Career Booster German(y)

Speakers

• Panel 1 Moderator: Dr. Eva Bosbach Executive Director of the University of Cologne New York Office

  Born in Prague, Eva received both her master’s and Ph.D. degree from the University of Cologne. Prior to coming to New York, she was Program Manager at the German Rectors’ Conference in Bonn, Germany, and is author of several comparative studies about doctoral education and the humanities in Germany and the U.S. Dr. Bosbach was awarded NYC Council and NY State Assembly Honorary Citations in 2017, currently serves on the Boards of the German Centers for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New York and San Francisco, and is a member of the American Council on Germany (ACG). In 2024 she received a special recognition certificate as a partner of the NRW-USA Year 2023/2024.
   

  University of Cologne New York Office

• Panel 1 Speaker: Yas Elabbassi Student at Hunter College

  Yas Elabbassi is a political science major with a German and computer science minor currently working as a research assistant for the Teachers of English as a Second Language program at Hunter College. In his spare time, he is also a creative artist using both film and web mediums. His favorite German word is "die Stimmung." He completed an intensive German language program at the Freie Universität Berlin in Summer 2024.

• Panel 1 Speaker: Olivia Fouser Quality Control & Marketing, ShotDeck

  Olivia Fouser began learning German her freshman year of high school in Portland, Oregon. She participated in a GAPP exchange program in Frankfurt in the summer of 2016 between her junior and senior year. After high school, Olivia studied film directing at Chapman University in southern California, her favorite unit being on German Expressionism. She studied abroad in Prague and frequently traveled to German cities such as Berlin, Dresden, and Munich due to their proximity. She also spent three weeks doing a Work Away stay in Obernagelbach, a tiny town 40 minutes south of Regen in Bavaria. After college, she lived in Los Angeles for four years working in the film industry. Now based in Brooklyn, NY, Olivia works for ShotDeck, a movie image library. She still travels to and spends time in Germany, mainly Munich, and has been to Oktoberfest there many times.  
   

• Panel 1 Speaker: Michael Thompson Co-Director of SPARK, Goethe-Institut Washington

  Michael Thompson began learning German through a GAPP exchange in high school. After finishing his studies, Michael spent a year as a cultural ambassador for the Congress Bundestag Exchange (CBYX). Based in Omaha, NE, for over two years now, Michael has been working as Co-Director of the SPARK program at the Goethe-Institut Washington, a network of over 150 schools and universities that run afternoon German programs in elementary and middle schools across the U.S.

• Panel 2 Moderator: Joann Halpern Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Global Partnerships at ZAMWILL and an adjunct professor of International Education at New York University

  Dr. Joann Halpern is the Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Global Partnerships at ZAMWILL and an adjunct professor of International Education at New York University. From 2018 to 2025, she served as Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute, New York, and previously was the founding director of the German Center for Research and Innovation, New York—part of Germany’s initiative to internationalize science and research. A sought-after speaker and facilitator, Dr. Halpern leads workshops globally on topics such as Design Thinking, Designing Your Life, and science diplomacy.
  
  She co-founded Knowledge Transfer Beyond Boundaries, an NGO with projects in Cameroon, Nigeria, Yemen, and Antigua, and has held academic and leadership positions at institutions in the U.S. and Germany. Dr. Halpern received her B.A. from Dartmouth, M.A. from Harvard, and Ph.D. from NYU, and is a recipient of the Harvard University Award for Distinction in Teaching. Her board service includes Campana & Schott, Ankh Impact Ventures, University Alliance Ruhr, the Technical University of Dortmund, the Tandon Institute for Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, and others.
   

• Panel 2 Speaker: Zammy Diaz Lebron Senior Education Consultant, Insitute of International Education

  Zammy Diaz Lebron is a Senior Education Consultant with the Institute of International Education's Academic Placement Team. Over her career, she has coached STEM, humanities, and social sciences graduate students and scholars at Columbia University, New York University, the Institute of International Education, the Posse Foundation, and regularly participates in program selection committees. Zammy is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, the NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and studied abroad at the Freie Universität Berlin.

• Panel 2 Speaker: Michael Gargiulo New York City Journalist and News Anchor

  Award-winning investigative journalist and NYC news anchor. A passionate German speaker and a veteran in the field of journalism, Michael leads the New York Chapter of the RIAS Berlin Commission, a binational organization dedicated to promoting German-American understanding in the field of international broadcasting.

• Panel 2 Speaker: Stephanie Jelliffe Language Program and Course Advising Expert, Goethe-Institut USA

  Stephanie is a Language Program and Course Advising Expert at the Goethe-Institut USA, based in New York.  Growing up in NYC with German family she studied German as a hobby, through courses in college and at the Goethe-Institut, to stay connected with her German heritage as an adult.
  
  With a master’s degree in environmental education, she has many years of experience sharing her love of nature with all ages but later turned her language hobby into a new career. She first joined the team at the German American Partnership Program, an exchange program based at the Goethe-Institut New York, and later joined the language department at the Goethe-Institut NY/USA where she continues to support others find courses and exams to help them on their own German language learning journeys.