Fulbright’s Greater New York Board of Directors and AdvisorS

Board Officers:

KATIE BAKARICH (President)
Fulbright: Germany, 2009-2010
Katie attended Fairfield University in Connecticut, majoring in Accounting and graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2008. During the summer of 2006, Katie had the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy. This experience furthered her desire to spend time abroad after graduating. During high school and in the summers off during college, she studied German and developed an affinity for the culture and language. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Katie spent her Fulbright year at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. While there, she attended courses and conducted research on German accounting and the EU business environment. When she returned to the U.S., she joined the public accounting firm McGladrey LLP, for whom she had interned during college. Katie served as an external auditor for three years, conducting financial statement audits of companies in a variety of industries and obtained her CPA license for the state of New York. In 2012, she began a full-time PhD program at The City University of New York (Baruch College) in accounting, with the goal of becoming a professor at a business school focusing on international accounting and business.

CHRISTINE ARROZAL (Vice President)

Fulbright: South Korea, 2007
Christine is a higher education professional who discovered her passion for working with college students after serving as an orientation coordinator and team leader for Fulbright Korea's ETA orientation program for three years. Working in higher education administration allowed her to use her backgrounds in business, event planning and teaching on a near daily basis. Christine is also a military brat whose love of travel and learning about other cultures was born from having moved around several cities in Guam, the Philippines and Southern California as a child. After college, she spent five years bouncing around Korea before moving to New York City in 2012 for graduate school. She came with a one-year plan but fell in love with New York, the diversity of the people who call this city home and the infinite possibilities the city seems to offer.

CARMEN BOON (Board Secretary)

Fulbright - New York City, 1999-2001

Carmen Boon is currently the Vice President for Public Affairs at Food Bank For New York City, the city's largest hunger relief organization. With over twenty years of experience, Carmen is known for creating strategic communication plans and leading large, issue-focused, multi-platform, multicultural, and multilingual social impact campaigns. Her efforts have increased awareness for government and non-profit initiatives in New York City, influenced policy, shaped public opinion, and generated revenue. Before her current role, Carmen spent fifteen years in various NYC government agencies where she addressed outreach challenges related to housing, social services, workers' and immigrants' rights, and public health. As part of the City's senior press corps, she managed crisis communications during protests, strikes, recessions, natural disasters, and health crises. Carmen has earned recognitions from the Women Changing The World Awards, Shorty Awards, MarCom Awards, PRWeek Purpose Awards, and AVA Digital Awards. She holds leadership positions in several professional organizations and is a dual Venezuela/US citizen with degrees from The New School and Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. Carmen lives in Verona, New Jersey, with her family.

KEITH BYRON OTOUMAGIE (Treasurer)

Keith graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Case Western Reserve University in 2001.  Upon graduation, he moved to Japan through the Fulbright Scholar program.  Keith moved to Tokyo after completing his one-year Fulbright in Sapporo, Japan.  While living in Tokyo, he built a multitude of relationships among the expatriate community.  These encompassed professionals working for the largest global financial services firms.  It was here that he discovered his passion for finance.

He came to New York City in 2006 to start a career within the financial industry.  Later, earned his MBA at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 2010

Since graduating from the Wharton School, his experiences have entailed, but not limited to sales and trading, Dodd-Frank regulatory reform, and financial product launches.  He currently works as a Senior Vice President for Citigroup.  His present work involves addressing the Consent Order recently issued by the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

He is also a Board Member for the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BKCM).

General Board Members:

LOTTIE ALMONTE

Fulbright:  Moscow, Russia, 1995

Lottie Almonte is a native New Yorker, educator in New York City Public Schools, offspring and next of kin of a resilient hard-working family, lover of life and learning. Lottie is an experienced educator, education leader and high impact educator who brings over three decades of experience, both in and out of the classroom. She is an education advocate of students focused on comprehensive education for students through innovation in support of affording learners a myriad of educational opportunities. Lottie focuses on leveraging leadership in support of exploring learning, possibilities for the future, creative practices, capacity building of faculty, and curricula standards-based alignment focused on creating an empowered community of  learners. Creating student family and employee learning engagement with an eye on positively impacting student achievement outcomes. In over three decades as an educator, administrator, and community leader, Lottie has been a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, district and central support staff across four boroughs from 3K through adult and continuing education. She has demonstrated outstanding skills and knowledge of teaching and learning, professional development, policy implementation, with a focus on empowering faculty with decision making partnership model focused on change agency and the consistent implementation of collaborative leadership, persistently striving for collective and community excellence. Lottie received the Distinguished Principal Cahn Fellowship in 2008.

ANNETTE DANTO

Fulbright Senior Scholar:  India (2001-2002), Fulbright Specialist India (2004), Fulbright Flex Award India (2016-2018).

Filmmaker, Author, Professor and Department Chair of the Brooklyn College Film Program, City University of New York.   Danto has been a Professor at Brooklyn College since 1997 and Department Chair since 2018.  She is the former Department Chair of the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema and founding Director of two international programs:  Brooklyn College India: Documentary Production Program (2004-2015) and Brooklyn College Documentary Production in Bangor, Wales (2017-2018).  

Internationally she has directed films as part of educational outreach campaigns in West Africa for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and in India for the Gandhigram Institutions and Pathfinder International. Her films have exhibited nationally and internationally at festivals, broadcast, and educational institutions. 

As a Fulbright Scholar at the Gandhigram Institutions in Ambathurai, Tamil Nadu, Danto collaborated with the Rural Health Media Division on producing music videos addressing girls’ education, literacy issues, and preventive health care.  The videos are used for community-based educational outreach.  She directed Shanti's Story, produced by Pathfinder International in Belgaum, Karnataka. This fiction film was used as part of a reproductive health campaign in Northern Karnataka, India.    Additional credits include:  Dindigul Diaries (2024) www.dindiguldiaries.com,  Reflections On Media Ethics (2011) The Never Ending Path (2004), Environmental Health and the Tannery/Textile Industries (2004),   Shea Nut Gatherers of Burkina Faso (2002).  

Danto is the Senior Editor and Co-Author of Think/Point/Shoot, (Routledge 2017).   https://www.routledge.com/Think-Point-Shoot-Media-Ethics-Technology-and-Global-Change/Danto-Hashmi-Isabel/p/book/9781138847965    The well-reviewed book is about ethics for media-makers and received support from: CUNY School of Journalism, the Pulitzer Center, New York Women In Film & Television and Brooklyn College. 

Annette Danto has a BA magna cum laude from McGill University, an MS from Columbia University, and an MFA with commendation from New York University's Maurice Kanbar Tisch School of the Arts Program in Film, Television and New Media.  Danto is the former president of the India Fulbright Association, FFI . 

MELINA DOMINGUEZ

Fulbright: Spain (2021-2022)
Melina Dominguez is a social impact professional dedicated to advancing economic, social, and educational equity for historically underserved communities. At Start Small Think Big, she leads development initiatives that empower small business owners facing systemic barriers to build thriving enterprises. During her time as a Fulbright ETA in Galicia, Spain (2021-2022), Melina brought her bicultural perspective to over 500 secondary school students. Her signature project, a community cookbook celebrating Galician cuisine, deepened her connection to her host community through shared stories and recipes. Her commitment to building bridges spans her career. As Partnerships Associate at Empatico, the KIND Foundation's educational technology platform, she fostered global classroom connections. Previously at uAspire, she guided first-generation and low-income students through the complex landscape of college financial aid. An Amherst College graduate with a BA in Political Science and Latin American Studies, Melina now serves on the boards of Fulbright Greater NY and Fulbright Latinx, where she champions initiatives making international exchange more accessible to diverse communities. Beyond her professional work, she volunteers with youth literacy programs and enjoys spending time with her niece.

JONATHAN GOODMAN LEVITT (Director of Fulbright Film Series)
Fulbright: United Kingdom, 1999-2000
Jonathan is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of Changeworx. His documentaries as director and/or producer have screened at over 100 film festivals and received support from BBC, PBS, Netflix, NHK-Japan, Ford Foundation, and Sundance Institute. Documentaries he’s worked on have followed people from five continents as their lives unfold over multiple years.

Changeworx’s recent feature credits include the award-winning Being BeBe (Tribeca; New York Times Critics Pick, 2023) about Cameroonian drag artist Marshall Ngwa, and Among the Believers, about a firebrand Pakistani cleric that played 60+ festivals in 25+ countries and won 30+ awards. Jonathan's Silver Telly-winner Follow the Leader aired internationally around the American elections. His first feature Sunny Intervals and Showers — initially developed on his Fulbright scholarship — aired on BBC (Storyville), and received Grierson and Mental Health Media nominations.

Before the U.K.’s National Film School (NFTS), Jonathan studied psychology, painting, and philosophy at Stanford. His volunteer activities also include leading the Research & Data Subcommittee of Documentary Producers Alliance and co-mediating arts disputes via VLA’s MediateArt program. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

ELIANA KANEFIELD (Advocacy Co-Director)
Fulbright: Argentina, 2018
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Eliana is currently working at Empatico, an education technology startup that works to foster empathy among students through virtual intercultural exchanges. She returned this past January from a Fulbright ETA in Argentina where she ate an arguably unreasonable amount of dulce de leche and also led cultural exchanges and English classes in rural community centers, teacher training programs, and a binational center. Eliana earned her BA in Human Rights and Hispanic Studies at Columbia University, and has pursued conflict-resolution and human rights work in Manhattan public schools, as well as conducted research on intercultural health interventions for the Gender Human Rights and Culture team at the UN Population Fund. Outside of work, you can find Eliana trying new dance classes, volunteering as an English language partner, hosting potlucks, and searching for green spaces in the city.

AAMINA AWAN KHAN

NA AWAN KHAN

NADIA KHAMIS

Fulbright: France

Nadia Khamis is the Senior Director of Corporate Engagement at Planned Parenthood Federation of America where she has worked since 2019. Prior, she spent her career across the private, public and non-profit sectors committed to building public-private partnerships and business-driven solutions that promote inclusive, socio-economic growth, gender equality and sustainable development. She spent five years at Goldman Sachs, selling socially and environmentally responsible investment strategies to cross-asset clients, and managing global corporate engagement projects for both the CEO's Office and Executive Office's 10,000 Women program across 30+ countries. Subsequently, Nadia spent seven years working in the international public and non-profit sectors, building cross-sector coalitions and promoting sustainable development solutions at the International Labour Organization, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, The B Team and Vital Voices. She has studied at Dartmouth College, Sciences Po, and Oxford University, and was a Fulbright Scholar in France.

KRISTA SANDE-KERBACK

Fulbright: Germany, 2006-2007
Krista Sande-Kerback served as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant at a comprehensive school in Hamburg, Germany from 2005-2006, working with students in a primarily Muslim migrant community. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College (2005) where she studied Geography, Public Policy, and German. Krista completed her MBA at Columbia Business School (2014) and also took courses around immigration, multiculturalism and Turkish for a year at the Universitat Hamburg as part of her Fulbright. Krista is currently a Senior Analyst at IBM and is part of a global team of market research analysts and consultants that conduct projects on topics of importance to IBM business leaders and strategists, accelerating the understanding of new or emerging markets. www.linkedin.com/in/kristasande

JOHN MCQUADE
Fulbright: Germany, 2009-2010
John is a native New Yorker who spent his Fulbright from 2009-10 in East Germany, where he taught Economics and English. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College in German Studies, and his MBA from Columbia University; he is currently pursuing a Masters in Wealth Management at Columbia University, with an anticipated graduation date of December 2025. John leverages over a decade in the financial services industry as a Senior Client Advisor at Bessemer Trust, where he advises successful families, foundations, and endowments on investments, tax, trusts and financial planning. John lives with his wife and 2 sons in Westchester. In his spare time, he enjoys learning about the intersection of technology and personal health. He welcomes outreach from alumni considering or participating in Finance.

KARL RAMOS
Fulbright: Turkey, 2012-2013
Karl earned his M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in New York in 2010 and is currently the Senior Admissions Advisor in Strategic Enrollment Management for The CUNY School Of Medicine. During the 2012-2013 academic year, Karl was a Fulbright ETA in Zonguldak, Turkey. He taught English courses at Bülent Ecevit Üniversitesi and served as a cultural ambassador between the United States and the Zonguldak community. Karl also established The Media Club, a project for students exploring video production and storytelling to spotlight community issues such as migration, diversity, and social inclusion. After a fruitful Fulbright year, Karl served as a Professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan for one year, then as a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, Malaysia. He is currently enjoying living in NYC again, as well as playing hockey, spinning, and raving.

MELDA YILDIZ
Fulbright: Azerbaijan 2016, Turkmenistan 2008, and Fulbright Specialist-Kenya 2022

Dr. Yildiz is a global scholar, teacher educator, instructional designer, and author. Her research interests include algorithmic social justice and media literacy, exemplified by her award-winning project, 'Algorithmic Social Justice through Participatory Action Research: Media Binds or Blinds? She has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Turkmenistan (2008) and Azerbaijan (2016), where she taught and conducted research on integrating media education in P16 classrooms. In 2022, she served as a Fulbright Specialist in Kenya. Dr. Yildiz has co-authored, published, and presented on topics including STEM education, media and information literacy, instructional technology, multicultural, and global education. She received her Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Math & Science and Instructional Technology, and her M.S. from Southern Connecticut State University in Instructional Technology. She majored in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Bogazici University, in Turkey.. 

Board Advisor:

DAN KOMAREK
Dan Komarek is an associate at Vinson & Elkins and represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies, including mergers & acquisitions, executive compensation arrangements, general corporate matters and restructuring. Dan received his J.D from Columbia Law School in 2007 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Human Rights Law Review) and his B.A. in History from University of California at Berkeley in 2004 (High Honors and Distinction). He was admitted to practice in California in 2007 and New York in 2012.

Board Emeritus:

ROSALBA DEL VECCHIO
Fulbright: Italy, 1980
Dr. Rosalba Corrado Del Vecchio is Director of the Master Degree Program in School Building Leadership for aspiring principals and administrators in the non public schools. She also teaches Master and Doctoral level courses and mentors students in the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership (DAIL). A member of the St. Vincent de Paul team for the Catholic Institute, she provides professional development to principals and board members of the new academies in the Diocese of Brooklyn and coordinates The Catholic Principals Academy (TCPA), which prepares future school administrators for the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn. A proponent of global programs, Dr. Del Vecchio taught in the first DAIL Instructional Leadership global initiative, on the Rome campus. She received the Global Certificate Program sponsored by St. John's Office of Global Studies and the Center for Teaching and Learning. An active member of St. John's Chapter of the Ladies of Charity, she served as the former Chair of the Spirituality Committee.
Prior to her work at St. John's, Dr. Del Vecchio served as a high school teacher of Spanish, Italian, French and English, then as a school building and central office administrator in one of the Big Four Districts in New York State. For over ten years, she was Director of Funded Programs responsible for the management of over $ 60 million in categorical and competitive grants in the Yonkers Public School District. A grant proposals reader for the U.S. Department of Education and New York State Education Department, she is also a Board of Directors member of the Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE) Foundation, which seeks to provide career and college opportunities to underserved children.
A former Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Dr. Del Vecchio was Vice President of the Fulbright Association of Greater New York and continues to serve on its Board. She is the founder of the Youth Mentoring Initiative for International Understanding, a partnership program with the Fulbright Association of GNY, Sarah Lawrence College and an urban school district.
A graduate from Fordham University, Dr. Del Vecchio specializes in educational leadership, administration and policy, with a concentration on partnership development and professional development of aspiring school administrators. Recently, she traveled to China, where she presented a paper on the preparation of the next generation of school leaders, at the International Education Leadership Conference sponsored by the Beijing Institute of Education, The Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, Global Interactions, the National Staff Development Council, and The Council of Chief State School Officers. The Business Review Cambridge just published her article on The Disconnect between workplace and graduate school motivation, written in collaboration with a colleague from Tobin School of Business.