Access Advisory Board

Brenda joined The Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA) full-time in 2021 as the Vice President, Engagement and Marketing. She has been in the field of international education for over a decade and higher education since 2001. Prior to her pivot to higher education, she held leadership positions in marketing and strategy at Texaco and General Electric, and led numerous consulting projects for clients such as Coca-Cola, Chase Bank, Microsoft. She has an MBA from The Darden Business School, University of Virginia and completed her undergraduate degree at Marshall University. Brenda has a passion for global education and equity of opportunities for students.

Cara has worked in the higher education sector for thirteen years. Her passion for international education stems from her experiences studying abroad in London in her freshman year, and in Rome during her junior year. Since then, Cara has dedicated her career to enabling others to have meaningful international experiences.

As Associate Director, Global Mobility Cara leads Sydney Global Mobility – the teams that manage inbound and outbound student mobility and international agreements. Cara and her teams work collaboratively with faculties, schools and partner universities to grow and develop opportunities for student mobility in line with the University’s strategic 50% outbound student mobility target. Since moving to Australia, Cara has also been an active member of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), and is a co-founder of STAMP: Study Tour for Academics and Mobility Professionals.

Prior to joining the University of Sydney in 2015, Cara worked at the University of Pennsylvania for six years, holding a number of roles within Penn Global. She has a Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication from the University of Pennsylvania and is a current PhD candidate in the Centre for Higher Education Internationalization at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Christian Meyer, an accomplished leader, boasts a diverse career spanning travel, game development, and education. With over 25 years of experience, he has exhibited exceptional leadership at renowned organizations, reflecting his warm, humble, and intellectually-driven style. Currently the Executive Vice President of Higher Education at EF Education First, Christian spearheads transformative study abroad programs for U.S. college students. His prior decade in the games industry offered a unique perspective on student engagement, fueling his passion for innovative education and non-traditional learning environments. With academic roots at Harvard and Kellogg, Christian shapes industries through strategic insight, leadership acumen, and commitment to positive change. As a father of four and Concord, Massachusetts native, he relishes engaging with students and envisioning higher education’s future chapters.

Danielle Basile is a Financial Aid Professional who currently serves as the Director of Financial Aid at the Institute for Shipboard Education. She has over 20 years of experience in the field and is committed to providing exceptional service to students. Danielle possesses a strong technical knowledge of various student financial aid programs and has extensive experience working with gap students, undergraduate students, and postgraduate students to find ways to fund their study abroad program. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Sociology and is passionate about helping all students who want to study abroad.

Jennifer oversees the WorldStrides Higher Education division, leading the teams at International Studies Abroad (ISA) and The Education Abroad Network (TEAN) in providing exceptional study abroad experiences for college students. Jennifer joined the ISA team in 1996 as the Director of Admissions and served as Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management for 10 years prior to her current role as General Manager. Jennifer has played a key role in ISA’s development during her tenure and cites a particular passion for meeting students on their terms as the organization continues to evolve alongside institutions and the field of international education.

Jennifer graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies, and from Southwest Texas State University with a Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish. Her international education includes a semester at the Universidad de Sevilla in Sevilla, Spain and a summer at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two daughters.

Kelly Holland is the Vice President for Strategic Communications & Engagement at AIFS Abroad. She has worked in higher education since 2007 and previously held roles with Towson University, Eastern Illinois University, and Lehigh University. She also taught abroad with the Spanish Ministry of Education in Andalucia, Spain, and has led multiple study abroad programs with university students. Kelly holds a BA in International Business Management from Moravian College and a M.Ed. in Comparative and International Education from Lehigh University. Kelly is a certified Gallup CliftonStrengths coach and aims to apply the positive psychology approach throughout her work, and as a frequent presenter about mental health and wellbeing in the international education profession. 

As Vice President of Academic Affairs for EF Study Abroad, Kendall Brostuen manages academic and co-curricular content for quality assurance purposes and oversees the development of EF Study Abroad programs to ensure that they are grounded in academic and operational excellence.  He has over 30 years of experience managing education abroad programs, both from the sending and the receiving sides, having directed a center of study and taught at the University of Granada, Spain for nearly 10 years. 

From 2004 to 2021 he directed the Office of International Programs and served as Associate Dean of the College at Brown University.  In this capacity, he was the founding director and chair, Board of Directors of The Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad, a consortium of 13 leading world research universities and 4 highly selective U.S. baccalaureate colleges.  Kendall has articulated agreements with foreign universities in over a dozen countries, conducted numerous formal site reviews of college and university programs abroad, served as a member of The Forum on Education Abroad’s National Review Panel on quality improvement for the education abroad field, and presented papers at conferences sponsored by leading professional associations, including NAFSA, The American Council on Education, The Forum on Education Abroad, and the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). From 2014 to 2016, he served as chair of CIEE’s Academic Consortium Board.  He is a past member of the editorial board of Frontiers, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad.  

Martha Johnson is the Executive Vice President and Provost for CAPA: The Global Education Network and CEA Study Abroad combined organization. She has worked in education abroad since 1991. From 2009-2022, Martha served as the Assistant Dean for Learning Abroad at the University of Minnesota. Martha holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. She has presented and chaired numerous sessions and workshops at national and international conferences. She has held leadership positions for NAFSA, the Forum on Education Abroad, Diversity Abroad, the Global Leadership League, and the Fund for Education Abroad. She is currently serving a term on the Board of Directors for the Forum.

Rich Kurtzman has been working in Education Abroad since 1998 but began his journey as a student when studying in St. Petersburg and Madrid, and interning in Milan. Since 2002, he has been working on-site in Barcelona in a variety of Study Abroad capacities, including as an Intercultural Consultant. In 2009, Rich founded Barcelona SAE and has been the CEO ever since. Rich has presented over 30 times at International Education conferences and is the author of Like a Fish in Water: How to Grow Abroad When You Go Abroad. Although his M.A. is in Spanish Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition, his teaching has focused more on acquisition of cultural competence with courses such as Building Cultural Competence and Preparing for College Success, The Culture of Food and Wine in Spain, Intercultural Issues in International Business and more.