as assisting with security clearances and greeting VIPs at the Royal Opening of the UK’s first fast train at Kings Cross/St. Pancras station. Her work and study experiences abroad, as well as her pursuit of drama performance, brought her to Chicago, where she is thrilled to be back in an environment of cultural and travel experience. As a Program Assistant, she helps the AYP team with applications for host families and students, field staff communications, and other related duties.
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Stephanie Spataro, Academic Year Program Manager
Stephanie joined CCI in February 2010 as an intern and became a Program Manager in June 2010. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in French from DePaul University in 2007 where she focused on French literature. During her collegiate career, Stephanie studied abroad in the French Alps for 4 months in 2005 and attended an international school. Her other international experience includes a 7 month stint as an English language assistant in a high school in the village of Laon in the north of France. She loved working with the kids and exchanging cultures and languages. Shortly thereafter, she backpacked throughout Europe, covering 18 cities and countless kilometers by foot and rail in 2 months. Stephanie is responsible for processing AYP student applications, communicating with international partners, and problem solving and conflict resolution with issues that arise during the school year. |
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Colleen Sullivan, Academic Year Program Support
Colleen joined CCI in July of 2007. She has studied abroad in Ireland and also spent several months working in Australia. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame, Indiana, in 2001. Prior to CCI, Colleen worked in meeting planning and web-conferencing and in customer marketing. At CCI, Colleen is responsible for processing AYP student applications, communicating with international partners, and problem solving and conflict resolution with issues that arise during the school year. |
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Kat Treister, Grant Programs Manager
Kat joined CCI in March of 2009. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed her Master's degree in Public Service Management, with a concentration in Fundraising and Philanthropy, from DePaul University in May of 2010. In her junior year of college Kat studied abroad in Florence, Italy, where she took courses in Italian culture, history and literature. Since graduating she has had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador, through an organization called International Student Volunteers, and to the Philippines for a graduate school course. In addition, before joining the CCI team Kat worked for a student organization at Northwestern University where she had the opportunity to lead a group of students on a journey to Israel. As the Grant Programs Coordinator Kat assists with all of the operations for the Department of State sponsored FLEX and YES Grant Programs.
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Gwen Vitzthum, Director of Operations
Gwen began working with CCI in September of 2004. She was born and raised in Japan until her sophomore year in high school at which time her family returned to the U.S. She’s been married for 38 years and has 2 children and a grandson. Gwen has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and has worked in a variety of jobs including (but not limited to)… newspaper copy editor, office manager, substitute teacher, bookkeeper, flight attendant training coordinator, floral department clerk at a grocery store, and special education classroom aide. |
Academic Year Program Regional Directors
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Connie Dean, Executive Regional Director for the South
Shortly after moving to Texas in 1990, Connie and her husband, Richard, hosted their first exchange student, "Kiko," from Brazil. Although she had been working in Occupational Nursing for over 20 years, Connie accepted a part time position as a local coordinator in student exchange, so she could expose her own children to other cultures and help them to build friendships across the world. Little did Connie know that 16 years later, Kiko would give her family their first "international grandchild," baby Enzo. Having grown up in a small Oklahoma town, Connie didn't have the opportunity to travel much and could only dream of traveling to other countries and learning about other cultures. In 1998, she chose to leave her nursing career and work full time in student exchange. Living in a North Texas community, Connie and Richard enjoy traveling, gardening, and most of all, the love of our grandchildren. |
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Rob Douglas, Executive Regional Director for the North
Rob lives in upstate New York with his wife Kristin and daughters Madalyn and Molly. He began with CCI in 1997 as an Area Representative, working with summer language groups from Spain while teaching high school Spanish. He became interested in foreign exchange in high school, living with host families while travelling through Europe and hosting a student from Finland during his senior year. While attending Canisius College he studied abroad in Oviedo, Spain and spent a year in South Korea teaching ESL shortly after graduating. Most recently Rob has translated for international missions, coached high school volleyball, started a group travel business, continued coordinating summer groups, and joined the AYP team full time as a Regional Director. |
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Craig Gaither, Regional Director for the Carolinas and Georgia
Craig has been involved with international exchange since 2007 and joined the CCI team in the Fall of 2011. A thirty year veteran of working with teens, Craig has spent his career as a youth minister, teacher, and relief worker in disaster response and community rebuilding in the post-war Balkans. His interest in the international community began in 1996 when he was part of a team of twelve persons from the US that visited post-war Bosnia to assess and begin the rebuilding process. Craig lived in Bosnia in 1999 and worked as volunteer coordinator for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Craig has led 20 teams to the Balkan region leading day camp experiences, multi-ethnic peace camps in Macedonia, working with Roma refugees in Macedonia and Greece, and has traveled extensively in Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Serbia. Craig has four years of experience supervising and training volunteers in high school exchange, has hosted several students, and strongly believes in the importance and value of international exchange as a vehicle for promoting understanding and peace among the world's citizens. Craig has a degree in English and a graduate degree in Religion and enjoys volunteering with the USO, the Board of Elections, reading history and political science, cooking, and travel. |
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Kathy Hansen, Regional Director for New England
Kathy has been involved with exchange students since 1979 when she hosted her first student, Barbara from Germany. They are still in touch. She has continued to host for the past 30 years on and off and keeps in touch with many of them. She has traveled to 15 different countries and briefly taught ESL in China. She currently resides in Maine, has been happily married for 41 years and has 5 adult children and 11 grandchildren. Thirty-five years ago she started a whole foods cooperative that is still going strong. She also started her own business with private schools but her love is in volunteer work. She was on the first Board of Directors for the Portland, Maine Roald McDonald House. She served on the Board of Directors for the National PTA and on the Board of Directors for the University of Maine's Home Economic Advisors. She was awarded the University of Maine's Outstanding Volunteer Award from the Governor of Maine.
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Karen Hilgefort, Regional Director for Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska
Karen, a Colorado native, lives in Fort Collins with her husband Neil, near her children and grandchildren. Her first experience in cultural exchange found her when she was approached by a client who asked her to host a college student from Taiwan. Influenced by that experience, and because of her desire to contribute work that may impact lives in a profound way, she joined CCI in the spring of 2007. Karen’s professional coat of many colors includes a decade in children’s book sales, involvement in children’s literacy initiatives, fund raising, tutoring inmates, financial services, and life coaching. She is grateful for the opportunity to be part of an organization that “brings the world home” through cultural exchange. |
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Jennifer Myers, Regional Director for Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan
Jennifer came to us in fall 2010 with a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and a certificate in International Higher Ed. along with experience as a Co-Director for a U.S State Department Grant called the International Leaders in Education Program with Kent State University. She has her undergraduate in Spanish and Communications; has worked and lived overseas as well as visiting over 20 countries. Jennifer has taught ESL in Ohio; served in the Peace Corps teaching English in Cameroon, West Africa; and is fluent in both Spanish and French. She knows about international exchange programs first-hand from her own exchange experiences in Mexico and Spain where she lived with local host families. In addition to her international experience, she runs her own successful hand-made glass bead jewelry business and serves on the Board of Trustees for a local school. She also manages a family of five with two teenage boys and one first grader. |
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Darryl Newman, Regional Director for the Midwest
Darryl’s experience with international exchange began in college when he lived with a host family in Salamanca, Spain. He returned to Madrid for his Master’s in Spanish with Middlebury College and then went on to teach middle/high school Spanish and ESL in China. Wanting to gain business/marketing experience, Darryl then worked in an advertising agency for 10 years in New York and Chicago. Although he enjoyed advertising, he still wanted to see more of the world. He took time off to travel throughout the U.S., Europe, India and Peru. This enriching experience inspired him to get involved with CCI to host exchange students and to become the group program coordinator for the Chicago/Wilmette area this past July. Darryl is now excited to play a larger role in expanding student exchange opportunities across the Midwest. He enjoys music, photography and family time with his wife Kimberly and two young children Benjamin and Scarlett who are both enrolled in Spanish language classes. |
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Lori Tibbett, Executive Regional Director for the West
Lori’s experience in international exchange began when she was teaching high school in her native California and her family hosted a Brazilian student. From there, her children studied and worked abroad in Ireland, Mexico, Panama and Italy. Lori moved to Rome, Italy where she continued her teaching career at the American Overseas School for four years. When she returned to the U.S. with her husband Richard in 2004, she began her career with CCI in Chicago as the Placement Services Director. In anticipation of her move back West, Lori is now handling the western part of the U.S. as Executive Regional Director, while also acting as Regional Director for the Pacific States. Lori and Richard enjoy traveling to visit their six children and seven grandchildren who live in Hawaii and Italy, and points in-between, and being the “back up host family” for many students in their local area. Lori also works closely with students, host families and schools as a Local Coordinator in her neighborhood. |
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Lee White, Regional Director for Western states
Can meeting a young, very adventuresome graduate student from France change the lives of an equally young (but less adventuresome) right-out-of-college woman? For Lee White, it did! Patrice from France resulted in a life-long friendship, her first time on "foreign soil," a 25-year reunion in Strasbourg, and a love of travel and cultures that began years ago but still is as strong as ever. Believing that countries and cultures only become real through traveling and through meeting people, Lee (with a Master's degree in Education) left previous careers to work full time in cultural exchange. Since that first encounter with Patrice from France, her life has become enriched over and over again by the many international people who have become close to them. Lee enjoys traveling, working with students, hosts, and schools, as well as caring for her two (semi-precious) miniature schnauzers. |