CET Staff

Mark Lenhart
Executive Director
202.530.0800 x7347
Mark’s association with the organization dates back to 1987, when he traveled to Beijing as a CET student for his junior year. Mark has worked as Resident Director in both Beijing (1991-92) and Harbin (1990-91). As the CET Director, Mark is responsible for staff management, program promotion and finances. Mark has a BA from Bowdoin College (1989). He studied at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (1989-1990), and earned his MA from Harvard’s Regional Studies Program (1995) and his MBA at the University of Maryland (2001).

CET Campus Relations Team

Sarah Dixon
Southeast Campus Relations Manager
202.243.8068
At the age of eleven, Sarah boarded a plane to attend a youth peace camp in French Guiana. This was just the beginning of a life full of international adventure. She continued to travel through her youth and was eager to participate in study abroad while at Elon University, her college of choice. In fact, her double major in Spanish and International Studies was profoundly impacted by her studies in Costa Rica, Spain and Guatemala. Sarah then worked as a Study Abroad and International Student Advisor at her alma mater, Elon. After learning about the field of international education behind the desk, Sarah decided to expand her perspective by taking the advice she had offered thousands of students. She stepped outside her previous experience and taught English in a small village in Japan through the JET Programme. As the Campus Relations Manager in the Southeast, Sarah is excited to meet students and university staff in the area that she calls home.

Dawn Gordon
West Campus Relations Manager
202.378.0495
Dawn’s interest in world cultures was sparked at a young age when she met a variety of people through family travels overseas. Excited to make college her resource for more global exposure, she chose to attend the University of Denver (DU) where a large portion of the student body is international. While earning her BFA (2002) at DU, Dawn studied abroad in Australia and helped conduct rainforest research in Queensland. Since then, Dawn has made numerous return trips to Australia and has also spent time exploring China, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Vietnam.

Michael Lucerto
Northeast Campus Relations Manager
202.560.3594
Michael received a National Security Education Program David L. Boren Scholarship to attend the CET Central European Studies Program in Prague during fall, 2001. His experience would leave a deep personal connection and fascination with Czech culture and after graduating from American University with a BA in Political Science (2002), Michael returned to Prague. For the next two years, Michael occasionally assisted the CET Prague Programs while completing a dual MA in International Economics and International Politics at Charles University (2005). Although he has made the journey back to the United States, Michael’s passion for international education remains alive. As Northeast Campus Relations Manager, Michael teams up with Janelle Murphy to assist students within the New York and New England areas who are interested in studying abroad with CET.

Janelle Murphy
Northeast Campus Relations Coordinator
202.415.4743
Janelle spent part of high school with her family in East Asia living first in Kobe, Japan and later in Hanoi, Vietnam. She was so inspired by her early experiences that she returned to Japan to live with a host family and study in Kyoto while getting her BA in East Asian Studies from Smith College in 2003. After Smith, Janelle began studying Chinese and, after two summers at the Middlebury Language Schools, participated in the CET Intensive Chinese Language in Harbin program. Janelle went on to study at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and then returned to Western Mass to work on her MA in Chinese at Umass-Amherst where she interned in the International Programs Office. Janelle finds great joy in assisting students who want to study abroad and strongly believes in the importance of learning about other cultures (and gaining perspective on your own). With Michael Lucerto, she represents CET in the New England and New York areas as the Northeast Campus Relations Coordinator.

Mike Nelson
Midwest Campus Relations Manager
202.413.0618
After spending a year in Italy as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the Universita’ di Padova, Michael knew he wanted to use his passion for international education to inspire others to study abroad. Michael spent his last undergraduate semester as an intern in the Office of International Programs at North Dakota State University. Upon graduating, he served as a Study Abroad Advisor at International Studies Abroad (ISA) from 2002 to 2004, then as a Field Director at the Institute for Study Abroad Butler University from 2004 to 2009. He has traveled to 26 countries, and after seven years in the field of study abroad, he is continually inspired by helping students discover the transformative power of a term abroad.

Daniel Riley
Mid-Atlantic Campus Relations Manager
202.243.8363
Daniel studied abroad twice in France while earning his BA in French at the University of Florida. Wanting to share these incredible educational experiences with others, he joined the field of education abroad after graduation and spent five years as Resident Coordinator of the CIEE programs in Brussels, Belgium. While in Belgium he earned his MA in International Relations at the Brussels campus of the University of Kent. He joined CET in 2009 as the Campus Relations Manager for the Mid-Atlantic region. His passion both in the US and abroad is to help students have the very best study abroad experience possible.

Marisa Sterling
Marketing Coordinator
202.530.0800 x7315
Originally from Colorado, Marisa attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned a BA in Spanish for the Professions, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a minor in Business Administration. While an undergraduate, she studied in Alcalá de Henares, Spain and was fortunate to visit ten additional countries including Morocco during her time abroad. One of her favorite countries to visit continues to be Jamaica, where many of her relatives reside. Marisa initially came to CET as an intern. She now serves as a member of the marketing team, helping to promote each of the CET programs.

Jennifer Tidwell
Marketing Director
202.530.0800 x7350
Jennifer studied abroad in France during her junior year of college. Although language study was not her forte, she developed a passion for education abroad. After completing a BA (1994) from George Washington University, she completed a MA (1999) at School for International Training. Her professional experience has focused on study abroad marketing at organizations such as CIEE, CUNY, Youth For Understanding and Global College. As the Marketing Director, she directs the CET efforts in the creation and implementation of a marketing strategy that will facilitate growth.

Programming Team

Katherine Davis
Asia Programs Coordinator
202.349.0683
Katherine was born in Northern California and has lived throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. She attended The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and received her BA in Asian Studies with a minor in Chinese Language and Literature in 2010. Looking to improve her Chinese and gain experience in China, she participated in the summer 2009 CET Harbin program. Aside from her interest in Chinese, she also enjoys working on her French and Japanese and learning about costume and textile history in Asia and around the world. Having enjoyed her experiences studying and traveling in China and Japan, she enjoys helping other students study abroad with CET in Asia.

Joseph Essex
Middle East Programs Manager
202.349.0676
Joseph Essex holds a Masters of Professional Studies in Arabic from the University of Maryland and a Dual BA in Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He was also a fellow in The Arabic Flagship program at the University of Damascus from 2009 to 2010. Fluent in Arabic with significant regional experience, Joseph served as the Resident Director first for the Syria program and then for the pilot Jordan program. In 2011, he relocated to the United States where he now oversees the CET programs in the Middle East.

Rachel Howard
Senior Manager, Czech Republic Programs
202.530.0800 x7343
Rachel has been an aficionado of Czech language and culture since studying in the Czech Republic in 1998. Since then she has traveled to and lived in the Czech Republic several times as both a student at the Summer School of Slavic Languages and as an English teacher in Prague. She holds a BA in Biology from Carleton College (2000) and a Master of International Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2006). In addition to Czech, Rachel also speaks German and Russian, and she has dabbled in Spanish. Among other organizations, Rachel has worked for Lutheran Human Relations Association of America, Jewish Social Services of Madison, Wisconsin, and the US Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom. When she’s not learning languages, Rachel enjoys cooking, hiking and cross-country skiing.

Adam Jones
Senior Manager, Asia Programs
202.530.0800 x7344
From 2004 to 2008, Adam served as the Resident Director and Beijing Programs Manger for CET in Beijing. He then returned to the CET Washington, DC office to serve as first China Programs Manager, and then Asia Senior Programs Manager. Adam first became interested in China when he visited the country during a summer abroad trip through his university.  Since then, he has spent more than eight years living, working and studying there. Prior to CET, he served as the Program Director for the Brethren Colleges Abroad Study Center at Dalian University of Foreign Languages. Adam received a BA in Economics and Business Administration from Ouachita University in Arkansas (1993) and an MA in East Asian Studies (2004) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Rebecca Kahn-Witman
Europe & Middle East Admissions Coordinator
202.530.0800 x7354
Rebecca fell in love with travel and international education at a young age. She has traveled around the world since she was young, visiting three different continents by the age of nine. As an undergraduate at The George Washington University, Rebecca double majored in Anthropology and Judaic Studies, attending the CET Jewish Studies in Prague program as a part of her degree. Rebecca has found her work at CET rewarding because it allows her to keep up her love of travel and study of cultures while helping others experience the same. When not working, Rebecca enjoys tasting foreign cuisine, dancing on the streets of Europe and making friends in all languages.

Mollie Kaubrys
Program Assistant
202.530.0800 x7352
Originally from a small town in the mountains of Maine, Mollie is currently finishing up her senior year at American University where she is earning her BA in International Studies. Mollie’s Lithuanian heritage inspired her to pursue a concentration in Eastern European studies, and she spent the fall of her junior year studying with CET in Prague. She is passionate about helping other students discover the world through study abroad. In her free time, Mollie enjoys skiing, dancing, reading travel blogs and rooting for Boston sports teams.

Hanan Lohr
Europe & Middle East Student Services Manager
202.349.7355
Raised cross-culturally between the Middle East and Midwest, Hanan’s passion for languages, intercultural exchange and global education brought her to begin college in her birth city at The American University in Cairo. After further studying in the United Arab Emirates and through nine countries around the Mediterranean with Semester at Sea, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in Political Science and minor in Religious Studies. Hanan worked as a Peer Adviser at the U of M Learning Abroad Center for two years. She joined CET as the Europe & Middle East Admissions Coordinator in 2011.

Ingrid Lombardo
China Programs Manager
202.530.0800 x7341
Not only the China Programs Manager at CET, Ingrid is also a CET Hangzhou Summer Immersion alumna (2006). She holds a BA from The Pennsylvania State University and an MA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She has studied and worked abroad in China, first as a student and then as a US-China high-tech trade consultant; in Taiwan as an English and German language instructor; and in Germany as a student and intern in the German Bundestag. She speaks English, German and Mandarin Chinese. Ingrid’s favorite hobbies are fiction writing and travel blogging.

Kate Maruyama
Japan and Vietnam Programs Manager
202.530.0800 x7319
Kate graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul with a double major in Japanese and Religious Studies. As an undergraduate, she participated in study abroad programs in Bangladesh and Japan. After graduation, she spent three years teaching English on the JET Programme in Osaka prefecture, Japan. Kate’s curiosity about new cultures has led her all over the world, to countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, India and Israel. Immediately before joining CET, Kate assisted in the organization of Concordia Language Villages’ Europe Day celebration.

Randall Salisbury
Italy Programs Manager
202.530.0800 x7379
Randall grew up abroad living in India, Holland, and Finland before returning to Washington, DC for high school. Passionate about travel and language, Randall spent two consecutive summers in France, learning French, before switching gears to learn Italian. He spent his junior year abroad in Bologna, Italy and then, after graduating from Dickinson College with a degree in Political Science, returned to Bologna to work as the Program Associate for an American abroad program there. After two more years in Bologna, which included extensive European travel, non-stop consumption of the best Italian food in the world, and learning a lot about American students abroad, Randall came back to DC and joined the CET team.

Meagan Seitz-Smith
Asia Operations and Journeys Manager
202.530.0800 x7342
Meagan hails from the great state of Connecticut. She spent her New England youth busy with theater, 4-H dairy and leadership projects, and competitive dancing. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in East Asian Studies and Foreign Affairs, she went on to teach English and study Chinese in Shenzhen, China for two years. She has traveled extensively throughout China, riding camels in Xinjiang, testing her spice tolerance in Sichuan and Hunan, visiting her sister’s hometown in Zhejiang, and surviving intense monkey encounters in Hainan. Now that she is back in America, she’s excited to be part of the CET team and see so many students head off on their own Asia adventures.

Administrative Team

Erika Esposito
Consultant
202.530.0800
A graduate of Connecticut College with a double-major in French and Economics, Erika is passionate about travel. She speaks French and Italian and has studied and worked abroad in France, Switzerland and Italy. Erika began work at CET as the Europe Programs Coordinator in 2002. In 2004, Erika transitioned into a new role as the Mid-Atlantic Campus Relations Manager. She then spent a summer serving as Assistant Resident Director of CET’s Siena, Italy Program. Erika briefly served as the Director of Marketing before returning as a part-time Campus Relations Manager. She now consults part-time for CET while living in North Carolina with her husband and two young children.

Jocelyn Flint
Communications Director
202.530.0800
Jocelyn’s interest in international education began with her own study abroad experience in China in 1991 as a junior at Wesleyan University. After earning a BA in East Asian Studies in 1993, she moved to Taiwan where she studied intensive Mandarin at the International Chinese Language Program in Taipei (formerly, IUP or the Stanford Center) for two years, the latter as a Blakemore Fellowship recipient. A graduate scholarship from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, brought her back to the US and, while earning an MA in Chinese Language and Literature (1999), she was involved with university-level international education in a variety of ways–as Chinese language Teaching Assistant, as writing program Resident Fellow, as Center for Chinese and Japanese Studies Outreach Program Coordinator, and as Graduate Student Services Assistant. Jocelyn began working for CET Academic Programs in 2001, first in China as the Academic Director of the Intensive Chinese Language program in Beijing, and then in the Washington, DC as the Senior Manager of China Programs. She now serves as the CET Communications Director out of her home office in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ben Peacock
Finance & Technology Manager
202.530.0800 x7318
Ben holds a BA in Chinese language from the University of Michigan and an MA in International Education from George Washington University. Ben taught Chinese in the DC area and helped coordinate an exchange program that brought Chinese students to US schools. During summers between teaching, Ben led experiential learning trips for high school students across China’s Silk Road and studied classical Chinese at Middlebury College. He began working with CET in Beijing as Resident Director of the Chinese Studies & Service-Learning in Beijing program. He then relocated to the Washington, DC office to serve as China Operations Manager, and took up his current role of Finance and Technology Manager in 2010.

In Memoriam

Hiliary Douglas
Tragically, Hiliary died in a car accident on July 22, 2008. Hiliary’s family established a special memorial fund in her name. Donations made to this account will be used as a trust fund for her sons Anh, Hao and Kiet. We encourage you to consider donating to this fund. Checks to the “Hiliary Douglas Trust” can be mailed to: Rivermark Credit Union, PO Box 4044, Beaverton, OR 97076

Hiliary graduated from the University of Evansville in 1999 with a BA in Theatre Arts and a minor in International Relations. She then traveled to Vietnam with a Fulbright Fellowship to investigate modern theatre in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, focusing on how the increasing privatization of Vietnam economic policy was affecting the development of local theatre companies. After two more years working for various international cultural collaborations in Vietnam (including a brief stint as an interpreter for the film The Quiet American,) Hiliary joined the CET as the Vietnam Immersion Resident Director in 2002–a position she loved so much she stayed in it for the next five years. Upon relocating to Portland, Oregon in 2006, she transitioned to become the first CET Campus Relations Manager for the West Region.