During 2022 and into 2023, as I saw “names in the news”, often software developers, product managers, management, business people – I cross checked them on LinkedIn. In nearly 100% of cases, individuals “in the news” (even if relatively low-level staff) had international experience. I was surprised.
Having international experience is critical to success in many industries and fields of study. Without appropriate global experience, your career will stagnate.
Global experience typically includes
- Was born abroad
- Studied abroad (possibly earning entire agree abroad)
- Worked or lived abroad
- Has native fluency in one or more languages other than English
- All of the above!
I began tracking those I saw mentioned in the news by doing a quick lookup on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, etc – and the pattern was apparent:
- International experience is important
- International experience is de facto mandated for upper management positions
- Attending at least one “name” university is important too but there notable exceptions – Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Dawn Trudeau.
- Highly successful people typically have international experience early in life and career.
Nearly everyone mentioned in a news report has global experience – probably over 90%. Global experience results in a global perspective that many of us lack, builds significant self confidence, and in some cases, creates a sense of bravado – this translates into confidence and courage to push ideas that others may not support. But it is from these actions that great accomplishments are made.
Nearly everyone who posts an item on LinkedIn that is shared into my LinkedIn feed – has global experience. This is nearly 100% – born abroad, studied abroad, earned degrees in multiple countries, worked abroad.
Basically, to be important enough to be quoted in the news or to have your thoughts shared widely, you must have prior global experience.
Recommendation
- If you are young and can do so, do a study abroad – at least one semester and preferably two semesters.
- If you are a college graduate considering a grad degree, considering pursuing your grad degree in another country.
- If you are in the work world, and especially if at a multi-national company, see if you can take an assignment inside your company at one of their international offices.
- If you are an older worker – 35 to 45 or older – you might still be able to do international work or persuade your employer, if at the right sort of company, to work internationally.
- If older than that, your options to develop global skills are limited to non-existent. This is why you should pursue international study abroad, work abroad, or even “gap year” travel when in your 20s.
Observations About the list
- There are more women than men on the list. This might be because, at least in the U.S., women are twice as likely to do a study abroad program, than men.
- From the bios, many attended private schools and elite universities and came from wealth. The education at elite universities is not that different than the education at non-elite universities. The difference is the peer group and connections one develops.
- Grads of Yale, Harvard, Stanford, MIT and other elite schools often come from strong family financial situations, had global experience before and during college, and were in the right place at the right time, to (often) develop important products and solutions with former student colleagues. Their financial base enabled them to pursue riskier strategies – like doing startups – versus others of us who had to have a safe income stream as fast as possible.
- A LOT of reporters at prominent news outlets attended private or wealthy high schools, elite universities, and studied abroad. Indeed, a NY Times columnist notes 50% of those working in elite news rooms attended top, elite universities – and are quite disconnected from those whose stories they cover. Since 0.8% of all college grads went to an elite university, they are also likely in the 16% who studied abroad, and/or had other global experience. This may explain why so many reporters appear on this list.
- 50% of those with a PhD in STEM, working in the United States, were born abroad.
- 70+% of those working in tech in Silicon Valley were born abroad
- About 50% of those working in tech in the Seattle area were born abroad.
- Because my career was in tech, which sources many workers from overseas, my experience is likely different than those in other fields. My co-workers, over the years, came from 21 different countries – and some countries (Canada, India, England) sourced many co-workers.
This list starts with prominent folks but quickly expands to far less prominent individuals. The list was created over a period of two years as individuals were added from time to time.
General Rule: If you are important enough to be quoted in a news story, you have had global experience.
Related: Prominent people with surprising international connections: Did you know former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was born in the U.S. and held U.S. citizenship? Or that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz was born in Canada and held Canadian citizenship? See this link for details.
Colleagues
I never kept a list but going back through memories of past co-workers, I would guess up to half had international experience (typically grew up in another country and immigrated) but also included extensive living or working abroad experience, and education abroad (foreign exchange, study abroad, degree abroad). In the 1990s and 2000s a majority of my colleagues had international experience. In fact, as best I can remember, I had colleagues who were from 21 different countries (and often, many colleagues from some countries, such as Canada, India, England and so on).
At my first job, my first manager was retired USAF and had done assignments throughout the world. (He was an excellent manager too.)
At my second job, my first manager had worked in France, and spent about 3 years traveling in Africa and southeast Asia, and I believe he had been a Peace Corps volunteer before that. My group manager was from the U.K. Colleagues there and in subsequent jobs had done study and/or work abroad, or were immigrants. Indeed, my very first hire as a new project manager was a young woman engineer who was a political refugee from Iran.
3 of 4 founders of a startup that I once worked for, had international experience. One was from Brazil, one was American but grew up in the Philippines, and a third had done 2 years and 4 months in Africa with the US Peace Corps, after graduating from college (something I learned when reading his LinkedIn bio!)
Chris Davies, editor SlashGear
Now based in Michigan, he immigrated from the UK, where he attended university.
Jeremy Howard
Data scientist, born in London, grew up in Melbourne, Australia, studied in Melbourne, and in 2013 at Harvard. Now works in the SF Bay area (U.S.). Speaks English and some Chinese.
Haje Jan Kamps
Entrepreneur and author, born in the Netherlands, trained in journalism, and eventually moved to Norway and worked there for 13+ years, then moved to London. In 2017, co-founded Life-Folder, a company that later ceased operations. That company was based in Oakland, CA. He has also worked in San Francisco. He is fluent in English and Norwegian, and has skills in 4 additional languages.
Rodney Brooks, PhD
Professor emeritus of robotics at MIT, founder of iRobot, and a lifetime AI/robotics researcher, he is from Australia, came to the U.S. to pursue his doctorate at Stanford University, and then stayed.
Canada’s Current Four Active Astronauts
Each of the four has international experience, typically by studying in another country during some part of their career and/or working in another country. See their bios. All speak English and French, and 3 speak other languages too.
Elisabeth Bumiller, Editor
Bumiller is the Washington bureau chief of the Washington Post. She was born in Denmark to a Danish mother. Her first child was born when she and her husband were living in Japan.
Yemise Brookes
Highly accomplished media producer/director mentioned in a Schwab article. She’s from the UK, went to school and worked in the UK (BBC, etc) and now works in New York. Has worked on projects in many international locations.
Gur Kimchi
Former head of Amazon’s Prime delivery via drone development group, and VP of Prime Air at Amazon, Kimchi, he has done some work in the U.K. and has native language proficiency in both Hebrew and English. He previously had a distinguished career at Microsoft and Boeing.
Elizabeth Prelogar, formerly Solicitor General of the United States
From Idaho, she studied English and Russian, spent one year studying in St Petersburg, Russia, then earned a Masters degree at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland prior to attending Harvard Law School. Interestingly, she was also named Miss Idaho Teen in 1998 and Miss Idaho USA in 2021.
Claudine Gay, PhD, President, Harvard University
Born in the U.S. to immigrants from Haiti, she initially lived in NYC, before moving to Saudi Arabia due to her father’s work as an engineer. Back to the U.S., she attended private Phillips Exeter Academy boarding school, then Stanford University and then graduate school at Harvard.
Steve Jobs
Jobs attended one semester of college, dropped out to work on early video games, then quit that to travel and live out of a backpack in India for 7 months, and take illegal drugs. He later said the experience in India led him to his “Think Different” ideas and the counter-culture image he set for Apple. While Jobs was adopted (he regarded his adoptive parents as his real parents), his birth father was Abdulfattah “John” Jandali, educated in both Beirut and at the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.). His birth mother, Clara Hagopian, born in the U.S. to parents who immigrated from Armenia. He had little contact with either.
Elon Musk
Musk was born in South Africa to a South African father and a Canadian mother. At 18, he moved to Canada to live with a relative and start college, later transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. Since his mother is Canadian, he qualified for “right of descent” citizenship in Canada. Many years later, working in the U.S. the VC’s of his business assisted him through the naturalization process, after which he received U.S. citizenship. Thus, he is a citizen of South Africa, Canada and the United States.
Av Zammit
He is the global public relations lead for Amazon, based in the UK. Early in his career he did a UN internship in India and has a BA in international relations. (Cool factoid – he was a drummer in the London 2012 Olympics. I missed all of the 2012 Olympics as my 93 year old mother was in hospice and died in early August 2012.)
Athina Kanioura, Ph.D.
Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Pepsi, she is from Greece, attended universities in both Greece and the UK, worked in Athens, and London, and now working in the U.S. Speaks English, Greek, French and Spanish.
Alison Snyder, AXIOS Science Reporter
Unlike most “science” reporters, Snyder has a degree in chemical engineering and a Masters in botany and evolutionary biology. Her S.B. in chemical engineering is from MIT, her MA in Journalism from NYU, and a Masters in botany and evolutionary biology from the University of Canterbury in Christchuch, New Zealand.
Gene Berdichevsky
Co-founder and CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, his bio does not say much about international experience but … he was born in Ukraine, lived in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. at age 9. He developed one of the first mass produced Lithium ion batteries for EVs for Tesla.
Laura Albers, CEO, Williams-Sonoma
While studying at the University of Pennsylvania, she did a study abroad at the University of Edinburgh. While in the UK, she observed a clothing trend that led to starting a small business, while she was a student. She continues to pay attention to “global influences on the home”.
Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA Astronaut
She was born in West Germany, to parents who were from Iran and who had fled Iran. They moved to the U.S. when she was about 4 years old and became a US citizen while in the 2nd grade. She attended MIT and the Naval Post Graduate school, and is a NASA astronaut. As a Marine Corps pilot, she has been deployed overseas three times. She speaks English and Farsi. (As a new project manager, my first ever hire was a young woman engineer who had fled Iran.)
Cory Doctorow
Author and activist, he grew up in Toronto, worked in London, and now lives in Los Angeles – but has moved back and forth between the U.S. and London. His grandparents escaped the Nazis and with his father, immigrated to Canada. His mother’s family were first generation immigrants.
Timnit Gebru, Ph.D.
An electrical engineer who has previously worked for Apple, Microsoft and Google, and others, and founded The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). She is from Ethiopia.
Simon Sinek, Author
He’s an “inspirational speaker” who writes about business topics. From Wikipedia, “Sinek was born in Wimbledon. His mother is Jewish and of Hungarian Jewish descent.[2] As a child, he lived in Johannesburg, London, and Hong Kong before his family settled in the United States. He graduated in 1991 from Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest in Bergen County, New Jersey[3] and then studied at Brandeis University and studied law at City, University of London.[1]“. He is a citizen of the U.S., and probably also the U.K.
Jamie Haenggi
President of ADT Solar, she has an undergraduate degree in International Relations, and Japanese, and was previously VP of Worldwide Marketing for ADT. Generally, anyone with a degree in International Relations and a language focus, did a study abroad.
Alex Coffey
Trading Strategist with Charles Schwab mentioned in the Schwab article. From the U.S., he did a study abroad at the University of Oxford and credits this experience for his understanding of the international economy.
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D.
Born in Canada, attended universities in Canada, and two graduate programs in the U.K. and also studied at Columbia University (US). Later worked at UC, Berkeley,then Stanford, then Genetech, then eventually president of Rockefeller University, and eventually president of Stanford University. He resigned that position over questions about errors in past research papers (he was cleared, however, of accusations of research misconduct). He has made enormous contributions to the understanding of neurobiology. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and involved with many other organizations, including an honorary degree from the University of Pavia, Italy.
Claudia Sahm, Ph.D.
BA in economics, political science and German at Denison University, then 2 years at Technische Universität Dresden, then Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan. Has worked for the White House, the Federal Reserve and other organizations.
Joanna Rotenberg, J.D.
President of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments, she grew up and earned her BA, MBA and JD in Canada, and now works in Boston, MA in the U.S.
Savina Rizova, Ph.D.
Grew up in Bulgaria, immigrated to the U.S., attended Dartmouth and the University of Chicago.
Tatiana Koffman, MBA, JD, Investor and Investing expert
She has lived in Ukraine, Russia, Canada, UAE and the U.S., where she is now based. She did her college education in Canada. She is fluent in English, Russian and some skills in French.
Devi Sridhar, Ph.D.
Born and raised in the U.S., graduated from college at age 18, received a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, completing MPhil and PhD degrees in anthropology, with a thesis based on research she did in India (8 months). She now chairs the program in global public health at the University of Edinburgh.
Reporter Olivia Harden
Harden is a reporter, writing for the SFGate.com news source. From her own website, she is an experienced global traveler and previously worked for a travel publication.
Reporter Shelby Filangi
Born in Central America, she is now a reporter in Colorado.
CNBC Producer Katie Tarasov (Schoolov)
Studied and works in the U.S. but also did an internship in South Africa. Has apparently been to at least 43 countries.
Izzie Ramirez, an Editor at VOX
Studied in the US, but also in San Sebastian, Spain and is C1 fluent in Spanish.
Tanaya Macheel, CNBC
Attended private Convent & Stuart Hall school in SF ($39k to $52k/year). Graduated from NYU; did internships in Paris and London. Now based in NY.
Lam Thuy Vo, Investigative Reporter
She has a BA in German and Italian studies from University College London, and an MS in journalism from Columbia and has run “workshops for journalists across the U.S. as well as from Asia, Latin America, and Europe”, and worked in Hong Kong for two years. She was born in Germany to Vietnamese immigrant parents and has lived in Berlin, London, Hong Kong, Oakland and NYC. Extraordinary global skills.
Anna Hirtenstein, Reporter, Wall Street Journal
From Sweden, her first 2 years of college were in France, then completed a BA in Media and political science at Western University in Ontario, Canada, than an MA at City, University of London, then
Worked in Turkey, Guinea (Africa), London, Switzerland, now working for the WSJ, based in London.
Xunjie Zhang, CEO Shift Robotics
Educated in the U.K., with a study abroad to the U.S., then later a second Masters degree from CMU (US), then worked in the UK, Singapore, and now in the U.S. where he is CEO of Shift Robotics.
Britney L. Grayson, MD, PhD
Awesome individual, from, trained and worked in the U.S. – is on the faculty of AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya.
Evan Spiegel, Founder Snapchat
From Los Angeles, as a college student he interned in South Africa. Since 2018, he is a dual citizen of both the U.S. and France. His wife is from Australia.
Katie Quinn (QKatie)
Video presenter, writer, brain injury survivor (me too, which is why I’m a fan of hers but also because of her upbeat approach and humor) – from the U.S., she’s lived in London, Paris, Italy and Toronto. She speaks Italian and is a dual U.S./Italian citizen (via right of descent). Her book Cheese, Wine and Bread is also a great read!
Amy Tan, Author
Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents, she grew up in both the U.S. and Switzerland. After visiting extended family in China, she began writing very successful novels based on the immigrant experience.
Anne Tan Piazza, Executive Director, Oregon Nurses Association
As usual, saw her name in the news. Her family immigrated to the U.S. from China when she was 10. This observation never fails: to be successful in one’s career and to be accomplished – and literally, to be quoted in the news – you must have international experience. Period. End of discussion.
Tracy Høeg, MD, PhD
Have followed her social media comments during the pandemic. From and educated (MD) in the U.S., she earned her PhD in epidemiology in Denmark and lived there for several years. She speaks English and Danish and has dual U.S/Danish citizenship, and has an affiliation with the University of Southern Denmark. She does so many things she must be a superhero.
Meaghan Kall, Ph.D.
Grew up in Michigan, BS in nutrition at MSU, Masters of Health Science at Johns Hopkins, and PhD. at University College London. She now works for the UK HSA.
Katherine Davis-Young
She did an NPR report in 2022 finding that an increase in heat-related pavement burns in Phoenix were mostly due to a large increase in the homeless population, and quotes an actual expert on both climate and urban issues saying it is not due to climate. Of course, she had done an internship in South Africa.
Christine Oumansour, Partner Oliver Wymann consulting
BA and MA from the University of Pennsylvania, MBA from the London Business School. Worked just under a year in Abu Dhabi.
David Hondula, Ph.D.
He’s the expert quoted in the NPR report by Davis-Young. During his graduate studies, he taught courses in Sweden and Australia. In addition to being a professor, he is also Director of Heat Response and Mitigation for the City of Phoenix.
Sinem Buber, Ph.D.
Is an economist. From Turkey, she did her Masters and Doctorate in the U.S. at CUNY, and her BA in economics at Istanbul Bilgi University. She now lives and works in the U.S.
Ashley M. Gjøvik, J.D
From Wisconsin, educated in Vermont and Oregon, worked for Nike, then Apple, then left for law school in California. She’s filed a raft of corruption complaints against Apple over toxic hazards. Studied international law, including at the University of Oxford. Gjøvik is the name of a town in Innlandet County in Norway, which is the name of the merger of two older counties, one of which is Oppland (translation: Up Country) where some of my ancestors immigrated from.
Vanessa Murdock, Ph.D.
Sr. Applied Science Manager at Amazon, previously with Microsoft and Yahoo. Did her post-doc in Barcelona (2 years, 4 months). Speaks English and Spanish.
Reporter Amna Nawaz
Born in the U.S. to Pakistani immigrant parents, she attended the London School of Economics for a Master’s degree in comparative politics.
Reporter Brooke Depalma
Works for Yahoo Finance, studied 4 years of Italian and did a study abroad in Italy.
Reporter Ken Dilanian
The first job he lists on his bio includes work in Baghdad, and “Rome-based“, covering issues in Europe. He had collaborated with the CIA on his reporting, sometimes writing what the CIA asked and asking how to spin stories to favor the CIA. He now works for the AP.
Reporter Benjamin Ryan
An independent reporter, he grew up in Seattle but did “stints” in Paris. Pretty much everyone has done international stuff.
Reporter James Rodriguez
Real estate reporter for Business Insider, did a study abroad for a summer in Argentina.
Reporter Natasha Bertrand (CNN)
She attended Vassar College in the U.S., the London School of Economics and Political Science, worked as an intern in Spain, an intern in London, and thereafter in NYC or Washington, DC. She has native fluency in English and Spanish.
Reporter Erin Snodgrass
Studied abroad in Czech and did an internship there as well. It is pretty close to a requirement for getting a reporting job to have done something abroad, it seems. Almost every time I cross check a reporter’s name, they’ve got the global experience.
Reporter Cassidy Ritter
Reporter MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC
From the U.S., she has a BA from Harvard and an MS from Oxford University (subject areas not specified), and worked for CNN for 3 years, out of Hong Kong.
Louise Ferrer, Writer
A writer who authored a column I read, she is based in Virginia but has extensive education and work experience from the Philippines.
Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey, Writer
Freelance writer, now focused on travel, born in Germany, attended the University of Plymouth (UK, studied marine biology), has “lived and worked in the UK, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Australia, and Paris, France”.
Reporter Cecily Mauran
A tech reporter for Mashable, her past work experience includes working in Chile, Turkey, Myanmar, and Panama and speaks English, Spanish and French.
Reporter Eliza Relman
Went to Dartmouth, then taught for a year in Bengladesh, and later, worked in Germany for a bit, now based in Washington DC. Elite school, international experience – pretty much a requirement for many jobs now.
Reporter Julia Pugachevsky, Insider
In an article she mentions she is following Russia’s war against Ukraine closely and keeping in close contact with “immediate family” there. Says her parents and grandparents have told her about life in Ukraine during the days of the USSR. It is not clear if she was born in the Ukraine or elsewhere, but obviously has close international connections. She is a graduate of NYU.
Lifestyle Reporter Maria Paz Noyen, Insider
From the U.K, but did her 4 year degree at Boston University in the U.S., did an internship in Dubai, UAE, and also did the Semester at Sea program (11 countries). Then after graduating, worked in the U.K. In 2023, she moved to the U.S. Prior to college, she attended a private high school with tuition running about 28,000 British pounds or about US $35,000/year.
Meriam Berger, Reporter Washington Post
She was co-author on a report written by Pugachevsky, the above writer. Berger is from the U.S., did her Masters at Oxford, then worked in multiple countries before based back in the U.S.
Reporter Chelsey Dulaney, WSJ
Graduate of the University of North Carolina, worked for the WSJ for 4 years, then was a Fullbright Fellow for the German-American Fullbright Commission in Germany, then with Deutsche-Welle in Germany, then back to the WSJ but based in London now.
Taylor Rains, Reporter Insider.com
Background is aviation management and then switched to travel journalism. By about the age of 33, she’s been to 45 countries and all 7 continents.
Ash Jurberg, Writer and Editor
From Australia. He’s been to 105 countries. (It looks like his content has been stolen from him by an automated content mill). I think he is a real person, possibly using AI to generate lots of output. There are photos of the author and his two sons, and his wife, and detailed personal stories but … on one page, he’s putting out 5 news stories per day and this is not the only site where his byline appears. He also promotes how to get rich by writing across platforms. He’s also a writer for Insider.com and Newsbreak.com – which are both basically content mills. I’ve been compiling a list of fake news sites that are generated by AI – and have identified about 100 so far. How can we tell who is real and who is AI?
Steven A. Smith, Former Editor
Former editor of the Spokesman-Review newspaper, he was, sadly, arrested and charged with child pornography offenses in July of 2023. I had not expected an international background but he had taught journalism in Sweden, Norway and Ukraine.
Paul Sutter, Ph.D., Science Writer Space.com
“Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook … and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy”.
Max Novendstrum
Co-founder Tools for Humanity, worked in Africa for a year an a half.
Alex Blania
Co-founder Tools for Humanity, attended college in Germany and then immigrated to the U.S.
Rebecca Hahn
CCO for Tools for Humanity, previously ran global communications for Twitter, and before that was CCO for Bird, with offices then in 350+ global cities.
John Wachunas
Head of Digital Content at Tools for Humanity, he is from the U.S. but lives in Paris, France.
Isabelle Boemeke, Model
Boemeke is from Brazil, and is a model, who has become a social media influencer (by virtue of her good looks) and, on her own, decided to promote nuclear energy as a carbon free emissions solution (she is not sponsored by the industry and does this on her own). She has since immigrated to California, in the U.S.
Alanah Pearce, Writer
Bachelor’s in Mass Communication, Journalism, Entertainment from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She now lives in the U.S., works for Sony in Santa Monica, CA and writes scripts for game development and about video games for Sony and others. She moved to the U.S in 2012.
Melissa Vincenty, Immigration Attorney
For an Australian, such as Alana Pearce, to move to the U.S. requires either an immediate job offer from a sponsoring employer, an immediate relative in the U.S. that has citizenship or admission to a U.S. university. That information comes from a column written by attorney Melissa Vincenty, a practicing U.S. attorney who was born in the U.S., spent her teen years in Germany, traveled throughout Europe and later other areas of the world, then somehow relocated to Australia in 2012. She speaks English, German and Chinese.
Zeke Hausfather, Climate Scientist
Reid Hoffman, Founder LinkedIn
Co-founder of LinkedIn, member of the Boards of about a dozen companies, including Microsoft.
From the U.S., but completed a Masters degree from the University of Oxford. And like many of the uber successful, he had attended a private high school, in Vermont.
Leonid Radvinksy, Founder OnlyFans
Born in Ukraine, his family emigrated to the U.S. He is a U.S. citizen (Ukraine does not permit dual citizenship). He had lived in Florida but may now live in the U.K. where OnlyFans is based. According to Forbes, he was involved in distribution of pornography before founding OnlyFans.
Samantha Mathewson, Science Writer Space.com
“I have studied abroad in Iceland and San Salvador Island, Bahamas, for photography and geology field research respectively. After my experiences I decided to aspire to be a environmental science-based travel writer and photographer.”
Michael Wall, Senior Space Writer, Space.com
“Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com … Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.”
Andrew McCaskill
I was looking up a name I saw in the news – didn’t find that individual but found this person (similar name) in my search – he spent six months working as a Senior VP for Nielsen, in China. There is always that international experience!
Arrey Obenson, CEO & President
Head of the International Institute in St. Louis (founded in 1919). In addition to studying in the U.S., he is a a graduate of the University of Yaounde, in Cameroon[1] and speaks both English and French. The International Institute provides assistance to immigrants, including education, cultural training, citizenship preparation and seeks to promote positive relationships among immigrants and all of their new community. ([1] The birth Mom of one my daughter’s best friends in K-12 was from Cameroon.)
Mori Hosseini, Chairman and CEO
CEO and Chair of ICI Homes of Florida, and involved in many other organizations, he was born in Iran, earned a degree in aeronautical engineering in London, and an MBA and another B.S. degree in the U.S. He was in the news for having donated private jet flights to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
V Pappas, previously COO of TikTok
Also known as Vanessa Pappas, she is from Australia, moved to London at age 20, for four years, then moved to the U.S. She has one degree from an Australian university and a second from a U.S. university. She worked for Youtube and then eventually headed up TikTok in the U.S. as Chief Operating Officer before leaving that position in June of 2023. Great example of the importance of not just having international experience but “being international”.
Timothy Johnsen, Ph.D.
Geologist/data scientist in Canada, educated in both Canada and Sweden, work experience in both.
Prof. Irina Dumitrescu
Studied at the University of Toronto, Yale University, then taught at Southern Methodist University, then a position in Berlin, Germany, and eventually professor of medieval studies at the University of Bonn. A global background is common in academics.
Prof. Irina Dumitrescu
(Same name, different person from the above). Attended University of Bucharest (Romania), PhD from the University of Melbourne (Australia), later worked at Technische Uniersitat Darmstadt, then worked in Canada, then back to Australia (various research positions). Proficient in English, Romanian and French.
Irina Dumitrescu
(Different from the above!) Attended MBA program in WA, DC, then M. Eng in computing at Imperial College London, then worked in Zurich, Switzerland, London, England, eventually working in New York, then back to London. Speaks English, Romanian (presumably from Romania) and Spanish.
Irina Dumitrescu
(Another one!) – from Romania, now works in the U.S.
Irina Dumitrescu
(More! To be international, it helps to be named Irina Dumitrescu!). Attended universities in Italy, Romania, and England. Now works in London.
Tim Brown, Allbirds
Educated in the U.S. and England (LSE), he was a pro soccer player in Australia, then New Zealand, later worked in London, and now in the SF Bay area.
Allison Mack, Actress
Born in Germany, performed in the U.S. Eventually plead guilty to “racketeering and conspiracy and admitted to state law extortion and forced labor“. She was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 3 years’ probation, and received an early release after 21 months.
Alex Visotzky
Was mentioned in the news in an article about homelessness. He is a “Senior California Policy Fellow” and attended Smolny College at St. Petersburg State University in Russia (my oldest daughter also studied there, possibly in the same program and at the same time as him. I may have to ask her.)
Marina Mogilko
Now living in Silicon Valley, she is co-Founder of LinguaTrip, Founder of Linguamarina, Youtube content creator @SiliconValleyGirl (with 3 content channels, some in English and some in Russian), she immigrated from Russia to the U.S. (her first visit was at age 23). She has a Masters in econometrics and quantitative economics from the Saint Petersburg State University, and additional studies at Technische Universitätt Dresden, in Germany. She received approval for her O1 visa in just 2 months, and her “Green card” for U.S. work and residency in 2 years. She has both permanent residency in the U.S., and citizenship in Russia. Her husband Dmitrii Pistolyako also immigrated from Russia.
Benedicte Engen
She immigrated to the U.S. from Norway and moved to New York to found Viking Waffles. I have no idea how one moves between countries to start a business in the new country nor the process of getting a residency visa. I have encountered many young people who land in the U.S. and magically get extended stay visas that, I thought, were hard to get.
Eva Zu Beck, YouTube travel vlogger
She is a great story teller and has spent 5 years traveling the world. She was born in Poland but grew up in the UK, studied French and German in England, is fluent in Polish and English and also learned Italian, and then Spanish for her expected (but didn’t happen) drive through South America. She seems to be a citizen of Poland and the UK. She announced on her Youtube channel in June of 2023 that she intends to move to the U.S., perhaps later in 2023 (updated – due to high housing costs in the U.S., she will be buying property somewhere in Europe). Before all this, she had worked in Poland, Belgium, Germany, Singapore and the UK, where her family had moved when she was young.
Orna Guralink, PsyD
Celebrity psychologist and therapist was born in the U.S. but moved to Israel at age 7, later serving in the Israeli army and studied at Tel Aviv University. She then moved back to the U.S. and completed a doctorate in psychology. She is highly accomplished. She has lived in Europe and presumably is a citizen of both the U.S. and Israel.
The next 3 appeared on a list of “Women in AI”:
Natasha Crampton, VP/Chief Responsible AI Officer, Microsoft
She’s from New Zealand. Works in Redmond, WA, USA.
Jen Gennai, Director of Responsible Innovation at Google
Attended university in Dublin, worked for the British Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, now works for Google in California.
Mira Murati, CTO Open AI
From the U.S., did a one year work assignment in Japan.
Shannon Hunt-Scott
Advocate for “educational, reproductive and social justice”, and the spouse of Microsoft’s CTO, she did her MA at the University of Munster in Germany.
Benjamin Leistner, SVP PIMCO
Did his Masters at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, additional studies at Sciences Po in France, and his MBA at MIT in the U.S. He now works in New York. Speaks English, French and some Dutch.
Henrique Dubugras, co-CEO of Brex
From Brazil, attended Stanford in the U.S., worked in Brazil, Germany and now the U.S. Speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Greg Reverdiau
Co-Founder The Pilot Institute in Prescott, Arizona, and a terrific instructor, Greg immigrated from France. (I am a customer of The Pilot Institute).
Johann Beishline
He is also co-founder of The Pilot Institute. His LinkedIn bio says he speaks Finnish, and his PI bio says his grandfather visits from Canada. This doesn’t confirm international experience but is suggestive of it, perhaps from Finland or perhaps via Canada. On LinkedIn he shares posts from Finland, sometimes in Finnish.
Bobby Quinn, CEO Paypixl
USAF and private experience in Japan and Afghanistan.
Mike Kreiger
Co-founder of Instagram, prior to its sale to Facebook, Kreiger is from Brazil, and immigrated to the U.S. to attend Stanford University. His wife, Kaitlyn Trigger is an American, a Yale grad, who spent some time growing up in China, as a young child.
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson
Hold dual citizenship in the United States and Greece.
Nicole Kidman
She was born in Hawaii while her parents were studying abroad in Hawaii. She is a dual citizen of Australia and the United States.
Kevin Systrom
Kreiger’s co-founder was Kevin Systrom, who is the from the U.S.. His parents were both executives and he attended a private school, then Stanford University. His bio indicates he came up with the Instagram product idea while on vacation in Mexico. His wife, Nicole Systrom, is CIO at Galvanize Climate Solutions. No surprise that she’s shared her global travel experiences on Instagram.
Farhad Ghayour
Pasquale Romano, former CEO Chargepoint
His father was an immigrant from Italy and Pasquale speaks Italian. That means he qualifies for Italian citizenship through their expansive right of descent citizenship program, but it is unknown if he has pursued that. In addition to his tech background, he and his wife run a winery and an Italian restaurant. As CEO of Chargepoint, he thinks (and I agree) that it may be 20 years before EVs can be considered mainstream.
Chiaki Ma
Gen Zer made it into the news for having lost her job in late 2022 (really) and patched together income streams on her own, no longer working a corporate job. She made a TikTok video about this (because that’s what everyone does and TikTok is the primary, high-quality source for news reporters in 2023). She did a study abroad in Denmark.
Andreaa Dragoi
A college swimmer, mostly famous for posting photos of herself in a bikini on social media (making an estimated $2M/year as an “influencer”), is from Romania, but attends San Jose State University (Long ago, I attended SJSU for 2 years before transferring to UC, Irvine).
Mila Antonova
Famous for allegedly having an affair with Bill Gates (alternate link as that first one is pay walled), she grew up in Russia, attended university there, and then immigrated to the U.S. and did additional training in software. She now works in Silicon Valley. Since the story of her affair went public, her LinkedIn page has been deleted.
Stacey Reeves, VP of Operations and Sales
VP of Operations and Sales at Avid Telecom. Avid, Avid’s CEO and herself have been sued by 48 state Attorney Generals for implementing massive spam phone call systems, initiating more than 24.5 billion spam calls. While mostly working in the U.S., her LinkedIn page says she worked in Barbados from 2013 to 2016.
Boris Nikolic, MD
Science advisor to Bill Gates, now with Biomatics Capital. Nikolic is from Croatia.
Julie Sunderland
Julie Sunderland is the co-founder of Biomatics Capital, has an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins. “I spent a lot of time wandering around Africa, and other parts of the world, investing primarily in cellular companies and financial services.” and “I was living and working in Ghana and I was doing work in the agriculture sector.”
While looking up her background, I ran into a different Julie Sunderland, who works in climate related solutions, has an MBA in international business from Stanford, and studied climate topics at Cambridge University. (Hasn’t everyone?)
Rosemary Barnes, Ph.D.
Many of us know her for her Youtube channel “Engineering with Rosie” about renewable energy, she is from Australia, studied in both Australia and at the University of California, Davis (aerospace engineering), and worked over 4 years designing wind generation systems in Denmark. Her Ph.D. is in composite materials and structural design.
“Frank” Founder Charlie Javice
Not much bio information on her but LinkedIn says she has native language proficiency in French. Attended the French American School in NY and am assuming she spent time in France (and Quebec) on travels or education. Lives in New York. She is under arrest and charged with fraud.
Kathryn Lueders, formerly of NASA, now at SpaceX
She led human exploration at NASA. After retiring, she joined SpaceX. Her LinkedIn page didn’t mention international experience but her Wikipedia bio says “Kathy grew up in Japan” and watched the Apollo 11 moon landing from Tokyo.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO Uber
Born in Tehran, his family fled Iran for France, and later the U.S. After U.S. college education he rose up through the ranks, eventually becoming CEO of Expedia, and now Uber.
(As a just promoted, first-time project manager, my first hire was a young woman engineer who escaped from Iran just prior to the Revolution.)
Dr. Sophia Kogan
Just saw a news item with her – there is nothing in her online bio about where she is from, but in the video she has a slight accent – turns out she is from Russia.
Carolina Dybeck Happe
Saw her mentioned in a financial news item – she was the CFO of GE. She was born and grew up in Sweden, earned an MS in Business and Economics, and then worked in Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, UK and the U.S., eventually ending up as CFO of GE in Massachusetts. She is also on the Board of Directors of Ericsson (Sweden) and E.ON (Germany). She is fluent in Swedish, English, German and Polish. Very international.
Elizabeth Weiss
Lead of Global Corporate Citizenship at her employer. Interestingly, one of her “jobs” on her LinkedIn bio is 7 months of personal international travel! That was a smart step to take, with a break from the corporate world to visit New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Cambodia. She appears to have taken her travel break before she turned 30 – when traveling may be easier (logistically, health is good, fewer financial obligations like home ownership, family, kids, etc).
Pita Limjaroenrat, Thailand Politician
Went to high school in New Zealand, attended Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Good example of how international experiences works in other countries too!
Jessica Rose, Ph.D.
A Canadian mathematician, immunologist, molecular biologist and biochemist, trained in both Canada and Israel.
Elizabeth Busby, previously with Twitter and D.C. politicians
Her name appeared today, from when she was previously working for Twitter and had requested censorship of some tweets. From the U.S., she worked six months in Ghana during her undergraduate studies, which included a major in international affairs, and before her current position, led global marketing for Caribbean, Latin America and Europe.
Nichole Maffey
Appeared in a news story about working in startups versus corporate jobs – she did a study abroad in Italy, of course. To be quoted in a news story, you needed to have had international experience; this is so common.
Jordan Parker Erb, Reporter
Wrote a story about riding Amtrak. Looked her up and she has a degree in journalism and international relations, studied Arabic and Spanish, MA in journalism, and has worked in Cuba, Panama and Morocco.
Alexandra York
The author of the column that describes Nichole Maffey, above, graduated from NYU but also attended the NYU campus in Prague, and the Dalian University of Foreign Languages in Dalian, Liaoning, China. Interestingly, I followed a link to another of her reports, and the main subject in that article speaks 3 languages fluently, and has working proficiency in a 4th language.
Eboo Patel, Ph.D.
Attended the University of Illinois, then on to Oxford for a PhD degree. While there, he ran several projects in “India, Sri Lanka and South Africa”. He is the founder and head of Interfaith America.
Bob Patel, President Standard Industries
Born in India, attended Ohio State, then MBA at Temple University, he rose up to Senior VP of LyondellBasell in the Netherlands, and eventually CEO of the firm, based in the U.S. He is now president of Standard Industries. He also previously worked in Singapore. (From reading his bio, he sounds like a fantastic manager.)
Stockton Rush, late CEO of OceanGate
Huge amounts of international experience, including his parents moved the family to New Zealand in the 1970s. Rush became an airline pilot at 19, and flew numerous international routes. His grandfather was chair of American President Lines (international shipping). Rush died in the implosion of his OceanGate Titan submersible in June of 2023.
Ilya Lichtenstein
Ilya Lichtenstein was involved with several startups in Wisconsin and California. Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Rhiannon Morgan will reportedly plead guilty to laundering $4.5 billion in stolen cryptocurrency. Lichtenstein was born in Russia, and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia.
Jo Bertram, Managing Director Virgin Media O2
Saw her mentioned in a Tweet – she’s from the UK but also worked in South Africa, Ethiopia, UAE, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia. When at Uber, she managed their product introductions into Finland, Denmark, and Norway. Very international.
Sidney Craig, Jenny Craig and their weight loss centers
Born in British Columbia, Canada, grew up in the U.S., then moved to Australia where he and his wife, Jenny, founded Jenny Craig. Their weight loss center chain was later sold to Nestle, which then sold to a private investment firm.
Bud Gadbois, CEO of Instant Brands
Instant Brands owns the Instant Pot, Pyrex, CorningWare, Visions and Chicago Cutlery brands; the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June of 2023. The CEO previously worked in Mexico, Belgium and France.
Alissa Heinerscheid, previously VP of Marketing for Bud Light
Can’t see that she has international experience however, her husband Henry Charles Heinerscheid‘s father, Paul Heinerscheid, appears to be from Switzerland but lives and works in Luxembourg; his Mom works in Massachusetts and speaks French. Under Swiss rules, the son would have had Swiss citizenship rights but would have lost those rights if not claimed by age 22. However, if his father was born in Luxembourg, then the son, Henry, has a right of descent citizenship available.
Investment Manager Ramona Persaud
Her cultural background is South Asian, but she has lived in many parts of the world. She was born in South America, spent her youth in Latin America, was educated in the United States, and now calls Europe home: Ramona Persaud discusses uncertainty, change, and career success – Cornell MBA
Elizabeth Fettes, VP/Marketing executive in the cruise industry
Sarah Gungle, PsyD.
Read a column she wrote about when she was called into the school principal’s office because her then six year old daughter had drawn a abstract representation of the Holocaust. Mom’s grandfather was a holocaust survivor, and many extended family members had died in the holocaust. She’d taught her daughter about the Holocaust. The school principal thought this was too young to teach kids about the Holocaust – even though it was Gungle’s own family’s history. Geesh. Mom is well qualified. In addition to her Psy D degree, she has a BA in middle eastern studies, and an MIA in international law, and is an international mental health consultant.
Andy Oranen, VP at Kore Power
Based now in Idaho, his LinkedIn bio says he attended Western Washington University and the University of Newcastle (Australia). Saw a post from Oranen, shared by a friend of mine, who is herself a highly educated engineer from Russia, and has lived in the U.S. for decades. She first came to the U.S. as a study abroad to the U.S., from Russia.
Luca Maestri, CFO Apple
Born in Italy, educated in Italy and the U.S., he has worked in Europe and the United States. Likely has dual Italian/U.S. citizenship.
Linden Malmgren
I was looking up someone else with a similar name (and likely related) when I saw this bio – studied in Canada, spent a year abroad in Europe, undergrad degree in international relations.
Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, SVP of CBS News
Has a lot of international experience.
Actor Ben Affleck
Speaks fluent Spanish; spent a year living in Mexico as a teen.
Reporter Bethan Moorcraft
From the U.K., now resides in Canada. Worked a summer in the U.S. as well.
Georgia Sheppard, Writer
She wrote an article about one of the others appearing on this list, and from her LinkedIn page, after graduating from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in cell and molecular biology, she eventually ended up working in Spain. It’s as if everyone has been born abroad, studied abroad or worked abroad.
Denise Landis, CEO/Founder, TheCooksCook
Born in Britain, educated in the U.S., now residing in the U.S.
Google CFO Ruth Porat
She has dual British/U.S. citizenship and studied at universities in Britain and in the U.S.
Investor/Author Tatiana Koffman
From Canada, she has apparently worked in Canada, the mid-east, Africa, and now Los Angeles.
Elizabeth Gravier, Reporter
This never fails – quick look up on LinkedIn, and she did a study abroad in Australia.
While looking her up, also found a different author, Elizabeth Graver, who was born in Istanbul, then migrated to Spain, Cuba and eventually New York.
Ziyad Al-Aly, MD
He grew up during the civil war in Lebanon, was educated in Beirut, with MD residency and fellowship at Saint Louis University, he now works for the US VA as Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center, and Chief of Research and Education Service. I read a paper of his in Nature Medicine. He is a widely cited researcher in the health sciences.
Jessica Kriegel, MBA, Ed.D.
Is a “Global consultant for a human capital management solution”. Her MBA is in international business and her bio says she speaks French and Italian.
Heidi K. Gardner, Ph.D.
A Harvard Law School Fellow, she also worked in London and Johannesburg, did a BA in Japan studies, earned her MSc at The London School of Economics and Political Science, and her PhD at the London Business School. She now works at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Her bio notes she has lived and worked on 4 continents.
Lolly Daskal, Leadership Consultant
Her bio says “Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies” and at least 4 continents.
Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO
- From Singapore
- BA from University College London, then worked for Goldman Sachs in London for 2 years.
- MBA from Harvard University (US)
- Internship at Facebook in California
- Went on to lead a team at DST Global that invested in ByteDance (owner of TikTok)
- Years later became CEO of TikTok.
- Previously lived in Hong Kong, but reportedly also lives in both Singapore and Beijing
- Interesting comment on the importance of attending the right grad school – a network of friends who have similar global experience: “After earning their MBAs, the pair lived in London, Singapore, and Hong Kong before settling in Beijing, all the while keeping in close touch with HBS classmates, many of whom have visited them in the various places they’ve lived.”
Renat Heuberger- CEO, Co-Founder, South Pole
South Pole is a carbon offset trading company. A recent Bloomberg investigation says much of the carbon offsets they sell are scams.
- Attended MS program at ETH Zurich
- Attended Harvard Kennedy School (USA)
- Attended INSEAD program at unspecified campus (either Europe or Asia)
- Work experience Zurich, Netherlands, Indonesia, other unspecified locations.
- Native or professional/full proficiency in 5 languages, some proficiency in 2 more
Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Starbucks
- Born in India.
- BS in mechanical engineering, India.
- MA in German and International Studies, University of Pennsylvania (presumably including a study abroad in Germany – the international studies program also requires a 2nd language proficiency but not for graduate students who have English as their 2nd language already).
- MBA Finance, University of Pennsylvania.
- Speaks six languages.
- Worked in multiple roles in the U.S. and Asia, later CEO of PepsiCo operations in Europe, Latin America and sub-Sahara Africa.
Dorien van Blooijs, Ph.D. candidate
She is mentioned as an investigator in this very interesting study about brain processing speed versus age, partnered with the Mayo Clinic at Rochester for her PhD research, but is from the Netherlands where she is a PhD candidate at UMC Utrecht. It is a very neat study.
All of the following were born in India, studied in India or in the U.S. or Europe, and now lead U.S. tech companies:
- Parag Agrawal, CEO Twitter
- Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
- Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
- Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe
- Arvind Krishnan, CEO, IBM
Ramesh Balwani
Was the CEO of Theranos, later convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison. Was from Pakistan, later moved to India, but was educated at U.S. universities after his parents moved their family to the U.S. He speaks 4 languages. He met his future wife, Keiko Fujimoto (since divorced) while traveling in China; she is Japanese but both lived in San Francisco for many years.
Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter
He was the former Chair of Marvel Entertainment, also a billionaire, born in Palestine (now Israel), later emigrated to the U.S.
Horacio Gutierrez
Saw his name mentioned in same article that mentioned Permutter. Gutierrez is the chief legal counsel for Disney. He was previously General Counsel at Microsoft for 17 years, and early in his career, was a law partner at a firm in Venezuela, where he is from. He speaks both English and Spanish.
My neighbors and my family
I learned in 2023 that my former neighbor at my old house, where we lived until 2019, was Danish. My neighbor on the other side had Dutch heritage.
Growing up as a kid, my next door neighbor was an immigrant from Germany. In the summer, as kids we used to visit the home of one of my Dad’s coworkers – the coworker’s family was from Sweden. My sister’s best friend (still friends as adults) was from Canada, and their family spent each summer in Canada (her friend’s Dad was a college professor). In the 1990s, the majority of the engineering teams I worked on were born in other countries (Syria, Lebanon, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Israel, China, Taiwan, U.K., Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Australia, Japan, India… – the full list is up to 21 countries – many co-workers had done study or work abroad whether they were from the U.S. or from other countries and some of my American co-workers were first generation, with their parents being immigrants.)
My brother’s wife’s brother is a permanent resident of Germany. My grandmother (mormor min i norsk) spoke Norwegian, and we believe my other grandmother spoke German as we have some letters that were translated from German or Swiss German into English and believe she did the translation (her parents were from Germany and Switzerland). One of my grandfather’s might have spoken German (but we do not know) – while his ancestry has a long history in the U.S., he grew up in Germantown, WI at a time when about 2/3ds of residents there spoke German.
My wife’s sister’s husband, surprisingly, grew up in New Zealand for several years, when his Dad was working there as a scientist in NZ.
Combine these anecdotes with data – up to 60% of American families have close immigrant connections in their own family with at least one parent or grandparent having been born abroad.
My immediate family and ancestry are not very global – my nearest immigrant ancestors arrived around 1850 to late 19th century. Much of my ancestry arrived in the U.S. in the 16th-17th century.
This information might change your perspective on both immigration and the importance of global thinking and travel. Having learned so much about global issues and immigration since I began studying this in 2021, my thoughts have changed significantly.
Julie Yankey, Ph.D.
She wrote a doctoral thesis (sample size n=8?????) examining the odd ratio of women versus men in study abroad programs (as of today, 67% women:37% men). She herself has studied or worked in over 15 countries.
I wished I stopped there since my goal with this list is to show the connections to global experience, but I read her thesis and it is not impressive: She creates a stereotyped caricature of men, and then interviews 8 students who fit her caricature, concluding that gender stereotypes are a primary reason more men are not studying abroad.
Youtube Content Creators
I made wrote a post about Youtube content creators in the spring of 2022 – I realized that most of the Youtube channels I followed were done by content creators with international experience.
- Sam Denby (Wendover Productions, Half as Interesting), American, studied 4 years at Univ of Edinburgh, Intl Business
- CGP Grey (his real initials), born in US, has dual citizenship in US and Ireland and was a teacher for years, in London
- Joseph Pisenti, Real Engineering, American, has degree in international relations, is fluent in Russian, and is eligible for Italian citizenship
- Spain on a Fork, Alex Bave, born in Spain, grew up in Los Angeles, returned to Spain. (Best cooking channel on Youtube).
- Antoanetta Now, only bio information is moved from Los Angeles to Spain and Europe
- Medhi Sadaghdar, ElectroBoom, born in Iran, relocated to Canada as an adult.
- Evynne Hollens. I noticed she sang songs in Spanish and is co-developing a bilingual musical called Milagro. Turns out she has a degree in Spanish which means … she studied abroad.
- Paul Jorgensen, Langfocus and Geofocus channels. Canadian, of Danish heritage, traveled in the mid-east and is now an English teacher living in Japan. (The story where I read about this was written by an American who attended the University of Nevada but now lives in Spain…)
- Ria Jairam, Ria’s Shack (wireless communications and ham radio). Born in the Trinidad/Tabago islands, now in the U.S., she is an electrical engineer, former ARRL Director, and an energetic producer of wireless-related videos.
- Greg Reverdiau, Pilot Institute, originally from France, he is co-founder of the Pilot Institute in Prescott, Arizona (also listed above).
- Jonas Marcinko, flying and aircraft building. He’s from the U.S. – his wife is a native of Lithuania. Great channel for us aviation geeks. And a great couple.
- Dan Markham, “What’s Inside?” channel. American, living in Utah, but was born in Manila. Totally unexpected to learn that.
- Martin Johnson/Julie Johnson and family, “Off Grid Living” documenting their homestead project in North Idaho. Julie studied in Argentina, and the whole family were missionaries for 9 years in Indonesia. Awesome family.