International Exchange Programs Division Staff
Ms. Jennifer Strauss
Director, International Exchange Programs
Jennifer Strauss has been involved in international educational exchange for nearly three decades with fifteen years of experience administering the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. In addition to her current management responsibilities, she is also an active program officer, planning programs for individuals and groups on such diverse topics as NGO management, economic development, education, and rule of law. Ms. Strauss first became involved in international education as an AFS host sister, then lived in Denmark for a year as an AFS participant in the school-year abroad program. She also ran mid-year evaluation programs for exchange students, interviewed prospective host families and student applicants, and served as liaison between international au-pairs and their hosting families.
After receiving her BA in Political Science, graduating with high honors and distinction from the University of Michigan, Ms. Strauss spent two years in Togo, West Africa, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching English and health. Upon her return to the United States, she joined the staff of the Institute of International Education, working in their Professional Exchange Programs Division for thirteen years, first as Program Associate and then as Program Officer. She left IIE in 1996 to spend time raising her children. She also taught parenting skills to other parents, volunteered in the community, and consulted on a variety of international education and citizen diplomacy projects including developing a training manual called “The Art of Programming” and writing proposals for International Student Exchange Programs.
In 2004, Ms. Strauss became Deputy Director of International Exchange Programs at the Phelps Stokes Fund and was quickly promoted to Director. She enjoys tennis, travel, reading, cooking, and foreign languages and speaks French, Spanish, Ewe, and some Danish.
Ms. Belinda Chiu
Program Officer, International Exchange Programs
Belinda Chiu joined the Phelps Stokes Fund in November, 2004. Ms. Chiu has extensive knowledge developing human capital and education programs, conducting strategic research and analysis, addressing needs of underserved populations, improving organizational processes, and promoting cross-cultural integration and communication. Her previous experience addressing the needs of the private and public sector includes social and minority marketing; strategic consulting for non-profits, academic institutions, and hospitals; and global management consulting in the food and marketing industry, focused on branding, distribution, and availability. Ms. Chiu also worked in domestic and international admissions at a highly-selective U.S. undergraduate institution.
Ms. Chiu graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with an A.B. in Government with Honors. She received her Master’s in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where she concentrated on International Education Management and Entrepreneurship and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. A leader and member of various organizations focused on promoting people of color in international affairs, the Asian American community, and the promotion of public-private initiatives, she is also trained in mediation and focus group facilitation. An avid traveler, she is fluent in Cantonese and proficient in Spanish.
Ms. Natalie Kissinger
Senior Program Officer, International Exchange Programs
Natalie Kissinger joined the Phelps Stokes Fund in 2002 as a Program Associate and is currently Senior Program Officer. Ms. Kissinger graduated from American University with a degree in International Relations from the School of International Service, specia liz ing in African Politics.
Prior to joining Phelps Stokes Fund, she worked for AllAfrica Global Media as well as for Suffolk University. While her studies have primarily focused on African Affairs, she has also spent considerable time looking at development issues in the Middle East, HIV/AIDS, and global technology growth. While at AllAfrica Global Media, Natalie worked with over 100 African news partners including Sidwaya, the East African Standard, and the South African Mail and Guardian. She is knowledgeable of both the U.S. and global media industries and has worked with various partners on issues such as government censorship, transparency and press freedom.
Ms. Kissinger’s personal interests include photography, religious studies, travel, sociology, anthropology, and animal rights litigation. She has traveled to Burkina Faso, Canada, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Ecuador, England, Haiti, Israel, Jamaica, Mali, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and has lived in both Ghana and Senegal. She is conversational in both Spanish and French.
Mr. Cameron Chisholm
Program Officer, International Exchange Programs
Cameron M. Chisholm joined the Phelps Stokes Fund in June, 2005 with extensive experience in programming international educational symposiums and a career focused on international civil conflicts and their resolution.
Mr. Chisholm earned a B.A. in International Studies: Conflict and Security in Africa and the Middle East from Emory University. While at Emory, he interned in the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center where he was responsible for constant in-depth research and tracking of key conflict areas internationally, with a focus on South American conflicts. Mr. Chisholm then acted as the Program Director for a DC-based non-profit recruiting participants and designing curricula for International Conflict Resolution symposia in Europe and the Middle East. He has also acted as an independent consultant for organizations such as The Red Cross, the Center for Dispute Settlement, and AMIDEAST. He is trained and has trained others in the art of negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and facilitation.
Mr. Chisholm’s interests include international travel, histories of civil conflict, debate, facilitation, media and its relation to conflict, backpacking, biking, world cuisine, nonfiction, art, and photography. He has traveled to Russia, China, Czech Republic, Turkey, Austria, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the UK, Mexico, and Jamaica. He has lived and studied in both Slovakia and The Netherlands.
Mr. Maavi Allen Norman
Program Associate, International Exchange Programs
Maavi Norman began working with the International Visitor Leadership Program in April 2001 when he started as an intern at the Africa America Institute (AAI). There he became a Program Assistant and then Acting Program Officer. He joined the Phelps Stokes Fund in January 2004. Mr. Norman has been involved with various Africa-focused relief drives and humanitarian initiatives and serves as a consultant to Restoration of Educational Advancement Programs (REAP), an NGO aimed at providing educational resources, psycho-social support, and practical expertise to restore hope and empower children and young adults of war-affected counties in Africa.
Mr. Norman’s interest in cross cultural interactions, religious diversity and international relations stems from attending high school at the International Community School of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, where he interacted with individuals from a wide range of countries, ethnicities, and religious beliefs. He has been involved with Model United Nations at both the high school and college level. Mr. Norman received his BA in Political Science and International Relations from Western Maryland College in May 2001.
Ms. Elyssa Palmer
Arrivals Coordinator and Program Associate, International Exchange Programs
Elyssa Palmer came to the Phelps Stokes Fund in February 2004 as an intern. She graduated from American University in May 2004 with a degree in International Politics, focusing on Russia and Central Asia and joined the Fund’s staff at that time. She has also interned at the Woodrow Wilson Institute, the Eisenhower Institute and the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. She is very interested in the religious and human rights issues that face the Central Asian republics and the effects of the war on terrorism religious movements in that region.
Ms. Palmer’s personal interests include religious sociology, SCUBA diving, history, and world cuisines. She is very interested in inter-cultural and inter-faith dialogue and participates in inter-faith discussions at the American University. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Morocco, South Africa, Gabon, Indonesia, Singapore and parts of Central America and has lived in Germany, Switzerland, and Gabon, West Africa. She is conversational in German and Russian and has a basic understanding of French.
Ms. Elva Mitchell Richardson
Finance Officer and Administrative Assistant
Elva Mitchell Richardson joined the Phelps Stokes Fund in November 2003. She earned an undergraduate degree in Information Management from Seton Hill University and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Marymount University. Previously, Ms. Richardson obtained an associates degree in accounting from the Don Bosco Polytechnic in Monrovia, Liberia, and has many years of experience working in administration and finance. Prior to coming to the Fund, she served as the Office Manager for Kormah Development and Investment Corporation, a financial consulting company where her responsibilities included managing the daily operations of the office. Elva also interned at the Modern Africa Fund Managers in Washington, DC, where she assisted with administrative tasks and was responsible for all activities originating in the Abidjan office. She has traveled to Liberia, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana.
Central Administration Staff
Ms. Jamila Crowther
Program Officer, Special Projects
Jamila Crowther has been with the Phelps Stokes Fund since July 2003. She is currently working on the Fund’s international development programs and serving as Program Officer, Special Projects. Previously she worked with the International Exchange Programs Division and as Special Assistant to the President. She has worked on initiatives for women and girls education in African countries traumatized by civil war including working on a project funded by USAID to create a plan for educating women and girls in post-conflict Liberia. She has traveled to Liberia and Sierra Leone conducting research, facilitating needs assessment processes, and working with counterparts there.
Ms. Crowther graduated with honors from the University of Virginia, with dual degrees in Political and Social Thought and African/African American Studies. She has both academic and practical experience with issues of social justice and social change and has a special interest in creating educational and empowerment opportunities for women and children living in Africa. Shortly after graduation, she joined the Peace Corps as a part of the Girls Education and Empowerment project in Togo, West Africa. Her most memorable Peace Corps accomplishments are facilitating the design and development of a Girls Education Day and conceptualizing and planning the first ever Young Women’s Leadership Retreat in the country. In addition to the time that she spent in Togo, she has also traveled to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Tunisia, Great Britain, France and Barbados.
Ms. Jennifer Hawkins
Director of Development
Jennifer Hawkins came to the Phelps Stokes Fund in May, 2004, with nearly a decade of experience in nonprofit management and international educational exchange administration. Ms. Hawkins has spent her career working to build nonprofit organizations committed to promoting international understanding and has extensive knowledge in organizational capacity building, strategic planning, needs assessment and meeting facilitation. Ms. Hawkins received her BA in International Relations with emphasis in International Development from Brigham Young University and began her professional career in 1995 as an intern at the Institute of International Education. Subsequently, she was a Program Associate at the National Council for International Visitors, planning conferences and managing the organization’s finances. In 1998 she moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and worked at the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, first as Program Officer and then as Director of International Visitor Programs. In January, 2000, she earned a Master of Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University ‘s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations focusing on social entrepreneurship and organizational management. She is skilled in volunteer management, proposal writing, grants administration, budgeting, and event planning. She has been a strategic planning consultant and has developed and facilitated a variety of training programs and workshops.
Ms. Hawkins served as a small business development volunteer for the Peace Corps in Senegal, working with entrepreneurs to develop planning systems and business skills. She is fluent in French and conversational in Wolof, a regional African language. She has lived in Senegal and France and has traveled extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and West Africa.
