YPFP in the Classroom

Fostering the next generation of America's foreign policy leadership.

YPFP in the Classroom is the service project of YPFP.

As the most powerful nation in the world, the decisions made by the United States have an impact on the lives of people across the globe. And increasingly, events in the world are affecting the lives of more Americans every day. It is crucially important for us – especially young people – to gain a better understanding of the world, and our role in it.

YPFP in the Classroom is intended to help young people to learn about U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, and to expose them to current events, new ideas, and foreign cultures. In the process, we hope to offer them valuable opportunities for personal and intellectual growth.

Our approach is dynamic and engaging, emphasizing interaction with students and collaboration with teachers and school communities.

What we offer

Interactive presentations on foreign policy, current events, and modern world history topics that are tailored to fit an individual teacher's needs and classroom.
Teaching support for history, social studies, civics and government classes.
Facilitation of group discussions about current events designed to raise awareness about topics in international affairs and engage students in dialogue.
Opportunities for students to develop critical thinking and communication skills.
Interaction with young professionals who want to enrich the educational experiences of young people and help to close the achievement gap.

Who we are

We are young professionals and graduate students who work on foreign policy issues for various government agencies, leading research institutes and universities, non-profits, and private companies.
Our teachers are carefully selected from among dozens of applicants, and specially trained in a curriculum we developed in partnership with Teach for America Fellows, to ensure they can effectively engage students, present material, and lead an interactive discussion.
We are a non-profit, non-partisan, selective membership organization.
We are seeking ways to give back to our communities, inform young people about international affairs, and help close the achievement gap in public schools.

Leadership Staff

Mara Tchalakov
Vice President, Service and Chair, YPFP in the Classroom

Mara Tchalakov serves as a Professional Staff Member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Policy Planning staff where she covers economic, trade, and development issues. Previously she worked for the President's Council of Economic Advisers at the White House as a special adviser to the International Member on international economic policy. Mara focused on international economic policy, foreign affairs and international law at Princeton University where she graduated in 2005 with a B.A. summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Sarah King
Chief of Staff

Sarah King currently works for Kissinger McLarty Associates navigating the political, economic, and business landscapes in Latin America, supporting multinational corporations in a variety of industries. Prior to joining Kissinger McLarty she was the Project Director in Paraguay for Amigos de las Americas (AMIGOS) where she created and managed rural community development projects with the Ministry of Health, Plan International, and the Fundación Paraguaya/Junior Achievement. She continues to serve on the board of AMIGOS Washington, DC chapter. Additionally, Sarah worked in Senator Diane Feinstein's Washington office, collaborating directly with the Legislative Assistant for Defense and China affairs, and at the Center for International Policy, supporting their Cuba project. Sarah graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland in 2006 with a B.A. in Political Science and minor in Spanish.

Meaghan Casey
School Partnerships Coordinator

Meaghan Casey currently works for Kissinger McLarty Associates helping clients with European and Russian political and business issues. She additionally works in freelance economic consulting for NDP Consulting Group, LLC. Meaghan formerly worked for the Department of Commerce in the International Trade Administration with East Europe and Russia. She continued to serve the Department of Commerce at the U.S. Mission to the EU in Brussels where she worked with American business leaders to promote trade and U.S.-EU relations. Meaghan graduated cum laude from the George Washington University in 2005 with a double major Bachelor of Arts in history and international affairs.

Jennifer Bovair
Teacher Corps Volunteer Coordinator

Jennifer Bovair is program coordinator and research associate for the CSIS Energy and National Security Program where she manages the Producing Nations Series and Oil Markets Study Group. This past year she helped organize the Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies conference series and is working on a report of the findings due in fall 2007. Before joining CSIS, Bovair held positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration in the Office of Energy and Environment, the U.S.-Russia Business Council and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation. As a Fulbright Grantee to Lithuania, she taught at Vilnius University and the ISM University of Management and Economics. She was awarded a grant from the GE Foundation for her research on nuclear fusion and from the Soros foundation for her work on post-Soviet transformation in Eastern Europe. Bovair received her M.A. from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, with an honors certificate in international business diplomacy. She holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Certificate of Baltic Studies from the Vytautus Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Malika de Silva
Teacher Training Coordinator

Malika de Silva is a sixth grade English teacher at the Washington Latin Public Charter School. In addition to teaching literature and grammar, Malika leads a daily writers' workshop. Before stepping into the classroom, Malika worked in international educational exchange and development. As an international relations major at Duke University, Malika spent a semester at the American University in Cairo. This interest in the region brought her to D.C., where she worked at AMIDEAST, and took her to Doha, where she worked for the Qatar Ministry of Education. Being a middle school teacher has been a new cultural experience for Malika, and she enjoys the energy and honesty she finds in her students.

Jorge Aguilar
Educations Research and Resources Coordinator

Jorge is a government affairs program assistant at Human Rights First, where he provides research and legislative support to Human Rights First’s advocacy efforts. Jorge investigates lobbying strategies aimed to address such issues as the U.S. government’s human rights policies, Iraqi refugees, the Darfur crisis, and the use of human rights mechanisms established by international law. Jorge is a 2006 graduate of Princeton University, where he studied security and defense policy, East Asian affairs, and U.S. and foreign law in Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. Jorge was also a visiting student at Oxford University (2004), where he studied constitutionalism and defense under the director of Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. As YPFP in the Classroom’s Educational Research Coordinator, Jorge researches education policy and related trends in an effort to guide the Classroom’s outreach and classroom instruction strategies.

Wamiq Chowdry
Community Outreach Coordinator

Wamiq is a research assistant for the Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He works with Dr. Sidney Weintraub, holder of the Simon Chair, in analyzing salient political economy issues in the Western Hemisphere with an eye toward policy development. Wamiq is a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where his studies focused on international law and international economic policy. Wamiq has worked for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee in its Post Primary Basic and Continuing Education Program, which seeks to improve the educational quality of rural Bangladeshi schools.

For more information on how you can contribute, contact the Project Director, Mara Tchalakov.

Suggested Discussion / Tutorial Topics

“Big Themes” in International Politics