Staff Photos & Bios
Program Staff
International Director - John Dewald
John Dewald grew up in Truckee, CA and received a B.A. in literature from Claremont McKenna College. This will be his sixth season with GLA, and he also leads trips for other organizations where he has lead four gap semesters as well as summer and custom programs. Career highlights include teaching English in a Brazilian University as part of Fulbright, starting a 501c3 organization called Full Belly Brasil that provides food/water to families in need and combats climate change, publishing a number of short stories, guiding backpacking trips up volcanoes in Nicaragua and through the Bolivian Andes, and teaching scuba in the Caribbean. As of this summer, John will have worked on six continents this past year. John speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and in addition to traveling and learning languages, he is passionate about scuba diving, sky diving, hiking, writing, and soccer. He can't wait to get out to Greece and have another great GLA season with this year's students.
Local Director - Margarita Bofiliou
Margarita, born and raised in Athens, is an artist and a mother of a 14 year-old son. She holds a BA (UNIWA, GR) and a MA (RCA, UK) in Photography, a BA-integrated MA (ASFA, GR) in Fine Art. She is an integral part of the artistic community in Athens and has exhibited her work in Greece and abroad. In 2019/20 she was a fellow of the SNF (Stavros Niarchos Foundation) Artist Fellowship Program of ARTWORKS. She has been awarded a scholarship from the State Scholarship Foundation of Greece, the Jannis and Zoe Spyropoulos Award and the National Magazine Award. She is pursuing work in art education in order to teach children and teenagers to observe and approach everyday life in a playful and optimistic way through exploring new means of artistic expression that suit their own individual voices and so to amplify them. She is aiming to use art for developing self-determination and self-awareness and through community art projects to develop and strengthen relationships between members of society. Being creative, being an artist, is about being free to make decisions for oneself and that process is another form of leadership.
Mentor - Juliet Mashiri
Hailing from Zimbabwe, Juliet earned her honours degree in Business Management from the African Leadership University in Mauritius, where she received the prestigious Mastercard Foundation Scholarship. Her diverse experience includes impactful roles in communications, operations and projects at the African Leadership Network, The Sabbatical Project and Verdant Ventures. Participation in the ALU Silicon Valley Global Leadership Programme broadened her global perspective, exposing her to innovation ecosystems and leading companies such as Google, AWS, Netflix, Uber and Open AI. As a Peer Counselor at ALU, Juliet supported her peers in their wellness journeys, furthering her commitment to social change through volunteer work for underprivileged children in Harare. She has a deep passion for empowering individuals and communities and eagerly anticipates a transformative summer with GLA students.
Mentor - Adham Abdel Razek
My name is Adham! I am a combination of Egyptian, Chinese and Scottish! I have spent my years traveling the world to broaden my knowledge of different cultures. I have worked as a outdoor educator, teaching people many different adventure/adrenaline sports. I have also volunteered as a translator in Arabic, English, and Spanish! A lot of my freetime is spent outside rock climbing, at the gym, or trying to find the best places to fill my belly with food!
GLA Staffing - Roles
GLA staff are native to the host country and international, usually from the US, Canada or Europe. All staff are highly qualified adults with college degrees. Most of our staff are educators and/or working professionals with higher degrees of education. All of our staff have extensive experience working with teenage students, international programs and/or a specific knowledge of the program country.
GLA staff consists of a local program director, someone from the host country with extensive experience working with international students and also an international program director, someone from the west with extensive global experience working with this age group, who together bridge any cultural differences. Mentors work with the students on a day to day basis. Staff ages usually range between 25 – 35 years old. In addition, we maintain a student to staff ratio of 8:1.
In-Country Program Coordinator
Our In-Country Program Coordinators are people with close ties to the local community. Their connections are what allow our groups to be welcomed as friends into a community, and their knowledge of the challenges facing local people allow our work to be a meaningful and valued contribution.
Local Program Director
Local Program Directors are responsible for co-managing the overall experience alongside International Program Directors. First and foremost, they protect the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The Local Program Director is also responsible for planning excursions, speakers, and community service projects
International Program Director
International Program Directors are responsible for co-managing the overall experience alongside Local Program Directors. Along with the Local Director, the International Program Director protects the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The International Program Director is also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by developing curriculum, facilitating the implementation of GLA’s service-learning workshops through group-wide discussions
Mentor
Mentors are also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by working as part of a team to implement GLA’s service-learning leadership curriculum; leading daily discussion, reflection or journaling sessions with small student groups; and helping Directors plan additional workshops and activities to engage students in their “free” time.
Country Administrator
Country Administrators are responsible for managing the overall experience of multiple programs in a certain country. Along with the Local Director, and International Program Directors, the Administrator protects the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The Country Administrator is also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by developing curriculum, facilitating the implementation of GLA’s service-learning workshops through group-wide discussions.
Program Manager
Our Program Managers support the International and Local teams over the course of summer programming. The Program Managers have extensive training in risk management, cross cultural communication, student and group dynamics, mental health protocols, staff management and GLA policies and procedures. Program Managers posses and in-depth knowledge of each program site, partner, service activities, and excursion. The Program Managers communicate weekly with each team in the field and provide ongoing support during the summer to ensure safe and successful programs.