Meet the 2021 Kroc Ambassadors

As we enter a new year, a new perspective is being taken on how we can grow as a community here in San Diego and beyond. With the continual growth of the Kroc School, understanding how we can connect the future with the now is pertinent. Alongside growing this community moving forward, understanding the Kroc School’s past, continuing to grow and connect with its amazing Alumni, is vital to understanding how we can continue to grow here and now. These goals bring us a new approach in what it means to grow in this amazing community.

Below you will be introduced to our first edition of Kroc Ambassadors. These 2021 ambassadors are part of a collective approach in how we want to continue to connect and grow as a community. This diverse collection is made up of students from each of the programs Kroc School has to offer, who will help provide perspective, direction, and ideas for now and beyond. We look forward to having them connect with Alumni, continue to gain perspective as students, and learn how we can all cultivate this amazing Kroc culture. They are here for you to connect with and to answer questions about the Kroc School experience. Please meet your 2021 Kroc Ambassadors! 

Zoya Sardashti – MS in Conflict Management & Resolution 

Born in Denver, Colorado, to an Iranian father and American mother, Zoya Sardashti spent most of her childhood in the southern part of the United States. As an artistic facilitator, Zoya has engaged participants in Seoul, London, Los Angeles, Glorenza, Venice, Florence, Bolzano, Milan and San Diego. Presently, she is concerned with ways transdisciplinary research and performing non-violence resolve ethnic and identity conflict. Her artistic practice has moved through several mediums since starting theatre training, but using performance to pose questions, build community and shift perception has remained consistent.

E-mail Zoya at zsardashti@sandiego.edu

Mari Theirsch, MA in Social Innovation  

Mari Thiersch is from Tacoma, WA. She graduated in 2017 with a self-designed major in Human Ecology and a teaching certificate from College of the Atlantic. She is a high school math and science teacher at a start-up magnet school with a focus on design, IDEA HS. She wants to help create change in educational systems, and empower students to see themselves as changemakers.

E-mail Mari at mthiersch@sandiego.edu

Aaron Pellot, MA in Peace & Justice  

Aaron Pellot is a second-year MA in Peace and Justice candidate (’22) at USD, with a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina Upstate. After obtaining his undergrad degree, Aaron went on to work in the field of communications. Intersectionality has always been the center of his work. Now studying the theories of peace and justice, Aaron looks to use the skills he’s developing to create more inter-community dialogue, and assist communities to tell their respective stories.

E-mail Aaron at apellot@sandiego.edu

Again, please feel free to connect with these ambassadors if you have any questions about the Kroc School Experience! 

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