Staff
President & CEO
Ian H. Moncaster is the President and CEO of the World Affairs Council. Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, Ian spent over ten years living and working overseas in a variety of sectors including international relief and development, foreign policy, and diplomatic relations.
In 1982, he was involved with the post-independence primary education-for-all initiative in Zimbabwe. From 1985 to 1991, Ian headed projects for the international relief and development organization CARE, first in Bangladesh as the Project Coordinator for the Rural Maintenance Program and then in Haiti managing the Haiti Food Program. After leaving CARE in 1991, Ian spent two years in Sri Lanka as the Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to the Canadian Government and the Donor Secretary to a consortium of international donors who funded Sri Lanka's largest non-profit.
In 1993, Ian moved to the United States and rejoined CARE, spending the next eight years in organizational and fiscal management. While based in CARE's headquarters in Atlanta, Ian provided management backstopping, oversaw strategic planning for operations in South Asia, and became part of a management triumvirate overseeing CARE's major gifts operations. In 1997, Ian moved to Seattle with CARE, with responsibilities in public education, fundraising and social corporate responsibility. Most recently, he joined the World Affairs Council in 2001 as President and CEO to promote international understanding and discussion in the Puget Sound area.
Community Programs
Alyse Cato, Director of Community Programs
Alyse Cato is the Director of Community Programs for the World Affairs Council. She has a Bachelor of Arts in International Business and Foreign Language and International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound. While in school, she spent a semester abroad in Dijon, France studying French. It was during her travels that she developed a deep love for learning about other cultures and lifestyles. She joined the World Affairs Council in November of 2008 as a Community Programs intern. In May of 2009 she spent three months in a contract position as Special Assistant to the President before taking her current position.
Christina Ygona, Community Events Coordinator
Christina is passionate about global citizenry and cultural exchange. She attended the University of Washington and received a BS in Business Administration (Marketing) and a BA in Communication. After graduating, she served as a Community Economic Development Volunteer, and later a Volunteer Leader, in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps. While in the Peace Corps, she taught Business Education and English as a Second Language courses to youth and adults, coordinated an international youth business plan competition, assisted in Tropical Storm Noel relief efforts, and provided programmatic and technical support to 30 Peace Corps volunteers nationwide. After returning from the Dominican Republic, she joined the Foundation for International Understanding through Students (FIUTS) as an Education Outreach Program Manager. She also worked at Global Visionaries as a Development & Executive Assistant. Most recently, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to travel to the Philippines and research the socio-economic successes and challenges of Philippine ecotourism. Christina enjoys travel and learning languages.
Global Classroom
Tese Wintz Neighbor, Senior Director of Professional Development
Tese Wintz Neighbor has traveled extensively around the world, especially Asia. Tese lived in China from 1981-1983 working in Beijing as the English editor for China Pictorial magazine as well as teaching English at Beijing University.
Tese holds a Masters degree in China Regional Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. She has worked as an adjunct Asian history instructor at Seattle-area colleges and currently teaches an intensive East Asia Seminar class for the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, based at UW. She has led more than fifty educational tours to Asia and has published articles in the Asia Wall Street Journal and Education About Asia; she has also written numerous curriculums on China. Tese is the Senior Director of Professional Development for the World Affairs Council's Global Classroom Program, where she has worked since 1999.
Laura Adriance, Director of Youth Programming
Laura Adriance serves as Director of Youth Programming for the World Affairs Council’s Global Classroom program. Laura has worked as an educator in a variety of settings. She taught elementary school in both New York and Washington and worked with future teachers in the University of Washington’s teacher education program. And, as part of her Peace Corps service, she conducted professional development for teachers in rural Namibia.
Laura grew up in New Jersey and earned her bachelors degree at Drew University, with one semester spent studying abroad in Cannes, France. She holds a Masters degree in elementary education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a PhD in education from the University of Washington. Given her own experiences as a classroom teacher, Laura is particularly passionate about supporting teachers in their efforts to help students learn about the world beyond our borders and truly become global citizens.
International Visitor Program
Kristen Comer, Director
Kristen Comer joined the World Affairs Council as Director of the International Visitor Program in December of 2009. Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, she served as Executive Director of Washington Ceasefire, a small state-wide nonprofit focused on reducing gun violence. As Executive Director, she managed all parts of the organization including public relations, communications, finance, policy advocacy, board management, and fundraising. She began her career as an educator serving in the United States Peace Corps in Thailand and has taught in a variety of settings from downtown Seattle to the Bronx. She also co-authored and assisted in implementing several short-term conflict resolution education programs in New York City schools. Kristen is passionate about international relations, cultural exchange, youth leadership, sustainability, global trade and economic development. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Western Washington University and her Master of Arts in International Education and Development Policy from Teacher’s College Columbia University.
In addition to her work at the World Affairs Council, Kristen is a volunteer ski coach for Outdoors For All, a local organization that provides recreational opportunities for people with physical and developmental disabilities.
Hayley Kanlyn, Deputy Director
Hayley Kanlyn is the Deputy Director of the International Visitor Program at the World Affairs Council. Hayley managed the International Visitor Leadership Program in Minnesota for three years prior to her relocation to the Pacific Northwest. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Psychology at the University of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her commitment to human rights and conflict resolution led her to Northern Ireland where she studied The Troubles and worked with at-risk youth to create balanced and fair journalism.
Rachel Moshier, Program Officer
Rachel Moshier currently serves as a Program Officer for the International Visitor Program. Rachel began her experience with the World Affairs Council as a Community Programs Intern. In addition to her experience here, Rachel brings experience in community service, program development, and outdoor education. She has also juggled logistics, marketing, and finances at the Tacoma Farmers Market.
Rachel earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy from the University of Puget Sound. During her undergraduate work she participated in the Pacific Rim Program, traveling to nine Asian countries to study the economics, politics, religion, and philosophy of the region. She enjoys the challenges and rewards of working to put together strong programming for international visitors.
Program Support
Elaine Chang, Strategic Advisor
Elaine Chang is the Strategic Advisor at the World Affairs Council. Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, she spent eleven years in higher education administration at the University of Washington’s Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. She was Assistant Dean of the Evans School for eight years, and then launched the Marc Lindenberg Center for Humanitarian Action, International Development and Global Citizenship in 2002. In these roles, she worked closely with the World Affairs Council to develop university-wide educational programs and public education events related to global issues affecting the developing world.
Before joining UW, Elaine spent one academic year living and teaching in Pecs, Hungary as a Soros Foundation-funded Civic Education Project lecturer at Janus Pannonius University. From 1983 to 1985, she was a manager and curator of the “China: 7,000 Years of Discovery” traveling exhibition in Seattle, Atlanta and Boston, one of the earliest and largest cultural exchange activities between China and the United States after the normalization of relations between the two nations. She has also worked in the tourism industry in China and Alaska, as a translator on board the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, and as an environmental program manager for King County.
Nancy Bacon, Strategic Advisor
Nancy Bacon supports the World Affairs Council’s mission as Strategic Advisor. She first came to the Council in 1996, creating the Global Classroom program and serving as Council Vice President. Over the past eight years, Nancy has been focused on locally-driven social change and poverty alleviation, both working directly with projects located within impoverished communities and with local organizations here interested in exploring new ways to partner with these disadvantaged communities abroad. Nancy began her career in international education, directing an English language school in Boston and teaching social studies at the International School Manila. She has a B.A. in Economics and German Literature from Swarthmore College and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs.
Julie Kageler, Finance Director
Julie Kageler is the Finance Director at the World Affairs Council. Since earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University, an accounting concentration from the University of Washington and passing the CPA exam, Julie has worked primarily in the nonprofit sector. She started her career in larger health care organizations including SeaMar Community Health Center and Providence Hospice of Seattle. For the past ten years Julie has worked and consulted in a finance capacity for a number of small nonprofit organizations in Seattle and New York. She joined the World Affairs Council in July of 2007.
Julie feels strongly about applying her skills and experience to organizations, like the World Affairs Council, toward which she feels a commitment to the mission. Along with her half-time work as Finance Director at the World Affairs Council, Julie works with organizations involved in eliminating hunger, providing healthcare to children, creating global issues curriculum, and mobilizing philanthropy in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Jesse Swingle, Communications Coordinator
Jesse Swingle is the Communications Coordinator at the World Affairs Council. Prior to joining, Jesse dedicated nearly a decade to on-and-off academic study of international relations, resulting in a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of British Columbia (at Vancouver). During this time, he pursued his varied passions working at coffee shops, bookstores, the Council for a Community of Democracies, the American Committees on Foreign Relations, the national Democratic Party, a boutique marketing firm, an opera company, and as a freelance editor/designer.
Jesse has travelled extensively within and without the country, but calls Puget Sound home and is glad to find a position where he can continue his passion for all things international.
Margaret Tyson, Operations Manager
Operations Manager Margaret Tyson joined the World Affairs Council in November 2010 after a two-year stint as Finance and Administration Manager for the Merchant Risk Council in Seattle. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Margaret worked for 11 years as the Director of Administration for The Tyson Organization, a family-owned political consulting firm, before moving to Seattle in 2008. Margaret holds two degrees from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth – a Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Religion, and a Master's in Business Administration.