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Managing Director

MIT-United Kingdom, MIT-Netherlands

barness [at] mit.edu  -  (617) 258-8552

Originally from the UK, Stephen moved to the US in 2011 to serve as the Program Director for Thinking Beyond Borders, an industry-leading gap year program. Stephen has served as a program design consultant to student travel organizations in the gap year and freshman study abroad fields, and was a member of the Gap Year Association’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Committee. Stephen has lived and worked in Ecuador and Nicaragua, and built partnerships for student learning with NGOs and host communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Stephen holds a Master’s of Science in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.