Great Start Staff

All Staff Photo

“The Great Start staff was so welcoming and made me feel so included, especially as a reserved person. I am so so grateful for this experience. Shoutout to the staff members I worked with for sharing jokes with me and for the best paper plate award ever!!! I will hang it up on my wall and never forget it. Thank you all so much!!" - Great Start 2022 participant

Great Start gives you the opportunity to experience campus while in small groups led by experienced student staff. Our staff is comprised of students with various majors and class standings who know what commuter life is like and are trained to help new commuter students in their transition to the University of Miami. After a year of preparing to welcome commuter students to campus, Great Start staff members spend the entire weekend of Great Start building community with program participants. You’ll reconnect with many of the Great Start staff members during the ’Cane Kickoff orientation program.

Program Coordinators

The Student Program Coordinators serve as the lead student facilitators of Great Start. They supervise the staff and manage Great Start both as the face of the program as well as behind the scenes.

 

Albertie Regalado (he/him)

Program Coordinator

Biochemistry and Nutrition; Psychology

Hanna Ebrahimi (she/her)

Program Coordinator

Biochemistry and Nutrition; Global Health Studies


Steering Committee

The steering committee consists of five staff members who serve as the chairs of various committees in the Great Start program. Each chair oversees unique projects which come together to make Great Start an exciting and seamless experience for new students.

Erika Del Valle (she/her)

Transition and Student Involvement Chair

Biology

Jana Faour (she/her)

Recreation Chair

Psychology; Criminology

Kat Hernandez (she/her)

Hospitality and Sponsorship Chair

Political Science; History; Psychology

Maria Angelica Petit (she/her)

Marketing and Design Chair

Psychology; Creative Advertising

Mayu Lorenzo (she/her)

Outreach and Registration Chair

Exercise Physiology


Staff

The Great Start staff members are student leaders who facilitate new student engagement in Great Start. Staff members provide mentorship and help build community throughout the Great Start program. Staff members are a wealth of knowledge on how to be successful as a commuter student at the University of Miami.

Adrianna Zambrano (she/her)

Staff

Political Science; Criminology; Sociology

Alex Fernandez (he/him)

Staff

Civil Engineering

Ali Sari (he/him)

Staff

Health Science; Biology

Amy Estrada (she/her)

Staff

Health Science

Ana Lopez Gomes (she/her)

Staff

Marketing

Andres Hernandez (he/him)

Staff

Neuroscience

Cameron Araujo (she/her)

Staff

Health Science

Carlos Gutierrez (he/him)

Staff

Biology

Carolina Juara (she/her)

Staff

International Studies; Computer Science

Christina Silva (she/her)

Staff

Economics; Marketing

Daniela Dechard (she/her)

Staff

Health Science

Daniella Blanco (she/her)

Staff

Political Science

Emma Balleste (she/her)

Staff

Broadcast Journalism

Gabriela Colado (she/her)

Staff

Architecture

Hedy Portillo (she/her)

Staff

Neuroscience

Joeyliz Cortes (she/her)

Staff

Biology

Jonas Junquera (he/him)

Staff

Environmental Engineering

Juan Laracuente (he/him)

Staff

Environmental Engineering

Kyle Araujo (he/him)

Staff

Exercise Physiology

Lara Zadeh (she/her)

Staff

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Nataly Leiva (she/her)

Staff

Health Management and Policy; Legal Studies

Sebastian Barales (he/him)

Staff

Exercise Physiology

Victoria Alves (she/her)

Staff

Biochemistry and Nutrition ; Spanish

Yanesi Gonzalez (he/him)

Staff

Political Science