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Esailama Arty-Diouf (M.A. 2006, Center for African Studies; Ph.D. 2012, Performance Studies, Northwestern University) is a Senior Program Officer at the San Francisco Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the United States. The Foundation's mission is to mobilize community leaders, nonprofits, government agencies, and donors to advance racial equity, diversity, and economic inclusion. Esailama is manager of the Foundation’s Arts and Culture
portfolio. She began her professional career as a performing artist in 1989 with Diamano Coura Wes African Dance Company in Oakland, California. As an artist and scholar, she has lectured on West African Dance, African Diaspora, and Black Dance History throughout the United States and conducted long–term teaching and performance residencies in South and West Africa, India, and the Caribbean. Esailama has extensive experience in cultural and non-profit work, having served in
philanthropy for over 15 years. She has spent 20 years coordinating community arts and social justice projects with various stakeholders, including dignitaries, celebrities, and grassroots organizers.

Rachel Brichta (M.A. Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, 2004) is Chief Administrator for the International Institute at the University of Michigan where she is responsible for long-range planning, strategic operations, financial management, and human resources for the institute and its 17 centers and programs. Rachel started studying Russian in high school and visited Russia in 1994, where she connected with her host family by speaking Russian. At the University of Illinois, she studied Belarusian with and FLAS and explored democratization efforts in Belarus in a thesis. She held positions with American Councils for International Education, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, Youth for Understanding International Exchange, and Toledo Sister Cities International before joining the University of Michigan as a student services coordinator in the Center for Russian and East European Studies. Rachel soon became the Communications Coordinator for the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and later the Communication Manager for the entire Internal Institute. Rachel believes that the best way to learn about a place is by going there and seeing it for yourself, “See the sights, eat the food, and speak the language! You will build connections and memories that might just change your life.”

Audrey Chun (M.A. East Asian Languages and Cultures, M.S. Information Science, 2017) is the Korean Studies Librarian at the University of Chicago Library. After completing her degrees at Illinois, Audrey moved to Pasadena, California, to join the Fuller Theological Seminary Library as the Reference and Korean Studies Specialist. Over time, she advanced to become the head of the department and later the Assistant Director of the library. During those years, she served as the president of the Southern California American Theological Library Association while actively contributing to the Committee on Korean Materials of the Council on East Asian Libraries. In
January 2025, she returned to Chicagoland to join the University of Chicago Library. During her time at Illinois, she taught several Korean language courses and received the Ralph Tyler Award for Best Korean Language Teaching Assistant in 2015. Additionally, she worked as a graduate student assistant at the Asian American Cultural Center and held various roles within the University Library. Audrey is excited to speak with students at Illinois about career opportunities in academic sectors with a degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures.

Andy Guth (Ph.D. Public Policy, George Mason University, 2012) is the Academic Program Coordinator at the Center for Global Studies, where he is helping to establish, lecture in, and administer the M.S. in Global Studies program. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, Andy worked in China for ten years, the Philippines for another three years, and traveled throughout Southeast Asia off and on for twenty years. He has consulted for the United Nations, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Transparency International, and others; has worked at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) in Arlington, VA; and was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. In his experiences living and working abroad, Andy has drawn on cross cultural understanding to facilitate communication and advance his career.