The mission of Best Delegate is to help students and teachers change the world through Model UN. Model UN helped us get into college, develop leadership skills, and explore the world. Now we share that experience and our passion for the activity with others.
Best Delegate is an education company that accomplishes its goals primarily through three ways:
BestDelegate.com: We promote Model UN conferences and publicize team achievements around the world on our blog, BestDelegate.com, in order to share the value of Model UN and to help connect the global Model UN community.
Leadership Training: We teach students the leadership skills they need to be successful delegates, conference organizers, and future leaders of the world through workshops, private coaching, and strategy guides.
Teacher Empowerment: We run free seminars, design custom educational materials, and consult for teachers and organizations interested in bringing Model UN, international studies curriculum, or leadership education to their classrooms.
Best Delegate was founded in 2007 and is based out of New York City and Orange County, California.
Meet the Best Delegate Team
Ryan Villanueva
In his senior year of college, Ryan reflected on what he had learned after eight years of doing Model UN and asked himself, “What am I supposed to do with this knowledge?” He then started a blog, Best Delegate, and began writing down his strategies, stories, and opinions on MUN.
Ryan’s Model UN career started as a freshman at Mission Viejo High School in Orange County, California, where he served as Secretary-General of his high school’s conference. He went to Yale University and continued doing MUN, winning awards with the travel team and serving as Secretary-General of the college conference. Ryan also became involved with UNA-USA, doing a summer internship with them, presenting at their MUN leadership summit, and staffing several Global Classrooms conferences.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale, Ryan moved to New York City to work for Goldman Sachs. He helps students improve their Model UN skills and works with teachers to use Model UN in the classroom.
Learn more about Ryan by reading Why I Left My Job for Model UN.
Kevin Felix Chan
On his personal blog, Kevin lists one of his top life experiences as being Secretary-General of UNA-USA MUN and giving the opening speech in the UN General Assembly Hall to over 2,000 students, teachers, and the real UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.
Kevin—or KFC, as he’s better known around the MUN community—was Head Delegate for the UCLA MUN Travel Team. He has staffed over 25 conferences and served as Secretary-General of four: UNA-USA MUN in New York, the UCLA MUN College Conference, Global Classrooms: Los Angeles, and the Rowland High School MUN Conference. In addition, he continues to serve as the coordinator for the Contra Costa County MUN Conference.
KFC received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and earned certificates from Cornell University and Fudan University in China. He previously held management positions in marketing, operations, and sales for AT&T and draws on his experience to teach leadership skills, help teams and conferences grow, and analyze trends in the Model UN community.
Learn more about KFC by reading Why I Left My Job for Model UN, Too.
Sarah Lambino
Before Sarah even raised a placard, she first got involved with Model UN by helping her older sister develop chair training simulations. After hearing travel team and chair training stories, she attended her first Model UN conference in 2002. Sarah quickly became involved with Washington State Model United Nations at the University of Washington and served as its Secretary-General.
After graduating from college, Sarah moved to New York and began organizing conferences professionally as a lead event planner for the Global Classrooms Model UN program. She organized conferences in major cities around the US, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Boston. She also assisted the Global Classrooms international project partners with conference training. In addition to event planning, Sarah was also an integral part of the redesign of the Global Classrooms Model UN website and start-up of its Model UN Calendar.
Sarah graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Sarah focuses on Best Delegate’s social media marketing and website development.
Parsa Sobhani
Parsa brings to the team over ten years of experience in Model UN. Following an early introduction to MUN in the seventh grade, Parsa began competing against high school students much older (and taller) than him.
Parsa has served as Secretary-General for six conferences. His first time was at University High School in Irvine, California. Parsa gained a greater appreciation for conference planning in college, where he served as Secretary-General for UCLA’s high school conference two years in a row. He has also been very active with UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms conferences, serving twice as Secretary-General for Global Classrooms: Los Angeles and once for the inaugural Global Classrooms: Pacific Rim International.
Parsa graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in economics and minors in statistics and global studies. After graduating, Parsa was a Fellow in Public Affairs at Coro Southern California. As part of the Best Delegate team, Parsa focuses on community engagement and website development.
Emily Block
Emily has always been interested in current events, read newspapers, and watched the news but did not realize that some of her peers were interested in it too until one day she walked into the opening ceremonies for Yale Model United Nations, her first conference. Suddenly she was in a room with thousands of other high school students who were also passionate about world affairs. From that moment on Emily knew that she loved Model UN.
Emily discovered Model UN only two years ago during her junior year and has since attended seven conferences. Emily is currently the president of the Trumbull High School Model UN club. She served as the Secretary-General for the inaugural Trumbull Model United Nations Invitational (TMUNI) in the spring of 2011. Serving as Secretary-General has given Emily a true understanding and appreciation of the hard work that goes into planning a conference.
Emily attends the University of Connecticut and is a Political Science/Human Rights double major. She participates in UCONN Model United Nations (UCMUN) and is the co-founder of the UCONN Undergraduate Human Rights Discussion. Emily will focus on marketing, social media, and developing articles and resources for the Model UN community.
Kelly Boehner
Kelly started her Model UN career as a freshman at Brighton High School in the great metropolis of Rochester, NY, known to be both one of the cloudiest and snowiest cities in the United States. After attending her first Model UN conference on a blustery autumn weekend, Kelly was hooked. Nearly a decade after, there isn’t a shadow of a doubt in her mind that mustering up the courage to try Model UN was one of the best things she did for herself as a young adult. Not only was Model UN a way to learn more about the international community, it was a way to develop practical skills such as problem solving, public speaking, persuasion, and negotiation. Model UN has also been a catalyst for some of her most important and formative friendships.
Throughout her high school career, Kelly worked on the staff of the UN Association of Rochester Model UN Conference and the Hilton Model UN Conference, both annual mid-size region conferences in Upstate New York. Kelly’s Model UN career continued at Cornell where she studied labor relations with a concentration international and comparative labor. Her most gratifying academic experiences in college involved courses that blended topics related to public policy, economic empowerment for disadvantaged populations, and human rights. In particular, Kelly took interest in the rights of migrant workers, increasing women’s involvement in civic society, and gender equality initiatives.
Kelly served as President of the Cornell International Affairs Society, head delegate for the Cornell traveling Model UN team, ex-officio member of the Secretariat for the Cornell Model UN Conference, and Secretary-General of the Cornell International Affairs Conference. Since graduating in May 2011, she has worked as a labor relations associate for a large company headquartered in Virginia and puts the practical skills she developed through Model UN use on a daily basis. Kelly is excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the Model UN community by working with the team at Best Delegate.
Amanda Piazza
Though young and still advancing her skills in Model United Nations, Amanda Piazza brings her rather developed high school Model UN career to the Best Delegate team. Amanda will be the first to admit that she has an intense passion for international relations, and her four years of Model United Nations experience only drives her to further excel in developing multiple perspectives in the international community.
Amanda currently hails from Port Charlotte High School, where she is a veteran delegate for her Model United Nations team. Amanda began her successes as a sophomore when she won first place with her partner (the founder of MUNmatters) in the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference in 2010. She has never looked back. Since then, Amanda has attended some of the United States’ most advanced conferences such as North American Invitation Model United Nations (NAIMUN), and Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN). She has also served as a chair for the United Nations Development Programme as a part of her high school’s Mini-Model United Nations Conference. Out of the many conferences she attended, Amanda’s favorite conference was the inspirational NAIMUN, where she realized that Model UN and international affairs were the bases for her future career.
Amanda plans to attend the University of Florida in the fall, where she plans to bring her delegate experience to their Model United Nations team. She is also focusing on International Relations and Public Relations, and plans to double-minor in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance and Leadership. Amanda looks forward to developing resources for the Model UN community while developing her knowledge in human rights law and foreign services.
Ashley Inman
Ashley’s introduction to Model UN came at the end of her sophomore year of high school, in which she attended her first conference and developed a passion for the international relations and diplomacy that MUN encompasses. Subsequently, Ashley became President of Gulf Coast’s MUN team and served as a catalyst in the developmental progress of the club. Outside of Model UN, she participates on GC’s Varsity Cheerleading Squad, dance team, and numerous other academic and current-event based programs, never passing up an opportunity to flex her diplomatic muscles.
Ashley is bilingual in English and Spanish, an AP Scholar with Distinction, a National Merit Commended Scholar, and can usually be spotted in committee with a pink legal pad and a “mind map”.
Ashley will graduate with honors and Laureate Candidacy from GCHS this year. She hopes to attend Georgetown University in the fall to participate in Model UN in the collegiate circuit, and to continue to facilitate her education in international politics and Middle-Eastern studies.
Parth Shingala
A junior at J.P. Stevens High School, Parth revolves his life around Model UN.
Parth is extremely active on the high school circuit– he currently takes on the leadership role of Corresponding Secretary at J.P. Stevens and has attended 10 national high school conferences thus far. In October 2011, he organized JPSMUN and served as the Under Secretary-General for General Assemblies, where he aimed to create an educational experience for high school students in the tri-state area. Parth views Model UN as not only a chance for delegates to increase their knowledge on international affairs but also to develop lasting skills such as public speaking and social interaction. Having the chance to meet extraordinary people from all walks of life and from all over the globe is his favorite aspect of Model UN.
Parth looks forward to studying International Relations in the future– as well as participating in the college Model UN circuit.
Jessica Shin
Jessica first discovered her passion for foreign relations and international affairs, after her sister and brother began participating in MUN and began practicing their speeches in front of her. Motivated to learn more about current events, Jessica quickly became involved in Model United Nations during her freshmen year of high school.
At her very first conference, Jessica fell in love with the vigorous debates and diplomacy delegates brought to the conference. After hours of heated caucusing and debating, at her first MUN conference, Jessica received the Best Delegate Award. After several more conferences, she began working her way up to the Advanced Committees, competing with juniors and seniors from surrounding schools, only as a first year delegate.
Currently a sophomore at University High School in Irvine, California, Jessica’s MUN career has just begun. She wishes to someday become the Secretary-General of University High School, and then go on to major in International Relations and Affairs. In college, Jessica hopes to continue Model United Nations, as well as one-day meet with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
