CEA CAPA Communications & Events Directory

Shawna has worked in international education and related fields for more than 20 years. As the Vice President of Communications & Strategic Engagement for CEA CAPA, she oversees all aspects of CEA CAPA’s communications and partner marketing. She has previously served as the Director of Marketing for World Learning, an international education and nongovernmental institution that is the umbrella organization for the School for International Training (SIT Study Abroad and SIT Graduate programs), and The Experiment in International Living. She is the co-chair of the NAFSA Rainbow SIG. She holds a degree in Political Science from Smith College. In addition to her work in international education, Shawna has experience in sales and marketing consulting and as a book editor, designer, and publisher.

Maria primarily works to oversee student Content Creators as they share their experiences abroad through blogs, vlogs, and photographs. She also collaborates on in-house content creation, internal communications, social media, and directory updates.

Maria received both a B.A. in English Writing and an MEd in Higher Education Management from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to her current role, she worked with graduate engineering students and interned with international student services and career development offices (among others) during her graduate program. As an undergraduate, Maria studied and interned in London for a semester through CEA CAPA and has desired to help others study abroad ever since. She loves combining her passions for writing, storytelling, and international education in her work.

As CEA CAPA’s Events Manager, Tricia oversees and coordinates the logistics and operations around organizational conferences and events. In her role, she works alongside the leadership to organize and facilitate intentional internal and external facing events. Tricia is responsible for coordinating logistics behind organizational conference membership and attendance, partner Familiarization and Advisor Workshops, internal sales trainings, and campus events. During her time at CEA CAPA, she has worked closely with the Marketing, Institutional Relations, and Academics teams to provide top-tier experiences for our partners and staff. Tricia has spent time living internationally in both Australia and Spain for education and work respectively. Working in international education has only continued to fuel her love and desire to travel the world and experience cultures different than her own. Tricia has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Concordia University Irvine where she was a scholar-athlete competing on the Women’s Swim Team.