Verto Education offers the onlyfirst year abroad experiencethat keeps you on-track to graduate in four years with world-class academic providers and 70+ partner colleges.
Our Mission
Verto prepares global leaders and transforms access to higher education through a coming-of-age first-year start to college abroad.
Our Values
Verto Education was founded to make travel the path of least resistance to a college education. We believe in inclusion, transparency, access, equity and, above all, the power of travel to foster empathy and kindness across cultures.
What Verto Education Offers
An Accessible, Global Academic Year
Verto Education helps participants discover themselves and the world around them by making education abroad a foundational and accessible part of a four-year college plan.
With Verto, students can begin college with a study abroad experience with world-class academics offered by our Academic Providers, while having the option to gain admission to Verto’s 70+ partner college.
Verto participants walk away with much more than incredible memories and transferable credits; they gain the confidence, self-awareness, and global perspective needed to thrive in college and in life.
Direct Admission to a Verto Partner College
Students can use their Verto Application to gain direct admission to our 70+ partner colleges, where the credits earned from our Academic Providers during the Verto experience will transfer seamlessly. Students have many available options after their time with Verto, allowing them to stay on track for a 4-year college graduation timeline.
A Well-Rounded Cross-Cultural Experience Focused on Personal Growth
Semesters foster self-discovery through journaling, mindfulness training, mentorship, service learning programs, and—for some locations—a homestay experience. Weekly structured reflection gives students a sense of who they are and what they want from their university career.
Meet Our Team
Executives & Leaders
Mitch Gordon
President & Co-Founder
Ben Welbourn
Chief Enrollment Officer & Co-Founder
Michael Kabbaz
Senior Vice President of Strategy & Chief of Staff
Emily Sauey
Head of People Operations
Nataly Huff
Vice President of Marketing
Ahmad Refky
Vice President of Operations
Sara Troy
Director of Program Development
Aline Parnagian
Director of Digital Product
Tatiana Kweder
Vice President of Finance
Rick Silvestrini
Chief Operation Officer
Paige Butler
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Michael Goldstein
Executive Director, Verto Fund
Faculty & Program Staff
Blaire Modic
Country Director, Costa Rica
Andrés “Fofo” Zúñiga
Program Director, Costa Rica
Andrea Bravo
Senior Student Affairs Coordinator, Costa Rica
Fabricio Arguedas
Clubs & Community Coordinator, Costa Rica
Yesenia Obando Diaz
Faculty, Spanish, Costa Rica
Leslie Jernigan
Faculty Support Coordinator & Teaching Faculty, Costa Rica
Edgardo Arevalo
Faculty, Environmental Science, Costa Rica
Manuel Ramírez Cordero
Program Coordinator, Costa Rica
Johel Chaves-Campos
Academic Manager, Costa Rica
Carmen Hutchinson Miller
Faculty, Costa Rica
Valerie Hernández
Academic Success Coordinator, Costa Rica
Maia Diaz
Student Life Coordinator, Costa Rica
Alexis Sinder
Student Life Coordinator, Costa Rica
Ana Lucía Jiménez
Faculty, Costa Rica
Maria Batista
Faculty, Social Problems, Costa Rica
Stefanie Ramírez Brenes
Program Coordinator, Costa Rica
Laura Moreira
Faculty, Costa Rica
Gemma Miller
Faculty, England
Faissal Hameed
Faculty, England
Laura Ludtke
Faculty, England
Scott Mclean
Faculty, England
Niccolo Salvatori
Faculty, England
Piero Corcillo
Faculty, England
Eliza Wilton
Senior Student Affairs Coordinator, England
Yana Kolpakova
Academic Success Coordinator, England
Cecilia Onwochei-Garcia
Student Life Coordinator, England
Sarah Hutchinson
Academic Success Coordinator, England
Oscar Ceballos
Center Director, Spain
Cristina Gonzalez
Housing Coordinator, Spain
Amanda Cummings
Senior Academic Success Coordinator, Spain
Rubén Díaz López
Faculty, Spain
Elisa Fernandez
Faculty, Spain
Emily Woerfel
Student Life Coordinator, Spain
María Esther Beltrán
Academic Success Coordinator, Spain
Michaela Hill
Student Life Manager, Spain
Miguel de Lucas
Faculty, Spain
Antonio Barneto Ochoa
Faculty, Spain
Dan Manuel Serradilla Avery
Faculty, Spain
Manuel “Manolo” Rufete
Academic Manager, Spain
Nadia Sousa Garzón
Academic Success Coordinator, Spain
Samantha Wasek
Student Life Coordinator, Spain
Fran Pascual
Program Administrator, Spain
Fran Aguado
Student Life Coordinator, Spain
Alejandro Varela
Faculty, Spain
Rosario Sivianes
Faculty, Spain
Carlos Pineda
Faculty, Public Speaking, Spain
Mayara Pereira
Academic Success Coordinator, Italy
Maia Wellington Gahtan
Faculty, Italy
Federica Di Sarcina
Faculty, Italy
Emanuele Tognelli
Faculty, Italy
Rossana Ungaro
Faculty, Italy
Johanna Mae Indias
Academic Success Coordinator, Italy
Cristiana Gallai
Program Director, Italy
Alice Cini
Academic Affairs Manager, Italy
Leonardo Giustini
Faculty, Italy
Diego Palombi
Academic Success Coordinator, Italy
Lori de Lucia
Academic Director, Italy
Laura Romero Calero
Student Life Coordinator, Italy
Dario D’Ambrosa
Faculty, Italy
Marco Di Manno
Faculty, Italy
Mattia Rondinelli
Faculty, Italy
Shauna Kavanagh
Student Life Manager, Italy
Giulietta Molinari
Student Life Coordinator, Italy
Kristi Bauer
Administrative and Operations Assistant, Italy
Paolo Monetti Lucianer
Housing Coordinator, Italy
Anneka Stevens
Academic Success Coordinator, Italy
Umberto Gori
Faculty, Italy
María Fernández Bascones
Student Life Coordinator, Italy
Kiara Stucchi Prinetti
Student Life Coordinator, Italy
Octavio Di Leo
Center Director, Argentina
Matias Ilivitzky
Faculty, Argentina
Andrew Roberts
Faculty, Argentina
Ayelen Pagnanelli
Faculty, Argentina
Jiovih Augustave
Academic Success Coordinator, Argentina
Juan Franco Pecora
Academic Success & Student Life Coordinator, Argentina
Veronica Hopp
Faculty, Argentina
Jill Cefalo
Program Director, Czech Republic
Natalia Polito
Faculty, Argentina
Kesed Haglund
Resident Peer Mentor, Czech Republic
Michael Zaharczuk
Academic Success & Student Life Coordinator, Czech Republic
Admissions
Our Regional Admissions Counselors frequently present at all-school assemblies, college fairs, High School lunchrooms, community events, and we even offer home visits for prospective Verto families (we’ll bring the coffee). Schedule a presentation with one of our regional admissions counselors using the links below.
Josh Sadagursky
Associate Director of Admissions, West Coast
Amy Wruck
Regional Admissions Counselor, Midwest
Edward “Ned” Liggett
Regional Admissions Counselor, NYC
Kaylee Koenig
Regional Admissions Counselor, Florida
Emma Tillman
Regional Admissions Counselor, Atlanta
Janet Currier
Regional Admissions Counselor, New England
Neal Crosson
Regional Admissions Counselor, VA/D.C.
Dan Quick
Director of Enrollment Operations
David Dillard
Senior Associate Director of Admissions
Daniel Marion
Enrollment Operations Manager
Hillevi Johnson
Associate Director of Admissions
Mimi Eglin
Senior Admissions Counselor
Gabriela Granote
Senior Admissions Counselor Team Lead
Shaunene Edwards
Senior Admissions Counselor Team Lead
Hannah Swangler
Senior Admissions Counselor
Michelle Korczynski
Senior Admissions Counselor
Kristen Korkowski
Senior Admissions Counselor
Elisabeth Smith
Senior Admissions Counselor
Bradley Good
Senior Admissions Counselor
Rob Castillo
Senior Admissions Counselor
Krista Flagg
Senior Admissions Counselor
Marla McLeod
Senior Admissions Counselor
Dianna Jennings
Senior Admissions Counselor
Deanna Young
Senior Admissions Counselor
Student Onboarding
Brittni Weimer
Senior Manager of Onboarding Operations
Stuart Robbins-Butcher
Student Onboarding Advisor
Grace Kim
Student Onboarding Advisor
Kara Dudley
Student Onboarding Advisor
Josh Ferry
Student Onboarding Advisor
Academic Success & Advising
Janice Johnson Shephard
Program Director, Academic Success & Advising
Escely Marr
Assistant Director of College Counseling
Uyen Yasmine Vu
College Counselor
Analee Giordano
College Counselor
Academics
Karen Masters
Director of Academic Affairs
David Collier, Ph.D.
Sr. Associate Director
Colleen Dutton
Registrar & Assistant Director
Steven Mockler
Academic Affairs Manager
Programming & Operations
James Lorello
Dean of Students
Claire Kibblewhite
Director of Operations
Nicole Horvath
Director of Student Life
Stephanie Collens
Assistant Director of Student Life
Matteo Travers
Verto Discovery Manager
Jessica Willis
Strategy and Operations Manager
Partner Relations
Stephanie Espina
Director of College and University Relations
Clark Brigger
Associate Vice President of University Partnerships
Lakota Bowen
Assistant Director of Partner Relations Operations
Nicole Holmberg
Associate Director of College & University Relations
Digital Products
Akilah Arthur
Technical Lead, Systems Administrator
Hilary Peterson
Senior Product Manager, Digital Product
Nicoholas Holly
Technical Systems Lead & Developer
Sheridan Gill
Senior Salesforce Developer
Christopher Lappe
Engineering Team Manager
Syed Ali
IT Manager
Andrew Dunkle
Technical Program Manager
Marketing
Brynna Rao
Director of Brand & Content Marketing
Sarah Ford
Senior Marketing Operations Manager
Meaghan Conly
Marketing Lifecycle Manager
Elaine Diekroger
Senior Partnerships Marketing Manager
Jeff Geisinger
Senior Graphic Designer
Samantha Nani
Marketing Coordinator
Allie Chatas
Social Media Manager
Steven Radabaugh
Full-Stack WordPress Developer
Parker Thompson
Senior Analytics Manager
Amanda Rankin
Lifecycle Marketing Specialist
Billing
Brandi Turner
Head of Student Financial Services
Maurissa Miller
Billing and Scholarship Coordinator
People Operations
Nicole Simonds
Associate People Partner
Jeremy Cantu
People Operations Generalist
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board guides Verto on its initiatives for student services, equity, inclusion, and access, curriculum, partnerships, and student recruitment.
Verto’s Advisory Board members were each selected for their demonstrated commitment to college access, their leadership in the field, and their expertise in educational advising.
