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.

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!

 

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.

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.

Coming from a generational airline family, travel is in Kristi's blood! A post-grad trip through Europe left Kristi not wanting to creturn home. Less than a year later, she was TEFL certified through ITA and ready to begin her adventure. She's lived in Japan, Brazil, and Spain, and taught English online while traveling the world!

Studying in London for a semester of college is what opened Ryan's eyes to the possibilities of living abroad. He still considers his time in London as his jumping-off point for his lifelong interest in education abroad. He went on to spend over ten years teaching English in China and now he wants to encourage others to pursue life-changing experiences overseas, similar to the one he had!

Inspired as a child by the National Geographic and Ernest Hemingway novels, Eileen knew that the world was her oyster and that she had to explore as much of it as possible! She studied abroad in Spain for over two years, served in the Peace Corps, Dominican Republic, in 2022, and taught English while volunteering in Zimbabwe with African Impact in May of 2018. She joined Team ITA in June of 2023.

After not studying abroad and just staying local for college, something clicked for Kenneth after graduation. He saw a childhood friend galavanting through Thailand on Instagram and wanted to do the same! He immediately got TEFL certified and spent a year each teaching in the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Spain and the rest is history!