Staff
Catarina Williams, Juris Doctorate, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Catarina was born in Denver, Colorado, home of the beloved Rocky Mountains and numerous mountain biking trails. Catarina began her interest in international world affairs in law school when she was exposed to the International Law program at the University of Denver, Strum College of Law, (DU). After high marks in completing her first year of law school Catarina was chosen via American University, Washington College of Law, as one out of four American law students to study international law for six months at City University of Law, in Hong Kong, SAR. After working and studying law in Hong Kong, Catarina was offered the opportunity to intern for six months at Baker & McKenzie in Caracas, Venezuela, where she initially met Simon, in 2002. Upon returning from traveling throughout South America and Asia, Catarina presented her thesis back at DU on the Venezuelan Exchange Control Regime. Following her internship at the Baker & McKenzie Caracas branch, she was offered a 2L summer associateship at Cozen O'Connor in the London branch for the summer of 2003. Catarina earned a B.S. from UNC with a double major in biochemistry and educational psychology.
With a passion for social justice Catarina has sought out opportunities that allow for this interest to develop. In doing so, Catarina, acted as an international legal consultant to Agropecuaria EM30, had the opportunity of working as in-house counsel at the University of Miami, developed teaching curriculum and policy with UNICEF in Laos and worked in the administration of a non-profit middle school in the Bay Area. When Catarina is not teaching, she is working on a start up with several friends and Bay Area entrepreneurs on finding an alternative to Diamonds, changing social behavior to encourage sustainable practices and developing an import/export trade between San Francisco and South America. Taking advantage of her Spanish fluency and international experience, the alternative gem trade will focus on South American nations.
Simon Olavarria, Licensiado Derecho, Co-Founder & Educational Director
Simon was born in Caracas, Venezuela, a country with miles of pristine beaches, tepuis, rain forest and wildlife, including some of the most prehistoric birds on Earth! Simon attended Law School at the Andres Bello Catholic University, where he formed part of the UCAB Delegation that attended the Harvard National, Model United Nations, as a two time prize winning delegation. Teaching has always been a natural passion for Simon, indeed he went on to be the chief advisor of the Venezuelan college level Model United Nations delegation for many years, which yielded great success and results both at Harvard and in Mexico City at WorldMUN. He went on to be the three term president of the Venezuelan Chapter of COLADIC, on the Latin American Council of International and Comparative Law. Simon has been invited to give lectures on democracy and e-voting in Buenos Aires and Panama City.
During law school Simon clerked for an international partner at Baker & Mckenzie (Caracas branch). After working at Baker, early memories of his families citrus and dairy farms prompted Simon to follow his passion for nature and conservation and he became the managing director of a 20,000 acre cattle ranch and farm in the pristine countryside of Venezuela. Simon lived without electricity or running water, converted the farming practice to organic standards and transformed the ranch into a pesticide free operation. From training past delegates, teaching ecological farming methods to farm workers and venturing many times into teaching, including lengthy teaching assignments at a nonprofit middle school in the Bay Area, teaching is something that is a complete joy and adventure for Simon. Recently Simon left his job at the Office of the Public Defender, in the city of San Francisco, to dedicate his full energies to the League.
Bobbie Burgess, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Tera Earlywine, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Erika Farmer, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Erika, a current 9th grader, decided to join the League because she holds a profound curiosity in regards to people and power and how they will allow good and bad governments to form. From a young age, Erika had a habit of declaring a position on a topic and stating whether an action was morally right or wrong. Therefore, it is no surprise that in her opinion, 'good' and 'bad' are criteria determined by moral standards. As she has grown older and competed in the year-round League senior delegation last year, Erika came to realize the magnitude of moral ambiguities in the world of international affairs. Her interest in these ambiguities led her on a quest for knowledge in those areas - prompting admission to LCM as a League intern in the Education program. Erika excels as a student advisor and is a natural in high-level academic classroom discussions; often inspiring new and junior delegates to care, as she draws from a solid base of academic and practical knowledge. During her free time, Erika enjoys playing the viola, dancing, and reading.
James Lui, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Baylor Odabashian, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Baylor joined the League in Middle School expecting just one more program to be taken after school, tepidly enjoyed, and stored away as a memory along with the plethora of school activities. An occasional nostalgic remark "Oh yeah, I remember that! The debate thing..." would largely be a forgotten thing. What he found instead was a group of people devoted to understanding the larger world beyond our borders, who managed to somehow enjoy themselves thoroughly in the process. Baylor has been drawn back to LCM by this combination of subject matter (particularly the geo-political issues that the UN faces), and the constant flow of intellectual students and interesting people involved within the League. As an intern, Baylor enjoys the unique LCM method of learning that combines academic knowledge with practical understanding of the complexity of the way the world works. When Baylor is not reading or writing he can be found obsessing over the Welsh Nationalist cause or listening to assorted blues.
Elliot Owen, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Elliot is going to be a Freshman in the fall of 2010. He is a fact driven debater and loves to include puns and humor into his conversations. Elliot has attended 3 national and one international conference since joining the League of Creative Minds in June 2009. He has been selected to attend the china debate this coming August 2010. Elliot loves the League because it gives him a chance to discuss relevant issues with dedicated individuals. Even though he acknowledges that the world of international affairs rarely has a right or wrong answer, his ongoing search for answers keeps him coming back to the LCM program. In addition to his passion for debate, Elliot has a passion for science and technology and loves to discover and communicate new ideas and thoughts. In his free time, Elliot plays the harp and chose it over all other instruments because "No one else does it, and that's why I want to." Elliot's favorite subjects are math and science because "There is always a correct answer and a correct way to get that answer. Eventually you can find both, in the humanities it is much fizzier". Elliot enjoys badminton, cross country, bicycling, kayaking, hiking, and archery.
Max Plowman, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Nishad Singh, LCM Student Advisor, Intern
Board of Directors
Herman Spanjaard
Herman Spanjaard is a global citizen, residing in the Netherlands, Europe. Throughout his life he has been interested in academia and teaching. Trained as an Occupational Health Physician he has worked for Government (in the Houses of Parliament, in the Netherlands) and currently is the Occupational Health Physician for De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek Lawyers, The Amsterdam Waste & Energy Company and Giant Europe Bicycles. He divides his time between his own consulting practice on Occupational Health care and in International Projects, such as the Reform of the Social Security System in China in the area of Work Injury and Rehabilitation.
As a global citizen, Herman feels that language and distinct cultures should never act as a barrier for international harmony, nor the various origins in which people have been raised. His sole purpose in life is in creating a better world through Peace and Health. Herman holds ties with the UN where he worked as a consultant for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and in the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia. Herman currently sits on another board for youth called the Board of Trustees for Medical Students of IPPNW and has a special interest in NGO's. Previously, Herman worked as a Director for The Hague Appeal for Peace www.haguepeace.org and currently is the Chair of the International Council (60 countries), of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. www.ippnw.org (Nobel Peace Prize 1985). Finally, Herman attributes his motivation and passion from the viewpoint that "From youth we can learn daily". The League of Creative Minds is honored to have Herman as the first board member.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/hermanspanjaard
Dr. Arun G. Jhaveri
Dr. Arun is a certified sustainable development professional currently working as a consultant in environmental stewardship for the Obama Administration. Prior to this assignment Dr. Arun was the former regional manager with the U.S. Department of Energy; an Ambassador to the Pacific Institute; an adjunct professor at the University of Seattle and the former mayor of the city of Burien, Washington.
Board of Advisors
Gary Little
Gary was named to the 2008 and 2009 Forbes Midas 100 lists in honoring the most successful and influential people in venture capital. Gary joined Morgenthaler Ventures in 1997. He focuses on internet services and software investments. His investments include NexTag, Netli (acq. by Akamai), TimesTen (acq. by Oracle) and KnowledgeNet (acq by Thompson).
Previously, Gary served in several roles at Apple Computer, including SVP of Apple's Power Macintosh Division, VP Sales Americas, and Sr. Dir. of Marketing for Apple's Pacific Division (China, Japan, Asia, Latin America and Canada). Before Apple, Gary spent seven years at Sun Microsystems as Director of Product Marketing, Director of Asia Pacific Marketing, including a posting in Hong Kong. Gary began his career as an IC design engineer for TRW's microelectronics research labs. He earned an MBA from Harvard University and a BSEE from UCLA.
Gary is an advisor to the League of Creative Minds, a competitive Model United Nations program for middle and high school students in which his daughter participates. His involvement stems from the commitment and passion of the LCM directors and the inspiration, confidence and rigorous research and persuasive public speaking skills they bestow on their student delegates. It is with great honor and grace that the League directors welcome Gary as the first board advisor.
Jennifer Schroeder
Raj Singh
Lisa Lunday
Lisa Lunday is a founding partner of P+L Design Group, a premier Home Staging enterprise specializing in preparing residential property for sale. In addition, she serves on the board of the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation and is the creator and director of their Next Generation Program. The NGP is designed to encourage young members (ages 12-25) to engage in charitable giving, stewardship, and civic involvement by seeking out community needs and offering gifts of time and treasure to support them. In addition to her Home Staging and philanthropic interests, Lisa is a Certified Meeting Planner, with extensive experience planning international and diplomatic events. She is married and the mother of two teenage boys. Lisa is a founding LCM parent. Lisa's son joined LCM in the sixth grade and continues today in the 8th grade. By the end of his first year, he was a confident public speaker, and continues to grow and challenge himself within the program. Initially, Lisa became involved with LCM to support her son's interest. She developed a close personal relationship with the LCM directors, and realized that her business development, international relations and event planning experience could be useful to the organization. Lisa meets regularly with Catarina to brainstorm, and has become the informal parent liaison, bringing concerns of the community to the attention of the directors. She has been asked to formalize this roll and is currently available to answer parent questions and concerns. It is her goal to help the directors balance the changing needs of the program with the needs of the parents by implementing consistent schedules, policies, and procedures. Lisa: "I love watching the transformation of the delegates as they learn and experience new things, and believe that we are training our children for their rolls as future leaders."
Amy Atkinson
Amy Cunningham Atkinson is the mother of two children in San Francisco. She spent most of her professional career as a broadcast journalist. For eleven years (1990-2001), she was an Emmy-Award winning Producer for the CBS News magazine, "60 Minutes" in New York City where she researched, wrote and reported pieces for CBS News Correspondent, Ed Bradley. Her work at "60 Minutes" included a broad range of both domestic and international stories. Prior to joining "60 Minutes," Amy worked at ABC News "Nightline" in Washington, DC where she was first a researcher for "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel, and subsequently an Associate Producer/Booker for the program. Amy is a graduate of Yale University (BA, English, 1984), and Stanford University's Broadcast Journalism Program.
Amy's interest in LCM began when her 12-year-old daughter joined the League in 6th grade. Amy felt inspired by the standard of education the League holds sacred; and she observed firsthand as her daughter blossom into a poised public speaker, able to stand up and deliver a short, but substantive speech in front of hundreds of other students, in the course of a single academic year. Amy recognized the values and level of commitment devoted to every single delegate in the League. Amy writes, "Catarina and Simon have created an absolutely first rate academic experience for middle school and high school students which teaches - with an authentic commitment to excellence - the critical 21st century skills of leadership, persuasion, creativity, and intellectual engagement in international affairs. Catarina and Simon are fabulous role models for their students, and it is an honor to be associated with their organization." It is with utmost respect that the League welcomes Amy to the Board of Advisors.
