Monica Emery, Director
E-mail: mlam4@umd.edu;
Phone: 301-314-7100
Monica Emery earned a B.A. in international relations from The American University, Washington DC. After graduating she moved to Japan in search of international experience. She worked in Tokyo, then Nagano, and eventually opened an English school in the beautiful mountains of Japan. Monica was inspired by the curiosity and potential of students with interests in cross-cultural interaction. After four years in Japan, she returned to the US hoping to pursue a career in education. She worked at the Henry L. Stimson Center, an international peace and conflict resolution think-tank, in Washington, DC as the Program/Intern Coordinator. She earned a masters degree in international education policy from the University of Maryland with a focus on education for global peace. While working towards her degree, she served as an advisor for the President’s Promise Initiative at the University of Maryland.
Monica gained a Certificate in International Humanitarian Law and the Law of Armed Conflict from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She also held positions as a research assistant and fellow for the Graduate Fellows Program of the United Nations Association in the National Capital Area. She has volunteered at the Department of Public Inquiry, United Nations Headquarters in NY. She has traveled through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Korea, and enjoyed backpacking through South West China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Marlaine Figueroa Gray, Assistant Director
E-mail: marlaine@umd.edu,
Phone: 301-405-0673
Marlaine Figueroa Gray is currently completing her Masters in International Education Policy at the University of Maryland. As an undergraduate, she studied English and Journalism, at the Colorado College, and attended the National University of Ireland, Maynooth as an exchange student. After graduating, she taught high school for two years in Inhambane, Mozambique as an Education Volunteer with the Peace Corps.
Marlaine has enjoyed many diverse work experiences, from chasing hot air balloons, to being the Editor-in Chief of an alternative news magazine to working as a consultant on a worldwide child labor research project for the US Department of Labor. She has also had the privilege of living in 3 continents (Europe, America, and Africa) and traveling through Germany, Austria, Holland, Sweden, Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Russia, Mexico, the US, Puerto Rico, Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland.
Currently she is working with university students in Global Communities, and as a Model United Nations Trainer helping DC pubic schools teachers implement global issues addressed by the UN into their curriculum.
