Board of Directors
Ankit Agarwal
Ankit is a Quantitative Analyst at Loomis Sayles & Co., an asset management firm headquartered in Boston. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with a B. Tech. in engineering in 2004 and received an MS in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 2008. Ankit started his career as a production engineer with TATA motors in India and moved on to join a brokerage firm where he focused on trading interest rate futures.
Outside of work, Ankit enjoys playing golf and trying new cuisines in search of vegetarian delicacies. He has a keen interest in Indian & American politics and world economy.
Layusa Isa-Odidi
Layusa is currently pursuing a joint Master in Public Administration in International Development and Master in Business Administration at the Harvard Kennedy and Business Schools. Prior to this, she worked as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, a leading management consulting firm. There, she was involved in a variety of sectors, including consumer goods and financial services. She received her B.A. from Harvard University in Social Studies, with a focus on Human Rights and International Relations, a minor in Economics, and a Spanish language citation. In addition to her work with Boston International, she serves as an adviser to the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, a non-profit headquartered in Botswana, with branches at Harvard and 8 African countries, including Nigeria and Kenya.
Layusa was born in Nigeria and lived in England, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Canada before moving to Boston. She has traveled extensively in Europe, speaks Hausa, Spanish and basic French and can read and write Arabic. In her spare time, Layusa likes to study a variety of dance forms, most recently flamenco.
Robert Menn
Rob is a Vice President at Gemini Investors, a middle market private equity firm based in Wellesley. Previously, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada and a Consultant Communications Manager at Barings, a global asset management firm headquartered in London. Rob earned his B.S. degree in Quantitative Economics from Tufts University where he also completed a study abroad program in Spain. When speaking Spanish and Russian, his American accent is unmistakable.
Rob volunteers as a Big Brother of Greater Boston and holds board positions at five private companies. A frequent traveler, he also enjoys skiing, soccer, distance running, real estate investing, and of course international current events.
Darya Nachinkina
Darya is a Consultant at The Bridgespan Group – a non-profit consulting firm affiliated with Bain & Company and headquartered in Boston. Prior to joining Bridgespan, Darya spent 3 years with McKinsey & Company (most recently in the Swiss office) where she focused on pharmaceutical and global public health clients. Darya graduated summa cum laude from Harvard (BA) and received her Master of Public Affairs degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs. In addition to her role with Boston International, Darya is a founding Board member with Arts for Crafts, Inc. – a non-profit that provides arts/developmental supplies to disadvantaged children in Russia.
Darya was born and raised in Moscow, Russia and has lived in England and Switzerland. She is a competitive ballroom dancer and an avid downhill skier.
Nate Picarsic
Nate is an analyst at LTSG, a boutique consulting firm based in Cambridge. He has worked primarily in support of government agencies and public sector clients over the past three years. Nate completed his B.A. in the Government Department at Harvard University, where he wrote an honors thesis on the topic of rational choice in political decision-making. He has also served on the Finance Committee of the Friends of Harvard Wrestling and volunteers with a local food pantry.
Nate is a native Pennsylvanian who has lived in the Boston area since 2003. He enjoys exploring his Italian heritage while traveling in Europe and hopes to journey through parts of Asia and Africa in the near future. Nate spends his free time following college athletics, reading military history, and studying American poetry.
Advisory Board
David Adelman
David was a founder of Boston International and is actively involved as an advisor. He is the Founder and CEO of Reel Tributes, the premier producer of family history films. He graduated with an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as a Palmer Scholar and McGowan Fellow. David was formerly an Associate at Charlesbank Capital Partners and a management consultant at Bain and Company. David graduated cum laude in government from Harvard University in 2004.
David grew up in Israel, and in college he served as President of Harvard Students for Israel, an influential political and social organization on campus. Since graduation, he has been an active member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council Young Associates and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In his spare time, he also enjoys playing sports, with a special affinity for golf, squash, and snowboarding.
Justin Hall
Justin was a founder of Boston International and currently works in Atlanta as a senior consultant at Bain & Company, a leading strategy consulting firm. At Bain, he has helped global clients with projects ranging from international growth strategy for a hospitality company to performance improvement for a Fortune 50 retailer. Justin previously worked at Charlesbank Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, where he was involved with deals ranging from natural resources to quick service restaurants. He earned a double major in economics and German literature from Cornell University in 2004.
Seth Kisch
Seth is pursuing his MBA degree at Wharton Business School. He was previously an Associate at Battery Ventures, a venture capital and private equity firm based in Waltham. He is one of the founders of Boston International. He was previously a Manager at Novantas, a boutique strategy consulting firm, where he advised financial-services sector clients in the U.S. and Europe. Seth graduated cum laude in economics from Harvard University in 2004. While at Harvard, he served as Treasurer of the Harvard Students for Israel and worked with the Harvard Model UN.
Seth has spent time living in France, Spain, and the UK. He speaks one foreign language well and three poorly. Seth is particularly interested in issues surrounding economic development and integration, European politics, and Middle East policy. He enjoys traveling, skiing, and playing golf and squash.
Zachary Kruth
Zachary currently attends Stanford Law School where he is on the board of the International Law Society. Previously, he worked in New York as the Co-Founder and Principal of an early-stage investing and consulting firm, and spent time working on a e-commerce data extraction startup. He is also a former Analyst at Audax Group, a private equity firm based in Boston. He graduated in 2007 from the University of California Berkeley, where he worked for the Institute for International Studies and studied abroad in Spain. He also spent a semester working at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington DC, and
speaks Spanish decently well.
In his spare time, Zachary actively pursues his interest in United States foreign policy as it relates to Asia and Latin America. An avid reader, he also enjoys soccer, traveling, and good Mexican food whenever it can be found.
Gautam Tambay
Gautam recently graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also one of the four founders of Boston International. Formerly, he was a management consultant at Bain and Company. He has lived and worked in Virginia, Washington D.C., Norway, France and India. Gautam graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi in 2003. During college he was a member of AIESEC – a student organization that promotes international exchange, and served as Vice President of their Delhi chapter.
Gautam takes an active interest in international development and profitable social enterprise. He is an international film and language buff, an amateur climber, and enjoys exploring cultures through shoestring backpacking trips around the world.
Ariana Watson
Ariana Watson is the Principal Gifts Coordinator at Partners In Health, a nonprofit international development organization with a dedication to breaking the cycle of poverty and disease in marginalized rural communities around the world. She was formerly a data analyst at KublerWirka, Inc., a boutique strategy consulting firm, where she worked on management and fundraising strategy for large nonprofit clients in the education and arts sectors. Ariana earned her BA in International Relations from Wellesley College in 2008.
Ariana loves to travel and, in addition to the United States, has lived in Bolivia and Ecuador. She is fluent in Spanish, with basic skills in German, French, and Farsi. Her primary interests lie in international law and development. She also enjoys European history, playing tennis, and she has a passion for the arts, having played violin for most of her life. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Lexington Montessori School.