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Julia Gaspar-Bates, Executive Coordinator
Julia Gaspar-Bates, M.A., is a certified cross-cultural trainer and consultant who works with individuals and groups from the U.S. and abroad to facilitate the challenges of working and communicating across cultures.
Julia brings a wealth of personal, professional, and educational experience to her work. With over 15 years experience working in international business and educational environments Julia has held positions for a variety of companies and organizations such as Michelin Travel Publications, UNESCO, the American Embassy of Paris, Saga International Holidays, Center for Global Education, and MarketOne International doing global account management, international market research, product development, and translation/interpretation. Prior to co-founding Intercultural Alliances (ICA), Julia facilitated cross-cultural training workshops for executives relocating to and from the U.S. As President of ICA, Julia currently designs and delivers customized programs and seminars for executives, entrepreneurs, and educators from around the world and has delivered workshops in multiple foreign languages, focusing on cultures such as India, France, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, China, Mexico, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy and the U.S.
Julia is also able to share her insights and expertise from a personal perspective. A bi-cultural British-American, she was born in London and grew up in the United States. With an undergraduate degree in the Romance Languages, Julia is fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian and is able to incorporate a deep understanding of the complexities of communicating across linguistic barriers into her work. She lived and worked in Paris, France for seven years, as well as in Mexico, Italy, and Switzerland and has traveled to more than 40 countries in both a personal and professional context. Her seminars are peppered with personal anecdotes sharpened from a lifetime of interacting and working with people from different cultures Combined with her sound foundation in intercultural theory gleaned from her graduate studies in Intercultural Relations, Julia is able to connect with her clients and participants in her programs and provide a deep awareness of the “whys” behind behavior.
Maria Morukian, Deputy Executive Coordinator
Maria Morukian is involved in the design, development, and delivery of cultural diversity initiatives for organizations in a variety of sectors, including educational, health care, nonprofit, government, corporate, and international development.
Maria is currently working with the National MultiCultural Institute (NMCI), a private non-profit organization that has been a leader in the diversity field for over twenty years. Maria collaborates in the preparation and planning of national conferences focusing on issues of diversity and multiculturalism on the national and global levels, conducts organizational audits and benchmarking studies, and designs and develops training curricula for NMCI’s clientele on a variety of topics, including cultural awareness, cross-cultural conflict resolution, managing a diverse workforce, recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, and many more.
Maria completed her Master’s degree in International Communication at American University, where her major theme of study was Latin American culture. Maria’s professional experience includes research and consultation on intercultural and international affairs, business development, and retail and corporate banking. Maria has extensive experience living abroad and investigating cultural and societal issues. She studied and taught English as a Second Language in Barcelona, Spain and participated in an exclusive research project at the Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales in Havana, Cuba. Maria earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Organizational Studies and Spanish.
Nina Hamedani, Communications Coordinator
As an Iranian-American raised in a multicultural environment, Nina Hamedani has always tried to facilitate cross-cultural awareness and understanding. It is this personal background that directed her studies at McGill University in Anthropology, World Religions and Philosophy; and led to a Master’s degree in Cultural Sociology and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science in England.
Her focus on bridging gaps between the U.S. and the Middle East centers on the importance of recognizing interconnections between socio-cultural understandings, perceptions, media representations, and outcomes of policy initiatives. However, Nina’s intercultural interests are broad as a result of living abroad and extensive travels in Canada, Europe, Iran and South Korea.
Nina publishes articles in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, as well as online for Press TV. She is also an independent contributor to Connecting Cultures, LLC., working to foster cultural awareness and understanding through trainings on diversity and cross-cultural communication.
Nina is excited about helping SIETAR DC with their communications needs, as well as simultaneously developing a more in-depth understanding of the intercultural field for herself.
Michelle DeFayette, Treasurer
Michelle has worked for more than 18 years in training design, facilitation, and intercultural communication and management with nonprofit organizations and the US government. She specializes in training and development programs for international development, cross-cultural communication, and disaster assistance, including emergency operations and planning. She is a senior manager at International Resources Group (IRG), where she manages a $50 million staff training contract with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). She managed the staff training unit in the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance for nearly eight years, was the director of training for the National Association of Community Action Agencies, and was a training specialist for the Peace Corps. Michelle has an MA in international communication from American University. She lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and speaks relatively fluent Portuguese.
Sonia Checchia, Membership
Sonia’s main professional interest is in how language is a resource to facilitate effective intercultural communication. Her functional skills are counseling and training/facilitation.
Sonia is an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she supports diversity and inclusion programs. She facilitates training and events supporting diversity skill building and professional development. Prior to joining Booz Allen, she worked as a study abroad advisor in Washington, DC, and Madrid, Spain.
Sonia holds a BA in International Studies from American University, and an MA in Sociolinguistics (Language and Culture) from Georgetown University. Sonia speaks Spanish and Italian, loves yoga, and is addicted to NPR.
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