J.M. Ascienzo comes to Meridian from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) where he served as an Outreach Director, implementing advocacy and partnership strategy for private and public sector leaders from international development and diplomacy, business, NGO, faith and military communities to advocate to Congress for the US foreign assistance budget. During his time at USGLC, J.M. served as a Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. Previously, as a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Thailand), J.M. served as a Government Relations Officer, Consultant and Fellow at the National Peace Corps Association offices in Washington. An active volunteer since serving with AmeriCorps VISTA, J.M. taught ESL in South Korea and Vietnam, and recently partnered with a Norwegian NGO as a refugee camp volunteer in Greece. He holds a BA in History from Auburn University and an MA in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  J.M. joins us as a Program Officer working on the International Visitor Leadership Program.