Alissa Green
Communications Assistant, External Relations Department

While Alissa is a born and bred Chicagoan, she fondly thinks of Galway, Ireland as her home away from home. Studying at the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2004 led to a fascination with irish trad music -- as well as with the continent of Europe in its entirety. She graduated from Tufts University in 2005 where she majored in English and wrote a novella for her senior honors thesis. Shortly thereafter, wanting to work on both her flamenco and español, Alissa traveled back across the Pond to participate in a language auxiliary program sponsored by the Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Andalucía; she taught English at an elementary school in the small town of Priego de Cordoba. Alissa was thrilled to join CDS in March 2008.

Chad Robertson
Coordinator, External Relations Department

It was the electric atmosphere of Berlin that really sparked Chad’s interest in Germany. After visiting the city in 1999, he knew it was it and that he had to go back. A semester study abroad stint at the Humboldt Universitaet in 2002 only fanned the flames. After graduating from the University of Texas in 2003 with an English/German double major, he found himself back on German soil, this time at the universities in Dresden and Zittau with the Robert Bosch Tutor Program 2004-05. When the work with the Bosch program was finished, he packed his bags and found a flat in Berlin where he taught English with the Sprachcenter Mouroum. Now that he’s back in the good ol’ US of A, you can find him wearing burnt orange and rooting on the University of Texas to their latest national championship. Chad rang in the 2007 New Year by joining CDS.

Helkin von Schwaab
Manager, External Relations Department

Helkin has lived in several German cities as well as traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia. While working in Berlin at InWEnt, she helped organize a parallel conference to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. After completing her studies, she returned to Germany to teach English at the Brandenburg Technical University as a participant on the Robert Bosch Tutor Program. She is a graduate of Yale University with a dual degree in History and Political Science and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Fundraising through the George H. Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. Helkin was glad to join the CDS team in Fall 2004.

Emily Wiechers
Marketing Assistant, External Relations Department

Emily was raised on the lake overlooking Canada on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up on an international border facilitated her early interest in foreign cultures and thirst for exploration. Emily has traveled, studied and worked throughout Europe, most recently on the program StudentServices International in Germany through CDS. She is a graduate of the California State University Global Business Management program and enjoys travel, surfing, cooking, and creating photomontages.