Meet the Team

My name is Francesca and I joined the YFU global office as the Communication and Advocacy Assistant in 2023. My tasks include supporting YFU’s internal and external communication, support advocacy and fundraising activities and support the implementation of the Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES). I have been an exchange student in Australia. I value working at YFU because I believe that intercultural learning leads to the development of a set of attitudes and skills that help young people to understand themselves and others to be able to act for social transformation. I am really excited to be part of the GMC and I believe in spreading the YFU Spirit as much as possible!

My name is Franca, and I am 24 years old. Born in Germany, I am currently doing a traineeship with the EU in Hong Kong. Thanks to YFU, I had the privilege of doing a student exchange in Tennessee, USA in 2013/2014. My positive experience during this time and also that of my family at home, who took in a host student from Thailand during this time, motivated my family and myself to become active in the YFU host family support. By now getting involved in YFU’s GMC, I am looking forward to an exciting environment of connecting with other YFU volunteers from all over the world, combining our creativity and skills to promote YFU's core philosophy of bringing people from around the world closer together. YFU thrives on its long history, diversity of experience and openness, but most importantly, on the commitment of its community, whether it be former exchange students, host families or other volunteers who support YFU. For me, it is precisely this YFU community in its interconnectedness that embodies an uplifting approach to contemporary challenges and future vision that I believe to be particularly valuable in times when young people, in particular, feel uncertain. That's why I'm very much looking forward to hearing from all of you in the global YFU community as you share your stories with us.

I’m Jordan Bonnell. I’m originally from outside Philadelphia, PA, USA but currently living in Auckland, New Zealand. I first got involved with YFU in 2014/2015 as a host sister. I was a host sister again in 2016/2017 which is also when I started volunteering with YFU and have just never stopped volunteering. I’ve held many roles with YFU while in the US including study abroad interviewer, area representative, and a member of the Anniversary Celebratory Team’s social media and organizational matters teams. During this time, I graduated from university with a bachelor’s in international business and culture. I recently moved to New Zealand where I currently work as a receptionist administrator for the University of Auckland and volunteer for YFU Australia/New Zealand wherever needed. I’m very excited to get to know other YFU volunteers and create engaging campaigns while being apart of the Global Media Committee. My wish for YFU is that more people continue to get involved and create those connections that all of us that have the “YFU spirit” never stop talking about.

Hey, my name is Lena and I'm from Germany and I'm currently living in Munich, where I'm working in the motorsports industry while studying business and computer science. I did a music exchange year in Hungary in 2019/20 and even though I was part of the Corona year, I have been volunteering ever since. I was part of the buddy program, the diversity project and I organize the follow-up meetings for our exchange students. I ended up in the media because I am a TikTok producer for our YFU account, and I am really excited to be a part of the GMC. I hope we can spread the message, purpose and spirit of YFU worldwide and give a voice to everyone on our platforms. Through YFU, my life has been changed - to something extremely special. People enrich me and I learn more every day. I have been given a lot of opportunities and no matter if volunteer, host family ,etc. - everyone contributes their part. This will be another share to it. I hope to meet great people from around the world, hear great stories and adventures, and that we all have a great time together. So tell us about yourself - each and every one of you is special and I would love to hear more about you.