Meet The Staff
Lorien Romito
Senior Director, International Education
Email: lromito@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4005
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Lorien Romito, Senior Director, International Education oversees education abroad, short-term faculty-led programs, and international student and scholar services at Babson College. She has worked in the field of international education for over 15 years.
Romito previously served as the Director, Education Abroad at Babson. Prior to Babson, she worked at Endicott College, Saint Mary’s College of California, and Intrax Cultural Exchange. Additionally, she has worked at an international charter school in Louisiana and taught English abroad in Costa Rica.
Romito is a founding member and serves on the board of directors of Lessons from Abroad, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting returned study abroad students. She has presented, nationally and internationally, at the Association for American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U); NAFSA: Association of International Educators; Career Integration; CIEE: Council On International Educational Exchange; Diversity Abroad; and The Forum on Education Abroad conferences.
She earned her MA in international education from the SIT Graduate Institute and her BA in international affairs and Spanish from the University of New Hampshire.
Education Abroad
Academic Year, Semester, and Summer Abroad
John Crisafulli
Director, Education Abroad
Email: jcrisafulli@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4273
Pronouns: he / him / his
John Crisafulli is the director of Education Abroad, leading the team in the development and management of a comprehensive portfolio of summer, semester, and academic year education abroad programs. Prior to Babson, he worked at the University of Rhode Island and Brown University. He previously served as co-chair of the Boston Area Study Abroad Association (BASAA) and is a past member of the Arcadia University College of Global Studies Guild. In 2013, he was awarded the Region XI Rising Young Professional Award by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Crisafulli earned his MS in college student personnel from the University of Rhode Island and his BA in communication from Bryant University. He studied abroad in Galway, Ireland.
Kaela Conroy
Assistant Director, Education Abroad
Email: kconroy@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4374
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Kaela Conroy serves as the advisor and program manager for the Babson Leadership in a Global Context program. In addition, she advises for undergraduate academic year, semester, and summer abroad programs in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand); Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and United Kingdom). Kaela also advises for all graduate semester abroad programs.
Before Babson, Kaela worked for Boston University Study Abroad and, prior to that, in the Office of International Programs at Brown University. She has most recently presented at the Forum on Education Abroad conference and served as a volunteer at the annual New England Lessons from Abroad conference.
Conroy earned her MA in International Education Management from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California and her BA in International Relations from Elon University in North Carolina. She studied abroad in Spain and Costa Rica and spent two years teaching abroad in Andalucía.
Gloriana Chambers
Advisor, Education Abroad
Email: lchambers@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4566
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Gloriana Chambers advises for undergraduate academic year, semester, and summer abroad programs in Europe (Spain and Portugal), Central America (Costa Rica), South America(Chile, Argentina and Brazil), Middle East(Jordan and United Arab Emirates) and Africa (Botswana, Ghana, Morocco and South Africa). Gloriana also manages Babson’s Incoming Exchange Student Program, welcoming students from over 30 different partner universities from all around the world each academic year.
Before Babson, Chambers earned her MA in Higher Education & Student Affairs at Boston College in Massachusetts, as well as her certification in International Higher Education. Chambers obtained her BA in Global Studies from Providence College in Rhode Island.
Chambers came to the United States in 2014 as an international student from Costa Rica. She had the opportunity to study abroad not only in the United States, but also in Geneva, Switzerland with SIT (School for International Training).
Bingqing Zhou
Advisor, Education Abroad
Email: bzhou1@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-5634
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Bingqing Zhou advises for academic year, semester, and summer abroad education abroad programs in Asia (China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) and Europe(Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Netherlands).
Before Babson, Zhou worked at the UMass Boston Global Student Success Program as a program manager advising first-year international students and supporting their success. She earned her MA in International Education from New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and her BBA in International Business from Baruch College, City University of New York. Zhou came to the United States as an international student from China in 2006, and during her undergraduate years, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Stockholm, Sweden as an exchange student.
International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS)
Elizabeth (Liz) Saumsiegle
Director, International Student & Scholar Services
Email: esaumsiegle@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-5607
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Liz Saumsiegle is responsible for the management and overall direction of the International Student & Scholar Services team (including oversight of federal regulatory compliance for students, exchange visitors and the College).
Since joining Babson in 2007 as the program assistant for the ISSS team, Saumsiegle has been an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators and has presented and trained at regional and national conferences. At Babson, she has been a member of the Honor Board and co-chair of the Sustainability Employee Resource Group.
Saumsiegle earned her master’s degree in intercultural relations from Lesley University and her bachelor’s degree in early American history from the University of New Hampshire.
Nicole (Nikki) Nicosia
Associate Director, International Student & Scholar Services
Email: nnicosia@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-5313
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Nikki Nicosia advises on immigration regulations and cultural adjustment, and is the primary liaison with Office of Undergraduate Admission to provide support and outreach for incoming undergraduate students. She manages services and outreach to visiting international scholars as well as students seeking leave/readmission, those in executive education and summer programs, and dependent(s) and family members. Nicosia also is the coordinator of the Global Scholars Program with oversight of budget and programmatic features of the program. She is an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, continuing to present and train at the regional and national level and participating in the annual NAFSA Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining Babson in 2011, Nicosia worked at Northeastern University as the International Advancement and Outreach program specialist.
Nicosia earned her MS in applied educational psychology from Northeastern University and her BS in secondary education: social science from Winona State University.
Ikuko Konda
Senior Advisor, International Student & Scholar Services
Email: ikonda@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4988
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Ikuko Konda is responsible for advising Babson’s international students on immigration regulations and cultural adjustment, SEVIS compliance, and assisting with intercultural programming. She is the primary liaison with the Graduate Admissions office to provide support for incoming graduate students.
Ikuko joined Babson's ISSS team with more than ten years of experience in the field of international education.
Jillian (Jill) Bedarian
Advisor, International Student & Scholar Services
Email: jbedarian@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-5909
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Jill Bedarian provides guidance to Babson's international students on immigration regulations and is also responsible for general administrative and programming support for the ISSS team.
Joining the team in 2022, Bedarian previously was the administrative assistant for the Glavin Office. Prior to Babson, she worked at the Corwin-Russell School at Broccoli Hall in Sudbury, MA.
Bedarian earned her Bachelor of Education degree from HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen, The Netherlands where she was able to study abroad for a semester at the University of Albany in Albany, NY. She also holds a Cambridge English Level 3 Certificate in ESOL International and is a certified ESL teacher.
Short-Term Programs
Electives Abroad & Away, International Consulting Experience, and Global Entrepreneurship Experience
Elise Beaudin
Associate Director, Glavin Office of International Education, and Director, Short-Term Programs
Email: ebeaudin@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4482
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Elise Beaudin MBA’10 provides operational and budgetary oversight for the office as the associate director of the Glavin Office of International Education. As the director of Short-Term Programs, Beaudin leads the team in development and administration of the undergraduate and graduate electives abroad & away and international consulting projects. She is the program manager for the International Consulting Experience in Portugal. Beaudin also teaches in the First-Year Seminar program, serves on the Undergraduate Awards Committee, and the Advisory Committee on Education Abroad.
Beaudin joined Babson in 1994 and has worked in the Center for Career Development, the Consulting Programs Office, and the Glavin Office. Prior to Babson, she worked in sales and product training, mortgage servicing, and software instruction for adult education.
Beaudin earned her MBA from Babson College and her BA in education with specializations in mathematics and psychology from Framingham State University.
Amanda Jew
Program Manager, Short-Term Programs
Email: ajew1@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-5244
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Amanda Jew oversees the development and execution of international and domestic short-term courses in partnership with faculty.
Prior to joining Babson in 2022, Jew worked at Northeastern University as a coordinator of global studies developing marketing and implementing programming focused on intercultural competency and community building. Prior to her master’s degree she worked in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher creating and leading interactive programs through English seminars.
Jew earned her Master of Arts in International Education Management and Japanese Language Program from Middlebury Institute of International Studies and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Language and Literature with a certificate in International Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Administrative
Li Tan
Administrative Assistant
Email: ltan@babson.edu
Call: +1-781-239-4565
Pronouns: he / him / his
Li Tan, Administrative Assistant, provides general office support to Glavin Office of International Education.
Prior to Babson, Li Tan worked at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, MA specializing in academic support to students with learning disabilities and English language learners. Back in China, Li worked as an account executive in a PR agency providing communication strategies for FAW TOYOTA.
Li Tan served as Student Ambassador during his study at FLS International in Boston before he permanently moved to the US. He earned his Bachelor degree in Cultural and Communications from The University of International Relations in Beijing, China.
Outside of work, Li Tan has a wide range of interests in retirement planning, photography, and Spartan training.