Advisor Ambassador Program

Alsace-Lorraine (Alsace) Gallop is the national scholarships and fellowships coordinator at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the country’s largest historically Black university. In that role, she also serves as the Fulbright Program Adviser. Alsace has served as a selection panelist for the Boren Scholarship, the Gilman Program, and CLS. She has presented at the past three biennial conferences for the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA) on topics related to actively identifying, guiding, and supporting first-generation college students and underrepresented ethnic and racial minorities as candidates for nationally competitive and prestigious scholarships, fellowships, and internships. She is a member of the inaugural Gilman Advisor Ambassador cohort and in July 2021 became the first member from an HBCU to be elected to the NAFA Board of Directors.

During her nine years in the scholarship and fellowship advising field, Alsace has recruited and advised hundreds of students and alumni at North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her student and alumni national outcomes for international awards include N.C. A&T State University’s first ESU Luard Morse Scholarship recipient, first documented Fulbright Program grant finalist from among their alumni community and three Rangel SEP Scholars. Alsace recruited and advised UNC-Chapel Hill’s first Churchill Scholar in five years and first Marshall Scholar in nine years, as well as NC State’s first Truman Scholar in 15 years and their first Marshall Scholar in 10 years, who was also their first Black Marshall Scholar. Alsace earned a diploma from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a B.S. in biological sciences as a Banneker/Key Scholar at the University of Maryland in College Park, and an MHA in health policy and administration with a focus in marketing from the School of Public Health (now the Gillings School of Global Public Health) at UNC–Chapel Hill.

Amy Dooling is the dean of strategic and global initiatives at Connecticut College. Over the course of her twenty-plus year career at the College, she has taught undergraduate students as a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and served as a faculty mentor in the college’s Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program and the Posse program. Amy has been particularly engaged in efforts to advance international education, including as co-director of the Initiative in Global Education, a multi-year project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. From 2016-21, Amy served as the inaugural associate dean of global initiatives. In these roles, she has led efforts to expand student access to off-campus global programs, overseen the development of new partnerships with institutions abroad, and collaborated with numerous academic units across the institution to bring an equity-minded lens to global education and engagement programs. As the Gilman Program campus advisor, Amy has been a key champion of the program at Connecticut College for the past five years, and has twice served as a Gilman selection panelist.

Amy graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in East Asian studies from Columbia University, where she also earned her master’s degree and PhD in modern Chinese literature. Her scholarly research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Academy of Learned Societies, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation.

Andre P. Stevenson has been a professor of social work for over 25 years, both in the U.S. and abroad, and involved in international education for nearly 10 years. He serves as director of international programs and director of the University Honors Program at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), an HBCU in North Carolina. He first became acquainted with the Gilman Program in 2014 while at a previous institution. He applied to serve as a selection panelist, and it was the beginning of a non-stop commitment. Since then, he has served as a panelist four times and as a Gilman Advisor at two institutions over six years. He has sponsored numerous outreach opportunities for students to learn more about the Gilman Program. As a result, ECSU produced their first Gilman Scholar in 2018. Since then, a total of 11 students have been awarded Gilman Scholarships. He says this is largely due to the excellent webinars, trainings, and feedback received from Gilman staff, as well as the commitment demonstrated by students. ECSU established a Gilman Alumni Association in 2020 to increase awareness, support, and participation on campus.

Andre holds a PhD in social work research, a Master of Social Work (MSW), and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Bachelor of Science from South Carolina State University. He is currently enrolled in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Graduate Certificate Program at East Carolina University.

Asia Bennett is a study abroad and international student advisor at Kalamazoo College. Asia has been a Gilman Advisor for five years and leads information sessions and essay writing workshops for applicants. Being a Gilman Advisor has been a highlight of her career because she is able to help students with an array of intersecting identities realize that study abroad is possible with the help of scholarship opportunities like Gilman. Asia has developed a better understanding of the many challenges students face throughout their college careers and has learned how to be a resource for them academically, socially, financially, and personally. As a Gilman Advisor Ambassador, she hopes to share ideas, trends, and updates that will help other Gilman Advisors throughout the entire process.

Asia holds a B.S. in business administration and an M.A. in higher education administration, both from Central Michigan University. She has studied abroad in Greece, Australia, the Dominican Republic, and England

Brian Floyd is an Academic Dean and Engelhard Faculty Fellow at Georgetown University. He is part of an administrative team that works with departments, faculty and staff to provide educational programs for students pursuing degrees in a variety of health professional fields. These services and academic initiatives include: curriculum planning, instruction and assessment, study abroad cooperative ventures, pre-health advising, internship and career placement.

Dean Floyd’s teaching, research and service interests include, examining how social, political, economic, and cultural conditions and context contribute to intergroup differences in health outcomes, while using health education, cultural competency, social justice and public policy as a foundation for designing and implementing solutions in collaboration with various stakeholders to reduce and promote health equity. He served as a founding advisor of the school’s Minority Health Initiative Council, which seeks to promote health equity and to support minority students in their academic and professional aspirations.

Dean Floyd has over a decade of experience working with the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program as a certifying advisor and scholarship reviewer. He has previously served on a regional Health Equity Council for the U.S Department of Health & Human Services and was a Health Disparities Institute Scholar for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, and is a member of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions.

Dean Floyd earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Alabama State University and a master’s degree in Human and Organizational Development from Howard University.

As a daughter of immigrants from Peru and China, Carolina Lam learned at an early age how to navigate through different cultures while growing up in Hawaii. Understanding how not to disrupt the peace was second nature for her. From pre-school, as a non-English speaking student, Carolina knew she was different from her peers. Yet, her exposure to school and community organizations sparked an appreciation for other cultures, for their languages, dialects, customs, and cuisines. The diversity in cultures made her gain a deeper understanding that although we may have differences in our lives, we are all human beings striving to be accepted, appreciated, and respected.

The opportunities Carolina received to participate in many international education programs as an undergraduate student inspired her to help other first-generation college students learn about intercultural programs abroad, including applying for the Gilman Scholarship. The majority of the students on her campus applying for study abroad programs qualify for this program, allowing them to have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity during their undergraduate career. Carolina is striving to help others learn how to adjust and develop strategies and skills to succeed when placed in a different cultural situation, while also building a foundation to respond to different cultural perspectives and adversity. The field of international education is about broadening our learning to bridge the differences around us beyond our borders. By creating pathways that instill the importance of diversity, individuals can then foster thriving and collaborative communities instead of divisive environments.

Catherine Marshall is the director of the Office of Global Opportunities at Ohio University. She has been working with the Gilman Program almost since its inception, during which time she has served as the Gilman study abroad advisor. In addition to regular outreach to Pell Grant recipients about the Gilman Program, she and her colleagues in the Offices of Global Opportunities and Nationally Competitive Awards collaborate to provide essay ideation and writing workshops. She has served on multiple Gilman selection panels, most recently on a Critical Need Language Award panel in spring 2021 and a Gilman Scholarship panel in fall 2021.

Ensuring equity and providing access to education abroad opportunities has been a consistent goal for Catherine throughout her career as an international educator. To achieve this, the Office of Global Opportunities has developed a series of in-house scholarships that are focused on access and offered regularly. Most recently, Catherine collaborated with members of the academic and administrative leadership to offer a First Passport Grant designed to get passports in the hands of Pell Grant recipients during the early stages of their college career. Grant recipients will be supported throughout their academic career at Ohio University in identifying and applying for study abroad program and funding opportunities, including the Gilman Program. The Office of Global Opportunities is on track to award over 150 passport grants in fall 2021 and hopes to make this an annual event.

Hannah Nevitt is a study abroad advisor in the Education Abroad Office at Western Washington University. She has been in the field of international education for over 10 years. As a testament to Hannah’s international education experience, she currently serves as a NAFSA Trainer Corps member and NAFSA Region 1 Mentor, and she has served as a selection panelist for both CLS and the Gilman Program. Hannah is also a member of the Academic Programs International Advisory Board, and was part of the foundational committee for Lessons From Abroad in Washington State. As a first-generation, Pell Grant student herself, Hannah studied abroad with her twin sister in Rome, Italy, while an undergraduate. After graduate school, Hannah worked as an onsite coordinator for a Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica. An advocate of the appreciative inquiry advising model for student engagement and outreach, Hannah is dedicated to increasing access to study abroad especially for first-generation, high financial need, and historically underrepresented students.

Hannah earned her B.S. in psychology and a master’s in higher education administration, student affairs, from Washington State University.

Dr. Jacob English serves as the Assistant Dean of Students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia. In his role in CAS, Dr. English supports undergraduate and graduate students in their academic and social pursuits ranging from coaching and mentorship for high-impact opportunities like research and scholarships to navigating university policies. Previously, Dr. English served as the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships at Georgia State University. Under his leadership in fall 2019, Georgia State had its first Rhodes Scholarship finalist in history, and, in fall 2020, Georgia State had its first Marshall Scholar.

Dr. English is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging scholar. Taking an anti-deficit approach, his research focuses on identifying barriers to education (specifically high-impact practices) for currently underrepresented groups in higher education, specifically Black students, the LGBTQ+ community, and student-athletes. Most recently, Dr. English’s research has focused on the experiences of Black students when considering and while participating in study abroad. He is currently working on a grant project funded by The Atlanta Global Research and Education Collaborative with Drs. Regine Jackson (Morehouse College), Heather Scott (Agnes Scott College), Seneca Vaught (Kennesaw State University), and Delta Air Lines to increase the number of Black students who study abroad.

Dr. English is active in his field. He serves on the executive board and as the DEI Committee chair of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors. He serves as a Councilor for the Education Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research. He has also served as a selection panelist for the Gilman Scholarship Program.

Dr. English received his doctoral training in the Educational Psychology Program at Georgia State University. His dissertation, funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, explored a stereotype threat mitigation strategy for student-athletes.

Josh Cannon’s first international travel experience was to Kuwait in February 2003 when he was in the Marine Corps as an Arabic linguist. Iraq was the second country he visited when the U.S. invaded the following March. After his time in the military, Josh went to the University of Pittsburgh with a Pell Grant and discovered international travel in a much more positive way, visiting Cyprus and then Turkey for archaeological excavations. He continued going to Turkey as a student at the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations. When he started fellowship advising at Pitt in 2018 as a scholar mentor, he requested responsibility for the CLS, Boren, and Gilman programs because he wanted to help students find the excitement and value in international travel. He has been advising students on these scholarships and others for over three years now.

Josh’s work with Gilman applicants has predominantly focused on helping them with their essays. He is interested in promoting this scholarship more ambitiously and building a campus culture around this opportunity, with winners encouraging and helping potential applicants. Josh also served as a selection panelist for the Gilman Program in 2019.

Laura Clippard has over 25 years of experience in higher education. She currently serves in the Honors College as the national and international fellowships advisor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). MTSU has a high percentage of first-generation and low-income students. Her past employment includes 15 years of service in TRiO where she worked with low-income, first-generation, and disabled students.

Laura has served as a non-certifying Gilman Advisor, Fulbright Program Adviser, and Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) campus advisor for the last 14 years. She served as a selection panelist for the Gilman Program, CLS, and Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad scholarships.

Laura conducts over 45 workshops per year related to studying abroad and fellowships, including Gilman workshops. As she advises students on their Gilman essays, her focus is on helping each student learn from the application experience regardless of whether they win. Additionally, she seeks to understand the perspective of students and their families around studying abroad as many students are anxious about the process.

Past leadership activities include four years of service on the National Association Fellowships Advisors (NAFA) Executive Board. She was awarded an IEA Fulbright to Japan in 2019 and has served on the JET interview panel for the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville.

Julie Parshall is the associate director of financial aid at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her experience in higher education student services began in 2005 when she was hired as a financial aid advisor at UAF. She has been involved in the Gilman Scholarship Program for approximately 10 years, serving as an advisor, selection panelist, and focus group member. Julie advises prospective, new, and continuing UAF students on all forms of financial aid and is responsible for maintaining and configuring UAF’s financial aid data systems.

The Gilman Scholarship Program has provided Julie the opportunity to work closely with UAF’s study away office and with students who are looking for ways to fund their study abroad experiences. As a selection panelist, Julie enjoys reading applications and seeing so many students share their plans and aspirations. Julie hopes that serving as a Gilman Program Advisor Ambassador will expand her knowledge and experience to better serve students and benefit the Gilman Scholarship Program.

Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Alaska Southeast.

Maggie is the Director of Global Engagement at the University of Houston, where she provides office leadership, supervision, and strategic planning. She has served as a Gilman Advisor for UH since 2015. She participated in multiple Gilman selection panels over the past six years, and she helped UH Learning Abroad achieve the Gilman Greatest Growth award in 2019. She is completing a doctor of education in ethical leadership from the University of St. Thomas with a focus on global competence and student involvement.

Maggie holds a master of education in higher education administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in French with a minor in Spanish from Centenary College of Louisiana. She speaks French and has working proficiency in Spanish.

Monica Ernberger is a senior advisor/coordinator for international internships and study abroad in the University of Iowa International Programs Office. She works with credit-bearing internships and research opportunities and collaborates with the Pomerantz Career Center for ISLRA abroad non-credit placements. She does general major-based abroad program advising for students from several colleges and majors on campus. She has a background in education abroad crisis response and risk management. Monica is passionate about social media marketing and communications. She loves working with students, faculty, and staff and has been active in the field of higher education since 1998.

Education abroad, and higher education as a whole, are faced with significant challenges. It is her goal to come up with creative ways to continue to meet the needs of students, faculty, and universities, despite the roadblocks the pandemic presents. She is also dedicated to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion among international programming student participants at her university. Promoting, advising for, and reading for the Gilman Program are a big part of that effort. Her experience working with the Gilman Program began in 2005. She is a certifying advisor, has worked in marketing and advising for Gilman, and has been a selection panelist several times, both in-person and remotely.

Dr. Pamala Heard has over thirty years of experience as an educator, director, grant writer, and consultant. Dr. Heard started her career as an instructor in mathematics at Jackson State University and then went to Langton University as an assistant professor of math. Following her time at Langston University, she managed international, national, state, and local programs for over six years at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Stennis Space Center. Dr. Heard returned to Jackson State University as a data management specialist and the JSU NASA Educator Resource Center director. Later, Dr. Heard took the position of director of honors student services and activities at Jackson State University, where she is currently working.

Dr. Heard is actively involved in outreach for students from post-doc to pre-college. She has raised over $3 million in grant funds in the ten years since her return to Jackson State University. Dr. Heard has been an advisor for the Gilman Program for over seven years. She is also the Fulbright, Truman, Critical Language Scholarship, and National Society of Collegiate Scholars advisor.

Dr. Heard received her Bachelor of Science degree from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. She received her Master of Science in teaching in mathematics and Ph.D. in higher education from Jackson State University.

Sandra Cortez is the assistant director for the Office of International Programs and Community Engagement at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York. She has worked in the field of higher education for nearly a decade, having held diverse roles with a focus on student success and development and creating access to opportunities and resources for students from diverse backgrounds. Sandra is passionate about connecting students to global education opportunities, including study abroad, and has helped almost 80 students win the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

Sandra graduated from Lehman College with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in history and will be graduating from the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College with an MSEd in higher education administration this upcoming fall.

Shelley Jewell is the director of education abroad at the University of Wyoming (UW), where she leads a team in developing and administering education abroad programs, including faculty-directed programs, student advising and support, and all related services. She oversees risk management and serves on university committees related to international services. Shelley assists the state of Wyoming with their international relations. Prior to joining UW, Shelley was the director of study abroad at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the assistant director of global education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Shelley has served as a selection panelist for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, the U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship, and the Fulbright International Education Administrators Grant (Germany). She has been advising and supporting applicants for these awards since 2007. This work includes hosting workshops and information sessions, reviewing applications one-on-one with students, and facilitating follow-on service projects. She worked alongside her faculty colleagues at the University of Wyoming to host a U.S. Future Leaders Seminar in 2019 for Gilman and CLS alumni. She is a member of NAFSA, the Forum on Education Abroad, Diversity Abroad, the CO/WY Consortium of International Educators, and the Fulbright Association.

Shelley is currently pursuing her doctor of education from the University of Wyoming in higher education administration. She holds a master’s degree in international education policy management from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in international economics and sociology from Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Tammy Gibbs is the international education manager for the Center for International Education at Madison College, a community and technical college in Madison, WI. In this role, she co-leads the Center for International Education, supervises staff, coordinates and manages study abroad and virtual exchange programs, teaches an online course, and manages a peer-mentoring program. She has served as a Gilman Program certifying advisor for over ten years and has assisted many students through the application process. She has been in the education abroad field since 2006 working in large and small offices. She has a background and master’s in experiential education. She has led study abroad and wilderness programs for students of all ages. Tammy lived in Germany for four years, where she studied, worked, and most recently served as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow. Tammy also previously served as the education abroad representative for the Wisconsin Association of International Educators and has presented at numerous local, regional, and international conferences.

Yvonne Schmidt is the study abroad coordinator at Mesa Community College (MCC) in Mesa, Arizona. After joining MCC in 1999, she was inspired to move into international education in 2007 after participating in a study abroad program in Costa Rica. Currently, she directs the administrative and student service functions for the faculty-led short-term study abroad programs. She co-authored the Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) study abroad faculty directors training handbook as well as contributed to MCCD’s study abroad crisis management plan.

Yvonne’s involvement with the Gilman Program has included serving as a Gilman Advisor for over 10 years, serving as a Gilman selection panelist in 2021, and helping MCC achieve Gilman Top Producer for students with disabilities status during the 2018-2019 academic year. Additionally, in 2017, Yvonne hosted a student workshop featuring a Gilman outreach and recruitment specialist at MCC and attended a Gilman advisor workshop at Arizona State University.

Yvonne holds a B.A. in liberal studies with an emphasis on organizational communication and a focus on environmental studies as well as a certificate in international tourism management from Northern Arizona University. She is also an International Tour Management Institute Certified Tour Guide/Tour Director. She is also a certified Gallup Global Strengths Coach.