April+30+-+International+Speaker+Presentation

** Simona-Gabriela (Gabi) Gavrila ** is a Master of Public Administration student at University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). She was born and raised in Romania, and she first came to the States seven years ago for her undergraduate studies. In Romania, she was very involved with the Local Youth Councils and the PAL-TIN Network (“Youth Participation in Local Administration”). She co-founded an NGO called ARTI (“Romanian Association of Youngsters with Initiative”), and helped organize various youth camps, festivals and trainings. She also collaborated extensively with the Fulbright Educational Advising Center in Bucharest. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and World Affairs with a minor in French Studies from Occidental College (Los Angeles) and a Certificate of Business Administration from Northwestern University (Chicago). While in college, she studied abroad in France, carried human rights research in Thailand, and interned with the U.N. Department of Political Affairs (Europe Division) in New York City. She was also the Leadership and Public Programming Intern for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in the summer of 2008, and a Values and Vocation Fellow at Occidental College in 2009. In her spare time, she volunteered as a tutor for elementary school children at the Skid Row Central City Community Church in downtown Los Angeles. Her undergraduate academic research included topics such as: the EU Constitution, preventive diplomacy and state building. Upon graduating college, she worked briefly as a Major Gifts Development Assistant for the Office of Alumni Relations and Development at Northwestern University, and was later hired as a Consular Officer with the Consulate General of Romania in Chicago, a job which she held for almost two years before returning to school for her Master’s in the fall of last year. At GSPIA, she currently works for the Center for Metropolitan Studies and is on the board of several student organizations, such as the International Students Initiative, EU and the World, the Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia (GOSECA), etc. She was recently selected to participate in the revered Johnson Institute’s Leadership Portfolio Program. ** Bernadette G. Vega ** is a Mexican Fulbright Scholar, studying the Master of International Development, Human Security Major, in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a BA in International Affairs from //Universidad de las Americas// in Mexico City where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2007. Before starting the master’s degree program, she worked at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the General Direction of Technical and Scientific Cooperation. She was Deputy Director of International Cooperation Policy Planning and participated in the institutional foundation of the Mexican Agency of International Cooperation for Development. In the academic area, she worked as research assistant at the Center for Research on North America at the National Autonomous University of Mexico on topics such as US-Mexico relations and the regional development gaps. During her time at the research center, she participated in several collective research projects and a group of electoral observation for the US-Presidential Elections in 2008. In the non-profit sector, Bernadette interned in the non-governmental organization Global March Against Child Labor in New Delhi, India. In that organization, she participated in the design of a distance volunteer program, collaborated in the communication strategy with international partners and participated in the campaigns carried out alongside with the Indian organization Bachpan Bachao Andolan. Since 2008, she is member of the Mexican Council of Foreign Affairs (COMEXI in Spanish). Currently, at the University of Pittsburgh, she is the President of the International Development Studies Association, member of the INGO Clinic and has been selected to be part of the Johnson Institute’s Leadership Portfolio Program. Her more recent publications are “Asociaciones complementarias: base para el futuro de la cooperación Sur-Sur y triangular de México” (in co-authorship with José Octavio Tripp) in //Revista Española de Desarrollo y Cooperación// (Spring-Summer 2011) and “Mexico and India: Approaching Each Other from Afar” in //Voices of Mexico// (Jan – Apr 2009).
 * On April 30 **