Meet the Academic Year Program Staff

Aisha Brangran

Program Manager

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's is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Social Work at the University of Chicago. Her duties as Program Manager at CCI include processing AYP student applications, assisting students in obtaining travel documents, maintaining positive and effective working relations with international partners, problem solving and conflict resolution with student issues, and overall management of the student programs while studying in the United States.

Kyle Ferries

AYP Program Assistant
Kyle originally began working at CCI as an AYP Intern and has since evolved into the role of Program Assistant. As an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Kyle studied linguistics with a concentration on East-Asian languages and cultures. He spent time living and studying in Tokyo and upon returning to the U.S., worked at the University's study abroad center. Appropriately, Kyle recently began working with AYP’s Japanese partners in the capacity of Program Manager.

Megan McGaughey

Director of Student Services

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 Masters 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.

Ahmad Refky

Academic Year Program Training Manager and Illinois State Director

Ahmad earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, Egypt (where he is originally from) and is currently working on his Master’s degree in International Studies from DePaul University in Chicago.  Prior to joining CCI, Ahmad worked at The Rotary Foundation coordinating outbound exchange teams of young professionals from North America, the Caribbean, Eastern Russia and the Middle East. Ahmad began his interest in cultural exchange when he came to Chicago as a foreign exchange student at the age of 16.  As State Director, Ahmad oversees Area Representatives in Illinois. In his capacity as Training Manager, Ahmad works closely with both the Director of Placement Services and Director of Student Services to develop and implement effective training for CCI Area Representatives nationally. He is fluent in speaking and writing Arabic.

Colleen Sullivan

Program Manager

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. 

Lori Tibbett

Director of Placement Services

Lori supervises and supports the AYP field staff with training and recruitment. She started with CCI in fall of 2004 after returning to the United States from Rome, Italy, where she taught computer studies at the American school for four years. Before Italy, Lori worked as a high school teacher and business manager in California. She has experienced cultural exchange personally by hosting a Brazilian student and having her children participate in exchange programs in Mexico, Ireland and Panama.

Gwen Vitzthum

Operations Manager

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 US. She’s been married for 32 years and has 2 children – a son, age 17, and a daughter, age 19. Gwen has a B.A. degree from the University of Iowa and has worked in a variety of roles including (but not limited to)… newspaper copy editor, office manager, substitute teacher, bookkeeper, flight attendant training coordinator, floral department clerk at Jewel grocery store, and special education classroom aide.

Kristen Ware

Program Assistant

Kristen joined CCI in March 2007. She has studied abroad in Spain and earned her Bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has volunteered at a center for refugees, acting as a Spanish translator for completing citizenship and insurance documents, as well as helping prepare clients for their citizenship exams and interviews.  Kristen now performs daily administrative duties as an AYP Assistant by aiding the Program Managers and Field Staff with student applications and other materials needed over the course of the year.

Academic Year Program Field Staff

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Connie Dean

Regional Director for the Southwest

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. 

Donna Lohse

Regional Director for the Midwest

Donna resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with her husband who is employed with Rockwell/Collins. The Lohse family hosted their first exchange student in 1983 and soon Donna was “bitten by the bug” to work as an Area Representative. In 1989 she resigned her position as a clinic manager to work full time in the field of youth exchange. Donna joined the CCI team in 1998outh. Donna has traveled in South America, Japan and many European countries. She hopes that her grandchildren acquire a love for travel and work to build relationships with many international friends. Other interests include: time with the grandkids, reading, perennial gardening, boating and following University of Iowa sports.

Skye Luce, Regional Director for the Northeast

Skye has come to work with CCI after several years in the education exchange industry.  Growing up in rural Maine she brings to the table a deep seeded passion for promoting cultural awareness and understanding in communities that are not traditionally culturally diverse.  Skye shares her life with her husband and two children in Waterville, Maine.

Gayle Meagher

Regional Director for the Mid Atlantic and Southeast

Gayle started hosting in 1990 and has now hosted over 30 AYP students, Interns and short term adults. "I love to learn about other cultures and to travel  -  I have the best of both worlds! It is amazing how much we need to learn about other parts of the world! I love to visit students in their natural country, to experience the country as a native, not a tourist." Having worked with CCI since 1993 as as AR, AC and RM, Gayle was promoted to Regional Director and supervises the Mid Atlantic and Southeast Region (MIDAS) of the U.S. The MIDAS team orchestrates student placements in more states—18 plus Washington, D.C.—than any other CCI region.

Lee & Roger White

Regional Directors for the Northwest

Can meeting a young , very adventuresome graduate student from France change the lives of an equally young (but less adventuresome) right-out-of-college couple?  For Lee and Roger White, it did!  Patrice from France resulted in a life-long friendship, their 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, Roger (with a degree in Marketing) and Lee (with a MA in education) left previous careers to work full time in cultural exchange.  Since that first encounter with Patrice from France, their lives have become enriched over and over again by the many international people who have become close to them. Lee and Roger enjoy traveling, working with students, hosts, and schools, as well as caring for their two (semi-precious) miniature schnauzers.

Blanca Ruebensaal

U.S. Grants Program Director – Washington, D.C.

Blanca has worked with the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) for more than ten years in various capacities. She has directed the CCI FLEX program since 2002. As U.S. Grants Program Director, Blanca currently oversees 140 FLEX scholarship students from the former Soviet Union countries and 30 YES scholarship students from predominantly Muslim countries. Prior to working for FLEX, Blanca lived overseas in Southeast Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East.

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