Meet the New Faces at Stanford Global Studies

This fall, nine new staff members joined the SGS team. Learn more about these new faces and their roles within SGS:

Rachel Buckner  

Events and Communications Coordinator

Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies

Start Date: September 2015

Rachel holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Politics from Occidental College in Los Angeles and also spent a semester studying at Khon Kaen University in Thailand.  Rachel has worked as the Program Assistant at Occidental College’s Office for Religious and Spiritual Life as well a Community Outreach Intern at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles and the Community Outreach Coordinator at the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum in New Orleans.  They volunteer for non-profits devoted to racial, gender, and sexual justice and love the practice of meditation, playing tennis and softball, and reading critical theory.  

Kelley Cortright

Communications Coordinator

Center for East Asian Studies

Start Date: October 2015

Kelley holds Bachelor's degrees in Japanese and Linguistics from U.C. Berkeley, and spent three years in Japan teaching English to junior high school students.  Prior to joining Stanford, she worked as District Representative for the Solano County Board of Supervisors and Public Relations Coordinator at the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco.  She has been a member of the Fairfield-Nirasaki Sister City Program for twelve years and for the last six has volunteered as Vice Chair/Event Chair, coordinating exchange programs for six U.S. and six Japanese high school students, as well as organizing fundraisers and other activities.  Her hobbies include reading, drawing, and games of both the video and board varieties.

Nicole Bridges

Event and Finance Coordinator

Taube Center for Jewish Studies

Start Date: October 2015

Nicole holds a BA in Communication Studies with a minor in English and Comparative Literature from San Jose State University. Prior to coming to Jewish Studies, she was an Administrative Associate in the English Department at Stanford since September 2009. We are so excited to have Nicole join the Taube Center and be part of both SGS and CCSRE.

Kendra Davidson

Communications Manager

Stanford Global Studies

Start Date: September 2015

Kendra is a communications, media relations, and marketing professional from Newport Beach, California. Prior to joining Stanford, she worked in communications and marketing at the Council on Foreign Relations for nearly five years. Kendra holds a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism and Political Communication from Emerson College in Boston, MA. Her passion for learning and global affairs has taken her across Europe, where she studied in both the Netherlands and Switzerland. When she is not reading the latest news headlines, Kendra can be found kicking around a soccer ball, hiking, or cheering for Liverpool F.C. and the New England Patriots.

Franco Errico

Program Assistant

Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies

Start Date: October 2015

Franco received his BA in Japanese from UC Berkeley in 2006.  He worked previously at Stanford in the Department of Biology, holding several positions there. He enjoys photography and traveling the Bay Area in his spare time.

Kristen Goulet

Program Coordinator

Center for South Asia

Start Date: October 2015

Kristen Goulet graduated from Colorado State University in 2014 with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish. During her undergraduate career she studied for a year in Spain and traveled extensively throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and Turkey. This passion in international education lead her to pursue a position at Colorado State's Office of International Programs where she was a Coordinator for two years. After graduation she was a legislative intern in Washington D.C. Since then, Kristen has been traveling, living, and working in different parts of Asia. She is very excited to start her career with Stanford and looks forward to meeting and working with everyone!

Shannon Johnson

Administrative Associate

The Europe Center

Start Date: November 2015

She worked previously at Columbia University and as an English teacher in Japan and Egypt, but has been home with her four daughters for the past ten years. She is excited to work in a university setting again, and enjoys volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for foster children and biking with her husband. Her interests include genre fiction, moral psychology, and feminism.

Roma Parhad

Program Manager

Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies

Start Date: August 2015

Roma was born in southern Portugal and has studied, traveled, and lived abroad. A northern California native, she earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies at the University of California, Irvine and her master’s degree in international relations from New York University. Prior to joining the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford, she worked with WNYC public radio, Carnegie Council’s journal Ethics and International Affairs, two Congressional offices, and held an internship at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Julie Tatsukawa

Communications Coordinator

Stanford Global Studies

Start Date: August 2015

Julie is a graphic design artist with 25 years of experience working for large companies such as the Oracle Corporation and KPMG Peat Marwick, as well as several smaller startups in the Bay Area. Most recently, she has been a free-lance graphic designer while raising a family, volunteering for her children’s elementary school, and serving on the board of the West Valley Educational Endowment Fund.  She has a B.S. in Design and a minor in Rhetoric and Communication from U.C. Davis.