<<BACK

(Click on names to view bios)

Megan Miller Yoo Hyogo-ken ALT, 2000-2002 JETAANY Vice President, 2007-2008; President 2008-Present

Originally from Philadelphia, Megan graduated from Lehigh University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Minor in Writing. Upon graduation she participated in the JET Program as an ALT for two years in the suburbs of Kobe. During that time she created Volunteer Special Interest Group (VSIG) for AJET and also served in various roles for the Hyogo AJET group. After returning to the US, Megan took an Engineering position at a property insurance company in Washington, DC. From there she has continued in the commercial insurance industry, moving from Engineering to Construction Underwriting and from DC to New York City.

Megan has been involved with the Philadelphia, DC, and New York Chapters of JETAA since her return from Japan. She has been serving as an executive officer in New York for the past two years. Outside of work and JETAA activities, Megan also started her own small non-profit corporation, Charity Chic, which raises money for impoverished children in Africa. Her most recent campaign helped raise $27,000 for a community center in Zambia that will be built this summer.

Megan is currently employed at Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, and is also pursuing her MBA at NYU. She lives with her fiancé, Il Sun Yoo, in Long Island City.

Monica Yuki Saitama-ken ALT, 2002-2004 Social Chair, 2006-2009; Vice-President 2009-Present

Originally from Malibu, California, Monica attended the University of Colorado and has a B.S. in Business Administration with a double emphasis in Marketing and Human Resource Management. After graduating, she decided to trade the Rocky Mountains for the Kanto Plain and participated in the JET Programme. While serving as a high school ALT in Iruma-shi, Saitama-ken from 2002-2004, Monica developed a greater appreciation for Japanese culture and her family heritage. During her time in Japan, Monica performed in several traditional Japanese dance performances, joined the Ikebana club and coached her high school’s girl’s softball team.

Now residing in New York City, Monica works for USA Weekend Magazine as a Research Analyst. When not researching the hottest trends in consumer purchasing habits, Monica keeps herself busy playing softball, volleyball, and training for her next NYC Marathon. She is currently the Vice President of the Alpha Chi Omega Alumni Chapter in NYC and is involved in many NY Cares philanthropic activities. She also has a passion for travel which has taken her all over the world, most recently to the Galapagos Islands.

Monica has been an active member of JETAANY for the past three years, most recently in the role of Social Chair. She looks forward to continuing her involvement with the JET alumni community and serving as this year’s Vice President.

Amber Liang Kochi-ken ALT, 2006-2008 JETAANY Secretary 2009-Present

Amber Liang (aka Yan Xiang Liang) was born in the inaka of Yangjiang, China and immigrated to New York at the ripe old age of 6. She attended Stuyvesant High School, and later went on to study Psychology at Cornell University. Having been enamored by Japan on a previous visit, Amber eagerly accepted a position on the JET Program to teach at Kochi Nishi Senior Senior High School.

While on JET, she planned cultural and social events as social chair, served as creative manager for Kochi’s annual fundraising play, ran Casa de Amber (JET hostel), managed the Kochi Ultimate Frisbee team of hard-knocks, and initiated a Peer Mentorship Program–which she hopes to introduce to the JETAANY community. Upon returning to New York City, Amber proactively involved herself in JETAANY, helping to plan the successful Author Showcase and other events. Amber’s hobbies include: giving stickers to students in class (purikura work best), traveling to places where she can’t pronounce the local fare, meeting new and interesting people, and monkeying around. Amber is extremely honored and excited to be serving as JETAANY’s secretary. Feel free to drop her a line anytime at secretary [at] jetaany [dot] org. Yoroshiku Ongegaishimasu!

Kelly Nixon Iwate-ken ALT, 2003-2006 JETAANY Treasurer 2009-Present

Born and raised in North Carolina, Kelly’s first adventures on foreign soil began when she pioneered the first study abroad exchange program between the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies from 2000 to 2001.  After spending nine life-changing months in Nagoya she decided to try to return to Japan post-college on the JET Program.  In 2002 she graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in International Business and set off for the inaka of northern Japan soon after.

During the three years Kelly spent as the resident ALT at a high school in Iwate she also acted as Area Coordinator for AJET and lectured extensively to new ALTs on topics such as personal finance and budget traveling.  On the side she volunteered with the local International Center to create an intensive English preparatory program for young children going abroad and dabbled in market consulting for a local cosmetics business.

Shortly after moving to New York in 2007 Kelly began her current position as Executive Assistant with Japan Airlines.  Whenever possible she attempts to maximize the travel benefits she receives through work.  Around town she is in frequent pursuit of the best possible bowl of ramen, and can be spotted attending as many live shows, improv acts, stage stories, happy hours and film screenings as her budget allows.

Steven Horowitz Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi ALT 1992-94 Professional Outreach & Development 2009-Present JETAA NY Newsletter Editor 2002-08

A New Jersey native, Steven is a lawyer by training and works for a bankruptcy services company in New York.  After JET, he went to Duke Law School and spent time working for two Japanese law firms and studying at Waseda University before moving to New York to work for a law firm.  In 2002 he began serving as the editor of the JETAANY Newsletter (now the JETAANY Magazine)  and in 2005 was JETAANY’s representative at the JETAA International Meeting in Japan.  He used his role as Newsletter editor to reach out to newsletter editors in other chapters, eventually leading him to create the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group  and JetWit.com in 2008 as a resource for the JET alum community.  His goal is to help JET alums connect with each other and find and create work opportunities for themselves.  In addition to his JETAANY work, Steven is also the creator of Bankruptcy Bill, a cartoon about bankruptcy lawyers (and few bankruptcy haiku too!)  Steven lives in Brooklyn with his wife Wynne and can often be found playing ultimate frisbee in or near Prospect Park.

Lee-Sean Huang Oita-ken, Nakatsu-shi ALT, 2003-2006 JETAANY Webmaster 2006-Present

Born in Taiwan and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Lee-Sean graduated from Harvard in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government.  After graduation, Lee-Sean moved to Nakatsu City in Oita Prefecture on the southern Japanese island Kyushu, where he worked as an Assistant Language Teacher for three years.

Lee-Sean moved to New York in 2006, and began volunteering as the webmaster of JETAANY.org shortly thereafter.  He has worked at Avaaz.org and Human Rights Watch, and is currently a masters candidate at the NYU Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program (class of 2010).  He is also an independent artist and technologist and a co-founder and producer at Hepnova Multimedia, a genre-defying music collective, multimedia design company, and modern lifestyle brand.

In 2008, Lee-Sean worked with Steven Horowitz to launch Jetwit.com, a site for the JET alumni freelance and professional community.

Catch Lee-Sean online at LEESEAN.net.

<<BACK