Alisha Dawn Herman is a Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o: US & Mexican Immigration Policy and Economy major attempting an Arabic Certificate. She is currently in her third year at Barrett, the Honors College at ASU. She joined COAR as an administrative volunteer in September of 2006 after volunteering with Cara Winters, a founding member of COAR, at the International Rescue Committee. In December of 2006 she was hired as Business Manager following 3 years of accounting work as Treasurer of Inertia Technology Services. She loves traveling and learning languages and plans to spend the Fall semester of 2008 in Sevilla, Spain and Fall 2009 through Spring 2010 in Cairo, Egypt.

Alisyn is a sophomore at ASU West, dual majoring in secondary education (English) and Spanish. With her passions for language, culture and working with people, COAR was a perfect match for her volunteer interests. Sh eis currently the VAP Workshops Coordinator and absolutely loves working for COAR's cause.

Amanda is a senior global studies major at ASU and has been working iwth COAR for two years. She got involved because several of her friends were volunteers. However she kept working for COAR because she loves learning from the refugee population.

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Cole Wirpel has lived in Arizona for several years. He is a sophomore majoring in Global Studies-Economic Development with a minor in Film Studies.  He loves watching classic, foreign, and independent films, as well as playing cards and hanging out with friends. This summer he traveled to Hungary and Romania, and began research on Human Rights NGOs in Turkey.

Enyah Abadjivor is a conflict and violence global studies major, studying for a Certificate in Women and Gender Studies. A native of Ghana, Enyah plans to work with women in Africa with issues related to female genital mutilation, among other topics.  Enyah was interested in getting involved with COAR after hearing of its exciting history as well as its youth-based internship. She plans on working with COAR for the next two years of her stay in Arizona, and then hopefully moving overseas.

Kelli Donley is an Arizona native who received her BS in electronic media from NAU in 2000 and her Masters in Public Health from U of A in 2004. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon and previously worked as the program director for Esperanca. She's managed health projects in the United States, Bolivia, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Her interests in foreign affairs began in 1994 when she studied as a Rotary International Student in Torreon, Mexico. Since, she's been on the hunt for the opportunity to travel, learn about different cultures and photograph the world.

She is a writer, photographer and triathlete. Her favorite place to visit currently is Lujeri, Malawi. 

Nadia is a pre-medicine senior, majoring in nutrition at ASU. Her family migrated to USA from their home country of Iran in pursuit of a freedom of a higher education. She became involved with COAR through Reaching Higher as a mentor in 2006 and believes that the program is exactly what every immigrant needs in order to reach his or her dream. From there she decided to take a leadership role and become more involved with the program. Nadia is hoping to help every student take the much shorter way to their goals than she did. She is hoping to become a medical doctor soon.

Sanja Buha was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  She moved to Phoenix in 1995 as a refugee, fluent in several languages but new to English. She recently earned her BS in Business Administration from Ottawa University, after having worked in her native country as a banker for an international relationships department. She worked with many humanitarian agencies during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After coming to the US, she worked as non-profit's accounting assistant. After being stay at home mom for a several years, she is looking forward re-entering the work force to use her refugee experience toward good cause. Sanja enjoys being outside and traveling.

Originally from the Republic of Congo, Krishna came to the United States in 2004 after spending 4 years in Cote d'Ivoire. She spent three years studying at Glendale Community College, receiving an Associates degree in Arts. She is starting her first year at ASU in 2008 and plans to study philosophy.

Vidula Patki is currently a senior at ASU, double majoring in economics and global studies. She has been involved with COAR for three eyears and this is her second year as Volunteer Anchor Program Coordinator. Outside of COAR, she is involved in a number of other activities including the Honors College and the School of Global Studies Student Association.

Wendy Zupac graduated from Barrett Honors College in May 2008 with degrees in Political Science and History, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Political Science through the dual BA/MA program. She loves traveling and learning about other cultures, and has studied abroad in Spain with the language program and China with Barrett Honors College. Another passion is languages, and she speaks both Spanish and her native language of Serbian. Eventually she plans to attend law school and study international law and humanitarian aid. She loves working with COAR because it is a great opportunity to both learn about other cultures and aid refugees in adjusting to the United States.

Megan Hunt is a history senior at Arizona State University.  She became involved with COAR’s Reaching Higher program as a mentor during her sophomore year, and had an incredibly rewarding experience that lead her to apply for a leadership position. After being the mentor coordinator for Reaching Higher, she is interning as the program coordinator this year. She is very excited to take on a larger leadership role in the program, as she believes in the aims of the program and has been able to see first hand the difference it makes in the lives of the participants. She is passionate about working with people, and after graduating with B.A. in history, she hopes to attend medical school to become a physician. In addition to volunteering with COAR, she is also involved in many campus clubs and works as a research assistant in a neurobiology lab.

Shirlene is in her second year at ASU, studying Political Science, Chinese, and Global Studies. She is a National Merit and Pat Tillman Scholar and also a member of the Barrett Honors College. With parents having grown up aborad, Shirlene has always been interested in international relations and foreign languages, especially German, Mandarin, Spanish, and Japanese. Because of the incredible dedication of the people involved, Shirlene joined COAR. Now as part of the RH Leadership Team, she aims to expand the RH Program to reach its full potential in helping the lives of the people it involves. Shirlene plans to work internationally and study law.