Where R.A. Now?

Nadia Kist graduated from NYU with a BA and a MA and served as an RA in University Hall for 3 years! She is a public health practitioner with a 15 year career leading global health and development initiatives. Her expertise is integrated HIV/AIDS interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a specialized focus on community and health system strengthening. Currently serving as the Director of Africa Programs with Blood:Water, Nadia has managed complex programmatic implementation and health policy reform through host governments, private sector and civil society partnerships. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Nadia’s work extends across 7 countries the eastern and southern Africa regions. Nadia has a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from New York University in International Public and Non-profit Management (Wagner ’04) and a dual Bachelor of Arts in Politics and African Studies (CAS ’02). She completed a post-graduate certificate in Clinical Research Methods from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2015. Nadia has also made published contributions to numerous conferences, peer-review journals and the World Bank.

Christina Di Bartolo, LCSW is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Clinical and Education Research at NYU Langone’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. After graduating NYU with a major in Psychology and minors in Social Work and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies, she obtained her Master of Social Work from NYU. Christina loves working in education, research, and her clinical practice to help kids and families. While she treasured her time as an RA at Brittany Hall, she does not love that even 10 years later, hearing the duty phone ringtone can still make her heart skip a beat.

James Di Bartolo is an investment banker at Lazard, where he focuses on mergers & acquisitions and strategic advisory in the Financial Institutions Group. Previously, James was a member of the investment team at Varadero Capital L.P., an alternative asset manager, where he focused on structured credit investing. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he worked in both the Investment Management and Investment Banking Divisions. James received a B.S. in Finance and History from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and an MBA from Yale University. James is a member of the Brookings Society and a Young Patron of the New York City Ballet.

Find out how they met and their career work, plus shout outs to former alums!

Tariq Ahmad MD MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine where he focuses the care of patients with advanced heart failure, left ventricular assist devices, and cardiac transplantation. He completed his clinical training at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, and at the Duke University Medical Center. His research focuses on biomarkers of heart failure and the use of advanced analytics and innovative technologies to bring the promise of precision medicine to the bedside of patients with heart failure.

Tariq was an RA in Third North and graduated from NYU in 2001.

Josh graduated from Tisch is 2008 (Stella Adler and Stonestreet). He was an RA at Third North for two years. Josh is an actor who has the following television credits: police officer Billy Cepeda on Sirens (2014–2015), Hector Ruiz on The Electric Company (2009–2011), Justin Voight on Chicago P.D. (2014–2016) and Adrian Chase on Arrow (2016–2017). He has also appeared on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black as CO D. Stefanovic. His Broadway credits include: the original musical casts of Lysistrata Jones as Mick, Pasek and Paul's 2012 musical Dogfight based on the 1991 film of the same name, and the Gloria Estefan life story On Your Feet! in which he originated the role of Emilio Estefan.

His favorite dining halls were the Third North dining hall and Palladium. His favorite movie is Heavyweights. His favorite ice cream is the “Birthday Cake Remix” from Coldstone.

Juan Espinal '12 born in NYC and served on the Third North staff. Juan is a true NYer but decided on joining Teach for America to see other parts of the US. He landed in Hawaii at Konawaena Elementary School and has never left! Juan's spirit and compassion for students from low socio-economic backgrounds has been a blessing for those whom he teaches. While he misses NYC, he has found a new home in Hawaii. Ary Reich is this episodes cohost (Rubin Hall).

Douglas Booth '12 was an RA in Coral Tower for one year. He is currently the manager of buying and business planning for the womenswear division at Brooks Brothers. Born and raised in Rhode Island, he enjoys running, podcasts, and napping in his spare time. Listen to his journey and learning on the fashion industry.

Bryan Pirolli '08 graduated with a degree in journalism and French before moving to Paris where he worked for NYU in Paris. He then began a freelance journalist career writing for magazines, websites, and travel guides. After earning his PhD from the Sorbonne and teaching in London, he has brought his research to the public with his most recent book on travel journalism, which address how the profession is changing in an era of TripAdvisor, Instagram, and Airbnb. Bryan will soon be embarking on his next step in Beijing, where he will be working as a digital travel editor for the Chinese media.

Book: Travel Journalism: Informing Tourists in the Digital Age: https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Journalism-Informing-Tourists-Digital-ebook/dp/B07FF8DYXG

Matthew Schulte '10 (SPS) has worked in the Kansas City Royals front office for eight years. While Matt started out in the Ticket Sales department, he has spent most of his time in various roles within the Marketing team. He now serves as the Senior Manager of Special Events and Promotions, responsible for the giveaway items, theme tickets, and special events. He was involved in executing MLB Jewel events that the Royals hosted, including the 2012 All-Star Game Festivities, 2014 Postseason, and the 2015 World Championship. Mr. Schulte also serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Youth Symphony, Heartland Men’s Chorus, and the Greater Kansas City Attractions Association and was also a member of the Centurions Leadership Program through the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Schulte holds a B.S. Sports Management degree from NYU and grew up in Prairie Village, KS.

Teresa Lee is a standup comedian, writer, and former NYU RA at Palladium Hall. She has written for Good Mythical Morning, Brockmire, Cracked, and more. She was a semi-finalist in Standup NBC in 2017 and 2018, and has performed in festivals all over including Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, Women in Comedy Festival, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and more. She's the host of the podcast You Can Tell Me Anything, a podcast where comedians tell her something they've never told anyone before. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts and also here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-can-tell-me-anything/id1372902988?mt=2

Anjum Unwala (NYU '08) served as an RA at Palladium Residence Hall from 2006 to 2008 under the leadership of Blake Redding and Kristen Sylvestor, supervisors for the Palladium Residence Hall. After graduating from NYU, Anjum volunteered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and later worked with rural communities in India on business development and youth education projects as an Indicorps Fellow. After returning to the US, Anjum attended and received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2014. She currently works as a lawyer at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, baking and eating desserts, and running half marathons.