UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF BOULDER COUNTY
Committed to the Cause
Coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, our skilled team of professionals is the backbone of the United Nations Association of Boulder County. Their ideas help shape the direction and mission of our organization as it continues to develop. Read on to learn more about some of our incredible team members.
Officers
Board
Carl is an economist with a PhD from the University of Colorado. He has worked for state and federal governments and for more than twenty years headed a small consulting firm primarily in energy and telecommunications.
Cori is a CU Boulder graduate with a degree in International Affairs. She works in Human Resources Management. Cori's focus with UNA-BC is on membership and outreach, and she serves as Secretary to the Executive Committee, and is a member of the Fundraising Committee. Cori's primary focuses include website content and maintenance, social media management, and membership related work.
Doug is an instructor at CU Boulder in history and international affairs, and serves as Faculty-in-Residence for the Baker Residential Academic Program. He is especially interested in the refugee initiatives of our chapter and is Fundraising Committee Co-Chair.
Robert is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His interest in international issues and the United Nations is a result of numerous international professional experiences, teaching and conducting research in Kathmandu, Beijing, Sydney, Hanoi, and Penang (Malaysia), as well as three voyages as a faculty member on Semester at Sea. As President of UNA-BC his guiding principle is to advance the missions of the UN through advocacy, education, and service projects.
Born and raised in East Germany, Zuza earned a master’s degree at UT–Austin in the 1980s. In Boulder she has been an educator for over 20 years at private and bilingual schools. She has also been a very active volunteer in a number of Boulder County non-profits, was the UNA regional representative for the Rocky Mountain region 2014-2016, and has been playing a leadership role in many local, regional and international non-profit initiatives, such as: Boulder Sister City Alliance, Boulder- Jalapa.
Following a teaching career, Judy became a political organizer specifically to promote candidates who support the United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals.
Kelly McGinnis is a concentration year student in Metropolitan State University's Masters of Social Work Program and holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from Colorado State University. Kelly is a member of the Buffalo Toastmasters, the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR), and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). She has over ten years of experience in the field of social services supporting marginalized and disenfranchised populations.
Susanne is an adjunct faculty member in anthropology at the University of Wyoming and a resident fellow in the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture (CMRC), at the University of Colorado Boulder.
A native of Ethiopia, Tinbet has lived in Côte d’Ivoire, where she ran her own business in African antiques, and in Liberia, Yemen, Kenya, and Switzerland. She has worked in Boulder public schools. She travels extensively with her husband, Carl, who works in polio eradication.
Amy is a social work major at MSU Denver with an associate's in psychology from the Community College of Denver. They experienced homelessness as a child and as a result became passionate about macro social work and collaborating with local communities to create equity for resources and opportunities. They have a background in research and applying results to create programming for DEI initiatives and allocating resources to underserved populations.
Amy Van Roo is an MSW student at MSU Denver. She started her social work journey in 2017 and will graduate next May. She has a previous 24-year career in healthcare, specializing in Radiation Therapy and working with cancer patients. She got her master’s in health services administration in 2007. Amy interned with The Center on Colfax a year ago. She continues to volunteer with The Center and is currently working with the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado Amy is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights
Laura is in her final year of the Master of Social Work program at MSU Denver and hold a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Laura is co-chair of the IDEA committee and is especially interested in promoting equity through the development of refugee and immigration initiatives.
Interns
Cassie is currently attending Metropolitan State University of Denver for her Bachelor's in Social Work. Her future plans include pursuing her graduate degree in social work and entering into the macro field. She is extremely passionate about advocacy work and specifically working to promote community well-being at the systemic level. She was very excited when she was offered the opportunity for an internship at the United Nations Boulder Chapter.
Chelsea White is a Master of Social Work student intern, concentrating her degree in Organizational Leadership and Policy Practice. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a minor in Peace and Justice Studies from Michigan State University in 2018. Chelsea has since been pursuing global social work in the country of Armenia, her home state of Michigan, and most recently as a refugee resettlement caseworker with the International Rescue Committee of Denver.
Flor is a student at MSU Denver majoring in Social Work. I will be graduating in May 2023. I am passionate about first generation students, the LGBTQ community and the Latinx community.
Madeline is an undergraduate student at University of Colorado Boulder pursuing a BA in International Affairs with a regional concentration in Asia, a minor in Korean, and a certificate in Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies. Madeline is passionate about advocacy for peaceful solutions, with specific interest in the fields of human rights, environmental policy, diplomacy, and conflict resolution.
Tiana LeBeck and I am currently finishing the last semester of my undergrad at CU Boulder as a Colorado native. During my education and internship with UNA-BC, I am studying International Affairs and Spanish, with an emphasis on culture and development in Latin America. This semester, my goal is to focus on a variety of communications and projects with UNA-BC to help disenfranchised groups, learn about UN functions, and engage more with my community.
Sophia is originally from Munich, Germany and lived in the UK and Spain before moving to the US in 2018. She has around 10 years of work experience serving refugees, survivors of intimate partner violence, and people who are experiencing homelessness. She is passionate about policy change, advancing social justice, and fighting alongside those community members whose voices are ignored. Her advocacy is rooted in her strong sense of solidarity and a belief that it takes everyone to come together.