2025 Presenters

Gabriella Potievsky is a dedicated health educator and wellness advocate with a strong foundation in public health, organizational leadership, and nutrition. She holds degrees from Rutgers University and a Master’s in Integrative and Functional Nutrition from Stony Brook University.

At the Fashion Institute of Technology, Gab serves in Health Services, where she leads campus-wide wellness initiatives, offers individual nutrition counseling, and supports smoking cessation programs. Her approach is rooted in the belief that health is a collective effort—when communities support one another, they foster more peaceful, fulfilling environments.

Dr. Nurhayat Bilge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication Studies at FIT. She holds a Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication from Arizona State University, an M.A. in Interpersonal Communication from Central Michigan University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Her academic and professional expertise lies in intercultural communication, cultural adaptation, identity, and ethnicity. Dr. Bilge’s research explores these themes across diverse contexts, including new media, diversity and inclusion in higher education, racial and ethnic perceptions in cross-cultural communication, and nonverbal communication in healthcare settings.

At FIT, Dr. Bilge teaches Intercultural Communication, Conflict Management, and Public Speaking. She is also a certified court mediator and trained third-party facilitator, bringing practical conflict resolution experience into the classroom and beyond.

David Eng-Wong is a representative for the Connecticut Education Association and served as the Labor Relations Specialist (LRS) for the UCE of FIT for twenty-three years. He holds an MS in Labor Relations from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BA from Macalester College. David lives in Cold Spring, New York, and he still misses working with the UCE of FIT.