Current Staff

Patti Niles
Administrative Manager, Programs, Projects and Operations

Patti basically keeps the place running. She is in charge of all the financials, supervises all staff and students that work at ICR, coordinates all of the proposal processes (and has been known to research, write, and edit some of them as well), organizes all of our events, manages the Website, creates and maintains all of our databases, administers the ICR summer grants program, manages all of our projects, oversees all of the administrative duties, handles all of our publications, and so much more. Before coming to ICR, Patti spent the last 15 years, teaching social studies at a couple of area high schools. She has both her B.A. (International Affairs) and M.Ed. (Secondary Education) from George Washington University and is currently studying for a MA in History, so she can teach it at the local area community college. She is interested in digital history and its implications for the study as well as the preservation of history.

Ridhima Kapur
Research Assistant

Ridhima graduated from the Elliott School of International Affairs with a Masters in International Development Studies in 2011. Her background is in business and development in emerging economies. She has a B. Sc. in International Business from the Copenhagen Business School, as well as a diploma from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Ridhima has a wide range of professional experience - ranging from internal communications at A.P. Moller Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies to change management and communication strategies at Ashoka, an organization that promotes social entrepreneurship worldwide to new business development at FINCA, a global microfinance institution. Her most recent assignment was to conduct an independent market assessment of mobile health in Tanzania for Deloitte Consulting LLP. Presently, Ridhima also works at the Office of Sustainability at the George Washington University, conducting research on a number of issues related to environmental sustainability ranging from water conservation to ecosystems services. She enjoys travelling and has lived, worked or travelled in over 20 countries across the world.

Karen Mo
Graduate Research Assistant

Karen Wenchao Mo is an International Development Studies Master's candidate at the Elliott School of International Affairs, focusing on Private Sector Development and Sustainability. Prior to joining the Institute of Corporate Responsibility, Karen had over five years of experience in emerging market business development and international project management for various private and non-profit organizations. Her project management experience ranges from business process reengineering projects for multinational corporate clients to green supply chain projects funded by the US State Department. Additionally, she has extensive knowledge in corporate social responsibility and public-private partnerships through her research work with ODA reform network in Japan, World Environment Center in Washington DC, and Sigur Center for Asian Studies as a field research fellow in Laos. Karen is a native speaker of Chinese and Japanese, with the ability to communicate in intro-level Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese, and has lived and worked in six Asian countries.

Alice Chan
Graduate Research Assistant

Alice Chan received her MBA and MA in International Development Studies from The George Washington University in May 2012. Alice pursued a dual degree to merge her interests in social entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, corporate social responsibility, and Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) strategies. Most recently, Alice received a grant from the United Nations Development Program to produce an original case study examining the intersection of social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility in Egypt. In this project, Alice collaborated with CID Consulting, a Schwab Social Entrepreneurship winner, and interviewed key stakeholders from the private, NGO, and social enterprise sectors to identify the incentives and barriers for scaling cross-sector partnerships in the Middle East & North Africa region. During the prior summer, Alice lived with a local family in a rural village in South Africa and collaborated with community members to develop a social business that empowered illiterate rural women economically and socially. Alice also has previous professional and leadership experiences in microfinance, agribusiness, small-medium enterprise development, non-profit capacity building, legal and social services, and teaching. Alice enjoys traveling, and has worked, volunteered, or traveled in over 40 countries.

Ester Zhang
Graduate Research Assistant

Ester Shuchen Zhang is an International Affairs Master's candidate at the Elliott School of International Affairs, focusing on International Economics. Ester received her B.A. in International Economics and Trade from Zhejiang University in 2011. She also spent one semester at Rouen Business School. Ester has a background in international business, Chinese economy and foreign policy. Prior to joining the Institute for Corporate Responsibility, she was research assistant at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Columbia University. Her research fields range from Chinese energy security, food safety, and overseas infrastructure investment with its related foreign policy implications. Ester is now performing public-private infrastructure partnership research at ICR.

Natalie Chotiner
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Natalie Chotiner will be graduating from GWU in December 2012 with a bachelors degree in political science and a minor in religion. During her time at GWU, she has studied the Middle East and that region's religion and culture. Aside from that her professional work includes experience in the private sector at a consulting firm specializing in corporate responsibility and working with a federal contracting company.

Wenyi Gu
Graduate Research Assistant

Wenyi is currently a student at The George Washington University School of Business, working towards a Master of Science in Finance. She received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance, Accounting and Management from the University of Nottingham. Wenyi has previous professional experience in financial market research and investment analysis. Her research fields include Chinese hydropower, coal, and bank industry. Wenyi is now conducting research in public-private partnerships at the Institute for Corporate Responsibility.

Natasha Hawatmeh
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Natasha is a current Senior at The George Washington University pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the School of Business concentrating in International Business with a minor in International Affairs focusing on International Development Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs. At the Institute for Corporate Responsibility, Natasha has conducted research on public private partnerships and public enterprise organizations working with members from the private, public, non-profit, and academia sectors. She has had extensive international experience traveling and living in the Middle East and South America. Natasha will be graduating from GWU in May 2013.