Frank Cohn, Founder and Executive Director, Globalhood

Frank holds his Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University, specializing in International Social Development and Social Enterprise Administration. In addition to his work as Founder and Executive Director of Globalhood, he also works part-time as the Associate Director of Bushwick IMPACT, a family resource center in Bushwick. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, he has worked extensively in the field with marginalized youth, women’s groups, and communities, including a post as Field Director for an NGO in Central America and with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in Social Policy and Development. In 2005 he was the Founding President of the Columbia University Partnership for International Development (CUPID). He brings 10 years of managerial and supervisory experience with Community Service and Development programs, and regularly conducts trainings for human service staff on Communication, Stress Management, and Team Building. He has work experience in 12 countries in Asia and the Americas, and speaks fluent French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and is functional in Hindi, Haitian Creole, and Italian.

Sarah Gogel, Deputy Director, YouthActionNet® Global Fellow

Ms. Sarah Gogel, LMSW, is Deputy Director for Global Potential and former Development Coordinator and Clinician at PARTNERS program, St. John’s University. She holds her A.B. in Sociology from Harvard College and a Masters in Social Work from Wurzweiler School of Social Work. She has in-depth experience working with diverse at-risk populations, specifically with trauma survivors, youth, the elderly and migrants. Ms. Gogel has worked for eight years in the fields of development, advocacy and human rights in international and national organizations-from corporations like l’Oréal Recherche in France to non-profits like Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, and the International Institute of New Jersey. Originally from Paris, France, Ms. Gogel is a native French speaker, is fluent in English and Spanish, and speaks Hindi and Urdu. She has worked with multiethnic and multicultural populations in India, Israel, Nicaragua, France and the United States. In 2007, she won the Diversity and Ageing award from AARP for her thesis on social isolation among the elderly in France. Ms. Gogel is a Disaster Mental Health Worker for the American Red Cross of Greater New York and represents an NGO at the United Nations in NY headquarters.

Peter Maugeri, Director of Operations

Peter holds his Master of Science in Social Work from Fordham University and in 2008-2009 was the GP project coordinator at the Academy for Urban Planning in Bushwick. Peter joined GP in September 2008, spent 6 weeks as a facilitator in Batey 8 during summer of 2009 with our group of youth, and is now our Director of Operations. He comes to GP with an eclectic repertoire of experience. Peter began his professional career as a fitness trainer and outdoorsman after graduating from Boston University with a degree in Exercise Physiology. In 1999 he co-launched a technology-based magazine targeting 150 colleges in the U.S., which successfully became the largest college magazine in the country with a circulation of 2.5 million. After the burst of the .com bubble, Peter moved to New York City where he picked up a camera and documented the lives of a group of homeless men and women living in his neighborhood. Currently he is editing his documentary, which spans a period of three years. This experience inspired him to study Social Work. In 2007 Peter interned at The Bridge, Inc. where he facilitated a wellness program for clients with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse living with HIV/AIDS. Peter also interned at the National Alliance for Mental Illness in NYC coordinating outreach to enhance awareness and combat the stigma of living with a mental illness. He has recently produced and directed Voice Your Choice, a 20-minute film about the experiential process of therapy in the Ryan White program at the Bridge, Inc. and Six Weeks to Wellness, a 10-minute film about the benefits of yoga for those living with a mental illness. In 2004 Peter’s father died of esophageal cancer. Two years later he and his family established the Sempre Allegro Foundation, providing monetary assistance to those battling cancer.

Amy Weber, Development Coordinator

Amy has her Master’s degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, where she focused on female religious leaders in Taiwan. As such, she is a Mandarin Chinese speaker, writer and reader and occasionally works as a freelance translator. While at Columbia, she was a member of the Columbia University Law School chapter of Amnesty International and continues to work for the cause of human rights at every opportunity.

Amy coordinates a joint academic program between Yale University in the US and Peking University in China. She also volunteers with the Empowerment and Rights Institute, a Beijing-based human rights organization, and with The Women’s Mosaic in NYC. Amy is also a passionate advisor for women leaders at Princeton and Yale Universities.

Amy also likes practicing ashtanga yoga, running in Prospect Park, riding her bicycle to Coney Island, working at the Park Slope Co-op, and buying old furniture.

Juan Rubio, Web Designer

Juan Rubio holds an MA in Media Studies from The New School University. He is a media artist working in video, film, virtual worlds and web design. He is interested in the use of media as a social marketing tool and for the development of virtual learning environments. He also studied Radio, TV and Film at the School of Communications of Howard University in Washington DC. He teaches technology to youth at the Isaacs Center, a community organization in Manhattan, New York City. Originally from Honduras, he is also fluent in Spanish.

His latest independent project is as an Associate Producer in a program about Second Life that aired in December 2008 by the independent media outlet Paper Tiger Television

Erica Shusas, Web Designer

Erica Shusas holds an MA in Media Studies from The New School University, where she concentrated on digital arts and web design. She also received a BA in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is interested in how media is and can be used as tool to promote social change. Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, but relocating to New York from Chicago, Erica has lived and worked in England, was a volunteer teacher in a rural village in Nepal, and has spent time traveling in South America. She is currently continuing her education by taking Spanish and dance classes, while working as an assistant and researcher for a communications company that advises numerous new media related projects. She also freelances doing website design.

Kim Lee, Social Work Supervisor

Kim Lee Alvarado holds a Master of Social Work with a focus on International and Community Development from Monmouth University, and a B.A. in East Asian Studies and Chinese from the College of William and Mary. For the past three years, she has worked at the International Institute of New Jersey, providing mental health counseling for traumatized immigrant youth and their families. In the past, Kim has also worked in various roles with refugees and asylum seekers, domestic violence survivors, and with runaway and abused youth. Kim believes in the importance of human rights activism, and in the power of working in solidarity with the communities that we serve. Kim is a native Spanish speaker, and speaks intermediate-level Mandarin Chinese.

Jessica Salazar Dávila, Nicaragua Program Developer

Jessica Salazar Dávila is joining GP in July 2009 as summer facilitator in the Dominican Republic. She is half Nicaraguan and half Ecuadorian and was born and raised in the rural and indigenous community of Chagüitillo in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Ms. Dávila has personally been transformed through international service exchange by having hosted young volunteers from around the world in her house in Chagüitillo for the past 15 years. She has dedicated herself professionally to work with them in the implementation of various sustainable community development projects, which has helped farmers and rural inhabitants to find new sources of jobs through the Federación de Asociaciones de Sebaco. Other projects include leading workshops for women living in extreme poverty, on topics of sexual health, reduction of infant mortality and HIV/AIDS awareness. Ms. Dávila has also volunteered as a leader for more than 15 years in her local Community-Based Organization for Chagüitillo Development (Asociacion por el Desarrollo de Chaguitillo, ADCH) as well as for the local Museum of Precolumbian Art. These experiences have given Jessica the desire and commitment to help transform the world through youth and community development and to combine this with her professional training as an architect. As such, she has specialized in construction and humanitarian projects such as “Un techo para mi pais” and others by Habitat for Humanity. Ms. Dávila has worked on projects to strategize betterment in quality of life of high-risk urban neighborhoods of the capital of Managua. She is currently applying to be UNICEF volunteer in Nicaragua. Previously, Jessica has developed international exchange courses for youth in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Cuba and Mexico and has participated in a cultural exchange program between France and Nicaragua. Her native language is Spanish and is improving on a daily basis her English and French.

Heather Camp, Program Manager

Heather Camp is currently pursuing her Master’s in Social Work at Columbia University with a concentration in international social welfare. Prior to this, Heather worked as the Associate Director of the Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement at The College of New Jersey, and at Princeton University running student programs addressing civic and community engagement. She has also spent time working at Safe Homes, providing individual and group counseling services for survivors of domestic violence. While living in Trenton, NJ Heather worked as the Executive Coordinator for the YWCA of Trenton, primarily focusing on strategic planning, fundraising and management. Heather loves working with youth as she enjoys the energy and enthusiasm they bring to their communities. She is committed to issues of social justice and has participated in groups focusing on youth empowerment, racial healing, and urban development. She plans on using her past work and volunteer experience with youth and local community organizations to help Global Potential expand throughout areas of New York.

Christine McReynolds, Project Coordinator - International High School at Prospect Heights

Christine McReynolds is very excited about joining the Global Potential team. She is in her second year of graduate school working towards a Master of Science in Social Work, with a concentration in program development and international social welfare. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Davis in Community Development, with a year abroad at Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. In her first year of graduate school, she interned at the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center in family support services for Early Head Start. Before coming to New York she spent two years in Chile where she gained experience in youth development as a volunteer in a children’s home and street outreach program. She has additional work experience in the California Senate Office of International Relations, English language instruction, and school counseling. She has participated in volunteer projects in Mexico and El Salvador. She is fluent in Spanish.

Frank McAlpin, Project Coordinator, Bushwick Academy of Urban Planning

Frank McAlpin is currently in his final year of graduate school for Social Work at Fordham University, specializing in global service. Frank earned his Bachelors degree in History and Education at Marquette Univeristy in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Last year he interned with the New York City Parks and Recreation Department with the Welfare-to-Work program, facilitating psycho-educational groups and providing individual counseling and case management. While in college Frank worked with the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin providing HIV/AIDS counseling and testing at various sites in the central city of Milwaukee. He also participated in an intensive service learning program in Cape Town, South Africa, studying at the Desmond Tutu Peace Center and working in a local NGO with street children. In Cape Town he provided counseling and support to marginalized youth, and specifically HIV/AIDS counseling, health education, LGBT outreach and sexual violence prevention. In addition to his work at Global Potential, he is currently a Resident Director at Fordham University Lincoln Center, providing counsel, guidance and support to undergraduate resident students.

Shanita Williamson, Strategic Partnership Coordinator, Greater Boston Area

Shanita Williamson holds a B.S. in Marketing from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She has two years of volunteer experience tutoring assylees at the International Institute of Boston in preparation of the U.S. Citizenship examination. She also has five years of experience as an Organizer for the Boston Black Professionals Meetup Group where she plans social and professional networking events geared towards new Bostonians and locals. She currently works for the Department of Workforce Development as a Job Specialist where she has been employed since 2002.

Marie–Noelle Tudieshe, intern

Marie was born and raised in Paris, France. A student at Montgeron Institute in France she currently studies Management. She has always been interested in community development and her internship at Global Potential is her first in a non profit organization. She is looking forward to working in that field. Marie speaks French fluently and is currently working on improving her English and Spanish skills.

Deryn Boyce, Boston Program Coordinator

Deryn Boyce is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in International Affairs at Northeastern University in Boston. She grew up near Philadelphia, where she decided to take a “gap year” after high school before heading north for college. Her experiences in Southeast Asia, the U.K., and Latin America during this year have reinforced her gratitude for the worldwide community and her desire to participate in it more actively. She is excited to be in a place that offers numerous opportunities to expand her skills and knowledge, and thrilled to be a part of the Global Potential initiative in Boston.

Jennie Bernstein

Jennie Bernstein is currently an undergraduate student at New York University, where she is studying photography, sustainable development and human ecology. Before moving the lovely city of New York, Jennie spent a “gap year” between high school and college traveling, studying, living, learning and exploring abroad in India, New Zealand, and Australia. Jennie hopes to continue to explore the world, meet new people, see new places, and contribute to the global community in whatever ways she can! She is incredibly excited about having the opportunity to work with Global Potential to pursue these goals.

Christelle Domerçant, Program Associate

Christelle Domerçant who grew up in Haiti holds her Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology with a certificate in International Relations from the University of Rochester. She is a Mc Nair Scholar, a Kauffman Scholar and was awarded first place in the Case Competition at the Simon Business School in November 2007. She has several years of experience in the Marketing field through internships and independent projects. Her Kauffman Year Project: Connecting Communities through marketing schemes involved spending one year helping a small grocery store from a low income community with advertising. She is interested in community development in the field of business and hopes to work with NGOs in Latin America before attending graduate school. She speaks fluent French, Haitian Creole, and conversational Spanish.