Each year, Best Delegate is proud to work with an array of talented and passionate MUNers from around the world to bring you, our audience, the best possible content on topics you care about. From MUN training to community news, the Media Team is here to keep you updates on the latest. Please welcome the 2018-2019 Media Team!
Elaine Miao
Editor-in-Chief
Elaine is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying political science theory and public health at UCLA. She has lived in four different states, but considers a small town outside Boston, Massachusetts her home. Her Model UN career began 8 years ago, when she impulsively signed up at her high school’s activities fair, and her love for the extracurricular has only grown since. In college, she actively competes and runs conferences with her MUN team, and serves as one of three head delegates for UCLA. Outside of MUN, Elaine enjoys singing alto in her a cappella group, cooking, and telling her friends that the east coast is better. After graduation, she aspires to work on federal education policy and eventually going to law school.
Curan VanDerWielen
Editor of MUN Institute & MUN Education Content
Curan VanDerWielen is a Sophomore at Clark University, where he studies International Development and Geography, with a minor in Political Science. Ever since his first Model UN conference, Curan has always held a passion for MUN both as an activity and a community. In high school, Curan co-founded a regional middle school level conference, served as a student advisor for a local middle school team, enrolled in the MUN Institute in 2015, and was later appointed Executive President of EISJMUN in Dubai, UAE. Last year, he was a Crisis Director at ClarkMUN VIII, and now dually serves as Director of Operations at ClarkMUN XI and as a Conference Management Officer at WIMUN NYC. He’s extremely excited to be working for Best Delegate again after his serving as a MUN Mentor at the MUN Institute this past summer. In his spare time, Curan enjoys traveling, drinking lots of tea, playing video games, and skiing.
Munahil Sultana
Media Associate of MUN Institute Content
Hey everyone! My name is Munahil Sultana and it is truly an honor to serve as a Best Delegate Media Associate. I am currently a junior at Elmont Memorial High School in Long Island, New York. I joined Model United Nations in the seventh grade and I’ve been an avid member ever since. I am currently the President of my schools team and the Secretary-General for the Sewanhaka Intra-District Model UN Conference (SIDMUN). My journey from a shy, timid delegate to one who isn’t afraid to voice her opinion can be traced back to the training I was able to have. Model UN allowed me to step out of my shell and ceases to be just an “extracurricular activity”. It is the source of my achievements both inside and outside of a committee room. Over the past four years, I have attended multiple conferences and have won awards such as Best Delegate in the past. Besides Model UN, I am also President of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Key Club as well as multiple honor societies and extracurriculars. I am extremely excited to be working with Best Delegate for a second year as well as for releasing new content!
Jocelyn Koelb
Media Associate of MUN Institute Content
Kaitlyn Hammond
Media Associate of MUN Institute Content
Kaitlyn Hammond is a senior at Communications High School in New Jersey. She is so excited to be returning to the Best Delegate Media Team! Two years ago, she found a love for journalism as a feature writer for her school’s newspaper, The Inkblot News. She is now the Arts Editor of The Inkblot, and looks forward to bringing her passion for journalism back to Best Delegate this year. Outside of MUN and journalism, Kaitlyn enjoys creative writing, reading, and hosting her two radio shows on her school’s station, WCHS.
Victoria Melkonyan
Media Associate of MUN Education Content
Victoria is a sophomore at Mt. Greylock Regional School who has been doing MUN for three years. She loves eighties pop, Studio Ghibli films, and playing the piano. When she isn’t doing MUN, she’s probably doing some sort of theater!
Khai Nguyen
Media Associate of Core Team Content
Hi everyone! My name is Khai, and I am currently a senior at Chantilly High School located in Chantilly, VA. I first started Model UN in 8th grade where I spent most of that year as a “back row” delegate, however after reading several Best Delegate articles and joining my high school’s club, I have grown to love Model UN and can constantly be found working on something MUN related. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, being a Crisis Czar for committees such as JCC Cuban Missile Crisis: USA or the Joint Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretaries-General, chairing a variety of committees for conferences and club wide mocks, or fulfilling other Model UN responsibilities as Director-General of Chantilly MUN. Outside of my Model UN and school commitments however, I spend my time as a U.S. Wushu Team Member, a swim coach, and sadly, playing Tetris on a competitive level.
Genevieve Pool
Editor of Best Delegate Content
Genevieve is a senior at Georgetown University, studying Culture and Politics in the School of Foreign Service. She has been involved in Model UN throughout college, from staffing to traveling. Gen spends most of her time meditating, talking about Rwanda (where she worked last summer), and making really bad jokes. She’s excited to return to the media team in a new role and maximize Best Delegate’s impact in the MUN community!
Zoey Fisher
Media Associate of Training Content
Mohammed Iqbal Omar
I am Mohammed (or Mo) and I’m currently on my deferred year with the University of Essex studying Political Science and International Relations. I am an Indian and was the head of my District’s first Model UN team about two years ago when I first started doing Model UN. Two years and tons of Model UN Conferences later I am a Model UN Trainer who has trained over 80 Students in North American and UN4MUN Formats and was the Vice President of local Model UN organization aiming to spread Model UN in Southern parts of India. I’ve been a Research Analyst and am a Research Intern for one of India’s most prominent Think-tanks and one of India’s major opposition parties respectively. I’ve worked with Model UN Organisations like United Ambassadors and WFUNA and will be a member of the Academic Secretariat at WIMUN 2019. Apart from Model UN, I love playing Snooker although admittedly I’m mediocre at best and love reading. I am really excited and honored to be one of Best Delegates highly qualified Training Content team for this year.
Brian Johnson
Media Associate of Training Content
Elisa Moraes Liu
Media Associate of High School Content
Elisa Moraes-Liu is a high-school junior from California. She began her Model UN career during her freshman year, and since then has been actively involved in MUN. Elisa currently serves as the USG of Outreach for Henry M. Gunn High School’s Model UN team. She also founded and directs two middle-school MUN programs at local schools, and she hopes to help more students get involved in MUN. Outside of MUN, Elisa is involved in journalism and serves as an editor for her school newspaper, The Oracle. She also helps run the City of Palo Alto’s Teen Arts Council, which organizes a variety of art events throughout the year for local middle and high-school students. Elisa is excited to be serving as a Best Delegate Media Associate of High School Content.
Jack Tapay
Media Associate of High School Content
Jack Tapay is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science and has been a part of the SciMUN team ever since he was a freshman. Throughout his MUN career, Jack has competed on the local and national circuit, chaired committees, and developed a passion for international relations. Having previously attended the MUN Institute’s Crisis Program and made frequent use of Best Delegate’s resources, he is eager to contribute to the community as a member of the Media Team.
Abhiram Reddy
Media Associate of College Content
Abhiram Reddy is a third-year student at the University of Southern California majoring in International Relations with minors in Economics and East Asian Area Studies. He was born and raised in Woodridge, Illinois but has also lived in Hyderabad, India. Abhiram has been participating in Model U.N. conferences for 7 years at both the high school and collegiate levels. He is also currently an active member of USC’s team and is a passionate crisis delegate. In his free time he enjoys traveling, finding the best Thai food in Los Angeles, and planning his next Disneyland trip. He is extremely excited to serve as a Media Associate for College Content over the next year.
Madeleine Northfield
Social Media Manager
Madeleine Northfield was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She is a second year student at McGill University in Montreal studying International Development, Economics and African History. With over 6 years of MUN experience and 20 conferences under her belt, she is a part of McGill’s highly ranked travel team, as well as an active member of their International Relations publication, the MIR Online. An avid volunteer, she has worked on a variety of campaigns regarding women’s education overseas and in Canada, helping coordinate McGill’s international relations societies NGO, Jr. Peacemakers. She is incredibly excited to be working to expand Best Delegate’s media platforms even further and hopefully increase the amount of fantastic work they do.
Noran Alaa
Noran Alaa is an Egyptian college student studying Multimedia Journalism and Digital Media at the American University in Cairo. Having grown up through the Egyptian Revolution, Noran is passionate about helping young people become more aware of the world and how to change it for the better; through Media. Noran has been participating in Model UN since she was a freshman in High School. She served as a Public Information Officer in WIMUN NY 2017 & 2018 and is going to serve as USG DPI for WIMUN New York 2019. She has also served as USG DPI for WIMUN India 2018. When she’s not working, she’s either writing for travel publications, taking photos or painting.
Anusha Tummallapalli
Anusha Tummallapalli is a freshman at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina majoring in Economics and minoring in Spanish. She was a Media Associate of MUNI Alumni last year and is a two-time alumna of MUNI, enrolled in the Diplomat program in 2016 and the Secretary-General program in 2017. She currently serves as the Communications Director of her collegiate Model UN team and is a brother in the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. Her favorite aspect of Model UN is chairing and conference organizing and hopes to further pursue this interest during her collegiate Model UN career. Anusha is looking forward to another great year with Best Delegate!
