Meet Our Team

Renee first visited the Soviet Union in 1990 to study at MGU after graduating from Boston University with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. After working at a technical translation company in Boston, she returned to Moscow in 1992 for permanent residence until 1998. During that time she worked in the Russian financial markets and eventually founded SRAS as well as co-founded Alinga Consulting Group (now merged to Bellerage Alinga). Renee is now based in Woodside, CA with her family and continues to travel frequently not only to SRAS sites, but throughout the world and with eyes open for new ideas in education abroad.

Josh has lived in Moscow since 2003, when he first arrived to study Russian with SRAS. He holds an M.A. in Theatre and a B.A. in History from Idaho State University, where his masters thesis was written on the political economy of Soviet-era censorship organs affecting the stage. At SRAS, Josh assists in program development and leads our Home and Abroad Programs. He is also the editor-in-chief for the SRAS newsletter, the SRAS Family of Sites, and Vestnik. He has previously served as Communications Director to Bellerage Alinga and has served as a consultant or translator to several businesses and organizations with interests in Russia.

Lisa, to the perplexity of her German-rooted North Dakotan family, graduated from Reed College with a BA in Russian Literature. After attending SRAS’s Translation Abroad Program (now part of our Home and Abroad Programs), she worked in Moscow for two years as an in-house translator and as the SRAS Moscow Student Coordinator. Lisa was then promoted within SRAS and now leads our admissions & enrollment processes, and is our Russian visa lead. She studied previously at Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg and at Moscow State University. When she is not working, you might find her running in the woods of Minnesota, playing with her three children, or on a canoe in the Boundary Waters.

April first traveled to Russia in 1996 when she was a student at Georgetown University. A few months turned into a few years and several cities in Russia before she returned to the US and and completed her B.S. and M.S. in Communications at Northwestern University. April has worked with several international organizations in both the U.S. and abroad including the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), the U.S. Consulate, American Library Association and Upwardly Global. She also has experience in higher education administration. In 2013, April returned to St. Petersburg, Russia where she resides with her family. She enjoys the daily discoveries that come with living abroad and strives to facilitate authentic cultural experiences for  visitors. At SRAS, April oversees the development and delivery of student services and operations across our locations. She also contributes to program innovations and development of faculty-led programming.

Molly first went to Russia in 1991, landing in Moscow as Yeltsin was speaking on a tank outside the parliament. Molly graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Slavic and Eurasian Studies. She worked for MIR Corporation in 1994 and 1997, having great adventures riding the Trans-Siberian and searching Tuva for throat singers and camel herders. Molly began her journey in the world of study abroad in 2002 and has worked with universities across Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. She joined SRAS in January of 2019 and will work to develop new university partnerships, while expanding and strengthening our existing university relationships to better serve more students. Molly is based in Austin, Texas where she lives with her family.

Andrei leads our archive research services, performing remote archive research and consultations for researchers around the globe. Andrei has MA degree from West Virginia University in Morgantown, USA. His personal interests are history and literature and research methods in social science. He has years of archival research experience.

Alex holds a BA in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) and an MA in Translation. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in philology. He came to Moscow from Tolyatti to study at Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2013 and has been in love with the city ever since. For SRAS, Alex assists in coordinating cultural activities and in providing SRAS archive research services. When he’s not occupied with that, Alex likes to play guitar, sing, read, play video games, and make YouTube videos.

A native of St. Petersburg, Elena holds a BAs in English Pedagogy and Humanities from St. Petersburg State Pedagogical University. As SRAS’ Administrative Specialist, Elena is responsible for providing overall support to our organization and its various programs and services. In her free time, Elena likes traveling and exploring new places, meeting with friends, and playing sports.

The son of parents with international careers, TJ first moved to Eastern Europe in 2000 and then Western Europe in 2009. He often joked with his peers at Baylor University that moving to America was his “study abroad” experience. At Baylor, he double majored in Russian Language and Digital Media Studies. TJ, an SRAS graduate (St. Petersburg, 2020), joined our team in 2022. Now in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, TJ assists students and facilitates and enhances our programs in Central Asia. When not working, you can find him camping, restoring computers, or singing impromptu around the house.

As SRAS’s Program Manager in Bishkek, Taylor assists students and helps enhance and develop academic programming in Central Asia. She received her BA in Russian from Vanderbilt University and her MA in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Washington. She studied in St. Petersburg in 2016 and taught EFL in Vladimir, Russia for two years. Before joining SRAS, Taylor worked as a Fulbright ETA in Bishkek. In her free time, Taylor volunteers with Respond Crisis Translation.