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Nina Bankova, Director, International Programs

nina.bankova@graduateschool.edu

Nina joined Graduate School USA's International Institute in February 2016. She has been providing direction and leadership to the International Visitor Leadership Program and other global educational and professional exchange programs. Having spent her career in program development and implementation, today Nina manages all aspects of grant capturing and administration and builds collaborative relationships with program partners and domestic and international stakeholders.

Nina has been a part of the IVLP network since 2006, when she joined the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore, MD, one of the community-based partner organizations for the IVLP. During her tenure, she quadrupled the footprint of the exchange programs in Maryland through attracting and managing local and international professional exchanges initiatives, academic enhancement programs, and international business networking receptions.

Nina holds an M.A. in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Economics from Towson University. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute and holds a certificate in International NGO Management through Cornell University.

When not commuting from Baltimore, Nina likes to spend time with family and friends, preferably outdoors. She likes to travel locally and internationally and exploring all corners of her home country of Bulgaria.


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Akintunde (Tunde) Akinmade, Program Officer

akintunde.akinmade@graduateschool.edu

Tunde Akinmade joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in June 2015 and today serves as a Program Officer and the Social Media Coordinator. His responsibilities include organizing professional exchange projects for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program and overseeing the International Institute’s IVLP-related social media channels on Facebook and Twitter. Tunde’s IVLP experience includes working for 6+ years in Meridian International Center’s Professional Exchanges Division where he eventually became a Senior Program Associate.

Prior to joining Graduate School USA, Tunde worked in media and public relations in different capacities. Tunde worked with Fenton Communications’ digital team in Washington, D.C. on behalf of clients including Johnson & Johnson and Aga Khan Foundation USA. In New York City, Tunde worked with global communications firm FleishmanHillard’s Reputation Management team on behalf of clients such as the Government of Brazil, where he wrote briefs, created social media metric reports, and analyzed media coverage during the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Tunde earned an M.A. in International Media from American University in Washington, D.C. and B.A. in Government and Economics from St. Lawrence University in New York. 


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William (Bill) Bobbitt, Senior Program Officer

william.bobbitt@graduateschool.edu

Bill Bobbitt joined Graduate School USA's International Institute in 2005 as a Program Officer for the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). He was promoted to Senior Program Officer in 2017.

Bill has been involved with the IVLP in various capacities since 1990. As a Russian interpreter, Bill has served on over 100 IVLP projects from 1990-2005. In addition to his interpretation work for the IVLP, he has interpreted extensively in the aerospace industry, for the national laboratories, and for the U.S. armed forces. Largely thanks to IVLP, Bill has visited all 50 states.

Bill holds a B.A. in Russian and International Relations from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and received training in Russian translation and interpretation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. Prior to his involvement with the IVLP, Bill taught Russian at the Defense Language Institute and interpretation at Monterey Institute of International Studies.


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Nathan Eckman, Program Officer

nathan.eckman@graduateschool.edu

Nathan Eckman joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in January 2016 as a Program Specialist in support of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. He was promoted to Program Officer in January 2020.  

Prior to joining the Graduate School USA, Nathan spent his senior year as a student in American University’s School of International Service attending Peking University on a Boren Scholarship. Nathan has also served as an online Mandarin translator for the government, through the National Language Service Corps.

Nathan holds a B.A. in International Studies from American University and an M.A. in Global Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University.


 Alison Grausam

Alison Grausam, Senior Program Specialist

alison.grausam@graduateschool.edu

Alison Grausam joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in October 2018 as a Program Specialist and was promoted to Senior Program Specialist in January 2020. She is responsible for providing financial, logistical, and administrative support for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other international exchange programs. In January 2020, she won the Global Ties U.S. “Excellence in IVLP Programming – Outstanding Program Associate” award in recognition of her work on the IVLP. Alison also serves as the DC liaison for Graduate School’s Hawaii office, which provides training in the Pacific and Virgin Islands through the Department of the Interior’s PITI-VITI program.

Alison is currently pursuing an M.A. in International Education at George Washington University and completed a B.A. in International Studies at American University. During her undergraduate studies, she spent time in Santiago, Chile as an intern for the American Spaces program, a bilingual public diplomacy initiative managed by the U.S. Embassy in Santiago. She is fluent in Spanish and studies Portuguese and Quechua.


Theresa Hale

Theresa Hale, Program Specialist

theresa.hale@graduateschool.edu

Theresa Hale joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in February 2019 as a Program Specialist, providing administrative and logistical support to the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchange programs.

Prior to joining Graduate School USA, Theresa worked in education and international exchange in various settings. She taught English to French high schoolers as well as adult English as a Second Language to refugees and immigrants. In addition to IVLP, she has experience working with other State Department exchanges, including Fulbright and a virtual professional development program for global English teachers. Theresa also worked as a career advisor at the University of Maryland: College Park (UMD) while attending graduate school. She earned an M.A. in International Education Policy from UMD in 2017 and a B.A. in French from Kalamazoo College.


DaSean Kornegay

DaSean Kornegay, Program Specialist

dasean.kornegay@graduateschool.edu

DaSean Kornegay joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in May 2020 as a Program Specialist in support of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other professional exchanges. His experience with IVLP began as an intern with the Northern California World Trade Center, one of the community-based partner organizations administering the IVLP at the local level. Prior to joining Graduate School USA, DaSean served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guizhou, China, and taught English at a local university.

DaSean holds a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Chinese from California State University in Sacramento, CA. During his studies, he spent a year abroad at National Taipei University in Taipei, Taiwan, where he studied Mandarin Chinese intensively.


Logan Nesson

Logan Nesson, Program Specialist

logan.nesson@graduateschool.edu

Logan joined Graduate School USA’s International Institute in March 2021 as a Program Specialist. He is responsible for providing financial, logistical, and administrative support for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other international exchange programs.

Prior to joining Graduate School USA, Logan completed his B.A. in International and Global Studies at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. During his studies, he spent time in Geneva, Switzerland as a communications intern for the Oak Foundation and coordinated content for a network of international grantees. He also attended classes on European politics, identity, and institutions at the University of Geneva. In addition, he completed a minor in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies and volunteered as a teaching assistant where he taught Sociology.  


Kimberly Nguyen

Kimberly Nguyen, Program Specialist

kimberly.nguyen@graduateschool.edu

Kimberly joined the Graduate School USA’s International Institute as a Program Specialist in June 2021. Prior to her current role, she worked for another Graduate School USA department, delivering professional development courses in Human Resources Management to numerous federal government agencies. Her true interests, however, lie in international relations and foreign affairs. Before joining Graduate School USA, she completed a fellowship at the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in Washington, D.C. She previously worked as a translator and research assistant at the Center for Drug and Health Studies (CDHS) in Newark, Delaware.

Kimberly holds a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Delaware. She is passionate about world languages and is an aspiring polyglot. Kimberly is fluent in Spanish and conversant in French and Vietnamese.


 Ting Wang

Ting Wang, Program Officer

ting.wang@graduateschool.edu

Ting Wang joined Graduate School USA's International Institute in 2019 as a Program Officer for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). She brings to Graduate School USA over a decade’s experience in international exchange and education. Her prior work experience includes managing international media exchanges and professional development programs at a nonprofit media organization and managing academic and cultural immersion programs at an international education organization.

Ting holds degrees in English and American Studies from China and a Ph.D. from the School of Communication at Northwestern University in Illinois. Outside the office, she enjoys exploring DC’s vibrant arts and culture scene as well as traveling.