Mayela Arbona-Montero

Mayela is a native of Queretaro, Mexico. She completed her undergraduate degree in integrated social sciences from Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany, where she had the unique opportunity to live and study with students from more than 100 countries. While a student, she interned at the Embassy of Mexico in Berlin, and post-graduation interned at Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil company. Mayela decided to enroll at the Korbel School to develop her theoretical and practical understanding of world politics, and hopes to enter the Mexican Foreign Service upon her completion of the degree program.

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Hanna Camp

Hanna earned her bachelor's degrees in Linguistics and Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. While an undergraduate student, Hanna spent a semester abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, sparking her interest in the Middle East. She went on to serve as an intern at the Carter Center's Conflict Resolution Program, and later moved to Syria to study Arabic and write for an English-language newspaper. At Korbel, she worked as a research assistant for the Pardee Center for International Futures and completed an internship with the Atlantic Council's Strategic Foresight Initiative. Hanna graduated Korbel in June of 2013 with an MA in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration, and is now in South Africa working with the Institute for Security Studies and the governments of the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, on issues relating to provincial forecasting and policy planning.

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Brian Patrick Ernst

Brian is an MA Candidate in International Security. He is also a former Peace Corps volunteer. He spent two years with the Peace Corps in Madagascar, serving in local communities to improve English-language programs and assisting with other capacity-building measures. Before his service abroad, Brian earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Vanderbilt University. Now, as a student at the Korbel School, Brian explores ideas of building democratic governance and providing electoral assistance. Post-graduation, he hopes to work in the field of democratic development in countries around the globe.

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Harrison Fried

Harrison is a former U.S. Air Force Officer. In 2002, Harrison earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and upon graduation was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program. He served in the Air Force from 2002-2011, and during that time spent three years in South Korea and was deployed twice to Iraq. Last year, Harrison made the difficult decision to give up his career as an active-duty Air Force officer and enter the Air Force Reserves in order to pursue his master's degree in international security. Upon graduation from the Korbel School, Harrison intends to work for an organization that promotes security and stability in East Asia.

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Pallavi Gulati

Pallavi was born in New Delhi, India and moved to London, England at a young age. In 2009, she earned her undergraduate degree, with First Class Honours, in Politics and International Relations from the University of Manchester. She interned at the Parliamentary office of the former Minister of State for International Development, Gareth Thomas MP and on "The World Today" program at the BBC World Service. Upon graduation from Manchester, she worked as a political consultant at Insight Public Affairs, a London-based public affairs company. In addition to the Sié Fellowship, Pallavi has been awarded a US-UK Fulbright Scholarship and a scholarship by the British Universities North America Club Educational Trust.

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Tinuviel Lathrop

Tinuviel graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell in 2011 with a BA in Political Science and minors in Peace Studies, Arabic studies and Philosophy. As a student, Tinuviel was instrumental in assisting to establish a Peace and Conflict Studies Institute at UMass Lowell. At the Korbel School, in addition to her position as a Sié Fellow, Tinuviel is a Research Assistant at the Pardee Center for International Futures. Following completion of a master's in international security at the Korbel School, she hopes to work for the U.S. government and later pursue a doctoral degree.

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Boyeon Lim

Boyeon is a native of South Korea and attended college at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, where she majored in Chinese Language and Literature. While completing her degree, Boyeon spent a year and a half in Beijing and Suzhou, China as an exchange student. This experience revealed to her the stark differences that can exist between societies, and sparked her interest in international relations. Upon returning to Korea, she declared a second major in political science and international relations, and following graduation enrolled in the MA program at the Korbel School to further study diplomacy and conflict resolution.

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Pedro Perera

Pedro is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, but spent many of his formative years living and attending school in Muscat, Oman. In 2009, Pedro earned his BA from Northeastern University in Boston. He subsequently moved to Denver, Colo., to work for the Denver Biennial of the Americas as the assistant to the program director. Pedro now works at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for the people of Mexico through effective philanthropy and binational partnerships. Pedro will be focusing his studies at the Korbel School on Latin American and Western European politics. Upon graduation, he would like to work as a policy analyst for an organization that promotes regional cooperation in the Americas.

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Dyah Dinanti Puspitasari

Dyah is a MA candidate in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration (GFTEI) at the Korbel School of International Studies. Prior to coming to Korbel as a Fulbright Scholar and Sié Fellow, Dyah was a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, serving in the Office of the Director-General of ASEAN Cooperation. Her expertise is mainly in economic cooperation and integration in Southeast Asia, as well as democracy and political development in that region.

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Jeongsoon Jang

Jeongsoon was born in South Korea, but spent most of her life in Malaysia and in China. As a result of her international upbringing, she speaks four languages (Korean, English, Chinese and Malay) and has a genuine interest in global issues, particularly in international business and cross-cultural awareness. After earning her BA from Korea University, Jeong became a certified financial consultant for Shinhan Bank in Seoul, where she was tasked with various responsibilities in the field of foreign investment. She also interned at the ASEAN-Korea Centre, an intergovernmental organization that aims to increase trade, investment, and cultural exchange between South Korea and ASEAN Member States. Upon completion of the MA program at the Korbel School, Jeong plans to earn her PhD.

Marzia Borsoi

is a native of Rome, Italy. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Affairs with minors in History and Psychology at the John Cabot University. In 2007, she earned a second undergraduate degree, with First Class Honors, in International Relations from the University of Wales. Upon graduation, she was hired at the U.S. Embassy Rome as a Protocol Clerk. In 2008, she won a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, where she earned an M.A. in History of the Contemporary Middle East. Upon graduation in 2010, Marzia was awarded a Sié Fellowship to pursue an M.A. in International Security at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Marzia is focusing her studies at the Korbel School on Middle Eastern and European diplomacy and intelligence studies.

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Katherine Goodman

Katherine holds a BA in International Studies from the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, Texas. After earning her undergraduate degree in 2007, Katherine spent three years working as a Media Liaison and Assistant to the Director of the Press Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston.Katherine's area of expertise is U.S.-Taiwan-China relations, and she studied this topic while a student at the Korbel School. She also spent two legislative sessions serving as an aide to Colorado State Representative Jeanne Labuda. Katherine graduated from Korbel with her MA in International Security and a Certificate in Global Health Affairs in June 2012.After graduation, Katherine spent a short time working as a communications specialist at the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL) in Denver, Colorado. She now resides in San Mateo, California, where she is a consultant and humorous content writer for Shmoop, a digital publishing company.

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Lai King Lam

Lai was born in Hong Kong and moved to the United States at the age of nine. Lai completed her undergraduate degree in international affairs with a minor in religion at the University of Georgia. Before moving to Denver to pursue her MA in International Security at the Korbel School, Lai worked in Washington, D.C. for the Office of U.S. Senator Max Baucus, where she served as the Assistant to the Chief of Staff. While a student at the Korbel School, Lai is focusing her studies on East Asia, U.S. diplomacy, and intelligence and has had the opportunity to intern for the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service.

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Mickey Kupecz

Mickey, a native of Denver, now lives in Washington DC and works as a consultant with LMI supporting clients across the Department of Defense. He received an MA in International Security focused on South Asia, particularly Pakistan, and complex and interagency operations. While at the Korbel School, he interned at the Center for Complex Operations at the National Defense University, as well as the New America Foundation's Middle East Task Force.

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Balazs Martonffy

Balazs was born and raised in Budakeszi, Hungary. After completing high school in Hungary, he attended Washington University in St. Louis as an Eliot Scholar, graduating with honors in History. He also spent a year studying international affairs at Vesalius College in Belgium, focusing his coursework on European security and defense. Balazs earned a master's degree in International Security from the Josef Korbel School in 2012, was a visiting researcher at the United States Air Force Academy, and also worked for the Sie Center. After leaving Denver, he went on to complete a defence policy internship at NATO, and now works for the Defence Policy Division of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence. In his spare time, Balazs plays tennis and squash.

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David Mayen

David is a native of South Sudan. He received his primary and secondary education there, and attended college at Kampala International University, Uganda. David has extensive experience in the international arena, having worked as a logistician and storekeeper for Médecins Sans Frontières at the Dadaab refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya; as an operations specialist for the private security firm DynCorp in South Sudan; and most recently (and currently) as the Director for Legislation for the South Sudan National Legislative Assembly. David is pursuing his Masters in International Security at the Korbel School, and upon graduation will return to South Sudan.

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Gretchen Peters

Gretchen conducts research and analysis on illicit networks in support of the U.S. Department of Defense. She has served as a subject matter expert (SME) to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter-Narcotics and Global Threats and CENTCOM's J2, and has supported SOCOM's Counternarcotics and Transnational Threats team. She is also an affiliate instructor at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, School of Public Policy. She is the author of Seeds of Terror, a ground-breaking book that traces the role the opium trade has played in three decades of conflict in Afghanistan. An award-winning journalist, Gretchen covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade, first for The Associated Press and later for ABC News. Gretchen holds a Masters' Degree in International Relations from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, where she was awarded the Sié Chéou-Kang security and diplomacy fellowship and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers Life's Choices Foundation Scholarship to examine illicit networks and transnational organized crime.

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Ambar Velazquez

Ambar Velazquez is originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico, and completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Studies at New College of Florida in 2009. As a student at the Korbel School, Ambar is pursuing an MA in International Security, along with a Certificate in Global Health and a concentration in Humanitarian Assistance. Following graduation, Ambar intends to complete a degree in medicine, thereby melding her dual interests in health and humanitarian assistance. Ambar's research interests focus on the ethics and implications of US military involvement in medical missions abroad.