YPFP New York Leadership Committee

Laura Keating
As executive director, LAURA KEATING oversees the daily operations and expansion efforts for YPFP New York. Laura is a graduate student of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she focuses her studies on international environmental and development issues. She is expected to graduate in May 2009 with a Master in International Affairs. Prior to beginning her studies, Laura was a research associate with the Global Strategy Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In this role, she directed a multi-year project on international water challenges and their impacts on U.S. foreign policy objectives. She also supported the institute's other research efforts on long-range global trends, including the flagship Seven Revolutions initiative. Laura graduate in 2002 with a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Pennsylvania State University where she was a Schreyer Honors Scholar. She earned a Certificate in Chinese Language Studies from Peking University's Chinese Language Center.

Trammel Martin
TRAMMEL MARTIN is a second year MBA candidate at NYU's Stern School of Business.  In May 2008, he will receive a General Management MBA with specializations in Global Business, Accounting and Finance.  Prior to Stern, Trammel worked in Citigroup's Sales and Trading division in Emerging Market Equity Sales and Fixed Income Syndicate positions. He attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate student earning a BA in Economics.  While at Chicago, he played on the Men's Basketball team and was a member of Blue Chips, an undergraduate investment club.  He spent a year in the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Texas and a summer at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.  Additional work experience includes internships at CIBC Global Markets, Citigroup, Morningstar and AIM Funds.

Emma Neff
As director of development, EMMA NEFF oversees YPFP's grant seeking initiatives. Currently a student at Columbia and Duke, Emma is pursuing dual degrees in law and medicine with a focus on health and human rights. From 2003 to 2005, Emma worked in development for Teach For America's Bay Area region.

Gulveda Ozgur
GULVEDA OZGUR is Haber Turk News Channel's Foreign correspondent based in New York. Since moving overseas in 2005, she has reported from the USA and Europe contributing to all news broadcasts and platforms including the website of the news channel. In 2007, Gulveda worked as a research assistant at the Middle East Studies of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She earned the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Fellowship at the University of Oxford in 2006 for conducting research regarding Turkey's EU accession.  In 2005, Gulveda was awarded the Chevening Scholarship to study International Politics and Human Rights in the UK. Gulveda was a political correspondent for CNN Turkey between 2000 and 2005 and covered all EU summits for the channel held between those dates. During her employment with CNN Turkey she also contributed with her reporting to many foreign media organizations' news coverage from Turkey, such as; The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor and ABC News.  Gulveda earned a degree in Business Administration from Istanbul University and a master's degree from City University in London. She also is a member of the International Press Institute and voluntarily trains journalism students for the Institute in Turkey and abroad. 

Christopher Sandersfeld
CHRISTOPHER SANDERSFELD is a political analyst at Citigroup in the Economic and Political Strategies (EPS) group.  He has focused on topics including international trade relations, South Asia, East Asia, international pandemics and the presidential election processes in the US and France.  Prior to his work with EPS, he was an associate with the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Citigroup, where he specialized in origination and business development.  He was previously a senior research assistant for the Comparative Defense Studies Program, focusing on issues including arms transfers and third world defense capabilities.  Chris graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Political Science-International Relations and is an editor emeritus of the Journal of Politics and Society.  Chris was a Robbins Fellow at Columbia, where he examined the effects of religion on foreign policy.  He is currently at work on a book on political risk.

Michael Sellman
MICHAEL SELLMAN, a member of YPFP's Board of Directors, currently works as an associate in Morgan Stanley Principal Investments, the Firm's on-balance sheet private equity and special situations effort. Prior, he worked as a currency derivatives trader for Morgan Stanley in New York and London. He holds an A.B. in History and Government from Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, where he served as vice president of the student body, Chairman of the Commencement Committee, and Class Marshal. He has also been associate editor for three books on modern, folk, and contemporary American art.

Joshua Walker
JOSHUA WALKER is a doctoral candidate at Princeton University focusing on international relations and security studies. Joshua is a graduate fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination and with the Bradley foundation. Most recently Joshua served as a guest fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations working on the role of the U.S.-Turkish alliance. Prior to Princeton, Joshua completed a Master's from Yale University in International Relations and received two graduate certificates in International Security and Middle East studies.  Joshua completed a year long Fulbright Fellowship in Ankara, Turkey where he researched this country's foreign and security policy, particularly its European Union aspirations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership, in relation to questions about its national and cultural identity.  He received his BA from the University of Richmond in Leadership Studies and International Economics.  Joshua's interest in International Relations stems from his 15 years spent living overseas in Sapporo, Japan where he calls home and his family still resides.  Beyond academia he has had the privilege of working for the U.S. State Department both at the Embassy in Ankara and in Washington, and for GE Financial Assurances.  Joshua's writings have appeared in numerous academic and international forums and is currently a regular contributor to the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman.

Jeanne-Paloma Zelmati
Jeanne-Paloma Zelmati currently works as a research associate on foreign policy issues. She graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, where she focused on conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction, and previously interned at a legal think tank in Kosovo as well as the Council.  Born and raised in France, she now can't imagine any other home than New York City.