Board of Trustees

Dianne Bradley of Silver Spring, Maryland is a long-time educator having taught, counseled and supervised in Montgomery County Public Schools for over 30 years. Dr. Bradley spent the last 10 years as Director of the Creative Initiatives in Teacher Education program at the University of Maryland. She has authored numerous professional journal articles and co-authored three books on education.  Dr. Bradley earned a PhD in Education from Walden University, an M.A. from California State University, and a B.A. from the University of Maryland. She has been active with YFU for nearly twenty years. Bradley is a mother and grandmother to an extended YFU family, volunteers as an active Area Representative and Area Coordinator for her local YFU community, and Chairs the Volunteer Voice Council of the Southeast District.

William Dant of Washington, DC has over 30 years’ experience in educational programs and projects in the international arena. Dant has held management positions for the U.S. Department of State and the Peace Corps. His work in the private sector includes leadership positions with World Learning, YFU, and the Institute of International Education. He continues similar work as principal of his consulting firm and serves on advisory committees to the Intercultural Management Institute at American University and to the College Board in New York. Dant’s global work includes assignments in West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Eurasia and Southeast Asia. Dant holds a Ph.D. in International Education Policy & Leadership from the University of Maryland, an M.A.T. from the School for International Training in Vermont and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.  He has also studied at the University of Strasbourg, France and at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Benjamin Gutierrez of Santa Monica, California is the Assistant Marketing Manager for the City of Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau. His YFU journey began in Japan as an Okinawa-Peace Scholar and continued the following year on a second program to Finland as a Finland-US Senate Youth Exchange scholar. Gutierrez continued with YFU as a volunteer assisting with orientations, interviewing applicants and host families, and serving as an Area Representative in his local YFU community. An internship with YFU South Africa provided an opportunity to manage marketing and public relations efforts from the Cape Town national office. Gutierrez received his Bachelor’s in Public Relations and Marketing at the University of Southern California.

Michael Hill of Washington, DC is the President and CEO of Youth For Understanding USA, assuming the position in June 2013.  Prior to joining YFU, he served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs for United Cerebral Palsy’s international office. In that role, he led international public education, fundraising, communications, marketing and branding efforts for one for the world’s largest health care charities.  Prior to joining UCP, he oversaw national development, communications and volunteer efforts for the Washington National Cathedral as the Executive Director for External Relations.  Hill also directed a $125 million effort to expand the historic Arena Stage, securing the largest single gift ever made to a theater in the United States.  Hill served as Executive Director of St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, where he oversaw the construction of a new museum complex, the renovation of a historic theater, the addition of an artist residency center and the quadrupling of programming at the multi-venue arts complex. Starting his career as a journalist, he served as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Fellow and as a Staff Correspondent for the Courier-Observer. He holds a B.A. in journalism from St. Bonaventure University and an M.A. in nonprofit arts management from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.  Hill is an international educator and founding faculty member of the Master of Arts Management program at George Mason University, where in 2011, he was named faculty member of the year.  He has also given lectures on the non-profit sector to groups from France and China in his work with George Mason University and as a visiting lecturer for Georgetown University. In 2012, he was selected as one 12 American Express NGen Leadership Fellows in the United States.  He is a member of St. Bonaventure University’s National Alumni Association Board and serves in various capacities for cultural and children’s charities in the Greater DC area. Hill is honored to build upon the founding legacy of Rachel Andresen as he serves YFU USA, working with international partners, the Board of Trustees, volunteers and staff to advance intercultural understanding, mutual respect and social responsibility for youth, families and communities.

Magnus Karlberg of New York, New York is an Associate at Mayer Brown LLP, specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. Originally, from Sweden, Karlberg’s experience with YFU began in 1995-96 as an exchange student in Virginia Beach, Virginia. After studies in Sweden and Spain, Karlberg pursued a legal career in Europe, working for law firm Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyra AB in Gothenburg, Sweden and the European Union’s Trademark and Design Office (OHIM) in Alicante, Spain. In 2005-06, as a Knut and Alice Wallenberg Fellow, Karlberg attended Harvard Law School where he earned a Master of Laws.  He has since practiced law in New York City with Mayer Brown LLP, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and MetLife, Inc. Karlberg is admitted to the bar in New York and is fluent in Spanish, Swedish, and Norwegian.

Martin Nichols of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan is the Chief Information Officer at Altair Engineering Inc. As CIO, Nichols oversees Altair's enterprise business systems, technology partnerships and programs, and corporate human resources. He was previously Altair's Executive VP of Global Alliances and Operations. Since joining Altair in 1992, Nichols' accomplishments include opening and managing the UK operation as well as directly managing the China operations. He also helped develop Altair's operations, business presence and distribution channels in several other global markets, including Spain, France, India and Brazil. Nichols volunteered with the US Peace Corps in Lesotho and then spent two more years’ in-country working on a USAID-funded project. Nichols received his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1986.

Heather Reynolds of Louisville, Kentucky owns a consulting company, Moneta Strategies, and formerly worked as a Business Advisor for Purdue University mentoring business owners in operational efficiency, marketing, and strategic planning.  Prior to her position at Purdue, Reynolds founded and ran a successful law practice for eight years, specializing in civil litigation.  She began volunteering with YFU USA as a host parent and an Area Representative (AR) in North Central Indiana, and is currently an AR and the Louisville, KY Area Coordinator (AC).  She has hosted two students in the past three years, and is always looking for ways to help support students and families in the program.

Donna Schnaars of Virginia Beach, Virginia brings a wealth of experience to the Board having been active in the YFU community for over twenty-five years. Schnaars, who has worked as an educator and media specialist in the Virginia Beach School District, joins the Board as a host parent, former Field Director, and current volunteer. In 1985, her family hosted their first international student and they have continued to host (usually two exchange students) almost every year since then.  Building on her first positive hosting experience, she began volunteering as an Area Representative (AR) the following year, supporting local students and families. Schnaars served in this capacity for fourteen years. She then worked as a Field Director in the Southern Tier/ Coastal Rim District from 2000 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2008. She currently serves as an orientation volunteer and Certified Trainer in the Southeast District.

Andrew Towne of Grand Forks, ND, is a Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor Candidate at the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His YFU journey began as a Congress-Bundestag Exchange Scholar to Germany.  That experience changed his life and motivated him to take a year off from Yale to study abroad in Kenya as a Boren Scholar.  After college, Towne began volunteering with YFU as an IS Area Representative / Orientation Leader and as an AO Recruiter / Interviewer.  To help YFU USA expand its network of host schools and families, Towne raised more than $15,000 for YFU, and he was one of 12 volunteers in the world to be recognized during YFU's 60th Anniversary year for "providing a backbone to the efforts of YFU partners around the world."  Towne's background includes working as a Consultant for Boston Consulting Group, an Analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, and a Senior Analyst for General Dynamics Corporation. He is an avid runner and mountaineer and is fluent in German, Swahili and Italian.

David Trads, based in Washington, DC, is a Danish YFU alumnus having lived in Bryon Center, Michigan in 1984-85.  Trads is an accomplished academic, columnist, journalist, author, and former Board Member and Chairman of YFU Denmark. His books include The Climate Threat: As seen from Denmark and Islam in Flames: The Danes and the Muslim Uproar. Trads is the Washington correspondent for Berlingske Tidende, one of Denmark’s oldest and most respected newspapers. Prior to this post, he worked as the Director for Editorial Development at Berlingske Media, Denmark’s largest news corporation, and taught journalism at the Southern University of Denmark. He also served as a Special Consultant on the Middle East for the Danish Foreign Ministry where he was responsible for connecting Danish youth organizations with the Arab world. His career in journalism has included posts in Copenhagen, Moscow, Buenos Aires, and Sydney.

Daryl Weinert of Ann Arbor, Michigan is Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan. In this role Weinert oversees the day to day operations of the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, which handles the development and administration of externally funded research, scholarship, and creative activity at the university. Weinert also serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Business Development Committee at Ann Arbor SPARK, a regional economic development organization. His professional career has included working as the Director of Procurement Strategy at Aon Corporation and Vice President for Commercial Banking at Bank One. Weinert’s background includes international experiences working for the US Department of Energy in Hungary, serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, and participating as a YFU American Overseas exchange student to Spain in 1980. Weinert earned degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering and Economics from the University of Michigan.