Community of Practice of Partnerships Professionals

Stacy Burger, Lehigh University

Stacy Burger is the Director of Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Lehigh University. In this role, she manages international partnerships, oversees data initiatives, and maintains the Global Engagement Directory. She also leads Lehigh’s Virtual International Exchange, coordinates internationalization grants, and supports global engagement opportunities for faculty and staff. Stacy serves as co-chair of the Community of Practice: International Partnerships Professionals in Higher Education. She brings over 18 years of experience in higher education and began her career teaching high school Spanish. Her personal and professional experiences abroad—including time living in Spain and Germany—contribute to her deep international expertise. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and education from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Lehigh University.

Sarah Olson, University of California, Davis

Sarah Olson serves as the Director of Global Partnerships in Global Affairs at the University of California, Davis, a role she began in May 2024. She provides strategic vision and leadership to advance international collaborations that support student and faculty mobility, global research initiatives, and institutional engagement aligned with UC Davis’s mission. In addition to managing partnership development and hosting international delegations, Sarah oversees data systems to assess and strengthen global collaborations across campus.

Before joining UC Davis, she served as Director of Global Partnerships at North Carolina State University, where she led global delegations, designed strategic partnership frameworks, and streamlined international engagement processes. Prior to that, she supported international partnerships and faculty engagement at Colorado State University, connecting faculty with global opportunities and managing a centralized global engagement platform.

Sarah holds a B.A. in History from Gonzaga University and an M.A. in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco. She was awarded a Fulbright International Education Administrator grant in 2022, participating in a seminar in Germany focused on transatlantic higher education collaboration. She is also the co-founder of the Community of Practice for International Partnerships Professionals in Higher Education, advancing knowledge-sharing and best practices in the field.

Tamara Cunningham, UC San Diego

Tamara Cunningham is the inaugural Assistant Vice Chancellor for Global Initiatives at UC San Diego, where she leads the university’s global engagement strategy. With over two decades of experience in higher education, she is dedicated to fostering innovation, inclusion, and transformative global impact. In her current role, Tamara has achieved significant milestones in just two years, including leading teams to secure a $1 million grant for global internships and to establish UC San Diego’s first U.S. institutional presence in Gujarat’s International Financial Technology City, which launched in 2025. Previously, Tamara led the global strategy at New Jersey City University, where she integrated diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into internationalization initiatives. She co-authored a pivotal guide for the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Lab and contributed to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Committee on Internationalization for DEI and community engagement. A passionate advocate for equity in global education, Tamara serves on the Board of Directors for NAFSA: Association of International Educators and will host the 2025 NAFSA Annual Conference. She holds a master’s degree in Communications and Information Studies from Rutgers University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at St. Peter’s University, focusing on pathways to global education for Black male students.

Krista Northup, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Krista Northup is the director for global partnerships at UNC Global Affairs. She has served in this role since 2022, focusing on spotting opportunities for Carolina faculty and departments to create, sustain and expand international collaborations. Krista actively supports the University’s four strategic partners and several other partnerships that are important to various schools, departments and stakeholders. She assesses partnerships, advocates for funding and identifies regions, countries and institutions with emerging possibilities. In 2024, under Krista’s leadership, UNC-Chapel Hill won the IIE Heiskell Award for Strategic Partnerships for its work with Carolina’s strategic partner Eberhart Karls Universität Tübingen. 

Previously, Krista served as the director of education for North America for Sannam S4, a higher education consulting organization specializing in global operations. Before that, she worked for Cambridge Education Group, the State University of New York (SUNY), the University of Melbourne and Washington College. Krista spent about 10 years working in the Australian education sector. This experience, as well as her time in admissions — her first job after graduating from college — inspired her to help others develop meaningful cross-cultural relationships. 

Krista earned her bachelor’s degree from Washington College and a MBA from Charles Sturt University in Australia. She is a regular presenter at association conferences including AIEA and NAFSA.

Leasa Weimer, University of Denver

Leasa Weimer serves as the Director for Global Partnerships at the University of Denver in Colorado, USA. She brings strategic thought-leadership and vision to the role, driving the development of an integrated partnership approach. Leasa champions and advances collaborations with the University’s five key strategic partnerships, focusing on mobility, collaborative research, and innovative projects. Additionally, she is an active member of the EAIE Thematic Committee Partnerships, contributing her expertise to foster knowledge in the field.

Previously, she worked in Europe for over a decade, holding positions at the Fulbright Commission in Helsinki, the European Association for International Education (EAIE), and as a research fellow at the University of Jyväskylä. She has authored/edited numerous international publications and was a Principal Investigator for research projects with the Finnish Ministry for Education and Culture and UNESCO. Weimer holds a doctorate from the University of Georgia, USA, and received a Fulbright grant to conduct her dissertation fieldwork in Finland. She also received an Erasmus Mundus joint master’s degree, where she lived and studied in Norway, Finland, and Portugal and served as the president of the Erasmus Mundus Student & Alumni Association.

Eric Wirth, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Eric Wirth is an experienced international education executive with over two decades in the field. Currently, he serves as the Manager of Global Partnerships at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, shaping the university’s global partnership strategy. He facilitates international agreements and develops innovative partnership models, leveraging strong data analysis skills for strategic planning and decision-making.

Previously, Eric held leadership roles at The School for International Training (SIT), including Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services and Associate Dean for Admissions. In these positions, he led teams, developed enrollment strategies, and achieved significant enrollment growth. He managed crisis situations, such as the 2020 COVID-19 travel evacuation, and implemented technology-driven solutions to enhance recruitment.

Eric holds multiple degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, including a Master of Arts in Hispanic Literatures and Linguistics and Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees, both cum laude. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Eric is an active member of AIEA and NAFSA and a current board member of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts. He is the past board president of the International Language Institute of Massachusetts.