Yuki Ueda

Program Director

As a Program Director, Yuki designs and facilitates experiential education programs that promote cross-cultural communication, empathy-building, personal reflection, and social sustainability. She is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusive practices in education because she knows that inclusive teams produce the strongest and most creative solutions to our societies’ most pressing challenges. She is grateful to work with a committed community of changemakers, volunteers, alumni, and colleagues in creating a more peaceful and equitable world. She joined the VIA team in 2017 and brings over ten years of experience in education and nonprofit administration in both the US, China, and Costa Rica.

Carrie Soo Hoo

Program Development Fellow
Cohorts: Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2021, 2022, 2023

Carrie grew up in the deserts of Arizona. She moved to Hawaii to attend the University of Hawaii at Hilo where she obtained baccalaureate degrees in Marine Science, Psychology, and Communications with certificates in Educational Studies and STEM. During college, she had the opportunity to travel to various countries through the Semester at Sea program and study abroad in India through the School of International Training (SIT). Through her undergraduate experiences, she developed passions for multi-disciplinary studies, teaching, and meaningful cross-cultural exchange, gaining the identity of a lifelong learner. After graduation, Carrie worked in different capacities teaching various age groups as an afterschool instructor, educational assistant, and elementary school teacher. While part of VIA’s 2019-2020 Global Community Fellowship, she was posted at the Inle Heritage Hospitality Vocational Training Center (IHHVTC) in Inle Lake, Myanmar, where she taught English and assisted with their water quality project. Carrie is currently pursuing a Master’s of Education at Victoria University of Wellington and continues to stay involved with VIA by serving as a Program Development Fellow. She feels constantly inspired by the other fellows and accelerator teams she works with.

Hannah Sorenson

Program Development Fellow
Cohorts: Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2021, 2022, 2023

Hannah has been with VIA since trading frigid Minnesota temperatures for the sunnier East Java as a Global Community Fellow in 2019. Hannah has professional experience in stewardship, student outreach, community-building, project management, and program development and administration. Personally and professionally, Hannah is committed to the transformative power of intentional community, creative problem-solving, and accessible, engaging learning experiences. When not engaging in VIA-related activities, Hannah supports working-professionals and first-generation students in fulfilling their continuing education goals at Hamline University, strives to be a serial hobbyist, voraciously consumes and shares stories, and continually appreciates the vibrancy and character of Minneapolis.

Style Su Han Moh Aung

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2022, 2023

Su is the co-founder of LANN, a peer resource center in Myanmar, and an instructional designer in a tech focused Myanmar NGO. She is passionate about quality education and community development because she loves to explore and solve social issues in innovative ways as she believes in “Being curious + Taking risks + Falling in love with experiments = ways to create a better community successfully”. She has been actively involved with VIA since 2018. She joined the design thinking program in San Francisco in 2018, and Exploring Social Innovation fellow in 2021, the alumni social impact accelerator program in 2020, and Media Literacy. She has been working in non-formal education and digital education since 2014.

Alexis Greb

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2023

Alexis was raised in the greater Chicagoland area. They first developed a passion for international education at a young age, and got to experience their first exchange as a highschooler in Indore, India. Instead of satiating their drive to live and learn abroad, India deepened their passion for intercultural exchange. While in India, they began to ask questions about how culture and environment interact. This experience inspired them to receive a B.S. in Geography and Sustainable planning at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. During their undergraduate program, Alexis made sure to study abroad once again in Tokyo, Japan. Japan helped them develop a greater understanding of the level of diversity in thoughts when it comes to the environment. After graduating, they decided they wanted to step back and focus on the Local. Thus, they volunteered in several terms with AmeriCorps, one with the Michigan Community Service Commission, and another with the American Red Cross. Alexis has since moved to Flint, Michigan, and continues to seek out opportunities to be involved with their local community. They are excited to once again be involved with the international community. They hope to use this experience to develop ever greater intercultural communication skills, something critical in global environmental cooperation.

Leslie Cheng

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2023

Leslie was born in Taiwan to Burmese parents but grew up in Los Angeles. As a result of her background, she finds it hard to explain her identity sometimes but loves that she grew up speaking an eccentric mix of Burmese, Mandarin, and English. Unsurprisingly, she majored in Applied Linguistics and Psychology in college (with a minor in Asian Languages and Cultures) to further her interest in Asian languages and working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. A semester abroad in South Korea continued her hobby of learning new languages (although she still needs English subtitles), and it solidified her focus on Asia, bringing her to VIA. Leslie is currently serving as an Americorps member with the American Red Cross, under the California Americorps Disaster Team. Through VIA she hopes to become a mentor that inspires tangible social change in local communities!

Min HtunMyat Wai

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2023

Min HtunMyat Wai, also called htunmyat, grew up in a small town in Mon State, is currently located in Myanmar. He is a final year medical student and his university life had stopped due to the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent military coup in Myanmar. During that gap time, he joined the Parami Leadership Program(PLP) from Parami University where he got a contact to join VIA through a visiting faculty who was teaching a class at Parami at that time. Then, he joined VIA Exploring Health Care program two times, one time as a participant and another as a fellow. Due to the situations in his country, his future career pathway becomes uncertain and in the meantime, he is exploring the other field of studies or works that he might be interested in. Now he is joining the Social Impact Leadership Accelerator program from VIA as a fellow as one of his life goals is to serve for his community in the future and he believes this program would nurture him to become an effective and competent leader. During the program, he is very passionate to help the participants as much as he can and also hopes to be able to learn not only from program organizers but also from the participants.

Laura Galang

Program Development Fellow
Cohorts: Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2021, 2022

Laura grew up in the Silicon Valley and graduated with a BS in Economics from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2019. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Development Practice at UC Berkeley. As a research fellow and research assistant, Laura explored a variety of economic issues during her undergrad, ranging from increasing housing prices in Los Angeles County to bankruptcy law on the national level. Although her formal education was in Economics, Laura developed an interest in environmental sustainability, food security, and international development. Through her work with local community organizations in the greater Los Angeles region and abroad, Laura was exposed to the importance of sustainably-sourced agriculture and the disproportionate negative impact of human consumption on communities of lower socioeconomic status and their surrounding environments. Through VIA, Laura hopes to contribute to positive social change through active global citizenry.

Me Zin Anawar

Program Development Fellow
Cohorts: Spring 2021, 2022

Raised in Kachin State, Myanmar. She got her bachelor’s degree from Myitkyina University specialized in English Literature. She is working as a Human Resource Professional in one of INGO,in Myanmar. She is passionate about equality education and youth empowerment and believes in peer learning. She is running a peer resources center in Myanmar. She joined the Media Literacy workshop implemented by VIA in 2019. By the experience of serving as a Program Coordinator in VIA, she hopes to learn positive changes to global social issues.

Pawanrat (Tune) Pasawongse

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2022

Tune was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. She graduated with a BS in Statistics from Chulalongkorn Business School. Then, she worked in a big tech startup in Thailand in many different functions including sales, operations and human resources for almost five years. As she is passionate about social impact, she tried to put herself in different projects so that she can learn, contribute what she has, and surround herself with people with the same interests. She volunteered to join Saturday School foundation as a teacher/ core team, TEDxBangkok team as an organizer, Chulalongkorn Alumni Mentorship Program as an Organizing Committee for many years. At the same time, she had a chance to conduct different types of training including leadership development, problem solving skills, etc. to university students. Recently, she just got an MBA from the University of Michigan in Dec, 2021. She is now doing her own research project, working as a volunteer consultant to help NGOs/ startups and joining VIA as a program development fellow for the 2022 Social Impact Leadership Accelerator.

Arria Hauldin

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: 2022

As a South Florida native with Jamaican roots, Arria (pronouns she/hers) enjoys connecting with intercultural communities, both in the U.S. and across the globe. In May 2020, Arria became a pandemic graduate of Florida State University (FSU). Graduating with a B.S. in Anthropology, Arria has an interest in the complex and everchanging world humans have helped shape. From language to culture and society, she has a passion for understanding the world through the stories and lived experiences of those around her. While at FSU, she dedicated her time outside of the classroom to teaching, research, travel, and community service. Combining these interests, she embarked on a short excursion to Northern Thailand in 2017 which blossomed her desire to explore more of Southeast Asia. Throughout her undergraduate career at FSU, Arria engaged in teaching and research assistantships that shaped her pedagogy and allowed her to create a research path that combines intercultural storytelling and ethnographic research. In the summer of 2019, she volunteered as an English teacher for the organization Coin For Change in Viet Nam. During her time there, she conducted research that focused on the educational attainment and aspirations of ethnic minority single mothers in Northern and Southern Viet Nam. Currently, she serves as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) Leader in Northern New England. Additionally, Arria is a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship Alumni Ambassador; she was awarded the Gilman Scholarship to fund her time in Viet Nam. As a Program Development Fellow, Arria hopes to learn more about issues impacting international communities. She also hopes to empower and encourage those around her to achieve their aspirations.

Sergius Santos

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: Spring 2021

Sergius is the co-founder of Exora, an energy solutions company in the Philippines. He has been actively involved with VIA since 2018. He joined the design thinking program in San Francisco in 2018, the alumni leadership in Thailand in 2019, and the social impact accelerator program in 2020. He is currently serving as a coordinator for the spring 2021 social impact accelerator.

Hannah To

Program Development Fellow
Cohort: Spring 2021

Hannah grew up in the Philippines and graduated with a BS degree in Management and a minor degree in Creative Writing. Since college, she has been helping run her family’s property development business while volunteering abroad and exploring creative endeavors on the side. As she loves to learn through travel, she attended conferences in China, Singapore, and the United States. She recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship.

Hannah is passionate about social impact. She volunteered to teach cultural understanding to children in Kraków, Poland through AIESEC. She also became a talent in UNLEASH, a global innovation lab in Shenzhen, China. She first joined VIA as a participant in the Social Impact Accelerator prior to serving as a coordinator.

Hannah loves to write. In late 2020, she started OwnBloom, a personal growth movement to empower self-starters to direct their growth and make a difference in their communities.