Richie Santosdiaz

Founder and contributor -  (globally - mainly UAE)

Richie founded Young American Expat back in 2015 as a way to both showcase his expat life but also to begin showcase the cool and amazing stories of the other young American expats he has met! He has lived in 7 countries and as of 2018 now mainly uses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as base, having spent the last 7 years prior in London. In fact, he has spent more time outside the USA than in it. As a day job he has +15 years professional expertise mainly in the areas of economic development (mainly trade & investment) and is passionate about international education and expat issues.
​Richie's website: www.richiesantosdiaz.com
Twitter: @santosdiazr2 
Instagram:  @santosdiazr2 (but Richie still documents his life on @YoungAmericanExpat)
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Colleen Boland

Associate and Head of Content - (based in Madrid)

Colleen is a doctoral student in Madrid, Spain, having lived previously in London. She is currently pursuing a thesis entited "Los inmigrants musulmanes de segunda generacion en Madrid: Las politicas de integracion y las respuestas de los individuos (Second generation Muslim immigrants in Madrid: the politics of integration and the responses of individuals)," while working part-time for a Madrid-based NGO. She is a young American expat who first came to Madrid, fell in love with a Spaniard, got married - and fell in love with Spain!
Twitter​ @clizbo
Instagram:    @clizbo

Lauren Sternberg

Contributor | Technical Consultant (based in London)

Lauren Sternberg is a London-based web designer from New York, USA. Before pursuing a career change as well as a Master’s Degree in Web Design, she was a New York City Public Schools teacher for 10 years. Whilst in London in 2015, Lauren founded The Expat Rec-Room, a social events group for London-based American and Canadian expatriates on Facebook. Also during this time, Lauren founded her second business, Star Mountain: Design For Web Ltd, a web design studio focused on supporting small businesses and startups through WordPress-powered web design and website maintenance education. Lauren was a runner up in the University of Greenwich Social Enterprise Competition in 2017 for her work with The Expat Rec-Room. 
Twitter: @wanderlaurst
Instagram @lolo.star
Visit Star Mountain Design For Web Ltd Here

Leah Alexandria Rogers-Kingsley

Contributor (based in London)

Leah Rogers grew up in Queens, New York. Her first trip abroad was to Rome and Sorrento when she was a senior in high school for a Latin study trip, and she immediately fell in love with travel. She studied abroad in college in Florence and Rome, eventually becoming a student intern for a study abroad program. She grew eager to further her studies and eventually studied for her Master’s degree in London, where she now resides with her husband. She currently works in the overseas study sector and looks forward to obtaining the next stamp on her passport.  
Twitter: @awanderingleah
​Instagram: @awanderingleah

Gesu Antonio Baez

Contributor (globally - mainly London and Italy)

Originally from the Bronx (New York), Gesu Antonio is a humanitarian and social entrepreneur based between the United Kingdom and Italy. He’s the Founder of Pax Tecum Global Consultancy  a London based consultancy firm which helps businesses, impact investors and NGOs engage with international governments in order to progress sustainable development and social impact. Prior to this, he has spent the past five years working in international development and directing maternal health programs mainly in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Being a proud tri-culture kid, he fully relishes the expat life having visited more than 50 countries and spent his life between the USA and Italy (his mother’s home country) in addition to having lived in Argentina and France for a number of years. 

Twitter: @JesusABaez​
Instagram @zingarello1988
Visit Gesu's website here

Courtney Brandt 

​Contributor (based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Courtney Brandt is an American author living in Dubai. When she’s not reviewing fine dining venues around the world for her food and hospitality blog, A to Za'atar, she loves traveling to new countries and sabering champagne with kitchen knives. You might recently have seen her on the television show What's Cooking, UAE, where she has started hosting episodes. She is also a Zomato Ambassador, member of the Association of Food Bloggers, and a regular contributor to Dubai Eye 103.8. 
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In addition to her novels, Courtney has been published with the following outlets: Elite Daily, The Forward Feed, Wine & Style magazine, A Luxury Travel Blog, Matador Network, JustLuxe, Travelettes, Citizen Femme, Khaleej Times, Roads & Kingdoms, and Eat this Poem.  She has spoken at various conventions and panels, including The Restaurant Show, SIAL, Gulf Host, Social Media Summit Jordan, Travel Tech, and New York University Abu Dhabi.

Catch her online http://www.atozaatar.com or @atozaatar

Meet Our Affiliates and Partners

Meet our respective team of affiliates and partners to assist on a project-basis

Andre Vilela

Lisbon, Portugal
Owner and video creator - 
​Reframe

Alice Dix

Prague, Czech Republic
Owner, photographer & videographer - 
Alice Dix Photography

James Munley

Ad-hoc contributor