Board of Directors

IRC membership annually elects a Board of Directors to lead the club for an academic year.

Chair

Elizabeth Koenck

  • Elizabeth is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2027. She is majoring in International Politics with a concentration in Human Security, minoring in Economics, and earning a certificate in Diplomatic Studies.

    Elizabeth has been doing Model UN for more than seven years. At Georgetown, she has traveled with GUMUN since her freshman year. During her junior year, she served as GIRC's Director of International Advocacy and Service as well as GUMUN's Director of Human Resources. With the Georgetown International Relations Association, she has traveled to Ethiopia and China to hold Model UN conferences.

    Outside of GIRC-GIRA, Elizabeth is a teaching assistant for Maps of the Modern World, an ESCAPE first-year retreat leader, and a research assistant for the Georgetown University Initiative for Innovation, Development and Education. Elizabeth loves to hike, bake, and read every kind of book imaginable. She has lived abroad in Morocco and South Africa!

Vice Chair

Bridget Galibois

  • Bridget is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2028. She is majoring in International Politics and double minoring in Spanish and Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs.

    Bridget has been involved with Model UN since her first year of high school. She previously served as the Director of Academic Programming for the IRC and as the Director of Marketing & Media for NAIMUN LXIII, Georgetown's high school Model UN conference run by the Georgetown International Relations Association. She has also chaired committees at Georgetown’s Model UN conferences for college students (NCSC) and middle school students (DistrictMUN). This year, she is so excited to serve as the Deputy Director of NAIMUN LXIV.

    Aside from all things Model UN, Bridget writes and edits articles for The Hoya, teaches International Relations to high school students, and works as a project manager for DCivitas. In her free time, she enjoys reading, picnicking on Healy Lawn, and exploring DC. Bridget loves to travel, and she has hiked the Camino de Santiago!

Chief of Staff

Kezban Duzenli-Cetin

  • Kezban is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2027. She is majoring in International Politics. 

    Kezban has been involved in Model United Nations and international relations programming since high school and has continued that involvement through Georgetown International Relations Club and the GIRA community. She previously served on the GIRC Chief of Staff sub-board, staffed NCSC, and acted as Secretary-General for NAIMUN China. Through these experiences, she has developed a strong interest in diplomacy, international security, and conference leadership.

    Outside of GIRC-GIRA, Kezban is involved on campus as the Vice President of External Affairs of Kappa Alpha Theta. In her free time, Kezban enjoys crocheting and other crafts, writing music, dancing, and traveling. Kezban has a cat named Lexie that lives at Georgetown with her!

Treasurer

Yixi Zou

  • Yixi is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2029. She is majoring in Science, Technology, and International Affairs.

    Yixi has been involved in the GIRC-GIRA community since her first year on campus. Previously, she served on the Outreach Sub-Board. Alongside being IRC treasurer, Yixi is also the Director of Registration for NAIMUN LXIV and the Secretary General for DistrictMUN VII.

    Outside of GIRC-GIRA, Yixi is involved with Georgetown Bubble, Scholars of Finance, and the Philoso-Tea Society. Yixi loves to bake and play the violin, and she is a self-described boba addict!

Conferences Coordinator

Caroline Dupas

  • Caroline is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2027. She is majoring in International Politics with a concentration in International Law, Institutions, and Ethics, and a minor in Economics.

    Caroline has been involved with Model UN since her first year of high school and has competed in over forty conferences over the past seven years. Currently, she helps lead Team GUMUN, the world’s top-ranked team, and largely competes in General Assembly-style committees. She is Chief Operations Officer of the Georgetown International Relations Association and was previously the Secretary-General of NCSC LIII, Georgetown's college-level conference.

    Aside from all things Model UN, Caroline teaches swim lessons, is a Delta Phi Epsilon sister, and a perpetual Hilltern. She will gladly talk yap to you about Lana Del Ray, Survivor, Dance Moms, Panera, or Goldfish flavors over a girl dinner.

Director of HR & DEI

Valli Pendyala

  • Valli Pendyala is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2027. They are majoring in Regional and Comparative Studies and double minoring in Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs and Arabic.

    Valli Pendyala has previously served as NCSC LII’s Director of Operations and GIRA Local’s Chief of Staff. They staffed NCSC LI and NAIMUN LXI as a Crisis Analyst and NAIMUN LXII and LXIII as a Crisis Manager. They will also be staffing NCSC LIV and NAIMUN LXIII as a Crisis Manager. They travelled with GUMUN to McMUN 2026, where they won Outstanding Delegate in the ICJ: Nicaragua vs. United States committee. Prior to Georgetown, Valli competed on their high school's Model United Nations team, travelling to Harvard Model UN, Yale Model UN, and Connecticut World Affairs Council Model UN. They also served as the Vice-Chair of the SOCHUM organ and the Undersecretary-General of Administration for their school conference.

    Outside of Model UN, Valli interns with Dharmic Life, sings tenor in the choir, directs Black Theatre Ensemble's fall play, and is being slowly consumed by their thesis. In their free time, you can find them trying to finish their annual 52-book reading challenge, going on food-related sidequests, or being repeatedly killed in video games that, despite not being good at, they enjoy for some reason. When they were in elementary school, they got their first concussion by watching a soccer match.

Director of Academic Programming

Mansimar Thakral

  • Mansimar is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2029. She is majoring in International Politics and minoring in Journalism.

    Mansimar began her GIRC-GIRA journey by serving as a member of the GIRC Academic Programming Sub-Board in her freshman fall. Outside of the Board, she serves as an Under-Secretary-General of General Assemblies for NAIMUN LXIV. She staffed NAIMUN LXIII as a Director within the Contemporary Crisis Organ and NCSC LII as a crisis analyst for the Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretary General. Prior to Georgetown, Mansimar participated in Model UN as a delegate for six years, competing all across Southeast Asia! 

    Outside of GIRC-GIRA, Mansimar can be found furthering her journalistic passion by writing for The Hoya, or policy papers for the Washington Forum on India. She is also a part of the Blue & Gray tour guide society, and has danced for Georgetown Guzaarish, our South Asian competitive dance team. In her free time, she loves eating (#1 foodie), expanding her Letterboxd repertoire, and exploring DC's museums. A fun fact about Mansimar is that she has a bizarre passion for British rap, meaning she can confidently rap the entire song of “Sprinter” by Central Cee on prompting!

Director of Alumni Outreach

Saachi Chhaparwal

  • Saachi is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2029. She is majoring in International Economics.

    Previously, Saachi was Deputy Director of Alumni Outreach for the IRC. She spearheaded organizing the Homecoming Alumni BBQ, the Alumni Mentorship program, and various mixers and panels. She enjoys giving alumni the chance to showcase their work and share their experiences with the wider community.

    Alongside IRC, she is involved in several other clubs on campus, including UNICEF, and sometimes DCivitas, and GEC. Saachi enjoys writing poetry, watching movies both alone or with friends in cinemas (especially horror, thriller, and action), and mopeding. She lived in six different countries while growing up.

Director of International Advocacy & Service

Hannah Parker

  • Hannah is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2029. She is majoring in International Politics and minoring in Global Development Studies.

    Hannah has been involved with the IRC this past year as a member of the DIAS sub-board and is excited to be returning as co-director. She has also been a Crisis Analyst at NCSC and helped staff the 2025 SDG Youth Summit.

    Outside of GIRC-GIRA, Hannah is a member of the Georgetown University Orchestra and Georgetown Running Club. Hannah enjoys playing the violin, going for runs around DC, skiing, and playing tennis. She has biked the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland.

Director of Communications

Avelyn Bailey

  • Avelyn is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2028. She is majoring in Culture and Politics with a concentration in Emplacement, Indigeneity, and the Law. 

    In the IRC, she has previously served as a WoMUN Lead and on the Communications Sub-Board. On the GIRA side of things, Avelyn was Director of Media and Marketing for NCSC LIII. She has only ever staffed Non-Traditional committees at NCSC and NAIMUN, so regular procedure is strange to her.

    Her fake government activity of choice is moot court. She has been an Octofinalist at the American Moot Court Association Final Round of National Tournament and co-authored a nationally ranked appellate brief. You can often find Avelyn turning her hobbies into extracurriculars, whether it be by illustrating for The Hoya (take a shot every time an IRC Board member is on The Hoya) or building sets for student-produced theatre. She has a penchant for going to concerts by artists over the age of 70.

Director of International Advocacy & Service

Isabella Feenstra

  • Isabella is a member of the College of Arts & Sciences Class of 2029. She is majoring in Government and minoring in Spanish.

    Isabella participated in Model UN since her sophomore year of high school and continued this passion by staffing NAIMUN. Also, she served on the Sub-Board for International Advocacy and Service, which she will co-lead this upcoming year.

    Additionally, Isabella wrote for The Guide in The Hoya and loves to attend the Georgetown Programming Board events. Isabella enjoys playing tennis and classical piano, baking gluten-free treats, volunteering, strolling through farmers’ markets, discovering new cafes, water coloring, reading, and taking long walks through the Georgetown neighborhood. Her brother (at the age of three) named her when her parents couldn’t decide on a name in the hospital!

The Board of Directors is happy to chat with you!
Please reach out with an inquiries about events, sponsorships, or club operations.

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