Brandon Baum, Secretary-General
Brandon is a member of the Class of 2016 majoring in Economics. His interests revolve around the intersection of economics and politics, and he is passionate about getting others interested in international issues. He joined the Stanford Model United Nations Team in his freshman year and served as the Undersecretary General for Crisis Operations at SMUNC 2013. He also served as the Development Chair for the Society for International Affairs at Stanford. After spending a quarter abroad in Florence, he is excited to run SMUNC 2014 and forget everything he learned about politics from watching the Italian Parliament.
Kunal Sangani, Executive Director
Secretariat
Jason Lopata, Undersecretary-General for Crisis Committees
Jason is a member of the Class of 2017 from Los Angeles, California. He has yet to declare a major, but he is interested in Economics and Public Policy. Jason has a passion for international affairs. He constantly reads and attends lectures about global events, and he has had the opportunity to travel extensively, visiting over 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. He was very involved in the leadership of his high school’s Model UN club, and has remained committed in college. Within the MUN umbrella group SIAS, Jason serves as the Programming Officer, coordinating the club’s events and speaker series; he also served as Crisis Director of the Axis & Allies JCC at last year’s SMUNC, and travels with the Model UN team. Outside of SIAS, Jason is involved with the Stanford Debate Society, where he has competed domestically and abroad. He also has an interest in global business, and will be spending this summer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s EDGE Program.
Joe Troderman, Undersecretary-General for Crisis Operations
Joe is a member of the class of 2016 majoring in Chemical Engineering and minoring in East Asian Studies. He is also a member of Stanford’s Model UN team, which he joined his freshman year. He enjoys reading and music, playing zhongruan and daruan in Stanford’s Chinese Music Ensemble. Joe is very passionate about the environment, especially with regard to energy policy and climate change. It is in large part from this that his passion for Model UN and choice of major stems. In SMUNC 2013, he served as the Crisis Director for French Revolution of 1789. He had an amazing experience working in that committee and is excited to work with the rest of the SMUNC secretariat to ensure that this year’s conference is an excellent challenging, learning, and fun experience for all of this year’s delegates.
Timothy Wu, Undersecretary-General for General Assembly Committees
Timothy is a member of the class of 2017 prospectively majoring in Biology and Economics. He hopes that in this rapidly converging world, an interdisciplinary pathway will provide a unique insight to international issues. Timothy grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, and attended his first Model UN conference during sophomore year. He founded the first Model UN Program in his high school, and is passionately intrigued by the educational value of the special forum of real time geo-political problem solving that is Model United Nations. This year, he’s excited to work with the rest of the secretariat, striving to achieve the Aristotelian mean between style and substance in order to advocate for this particularly thrilling form of international affairs learning.
Ben-Ken Chao, Undersecretary-General for Specialized Bodies
Ken-Ben Chao (Ben) is a member of the Class of 2017 majoring in the Political Science Research Honors Track. Growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ben co-founded his high school Model United Nations and has a deep passion for international affairs and politics. He is involved with the Society for International Affairs at Stanford (SIAS), the parent organization for SMUNC, is a member of its Model United Nations Travel Team, and served as a Vice-Chair for the DISEC committee during SMUNC 2013. Ben has had the honor of attending speeches by President Barack Obama of the United States, President Hu Jintao of China, President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
Directorate
Melissa Diaz, Director of Logistics
Melissa is a member of the Class of 2016 majoring in International Relations with a secondary major in History. She is primarily interested in human rights law and policy, as well as children’s rights and education. In the past, she has worked with microlending organizations in Guatemala, and non-profits to help working-children in Ecuador. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction, listening to music, and taking geography quizzes. In addition to her participation in SMUNC, she is an Academic Coordinator at El Centro Chicano, a Co-Chair for Ballet Folklorico de Stanford, and a member of Stanford UNICEF.
Akosua Busia, Director of Delegate Affairs
Akosua is a member of the Class of 2016, majoring in Mathematical and Computational Science. As the granddaughter of an ex-Ghanaian Prime Minister, her father’s side of the family has always been very involved in politics and international affairs, inspiring her to joining both her high school’s debate team and Model United Nations club. Having many fond memories of her own time as a delegate at SMUNC, Akosua is excited to be working to help make new memories for the next round of delegates. As a Santa Cruz native, she also enjoys farm-fresh produce, hikes in the redwoods, and ocean kayaking.
Minkee Sohn, Director of Events and Public Relations
Minkee is a member of the Class of 2017 majoring in Communication. His interests include marketing, public relations and journalism. Minkee participated in Model United Nations throughout high school, and continues to participate as a member of Stanford’s Model UN team. In his free time he enjoys video editing, badminton and Hwimori (Korean drumming). Having attended SMUNC as a delegate for three years, he is excited to work alongside the Secretariat to make SMUNC 2014 an especially memorable one.
Yasmin Bashirova, Director of Business
Yasmin is a member of class of 2017 planning to major in Energy Resources Engineering and minor in Economics. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Yasmin spent her childhood in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, until she moved back to her home city where she spent most of her life. She fell in love with Model United Nations in middle school when she helped organize and promote the first MUN conference in her country. Yasmin graduated from a high school in the U.S. where she discovered her passion for the intersection of the energy sector, economics, public policy and international politics. In her free time Yasmin enjoys eating kebabs and other Middle Eastern dishes, reading Albert Camus, and having 3 a.m. conversations about the culture of former Soviet Union republics with her friends.
Rebecca Logue, Director of Outreach
