Who We Are
Andrew Brown, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Andrew Brown holds a Baccalauréat (Bachelors) in Philosophy and French Literature from Académie de Rennes (France), as well as a B.A. in International Affairs and a Master in Public Administration in Non-Profit Management and International Development from The George Washington...Charles Maslin, Esq., Board of Directors
Charles Maslin holds a BA in Economics from Temple University, a JD in Corporate Finance from New York Law School, and completed an Executive Education program at University of Pennsylvania’s esteemed Wharton School. His focus in that program was Banking,...Richard Sawaya, Ph.D., Secretary of the Board of Directors
Dr. Richard Sawaya is the Vice President of USA*ENGAGE at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and has directed the organization since January 2009. Previously he was the Executive Director of the United States–Venezuela Business Council. He also served as...Mayor Bennard Cann, Treasurer of the Board of Directors
Benn’s passion for community and language led him to work with GLN as early as 2006, while GLN was still centrally-located at The George Washington University. Benn formally joined the Board of Directors in 2008 and has been an active...Ilya Budik, Board of Directors
Mr. Ilya Budik is the most recent addition to GLN’s Board of Directors. For the past 7 years, Ilya has served in various managerial roles in the life science industry, and over the last 4 years founded and grown Imagine Bio,...
Paige Brewer – Program Coordinator
Paige took her first class with GLN in 2018 and is thrilled to return as the Program Coordinator. She graduated from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor...Andrew Brown, Founder and Executive Director
Andrew Brown holds a Baccalauréat (Bachelors) in Philosophy and French Literature from Académie de Rennes (France), as well as a B.A. in International Affairs and a Master in Public Administration in Non-Profit Management and International Development from The George Washington...
Litzy Rafael Osorio – Leadership Fellow
Litzy Rafael Osorio is a first-generation Mexican-American who is passionate about learning different cultures, language learning, cultural advocacy, and human rights. She is a graduating senior at Stockton University in New Jersey. Majoring in Language and Culture with a concentration...Zophia Emmanuelle Tendido – Leadership Fellow
Multifaceted. Passionate. Driven towards service. If someone encompasses all these traits, everyone, meet Ma. Zophia Emmanuelle M. Tendido. Mostly called as Zophia or Z, she is a recent Magna Cum Laude graduate from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Bachelor...Marlene Valles Lopez – Leadership Fellow
Meet Marlene. She is a 21-year-old Mexican and a senior of the Strategy and Business Transformation degree at Tec de Monterrey. What she loves most is spending quality time with her family and friends. She enjoys cooking and playing the...Timothy Irwin – Intern
Florida born, DMV raised, Tim Irwin carries an ardent affection for world cultures into every endeavor he embarks on. His passion shined bright during his studies at Florida State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs, and...Hayeon Sim – Leadership Fellow
Hayeon Sim is a senior majoring in business administration at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. She was particularly interested in the marketing field, so she aimed to become a marketer. Like her motto “to be a better person...Humberto Mexsen Juan Marcos – Leadership Fellow
Humberto Mexsen is a native of Mexico, located at the north part in Torreón. He is currently a senior at Tec de Monterrey, studying Business Administration. He is a very good team worker, good in communicating with partners and has...Zineng Mao – Leadership Fellow
Zineng Mao graduated from American University in 2022 with a bachelor of Business administration specializing in marketing and integrated data analytics. He believes that he could become the connection between his native culture and the U.S. culture and hopeful others as well. ...Martin Joseph “Joe” Sammon – Leadership Fellow
Martin Joseph Sammon (Joe) is an aspiring global citizen, proudly from Cleveland, Ohio, who is majoring in Geography and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati. While fluent in English, he too is learning Spanish and French, and will be beginning Portuguese...Ishara Jendayi – Leadership Fellow
Ishara Jendayi is a future teacher and an upcoming senior at the University of the Virgin Islands. She has a professional interest in teaching and cultural knowledge expansion. For her exemplary commitment to student life and encouraging student inclusion, Ishara...Christina Restea – Leadership Fellow
Christina Restea is a rising junior at the University of Arizona studying French and PPEL (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, Law). She is excited to be working with GLN in supporting their mission of uniting the world with language. Christina hopes her time as a...Katie Mosima – Leadership Fellow
Katie is a native of Pennsylvania, located outside of the suburbs of Philadelphia. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s of English at the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. As an English major with a history of learning French and Chinese, she...Nour Alhajjiri – Leadership Fellow
Hi everyone! My name is Nour Alhajjiri, and I am a rising senior at the University of. New Hampshire. I’m double majoring in political science and international affairs. I was born and raised in New Hampshire, however, my parents are...Corinna McNeill – Leadership Fellow
Corinna is a rising senior at Augustana College, majoring in Political Science and French. She works as an individual French tutor at her college. She also is a leader in her national service-based sorority and the treasurer of the French...Yewoinhareg Kebede – Leadership Fellow
Yewoinhareg (Yoyo) Kebede is a trilingual Ethiopian immigrant. She is an open-minded and goal-oriented Ohio Wesleyan Economics and French Major who possesses exceptional leadership and organizational skills. Passionate about advocating for socio-political issues in order to implement change. During the...Sarah James – Leadership Fellows
Sarah James is currently a student at the University of Maryland majoring in Government and Politics with a concentration in International Relations. She is minoring in Italian Language and Culture as well as International Development and Conflict Management. She is looking into a...
Sade Oseni – Leading Volunteer
Sade is a proud born-and-raised Texan. She grew up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metropolitan Area and graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in International Business. Her interest in languages stemmed from her early...Callie Andress – Leading Volunteer
Callie hails from Annapolis, MD. She recently graduated from Georgetown University, matriculating with her Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Service and minoring in Arabic. Her interest in languages stems from her interest in being a bridge among people as well as...Kentaro Murase – Leading Volunteer
Kentaro is a native of New York City. He enthusiastically supports the mission of The Global Language Network. Having been born in a Japanese household and having attended college abroad in the United Kingdom, he appreciates the importance of engagement...Karina Rodriguez Topete – Leading Volunteer
Karina is from Veracruz, Mexico. After doing a semester interning for Congressman Raul Grijalva in DC, Karina decided to apply for a Masters in Security Policy Studies at George Washington University. She has interned at different organizations in DC like...Elissa Hawkins – Leading Volunteer
A native of Los Angeles, CA, Elissa is excited to continue her support of The GLN’s mission again after interning in 2013-2014. She studied International Security and Conflict Resolution at San Diego State University as well as Spanish at Universidad...Karen Kwok – Leading Volunteer
Karen Kwok, MSN, FNP-BC, MPH, is an advocate, educator, and collaborator in public health and family nursing. She consults for a variety of organizations ranging from companies working on innovative point-of-care medical devices, fiscal sponsoring agencies supporting child welfare, and capacity building with...Elizabeth Wade – Leading Volunteer
Elizabeth Wade was born in Shanghai, China then moved to the United States where she grew up in Nashville, TN. She is a freshman undergraduate at American University. Before starting college, Elizabeth studied abroad in Harbin, China and began her...Yisroel Tenenbaum, Graphic Designer
Originally from Chicago, Yisroel is a passionate in-house and freelance Graphic Designer hailing from The Bold Edge School of Design in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is brimming with ideas and always looking to learn something new. Though designer by trade, Yisroel...Shira Yardley, Graphic Designer
Shira was a GLN intern in 2015 while living in Maryland and is excited to be back on the team as a volunteer working remotely from her home in Minneapolis, MN. She is a Certified Graphic Designer who enjoys applying...
David Zehr, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Learning a new language is a life-long investment. It lays the groundwork upon which one can build relationships, foster mutual understanding, and work for peace. Learning Arabic through the Global Giver Fellowship program has allowed me to strive towards these...Chad Johnson, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Chad Johnson is a currently an MBA candidate at George Washington University School of Business focused on global business, energy, and trade in East Asia. Chad is a Co-Founder of the renewable energy education and advocacy organization, Vittoria Energy Expedition....Vanessa Elias, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Vanessa grew up in Tucson, Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science. She recently obtained a Masters of Public Health from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique in Paris, France. Vanessa is...Kathleen M. L., Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Kathleen is currently a Juris Doctorate candidate at American University Washington College of Law. She focuses on access to justice in the sector of environmental and sustainable development law. Kathleen is implementing her research into practical and effective means by...Hannah Gerdes, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Hannah Gerdes is a senior at Georgetown University. She anticipates graduating in May 2016 with a Bachelors of Science of Foreign Service with a major in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, with concentrations in pre-medicine and global health. In the...Joshua Levkowitz, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Joshua Levkowitz hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent the last year in Washington D.C. completing his Masters degree at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS. Joshua focuses on conflict mitigation in the Middle East and North Africa. He is interested in in...Zannah Herridge-Meyer, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Zannah grew up in Olympia, WA and grew up traveling with her family, mostly in Latin America, visiting cooperatives through her father’s fair trade business. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.A. in International Studies, Pre-medicine...Brennan Hoban, Global Giver Fellow Alumnus
Brennan is a senior at American University studying International Relations and Political Science. Her passions include language, global change, and girls’ education. She speaks Italian, Spanish, French, Japanese, and is learning Urdu this fall. After graduation, Brennan hopes to build...
GLN is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and as such we have a Board of Directors which oversees the organization as a whole. One main function of our Board is to set policy and direction for the organization consistent with federal, state and local laws, and to see that these policies are implemented. The Board as a whole helps with various aspects of strategic planning, financial oversight, public relations and general advising on key organizational needs and strategies.
Our Board currently consists of five seasoned professionals who selflessly volunteer their expertise, time, and energy to making sure GLN continues to do great things.
On our Board of Directors, we have three functional officers: Secretary, Treasurer, and President.
- Dr. Richard Sawaya serves as GLN’s Secretary and his responsibilities primarily include recording all votes, actions, and minutes of all proceedings of Board meetings, as well as some other responsibilities such as maintaining records, communicating Board meeting notices, and other duties assigned by the President.
- Mayor Bennard Cann serves as GLN’s Treasurer and his responsibilities primarily include having custody of GLN funds, keeping financial records, making financial payments and deposits on behalf of GLN, and overseeing financial statements, among other duties assigned by the President.
- Andrew Brown has served as GLN’s President and Chairman of the Board since founding the organization in 2005, having the power, responsibility, and authority to preside over all meetings of the Board, supervise GLN’s administration, operations and finances and the management of GLN’s affairs, including delegating powers and duties; present reports to the Board of Directors, issue Board meeting notifications and see that all orders and resolutions of the Board are fulfilled, sign minutes and resolutions of the Board, and perform other duties relevant to the President of the organization.
GLN has a dynamic full-time staff and part-time volunteer staff that manages the day-to-day operations of the organization.
- Andrew Brown has served as GLN’s Executive Director since founding the organization in September 2005. He over-sees all day-to-day operations as well as general strategic operations, as determined by the Board.
- Paige Brewer is GLN’s Program Coordinator and coordinates GLN’s language classes, teachers, and internship program.
GLN utilizes activism and volunteerism to enrich the organization, as classes are taught by a dedicated team of volunteers while a certain amount of administrative support comes from interns and other part-time volunteers as well. This structure keeps overhead low while providing volunteers with leadership and professional development opportunities.
At any moment in time, GLN engages more than fifty volunteers who contribute to various facets of the organization. In addition to the above bios of our Board, Staff, interns, and key volunteers, check out who our Teaching Fellows are.
You too can get involved with GLN! Find out more about teaching and volunteering.