Facilitators

Salman Haji is a Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State.  He has served at the embassies in Kingston, Jamaica; Algiers, Algeria; and Baku, Azerbaijan.  Haji recently began his next assignment as Cultural Affairs Officer in Panama City, Panama in July 2025.

Haji is originally from Arusha, Tanzania and lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in international studies and classical languages from Macalester College and master’s degree in international relations from American University.  He has also studied at Sciences Po University in Menton, France, and Koç University in Istanbul, Türkiye.  Haji is a recipient of the Department of State’s Critical Language, Gilman, and National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarships.  He speaks English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, and Azerbaijani. 

Stephanie Sanders is an Academic Exchange Specialist in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), at the U.S. Department of State, where she works closely with cooperating partner World Learning on the planning and implementation of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (UGRAD).

Prior to joining ECA, Stephanie was Associate Director of Programs at the Mansfield Foundation, where she managed the ECA-funded Mansfield Fellowship Program and the Government of Japan-sponsored U.S.-Japan Network for the Future program. As a Research and Program Associate at CULCON, she oversaw monitoring and evaluation for the U.S. Embassy Tokyo-funded TeamUp Campaign. At the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, she provided research support on U.S.-Japan trade issues.

Stephanie spent four years teaching English at rural public schools in South Korea and Japan, is an alumna of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, and served on the board of the DC chapter of the JET Alumni Association (JETAADC). She holds an MA in International Education from George Washington University and a BA in East Asian Studies from Smith College. 

Amy is the managing director and lead trainer of Equilibrium Coaching & Consulting. She works with people and organizations around the world to foster their sense of purpose and effectively leverage systems to help them be their best. Before this role, she worked for two decades at the intersection of education, international development, and activism at universities, nonprofits, and in government. She is passionate about organizational management and helping people connect with themselves and lead their teams to holistic success.

In addition to being a certified professional coach, she has a master’s degree in International Education from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Studies from John Carroll University. She sits on the board of the DC-based non-profit Learning Life and has also served on advisory boards for Story District and Dagaeno School for Girls in Tanzania.

She lives in Washington, DC where she is also a yoga teacher and mother of two small humans. 

Michelle Bolourchi joined the Global UGRAD team in April 2022. She grew up in a bicultural household where her interest in international education and languages blossomed. Her first time living abroad was during her junior year in college when she had the opportunity to study in Germany. In her own words: "I am originally from Long Beach, California, so you can imagine what a difference it was for me to live in northern Germany where it rained for most of the year. Nevertheless, aside from improving my German, I was able to learn how to ride a bicycle while holding an umbrella! That came in handy when I returned as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Germany after I graduated."

Since then, Michelle has studied in South Africa and India and traveled extensively for work and fun. While she lived in India, she recruited students for New York University Abu Dhabi. She worked for the Fulbright Program when she moved to Washington, DC. In addition to her bachelor’s degree in international studies and German, she completed a master’s degree in global studies in Germany and an MPhil in sociology of education in India. 

Amy Broome joined World Learning and the Global UGRAD team in March 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Program Officer. She currently lives in Austin, Texas but grew up in Vermont. Amy has a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied Arabic and Hebrew. Her bachelor's degree is in international relations from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. 

She is very much inspired to work with World Learning because of her study abroad experiences in Beijing and Cairo and her Fulbright scholarship to Muscat, Oman. Amy’s background is in managing international exchange programs in the United States, both for high school students and J-1 work programs.

Sarah Halligan started at World Learning in March 2021 and serves as a Program Officer for UGRAD. She is currently based in Arlington, Virginia, and is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. Sarah’s background is in a combination of higher education and immigration law. She completed her master’s degree in Security Policy from The George Washington University.