Who we are and what we do
ItaliaHello's Board of Directors
Miranda Kaiser is President of USAHello. Miranda graduated from the Yale Law School and is admitted to the New York and Montana bars. Miranda has held several legal positions, including having worked as deputy counsel for the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-For-Food Program. She is President of the board of trustees of the Rockefeller Family Fund and has served on the following boards of directors: the Center for Investigative Reporting (1996-2002); the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (2005-2010); the Rockefeller Family Fund (2001-2013); the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (2006-2014); and the American Farmland Trust (2000-2010; Board Chair 2010-2014).
Jessica Marks is the founder of USAHello (formerly the Refugee Center Online). Jessica is passionate about building systems that support refugee self-efficacy. Jessica believes technology can play a vital role in the longer term integration of newcomers into our communities. Jessica has extensive experience working with refugees around the world, including serving as the programs manager for the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation (AIRF) in the nation’s capital, teaching social studies and serving as a school counselor to refugees on the Thai-Burma border, and working with refugees from Tibet and Bhutan. Jessica’s expertise lies in refugee religious practices, religious intolerance in the USA, and rural refugee resettlement. Jessica has a Masters in Public Administration.
Pap is a writer and journalist of Senegalese origin naturalized Italian. Pap has always been concerned with raising awareness on the issue of immigration through his writing and his numerous collaborations with public and private bodies in Italy and around the world.
Michele is a member of the Order of Lawyers of Florence. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M., cum laude) in American law and international law practice at Loyola Law School (Los Angeles, USA). For over 12 years Michele has been providing a range of professional legal services to corporate, private and family clients. He coordinates a complex and wide range of legal activities (such as JV, NDA, loi and other commercial agreements, licences, management and transfer of intellectual property) and facilitates cross-border business transactions.
Jeanna is a certified financial planner and a licensed tax practitioner. She speaks three languages (English, Spanish and Chinese/Cantonese). She is a member of the Institute for Certified Financial Planners, a member of the National Alliance of Tax Preparer and a member of the Financial Planning Association. Jeanna earned her MBA in Finance and Accounting from NYU.
Staff Italia
Susanna has more than ten years of experience in the field of development cooperation and non-profit, both in Italy and abroad. She has dealt with the analysis, planning, evaluation and monitoring and she has worked as project manager for cooperation and capacity building projects in North Africa and in the Balkans on behalf of Italian institutions and European Union agencies. She graduated in Political Science from La Sapienza in Rome, she has a Master's Degree in Diplomacy and one in Human Rights, with a specific focus on rights and migration.
Yordanos holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Stockholm University. She is passionate about cooperation and development, with particular attention to the East African context. Yordanos served as a consultant for UNFPA in Eritrea working on sexual and reproductive health projects. She has been involved in the integration and social planning for the inclusion of foreigners for some time, and in ItaliaHello she makes use of these experiences by managing the relations with different realities on the ground and creating content around issues of education and inclusion.
Elisa graduated in Intercultural Studies from the University of Florence. She continued her studies in London, where she obtained her Master’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Elisa served as civil servant in the organizations of the European Union in Brussels and London. Elisa has served as a civil servant in European Union organizations in Brussels and London. Since she was a child, she has had the opportunity to travel a lot and experience very different cultural contexts. Elisa firmly believes that diversity is a wealth and she dedicates herself, both in her professional and private life, to causes that promote equality, inclusion and social justice.
Deada was born in Albania and moved to Italy to pursue her studies in Economics and Commerce in Pisa. After graduating, she obtained a Master's Degree in Import-Export and Business Internationalization and began working for a number of companies. With ItaliaHello she takes her first steps in the third sector where she manages to combine her passion for commercial exchanges with that for cultural exchanges, which are also engines of community growth.
Graduated in International Relations and European Studies, Valentina is an independent researcher and expert in Senegal - Italy relations. For years she has been committed to countering the challenges faced by many people with migratory background by creating new narrative spaces and promoting a more authentic, less Eurocentric representation. The goal of helping to make migrants agents of change and autonomous citizens is combined with her commitment to bottom-up participation, based on equal opportunities and social justice.