Coaches are volunteers who have been trained to help young adults foster their use of communication and socioemotional tools. During their exchange, students meet with their coach every two weeks beginning at the communication workshops and throughout the exchanges to help them process their experiences and help put their new tools into practice. They have worked in various leadership roles and community service, e.g., military service, church, and youth organizations.

Sarah Komm

Sarah was born in Illinois, grew up in Wisconsin, went to college at the United States Military Academy (West Point) in New York, and while on active duty as an Army officer, lived and trained in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington, Texas, and deployed to Iraq. After leaving the Army, she lived in Oregon, Virginia, and finally landed in Maryland where she lives and works on a farm with her toddler, husband, parents, and grandparents.

Sokhom Chhim

This is my chance to give back to a country and people who have given me so much. My family and I came to America as refugees from Cambodia. I served 21 years in the Army and I hope to share my experiences with our future leaders and in turn, learn from them. I believe the path to uniting our country is to see ourselves in our fellow citizens.

Charley Hasenbeck

Charley is inspired by interconnections of understanding with an eye toward passion and compassion, as indexed by skillful situational appropriateness. His work and community backgrounds connect the frameworks of research, sales, marketing, community processes, and leadership; collaborating creatively with others, together.

Ammar Ahmed

Originally from Sudan, Ammar immigrated to the US when he was 17. Currently, he lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ammar has had a passion for technology from the day his mom bought the family a personal computer. He went on to earn a degree in Computer Science to join the tech world. Ammar has worked in a variety of industries and currently is a senior software developer as a consultant. In his free time, He loves to bike, develop video games, and play Volleyball.

Andrew Komm

Andrew was born and raised in Texas and didn’t travel much of the country until he went to college at the United States Military Academy (West Point) in New York. During his time there and as an active-duty Army officer, he lived and trained in Oklahoma, Missouri, Washington, Texas, and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving the Army, he settled in Maryland on a four generational farm. Andrew is a certified chemical engineer and works for NASA in Maryland.