Mr. Terrien leads all aspects of programming and strategy for the Columbus Council on World Affairs including revenue generation, community partnerships, staffing, and strategic planning. To widespread acclaim and under Terrien’s leadership, the Council pioneered the nation’s first Global Report, a research publication cataloguing the Central Ohio region’s global assets; the Global Scholars Diploma, a high school credential for global competence; and the Global Fluency Institute, a social enterprise that trains professionals in cross cultural communication. He is responsible for securing high profile national advisors and funders such as Harvard, Asia Society, ASCD, Procter and Gamble, Gallup, Cardinal Health and Honda. Mr. Terrien often speaks for organizations such as Harvard University’s “Think Tank on Global Education” and Ohio State University Fisher College of Business on topics ranging from social enterprise to globalization to educational access and equity.

With a degree in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Mr. Terrien worked in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Agency for International Development facilitating U.S. environmental exports to Asia. During his three years at USAID, Patrick traveled to Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. Prior to becoming President & CEO, Mr. Terrien was the Director for Corporate Relations at COSI Columbus where we directed the science museum’s corporate fundraising program. Terrien also led from start-up to execution a global sustainability initiative for Right Management, an international company with 300 locations worldwide.

Mr. Terrien recently served on the Ohio Department of Education’s International Education Advisory Committee and as guest advisor to EF Education First’s Global Student Leader Summits in Costa Rica and Davos, Switzerland. He currently serves on the national board of the World Affairs Councils of America, chair for its Global Education Task Force, and was recently selected for a leadership delegation to China. Though rusty, Mr. Terrien is conversational in Bahasa Indonesian and French, and has studied Spanish and American Sign Language. He is a 2013 recipient of Columbus Business First’s Forty Under 40 Award.

Ms. Meyer oversees the development and delivery of the Global Scholars Diploma program and the CCWA Signature Luncheon series.

Ms. Meyer earned her B.A. in Political Science from Denison University in 2015. In addition to political science she pursued a concentration in Middle Eastern culture and the Arabic language. She spent a semester studying Arabic and modernization and social change in Amman, Jordan through the School for International Training. After her time studying in Jordan, Ms. Meyer discovered her passion for international education and the global community. She spent several months as an educator in Izmir, Turkey teaching Middle School students from around the region. While her academic interests have steered her towards the Middle East, Ms. Meyer’s personal travels has taken her to South America, Europe, and Africa.

In addition to her experiences abroad, Ms. Meyer spent a year as an intern program coordinator for Denison University’s office of Off-Campus Study. Her skills include program planning and design as well as student advising.

Ms. Bishai serves as CCWA’s Director of Global Fluency Training. Her unwavering commitment to driving cultural understanding stems from her personal experience immigrating to the United States from Egypt, her time living abroad in France, and travels throughout North America, Europe and China.

She brings six years of international education experience through her time as program coordinator at The Ohio State University’s Office of International Affairs. During which, Ms. Bishai developed and facilitated a variety of programs that fostered an inclusive on-campus community while encouraging positive growth in citizen diplomacy and cross-cultural relations. In her role, Ms. Bishai traveled to China to engage with students and their families, as well as connect with alumni living in China. 

Through Ohio State’s Multicultural Center, Ms. Bishai is also a certified facilitator for Open Doors implicit bias training. She has had the unique opportunity to navigate difficult subject matters through vital and honest dialogue with faculty and staff members. Her extensive work at Ohio State, both through the Office of International Affairs and the Multicultural Center, has allowed her to interact with international students, faculty, and staff from more than 50 countries. 

In addition to her roles at Ohio State, Ms. Bishai has immersed herself in grassroots advocacy through her membership in the association NAFSA: Association of International Educators. She specialized in training colleagues in best practices for advocating lawmakers about policies affecting international educators. She was recognized as NAFSA’s Advocate of the Year in 2018. 

She received her B.A. in International Studies and French from The Ohio State University in 2012. In addition to International Studies and French, she pursued a minor in Arabic Language.

Ms. Sandhu serves as The Columbus Council on World Affairs’ Relationship Manager, supporting the President & CEO and the Vice President with development, Global Fluency Training sales, grants and sponsorship, and CCWA membership and community outreach. Ms. Sandhu also works to develop and maintain relationships with current and past clients of the Council’s array of programs. Ms. Sandhu graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Political Science. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Ms. Sandhu became involved in political fundraising and has worked on multiple election campaigns and with multiple candidates across the state of Ohio. Ms. Sandhu also has experience in higher education development and outreach, having worked with Otterbein University as a major gifts solicitor.

Ms. Sandhu was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, though her family is originally from Pakistan. She is fluent in Urdu and Punjabi and has a basic knowledge of Arabic and Spanish.

Ms. Azotea supports the operations, implementation, and delivery of the Global Scholars Diploma and Global Fluency Training programs as well as the Council’s public programming.  Extensive travel, language, and teaching experiences have allowed her to bring a global perspective to students throughout the Columbus community and abroad.

Ms. Azotea is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where she earned her B.A. in Italian with a concentration in foreign language education. She supplemented her language learning by studying in Lecce, Italy at the School of Italian for Foreigners. After graduating, Ms. Azotea lived in Italy where she designed and taught weekly English lessons to over 400 Italian high school students. Within Columbus, she has led conversation groups for English learners and taught beginner-level Italian to various age groups. In addition to her work within local schools, Ms. Azotea is an active and passionate volunteer in the Columbus community, serving globally-focused non-profit organizations and food pantries.

As the Program Manager of Student & Community Engagement, Ms. Henderson assists the Director in the implementation and delivery of the Global Scholars Diploma program. She received a B.S. in Economics from John Carroll University, with a Concentration in International Economics & Modern Languages and a Minor in Spanish. Upon graduation she worked as a pricing analyst for the Progressive Corporation where she gained four years of experience in data analysis. While at Progressive she had the opportunity to train and mentor new-hires and it was there that she found a passion for teaching.

As the granddaughter of a Sicilian immigrant, Ms. Henderson always had an interest in the Italian language and culture, one that led her to become self-taught in the Italian language. After having spent significant time in Italy and earning her M.A., she was subsequently accepted into the Ph.D. program in Italian Studies at The Ohio State University where she specialized in Medieval/Renaissance Italian Literature and Mediterranean Studies. She obtained her M.A. in 2014 and maintains All But Dissertation (ABD) status.

While at The Ohio State University, Ms. Henderson gained a wealth of experience in higher-education, teaching, and curriculum design. She managed and instructed multiple courses in the beginner-language series and assisted in the preparation, management, and teaching of courses on film culture and literary history. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and is extremely passionate about travel, education, cultures, and languages. Beyond being fluent in English and Italian, she has studied both Spanish and French and hopes to also learn Greek and Arabic.  

Dr. Leslie Mathew has worked internationally for over 35 years in healthcare and academia and has always been focused on educating students and professionals around the world.

A native of India, Dr. Mathew is fluent in English, Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and has a basic knowledge of conversational Arabic.  He has traveled extensively covering Europe, the Middle-East, South East Asia, South America, China and Japan, sharing his passion, experience and dedication to helping current and future global leaders reach their purpose, vision, and goals.

After completing his MD in 1979, Dr. Mathew specialized in medical diagnostics and pioneered and chaired Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in India and the Middle East. He has always been involved with education and patient services in the different positions he has held over the past 3 decades. Dr. Mathew also worked with the Ministry of Health for 5 years in Oman, as he orchestrated the building of the Department of Pathology in a new, state-of-the-art hospital.

In addition to earning his MD, Dr. Mathew completed a Master’s in Biotechnology Enterprise from Johns Hopkins University and the Executive MBA program from The Fisher College of Business. Dr. Mathew has had the privilege of teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels in Healthcare and Business in numerous institutions.

Dr. Mathew has had twenty-five years of senior leadership and management experience in global higher education with proven results in building businesses, turning around operational challenges, and transitioning start-ups into world entities in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He is known for creating and articulating strategic plans and empowering teams to embrace the vision, his ability to attract talented people, and believing a creative workforce is the key to innovation.