Meghan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. While at university, she worked with the Wisconsin Special Olympics, headed international student support groups and provided private English tutoring classes for high school students in nearby underserved communities. She did her final semester in Spain where she delved into the field of education through teaching English as a second language to local students. After graduating, she moved to Brazil to teach English and study Portuguese, and served as a translator in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics. After returning to the United States, she managed the international student office at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, assisting both outgoing study abroad students and incoming international students. This served to deepen her understanding of international student life in order to better assist students transitioning both culturally and academically. She moved to Dubai in 2019 and worked as Director and Counselor in tutoring and supported students achieve their academic goals across various subjects and age groups. Her goal is to play a pivotal role in guiding students to reach their full potential and take advantage of the benefits of studying and living internationally.

Maria Lopez-Puigdollers is a Fulbright Scholar from Spain passionate about Education, the Arts, and Humanities, and their potential to profoundly transform society. She graduated top of her class from the University of Navarra with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Journalism, which included spending her junior year abroad at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was later awarded a scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Contemporary Studies at the University of Navarra, a Humanities interdisciplinary program with a focus on academic research. This was followed by a Master’s in Education along with an eight-month stay in Paris, where she learned the language and studied its museums from an educational standpoint. Her desire to acquire a more extensive knowledge of cultural institutions later brought her to Harvard University, where she pursued two degree programs simultaneously: a Master’s in Museum Studies and another in Management–with a focus on Business Economics– through a generous Fulbright scholarship. At Harvard, she worked both as Teaching Assistant and Faculty Aide and earned the Dean’s List for Academic Achievement. Her academic research has kept education as its common thread. Her interest has been in the intersection between cultural institutions and education: how they work and how to improve them so they can better fulfill their mission, which is to serve their visitors. For the past years, she has exercised as an educator in her home country, Spain, where she has been exposed to different educational scenarios and challenges. She has also worked as a counselor to help students with their college applications for US universities, and has developed grounded educational programs based on the US educational system.
Her goal as a professional is to prepare teenagers pursue an international education by improving their critical thinking and overall comprehension of society’s inner workings through analysis, argumentation, and case studies in a wide array of disciplines. It also focuses on strengthening essential college-level skills, such as writing competence, solid argumentation, avoidance of logical fallacies, and developing ideas with value. This entails engaging students in the “deep learning” method, which helps them become better thinkers and inspires them to seek knowledge and expertise.

Umey Aimen has extensive experience across counselling, development, and community activism. She graduated on the Dean’s Honor List, majoring in Social Sciences, and since then has worked across the UAE and South Asia to counsel high school and college students to universities including NYU, Baylor, Illinois Institute of Tech, and more. She worked as Program Manager for Stanford University founded by  Amal Academy as well, contributing significantly to the educational infrastructure in South Asia. Aimen is a feminist, a community organizer, and above all, passionate about helping students self-actualize and succeed.

Ukasha completed his undergraduate degree in Business with full-honors from the University of Manchester, UK. He then pursued his Masters Degree from Dartmouth College, US, on scholarship, where he served as an Honorary Admissions Ambassador and his public policy thesis was nominated for the Byam Thesis Excellence Award.

After having worked in an Assistant Instructor capacity at Dartmouth, Ukasha continued his work as an educator and counselor all over the world, including the UAE, China, and South Asia. His students have secured acceptances to Stanford, Columbia, Boston University (Trustee Full Cost of Attendance Scholarship), Tulane (Global Scholars Scholarship), Georgia Tech, Oxford, and others.

Having been raised for most of her life in Dubai, Chayanka conducted her schooling in the UAE after which she undertook her undergraduate education and her second Master's degree in the United States of America. With a specialized interest in the intersection of Science, Business, and Technology, Chayanka completed her undergraduate education with a degree in Biological Anthropology as well as Communication Studies from University of California, Davis. She then did a Master's in Business with a focus on Innovation & Entrepreneurship from University of Wollongong. In an effort to bridge her education in Business with Science & Technology and her passion for novel therapeutics, she then conducted her second Master's in Bioethics at the coveted Harvard Medical School - Harvard University from which she was awarded the title of 'Bioethicist'.

With a distinct entrepreneurial spirit, Chayanka has consistently focused on finding novel ways to propel education within society. During her first Master's, she single-handedly created a platform for students from a variety of programs to network and collaborate on sustainable projects by facilitating a strategic partnership between University of Wollongong and DU’s 5G Innovation Lab. During her time at Harvard, she worked in collaboration with Pfizer in Boston, Massachusetts and herself created a synergistic framework pertaining to the adoption of novel translational biomarker technology which involves striking a chord between business objectives and ethical responsibilities on behalf of the involved innovators in order to strive towards a term she coined, called 'ethical profitability'.

Born and raised in Ukraine, Olena was leading her path in the tourism and art industries. She has moved around several cities to research her passion and as a result, she has gotten her Master's degree in Tourism Management from the prestigious Ukrainian university in Kharkiv City - V. N. Karazin University. Having internships abroad and locally assisted her to gain practical knowledge in hospitality and tourism management. To fulfill her career goals, she has moved to Dubai in order to challenge herself. She has obtained over 5 years of experience in the customer service field and does not plan to stop. Her goal is to exceed customer service expectations, create a family ambiance and drive herself to a new level of professionalism in client relations.

Gurkriti was born in Amritsar, India and moved to China at the age of 1. Growing up with an exceedingly multilingual, multicultural ethos and in the truest sense, one that encompassed borderlessness within borders, her upbringing developed her taste in fusion cuisines, in-betweens, and fluid identities. She gained fluency in Mandarin, English, Hindi, and Punjabi, all the more strengthening her roots to several homes. With wide-spanning interests including music, theatre, and international relations, her education served formative as an IB student from  elementary school to the diploma program.

Building on these connections, Gurkriti later pursued her higher education at NYU Shanghai, exploring business, math, economics, and political science, before moving on to becoming the institution's first graduate in anthropology. During her four years, she involved herself in endeavors such as the Reality Show—a performance comprising original skits and musical compositions derived by a 12-person cast over a summer in New York depicting life at NYU Shanghai to incoming freshmen. She furthered becoming an active member in the Office of Student Life as an Orientation Ambassador for incoming students and committed her time as a Writing Speaking Learning Assistant at the Academic Resource Centre to support students in effective academic communication. Gurkriti's most rewarding experiences were her study away semesters in Prague and Abu Dhabi, extending her focus in the social sciences to regions that she had not yet been exposed to, and opening up a myriad of opportunities including an internship at Greenpeace Czech. Gurkriti went on to write her senior thesis on the motives of Sikh involvement in the anti-CAA/NRC sentiment in India. As a consistent member of the Dean's List, she later received the Global Leadership Award and a golden tassel as an Honors Scholar along with the NYU Founders' Day Award upon graduation.

Gurkriti's shape-shifting experiences now pull her back to the UAE, another place she deems her (third, fourth, or possibly fifth!) home. In her free time, you will catch her yearning for a cup of chai and ready for a chat on climate change, Hindustani classical music, human emotion and cognition, perfume scents, and otherworldly affairs. With a deep desire to serve humanity, she hopes to contribute to making the world not only more tolerant of differing opinions but contribute to the lives of those less advantaged through a developing social and ethical consciousness in the field of business, non-governmental, and governmental organizations. Gurkriti hopes to hone a varied skill set in order to professionally channel what matters to her.

Andre graduated from the University of Washington, Seattle with a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics and Asian Studies and went on to obtain a Master's Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in his hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii. After getting his Master's Degree, he taught ESL courses at the university level in both Honolulu and Seattle where he focused on IELTS and TOEFL preparation. Seeking to work abroad, he moved to the UAE in 2015 where he taught English language courses in both secondary and higher education environments, focusing on IELTS, TOEFL, and EmSAT preparation and even designed his own IELTS course to be used in group classes or with individual students. With over 10 years of teaching experience, he is sure to be able to support all students in reaching their desired scores on their exams.

Born in Pakistan and raised in Dubai, Zoha completed her Bachelor’s in Psychology with distinction from the University of Calgary, Canada. While her time in Canada certainly included enjoying a great deal of ‘Timbits’, Zoha was heavily involved in educational and cultural activities on campus. She was a mentor for international students as part of the Student Leadership Program where she dealt out a great deal of advice and tips to freshmen. She was also a campus tour guide allowing her to interact with prospective students and parents and answer all their general queries regarding the university. Zoha was also involved with the South Asian community and served as the Vice President of the Pakistani Students Society at University of Calgary hoping to make the transition easier for all the international students away from home.

After graduating in 2021, Zoha moved back to Dubai and took up a six-month internship as a social media content creator for a local media agency. She then joined an e-commerce start-up in the same role briefly.

Passionate about helping others, Zoha prides herself on being a great listener. With her curious nature, Zoha has always been fascinated with how people interact with each other. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, reading, and spending time with her family and friends.

Born and raised in Italy, Giulia began enriching her education in 2012 when she moved to the United States. During her one-year program, she developed her interest in volunteering and a passion for the tourism industry. She later completed her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano while participating in various volunteering projects around Italy and abroad. As she was contributing to the development of an English course for children living in rural areas of Sri Lanka, she reaffirmed her interest in the hospitality world. Giulia worked in the events industry, participating in the successful delivery of multiple conferences for non-profit organizations. She later enrolled in Les Roches Marbella to complete her studies in International Hospitality Management. After various opportunities in the European continent, she decided to move to Dubai, where she has been based for the past 3 years.

Candace was born and raised in Durban, South Africa. At the age of 19, Candace pursued her dreams of working abroad and moved to the United Kingdom, London, where she lived and worked in hospitality for 2 years. She then moved back to South Africa and worked for a Tourism Insurance Company for 2 years before moving to Dubai. Candace has spent 8 years in Dubai where she has expanded her professional goals from starting off as a waitress and working her way up in administration roles as an Executive Assistant to General Managers, Executive Chef’s and CEO’s. She has gained many years of experience in Tourism, Hospitality and Administration.

Angie holds a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Antioch University and a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Russian from Beloit College. She has over 20 years of experience in college admissions, both as an admissions officer and as a counselor. Angie has coached students, families, and professionals in the admissions process, from New York to Singapore, Moscow and Seoul. Angie has worked for three U.S. colleges; spent four years in Russia administering a U.S. Department of State fellowship program; and has worked in Beijing and Shanghai for the last six years.