International Affairs Society

Outreach Coordinator Kirsten Ortega

Contact Kirsten

Hey everyone and welcome to the IAS! My name is Kirsten Ortega and I am ecstatic to be your Outreach Coordinator for the 2009-2010 Academic Year! I am currently a junior in the Elliott School, majoring in International Affairs with a double concentration in Latin America and International Development Studies and a minor in Spanish.

Originally from San Diego, CA, I moved to Littleton Colorado during my high school years and am now happy to call the Rocky Mountains my beautiful home. I have been actively participating in the IAS since my first days at GW and have enjoyed every minute of it. I have participated in a number of Model UN conferences, served as Vice Chair for the UNHCR at WAMUNC XI, attended and helped organize numerous academic and social events, and will continue my involvement this coming semester. Last year I was selected to be Mount Vernon Representative to the IAS, making this my second time serving the International Affairs Society on its Executive Board. When I am not spending time with my IAS pals (which is almost never!), I play for GW Club Softball and carry out my duties as House Proctor.

As Outreach Coordinator, it is my duty to organize community services and outreach activities that spread awareness and raise funds to assist those less fortunate in the local and greater international community. This upcoming school year is going to be exciting as we add new energy to this aspect of our programming and work to find innovative and fun ways to not only reach out to the community, but build friendships, create compassion, and experience the world in a different way. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, feel free to contact me and I look forward to meeting you and having a fun-filled year of outreach and community service!

About Outreach

Do you like kids? Do you love International Affairs and Model UN? Do you want to take part in helping make the world a better place? If you answer yes to any of these questions and you are looking to do rewarding activities, then the IAS Outreach program is for you!

The goal of the Outreach program of the International Affairs Society is to spread knowledge and make people aware of international affairs while helping the community of Washington, DC and nearby areas. Therefore, by accomplishing this goal we help solve international problems by doing our small but steady share and encouraging other people to do the same. Although we help needy people and do fundraisers, we do not consider ourselves a community service program. We consider the Outreach program a way to put in practice all that we learn in the classrooms in a way that will have real results.

The two main programs within Outreach are:

Model UN Tutoring focuses mainly in the training of delegates to compete in Model United Nations (MUN) Conferences. This program focuses on helping students at local schools prepare for GWCIA, the conference IAS hosts in the fall. This year, however, we are expanding the program to also include training for GW students who want to attend our Model UN trips.

GWUPIE (The GWU Program for International Education) focuses on teaching international affairs issues to the community, especially public school students. Generally, GWUPIE’s volunteers pick one topic for each semester, work together to write lesson plans, and then go out as pairs to teach one class, once a week, over five or six weeks.

The Outreach program of the International Affairs Society at The George Washington University takes pride in the success of these and other programs. They have proved to be highly rewarding: participating students do not only help solve international problems like world hunger and ignorance, but they learn and grow as they leave their mark on kids and people with whom they come into contact. The people we help look at GW students as role models and see international affairs in a whole different way after coming in contact with the Outreach program.