MEET THE ITA
ADMISSIONS TEAM

Since his first trip to Europe as a teen, Ian's passion for travel and adventure has continued to grow. An ITA Founder and our most senior advisor, Ian has helped hundreds of people live their dream of teaching English abroad.

Sarah grew up in the Wisconsin countryside and taught English in Japan. Sarah has an extensive background in the field of international education. She worked for the University of Illinois study abroad office, the Institute of International Education in Washington D.C., and worked on the Fullbright Program.

Mike studied abroad outside of Sydney, Australia while completing his Communications degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. After college, he taught English abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand for two years before returning to the USA. Prior to joining the ITA team, Mike worked at Greenheart International.

Originally from a small town in Michigan, Matt first lived abroad in Germany to learn the language. He later spent two years teaching English in Seoul, South Korea, traveling the region and visiting countries like Japan and India.

In 2009, Michael became TEFL Certified and moved to Madrid, Spain to teach English. Invariably, whenever asked how he feels about the time he spent living and teaching there, his answer is the same: “Choosing to move abroad was the best decision I have ever made in my life.”

Born & raised in Chicago, Andrew is an International TEFL Academy grad and taught English in South Korea. When he's not working, you can find him hanging around the lake with his pup!

From China to Denmark, Liz is an avid world traveler who has lived abroad extensively and traveled to over 50 countries. Liz left her job in the film industry in Los Angeles to join the team at ITA in Chicago!

Erica was raised in a small town in Michigan, which inspired her desire to discover what the rest of the world had to offer. Erica spent over four years living abroad all over Spain!

An ITA alum herself, Sandra spent five years teaching English in Changhua, Taiwan, before returning home to start her role here at ITA in October of 2021. She attended the University of South Florida where she majored in Criminology.

After teaching in Georgia through the Peace Corps, Ambrosia headed to China to teach for a year before returning home to get TEFL certified right here at ITA. She later went on to teach English in South Korea before moving back to the USA to join Team ITA in October of 2021.

Hailing from smalltown Montgomery, AL, Shelby had big dreams of traveling the globe but was never surrounded by examples of how to do it. An ITA alum herself, Shelby lived and taught in Spain for 4 years; 2 years in Madrid, 1 year in Tenerife, and 1 year in Gran Canaria before Covid-19 cut her travel plans short!

 

After a solo backpacking trip through Asia that led to running a marathon on a whim in Thailand, Osbaldo was hooked on travel. Because of his newfound love of travel, he became TEFL certified and spent the next 3.5 years teaching English in Jakarta, Indonesia. Osbaldo is excited to help people change their lives through teaching abroad!

 

A deep love of surfing and wanting to ride waves around the world is what led Aaron to teach English abroad. During his 5 years teaching English in Changhua, Taiwan, he was able to surf, travel, and explore 13 different countries before returning back home to Florida. Aaron joined the ITA Admissions team in January of 2023.

 

Abriana's travel addiction stemmed from her move to New York for college. After graduating, she took a backpacking trip through Vietnam, and through meeting other travelers, she learned about teaching English abroad. Abriana was soon TEFL certified and spent 1.5 years teaching English in Taiwan followed by ESL tutoring while traveling around Thailand.

As a child, Sydney's travels never went beyond her neighboring states. She spent her Saturday's watching Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Pokemon which blossomed into a love for all things Japan, and later, a semester studying abroad there. Sydney spent 4 years teaching English in South Korea before returning home to the USA.

During her senior year at WSU, Ashley participated in a study abroad program for conservation biology in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest... and the rest is history! Shortly after, she spent the following 5 years exploring Peru while completing her graduate studies remotely and working for a virtual travel agency where she met her now husband! Ashley joined team ITA in January of 2023.