Director
Steve Kirk is
the Director of Finance and Operations at School Year Abroad, based in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. He joined SYA
in 2003 after spending many years in the student exchange field.
He began his
career in international exchange at Amigos de las Américas when he served as a volunteer
in Guanajuato, Mexico while a graduate student in the summer of 1984. While completing his graduate coursework in
international development and social change at Clark
University, Steve served as a route
leader in Paraguay
for the summer of 1985. He joined the
staff of AMIGOS in 1985 as Director of Training and Chapter Administration and
was later appointed to the position of Director of Operations where he served
until 1992.
Steve left
AMIGOS to serve as Executive Director of WorldTeach, Inc., a program that sends
volunteers to teach in developing countries around the world. After leaving WorldTeach in 1998, Steve served
as the Regional Director of the East for AFS Intercultural Progams/USA. After leaving AFS Steve was asked to help
resuscitate a struggling museum dedicated to the impact of immigration on Boston, but ultimately
returned to international student exchange after the drop in tourism after 9/11
hastened the museum’s closure.
An active member
in community organizations, Steve currently serves on both the International Board of Directors of AMIGOS, as well as on the board of the Boston AMIGOS chapter,
which he led as chapter president for three years. He also serves on the advisory board of his
children’s parochial school. In 1995
Steve was awarded a Kellogg Foundation-funded Fellowship in International
Community Development through Partners of the Americas
and he has been active in the Massachusetts-Antioquia, Colombia
chapter of Partners. He also served as treasurer of the Overseas Development
Network (now known as JustAct). He holds
a masters degree in public administration from the University of Houston.
Steve met his
wife, Marìa Claudia, while they were both working in the international office
of AMIGOS. Marìa Claudia had recently
emigrated from Colombia
and served as a bilingual secretary in the Latin American programs
department. They have two daughters,
Gabriela and Catalina, and live in East
Weymouth, Massachusetts.
