CSIET Board of Directors

Mark Uyl has served as the Executive Director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association since May 2018, becoming the association’s fifth full-time director. He first joined the MHSAA staff as an Assistant Director in January of 2004. He served on the Board of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) from 2011-2015, and served as the Board Chair in 2015. Currently, he serves as the lone high school representative on the Officiating Development Alliance (ODA), which consists of the supervisor of officials for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, CFL, MLS and NCAA Division I sports. Uyl is a 1996 graduate of Calvin College (NCAA Division III), where he was a four-year starter on the baseball team. Most of Uyl’s educational career had been at Thornapple Kellogg Schools in Middleville, MI. He started there as a high school history teacher and varsity football coach. He returned to his alma mater as athletic director at Caledonia High School, and then returned to Thornapple Kellogg to assume the athletic director’s and assistant principal’s post there up until his appointment to the MHSAA staff. He served as a NCAA Division I baseball umpire for 22 seasons primarily in the Big Ten Conference. He has umpired ten NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals, five Super Regionals and the 2014 and 2017 College World Series in Omaha, serving as the crew chief in 2017. Mark also umpired the 2007 Pan American Games played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is also involved with college football in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NCAA D-III) as a former on-field official (referee) and currently serves as the league’s coordinator of officials. Uyl’s wife, Marcy, is an accomplished educator and coach, having served as a high school varsity basketball coach since 1994. They have three children, Jackson, Grant, and Madison.”

Craig Anderson became the 32nd individual to serve the IHSA as an Assistant Executive Director when he was named to the position by the IHSA Board of Directors on February 11, 2010. On June 9, 2015, Anderson was named to replace Marty Hickman as Executive Director of the IHSA, upon Hickman’s retirement in January 2016. This makes Anderson the seventh individual to serve as the organization’s Executive Director.

A 1987 graduate of Cambridge High School, Anderson participated in football, basketball, track & field, chorus, band and was the lead in a school musical during his high school career. He moved on to Monmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education/Mathematics in 1991, after high school and enjoyed a standout career for the Fighting Scots on the football field and basketball court. Anderson went on to earn a Master’s of Arts Degree in Educational Administration from Illinois State University in 1997.

Prior to starting at the IHSA, Anderson held the position of Athletic Director at Washington High School and also served as the Tournament Director for the nationally renowned State Farm Basketball Tournament of Champions. He began his teaching and coaching career at Morton High School, before moving on to Olympia High School, where he was the head football coach for two seasons. Anderson then moved into the role of Activities Director at Olympia, a position he held from 2002-05 before leaving for Washington in 2006.

Anderson has held a number of leadership positions during his career, including associations with the Illinois Athletic Directors Association Board of Directors and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He also served on IHSA’s Athletic Administrator Committee and Legislative Commission prior to his hiring.

Luiz is currently the vice-president and a Board member of International Cultural Exchange Services (ICES), an organization I joined in 2007. ICES was founded in 1991, and operates J-1 high school, F-1 high school, Short-Term, Outbound programs and virtual exchange programs, among other ones not covered by CSIET. Among those, J-1 high school is the most important. ICES has over 600 students on J-1 and F-1 programs in 2020 and close to 2000 scheduled for 2021. Among his responsibilities with the organization, he oversees the financial department, human resources, IT, sales, F-1 and other programs, relationship with new and existing international partners and develop new programs. He is also an Alternative Responsible Officer with the DoS. Prior to ICES, with a BA in Economics, a BA in Accounting, a MBA and a Masters in Accounting. His career started in 1989 as a CPA for PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers), and continued solid as controller, corporate controller and CFO for large corporations such as McDonald’s, Tyco and First Student/ Laidlaw, having participated in committees with the SEC and several leaderships positions and projects worldwide in USA, Europe and South America. Currently, Luiz has been serving for the last 2 years on the advisory board for the graduate college of UNLV (University of Nevada – Las Vegas). He has attended all CSIET conferences since 2008. With CSIET, he was part of the Conference Planning Committee for the 2015 and 2021 conference, and has also been part of the F-1 committee as well.

Jacki was born in New Jersey, but raised in the heart of the Midwest and currently works from a field office outside of Kansas City, Kansas. She has spent almost two decades working in student exchange. However, she spent many years working in the areas of administration and banking, before finding her passion in the field of international cultural and educational exchange. Beginning as a host family, she has gone on to host 14 young people from all over the world, whom she now calls family. After witnessing the impact these young people had on her family, schools, and community she joined the staff at CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange. Following her start as a Local Coordinator. She moved on to the positions of Regional Director and Director of Training. She, then, joined Pan Atlantic Foundation at its inception as Program Director, and has especially enjoyed her work building Pan Atlantic Foundation into a program that values its field staff and holds to the heart of why they do what they do.  She has worked Pre-Departure Orientations for students and their natural families in Europe, has participated in conducting Orientations in the United States, and has overseen thousands of student placements with families throughout the United States. She attended Johnson County Community College.  Jacki is also a grandmother of three and mother of two married sons.  She is also passionate about Kansas City Chiefs football and Kansas Jayhawk basketball.

Marcelle Benedicta is Vice President at Greenheart International, bringing over 20 years of experience in international education, nonprofit leadership, marketing, and global event management. A former exchange student from Jakarta, Indonesia, Marcelle is a passionate advocate for cultural exchange and has held leadership roles across all of Greenheart’s J-1 Visa programs, including Summer Work Travel, Secondary School, Intern, Trainee, and Teacher designations. She currently leads the organization’s marketing, communications, and cultural outreach efforts, and plays a key role in industry engagement through her work with the Alliance for International Exchange and CSIET. Prior to Greenheart, she managed large-scale events for one of Indonesia’s top event planning firms. Marcelle holds an MBA from Loyola University Chicago and a BA in Communications and Public Relations from Marquette University.

Dr. William (“Bill”) Dant has over 30 years’ experience in the design, delivery and evaluation of education, exchange and leadership training programs and projects in the international arena. 

Dant spent ten years in the U.S. Federal service, working in international program management positions for the U.S. Department of State and the Peace Corps. His work over several decades in the private sector has included educational leadership positions with three key international education and training organizations: World Learning in Vermont; and Youth For Understanding Intercultural Exchange and the Institute of International Education (IIE), both in Washington, DC. 

Bill’s global work includes long-term assignments in West Africa, North Africa and Europe, and short-term field work in several countries in the Middle as well as in Latin America, Eurasia and Southeast Asia.

He now is principal of his own international education consulting firm, WPD Global Solutions, LLC. He has provided consulting services to numerous organizations and governments around the world, focusing on intercultural communications, leadership training and educational exchange evaluation.

Dant holds a Ph.D. in International Education Policy & Leadership from the University of Maryland, a Masters from the S.I.T. Graduate Institute in Vermont and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, Washington, DC.  He also studied at the University of Strasbourg, France as an exchange student, and at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, during his doctoral studies.

Cristina Figueiro is the founder and president of ExchangeMate International Education. She is originally from Brazil, and her first time in the USA was as a high school exchange student. She had such an amazing experience during her exchange program that she decided that she wanted to work with international students and help other teens have the opportunity to experience life abroad. She went to University in Brazil and majored in Tourism. After she graduated in 2002, she opened an agency to send students abroad. Her agency in Brazil grew rapidly, and they started opening franchises in other cities and states in Brazil. In 2010 she moved to the USA to start her own High School Program. In the beginning her American organization would only place Brazilian students from her Brazilian agency, and with time they started welcoming students from other countries and other Brazilian agencies as well. In 2016, she left the Brazilian company to focus on ExchangeMate International Education expansion in the USA. Cristina Figueiro has been an active member in the International Education Industry for over 20 years. She was featured in the Lead5050 #First50 group (https://www.lead5050.com/first50/cristina-figueiro). This is a group of inspirational women who have had a real impact on their organizations and their industry as a whole. She was also invited to participate in the Empodera Movement, which is a select group of successful Brazilian women in the USA, and her story was published in the first edition of the book “Mulheres Que Empoderam” (Women Who Empower).

Benjamin Gaylord leads a range of programs for international young professionals and secondary school students from dozens of countries, focusing on program design and management, as well as participant support. Since 2013, he has supported American Councils’ strategic planning process and organizational development.

Mr. Gaylord joined American Councils in 1995, serving in both the overseas field offices as well as the headquarters office in Washington, DC. He has worked on program design, participant support, recruitment, event planning, and training. Since 2004, he has led the inbound secondary school and professional programs departments, overseeing significant growth and new partnerships for these programs. He also served as American Councils ombudsman from 2008-19.

Mr. Gaylord has a bachelor’s degree in Russian language and literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a master’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University. He has significant experience living and traveling extensively in Eurasia, Europe, and Latin America and is fluent in Russian, Spanish, and Dutch.

Ben serves as the principal at Ottawa Hills Jr/Sr. High School, a nationally recognized institution in Toledo, Ohio. Their school has a rich tradition of hosting international students since 1962, welcoming students from 44 countries, and sending our own students to 33 countries for extended stays. Additionally, their juniors and seniors regularly embark on biannual school-sponsored trips to destinations such as Spain, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and England. Leveraging school and community resources, he has facilitated educational trips for teachers and administrators to China, Colombia, Turkey, and Kenya. Our dedication to global education has earned us recognition as a USA Medallion School.

As principal, he is a staunch advocate for world language programs, DEI initiatives, and positive and welcoming school culture. He is committed to ensuring that their students and staff gain a nuanced understanding of the world through diverse perspectives, demonstrate empathy towards others, and appreciate the diversity within our community and beyond. Their efforts are supported by a range of clubs and activities including the International Student Exchange Organization, Model United Nations, Spanish Club, French Club, Korean Club, Culture Club, and the Gay Straight Alliance.

Additionally, he has partnered with community organizations to provide assistance for recent refugees from Syria and Ukraine. In his capacity as both teacher and administrator, he has played integral roles in school improvement, accreditation processes, district-wide initiatives, and strategic planning.

Most recently, he led Ottawa Hills Jr/Sr. High School through a successful accreditation process with Cognia, achieving high marks across all evaluated standards. Additionally, he spearheaded a comprehensive strategic planning initiative that emphasized global education as a central component of our mission.

He is eager to contribute his skills, experience, and passion to advance the CSIET board’s mission of fostering global understanding and creating transformative educational opportunities for students worldwide