Meet The Team
President
Nancy Luo
Nancy is a fifth-year double major student in International Relations and French from White Rock, BC. She chose to major in IR because of the program's intersectionality and the wide variety of classes it offers. Nancy is also in Arts Co-op and has worked at three departments in the Government of Canada. Her career goal is to work in governmental relations and affairs to connect the private and public spheres.
VP-Internal
Jenny Jung
As a dual-degree student between SciencesPo and UBC, it has always been a personal aspiration to be an executive member of IRSA, as it plays a vital role in fostering a greater community. I aspire to contribute my educational foundation in political, geopolitical, and global economic issues to the ongoing growth of IRSA. When I am not at my desk studying, I like to purchase plane tickets for spontaneous trips, and take 12-hour naps as a hobby.
VP External
Patricia González
Patricia was born and raised in South America and her upbringing has encouraged her to take a deeper look into the relationship between power, politics, and corruption. She chose International Relations at UBC because the interdisciplinary nature of the program allows her to further examine the links between these topics on a broader, more detailed scale.
VP Academics
Aliza-Marie Smith
Aliza is a fourth-year IR major and Environment and Sustainability minor from Kamloops, BC. This is Aliza's third year on IRSA's Academics team, and she is extremely passionate about the support her team provides UBC IR students. As an Arts Co-op student who works in Indigenous Modern Treaty implementation, and as a researcher with UBC Human Rights Collective, Aliza is extremely passionate about the affirmation of human rights, democratization, and international diplomacy, and hopes to continue to explore these topics in her career.
VP Finance
Kristy Shum
Kristy is a fifth-year student at UBC, majoring in International Relations. This is her third year at IRSA as well as her third year on the finance team. Some of her favourite courses include economics and geography, which has inspired her to direct her degree towards the International Economy and Development (list B) stream.
Associate VP Internal
Isabella Farbahi
Hi all I’m Isabella, a third-year student in international relations at UBC. I am part of the UBC-Sciences Po dual degree and I was born and raised in Vancouver. I’m Italian-Iranian-Canadian and I love learning languages (currently learning Spanish, Italian and Persian), walking my dog and going to cafes. My favourite subjects within IR would be human rights, international law and history. I’m very excited to be part of IRSA this year as the Assistant Vice-president Internal and work alongside the rest of the team to make events for the IR community!
Associate VP External
Mohammed Thabet
Born in Palestine, Mohammed comes to UBC from the United World College of Pearson in Victoria, BC. He is in his third year majoring in International Relations with a minor in Economics. Having lived through 4 wars, Mohammed would like to use his knowledge in the future to encourage peace and stability in troubled regions. He is super passionate about travelling and a big fan of free-diving.
Associate-VP Finance
Stephanie Liu
My name is Stephanie and I’ll be serving as your AVP Finance this year! I’m in 4th year International Relations and Commerce minor. The topics I’m passionate about in IR scholarship are human rights, public policy, and US-China relations. My favorite study spot on campus is JJ bean or Bean Around The World (which I recently discovered!).
Associate-VP Finance
Tina Hu
My name is Tina, I am in my 3rd year here at UBC! I am majoring in IR with a minor in Political Sciences. I am also in the process of completing a Micromasters of International Law from Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. A fun fact about me -- I love bunnies, especially ones with floppy ears!
Associate-VP Academics
Brianne Dy
Brianne is a fourth-year student majoring in International Relations with a minor in Asian Studies. Born and raised in the Philippines, she has a particular interest in the history and region of Southeast Asia and hopes to strengthen her understanding of the diverse political and social landscapes of the region. The interdisciplinary nature of IR allows her to explore these specific interests while continuing to learn about broader IR-related subjects, including language learning and global issues. She hopes to one day pursue a career in law or foreign services, or simply travel the world!
Global Lounge Officer
Nela Radecki
Nela is a third-year student majoring in International Relations and minoring in Economics. As Global Lounge Officer, she is interested in pursuing topics related to international diplomacy, economy and development, security studies, and more. She loves to travel and has been to 28 countries so far. The flexibility of the program allows her to explore all topics related to IR and to hopefully discover a way to continually travel the world and potentially work in international law and global governance one day.
Director of Public Relations
and Outreach
Sienna Guo
Sienna is a fourth year student majoring in International Relations. She was born in Beijing but lived in Vancouver for most of her life. Within the With a love for graphic design and art, Sienna is extremely excited to be IRSA’s Director of PR and Outreach this year! Some of her hobbies include eating, cooking, snowboarding, and shopping.
Associate Director of Public
Relations and Outreach
Luis Vargas
Luis is a third-year student majoring in International Relations and minoring in Political Science. Academically, he is interested in studying Latin American Politics, Democratization, and Development. Luis aims to work in foreign policy and continue learning about the current global political structure and different cultures. He is responsible for creating graphic designs and managing IRSA’s social media alongside other members of the Public Relations team.
Associate Director of Public
Relations and Outreach
Ana Julia Leon
Ana Julia is a third-year student majoring in International Relations. Born in Ecuador and raised in Paraguay, she has a deep understanding of South American culture and politics. It is her hope to be able to garner a holistic view of International Relations through her studies at UBC.
Podcast Director
João (Johnny) Cerqueira
João (Johnny) is a third-year student majoring in International Relations with a minor in Psychology. He is currently interested in furthering his understanding of Foreign Policy from the perspective of workers, Social-Psychology, and Philosophy, with the aim of using these multi-disciplinary fields in order to better understand the current political system. As a member of IRSA, he is working on the multi-platform podcast project “The Global Get Down”, where he hopes to dive into the genealogy of current systems of thought.
Podcast Producer
Gaurav Bindra
Gaurav (he/him) is a second-year student at UBC planning to major in International Relations and minor in Forestry. He is originally from New Delhi, India but spent a lot of his childhood in Japan. He is super hyped to be one of the podcast producers for IRSA’s ‘Global Get Down’ this year! Some IR topics that interest him are climate diplomacy, conflict resolution, counterterrorism and comparative historiography, and he hopes to bring all of these issues to the fore in GGD episodes over the next few months.
Podcast Producer
Belle Li
Belle (she/her) is in her third year studying international relations and creative writing. She’s interested in expressing global issues from literary and journalistic perspectives, and her fields of interest include the proliferation of automation, digital sustainability, geopolitics, and international security. Her future is largely undecided but she would love to travel and report on people, places, and happenings that the world doesn’t hear many stories about.
Podcast Producer
Mina Nepali
Hello everyone! My name is Mina, a prospective International Relations major, currently holding the role of a podcast producer in IRSA. I love learning about different cultures and my dream is to go on a world tour, dedicated for spicy food! Looking forward to creating more exciting episodes with my team :)
Podcast Producer
Thalin Htun
TBA
Director of Sustainability
Thanh Le
Thanh (she/her) is a fourth-year IR major with a Law and Society from Hanoi, Vietnam. Her favourite part about being in IR is the flexibility to choose from a wide array of disciplines and the tight-knit community. She has a particular interest in global environmental politics and sustainability. She hopes to pursue a career in policy, law, or marketing in the future.
AUS Representative
Maile Kuyper
Maile Kuyper (she/her) is a fourth-year student majoring in International Relations with a minor in Environment and Society from Kamuela, Hawai’i. Maile is interested in topics related to conservation practices, community engagement, and government action in pursuit of stewardship of the environment and cultural heritage of indigenous communities. She hopes to pursue job opportunities at conservation NGOs or indigenous relations organizations in the future.
Canadian Undergraduate Policy (CUPC) Associate
Selin Ozbay
Selin is currently at UBC doing an undergrad in the Bachelor of Arts. She is doing a double major which is focused on English Literature and International Relations. For IRSA, Selin will be organizing the Canadian Undergraduate Policy Competition this year as the CUPC Executive! As well, she plans to use any extra time to help with and volunteer for IRSA. Selin has a lot of work experience with team leading, organizing, and communications so she hopes to use her skills to use for her role in IRSA. Graduating this year, she’s hoping to find a government position and see what she wants to do for her master's!
Conference Coordinator
Alicia Barker-Åström
Alicia (she/her) is a third-year student from Stockholm, Sweden studying International Relations and Political Science at the UBC and Sciences Po Dual Degree Program. Alicia enjoys travel and has pursued studies in North America, Europe, and Africa. In her free time, Alicia likes to curl up with a good book.
Director of Professional Development
Sabrina St-Jean
Hi! My name is Sabrina and I am a third-year International Relations major. I am planning to pursue my studies in law or global policies after UBC and I am particularly interested in topics related to global inequalities and social justice. I love to travel and learn new languages and I like how IR can allow me to work internationally. I’m excited to join IRSA this year!
Director of Prospective Students
Michelle Lao
Hi! My name is Michelle and I am a fourth-year International Relations student in the B+MM program. I am originally from Vancouver and recently over the pandemic, I picked up doing nails as a hobby. This is my first year at IRSA I am very excited to get to know everyone!
Director of Mentorship
Roanna Pizarro
Roanna (she/her) is a fourth-year student double majoring in International Relations and Sociology. Her passions lie in understanding the concepts of development and underdevelopment, human migration and security, as well as economic and social change and the power relations that affect these changes. Her interests in the field of IR intertwine with her sociological interests, inspiring her to one day work a career in the government sector.
Director of Event Innovation
Gina Choi
Hello! I am Gina (she/her/hers), a third-year student from South Korea majoring in International Relations. Within the field of International Relations, I am particularly interested in the Second World War and its liberation of colonies, but I am open to more exploration of other topics. Aside from my academic interests, I am a foodie, I resolve my stress by eating good food and desserts with friends. I also love going to a concert; I have a wide spectrum of music tastes, from K-pop to pop, from R&B to pop. Please reach out if you have any particular global issues to chat about-I would love to talk and learn more about them!
Director of Social Events
Emma Teply
Hello! My name is Emma and I am the Director of Social Events for the IRSA this year. I am a 4th year IR student from Belgium and the Czech Republic and have interests in economic development and security studies. I'm also very excited to plan fun events for all of us to meet and build a community within the program!
Gala Coordinator
Jenn Cheung
Hi I’m Jenn and this year’s Gala Coordinator! I’m in my third year at UBC studying International Relations and minoring in Commerce. Having lived in Vancouver my whole life, something I love about IR is that it challenges me to consider and learn from new perspectives from around the world. Outside of school, I love going to concerts and spending money on food. This year I’m looking forward to meeting cool people in this community and making the gala an unforgettable experience- I can’t wait!
Gala Assistant
Molly Scott
Hello! My name is Molly and I am a second year UBC student. My goal is to achieve an International Relations Degree and combine it with a Masters of Management. My interests lie within global economic development and trade. After graduation, I hope to work either within international consulting or policy development with the World Trade Organization. I’m excited to be part of the group planning this year’s Gala and am grateful to be supported by the talented IRSA team!
Interested in joining the team? Want to learn more about each specific position?
Check out last year's hire package for more information!
(updated version to come for the upcoming hiring session)
Our Alumni
