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1
May 19th, 2013
Dear Search Committee Member,
It is my great pleasure to recommend Yasmine Kohli Fordham. I have known Yasmine since she was a student at the
School for International Training/SIT Graduate Institute. Yasmine enrolled in two programs that I was managing at
that time, the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, and the Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation (with a
concentration in Civil Society Initiatives). The first thing that impressed me about Yasmine was her genuine interest
and consideration for people. In these two programs alone, Yasmine met and interacted with people from over thirty
five countries. She worked closely with several of them on different projects. One of the projects took place in
Liberia, where Yasmine chose to complete her field work-a requirement for the graduate certificate program.
When I had to build a support team for the Peacebuilding Program in Kathmandu, Nepal, I asked Yasmine if she
wanted to be a part of it. She said yes, and I was thrilled to have her on board. I knew that I could trust her with
whatever task needed to be completed. So I hired Yasmine to be the Program Coordinator. In this role, Yasmine was
responsible for supporting faculty and responding to the needs of the students. So at any time she could be asked to
do pretty much anything. What amazed me about Yasmine was that she was always ready! There was never a pause, a
doubt or any remote thought against a specific task or request. Among others, Yasmine was in charge of coordinating
the participants and faculty pick up from the airport. When some of them arrived at very late hours, although there
were many options of how they could get to the hotel, Yasmine chose to give up her comfortable bed and her sleep,
and she decided to wait for them herself. Furthermore she thought of bringing water and snacks for the tired
travelers. She knew the importance of having a familiar and friendly face in the airport after an exhausting journey and
her efforts worked. Although some of them traveled as much as 24 hours, they arrived at the site smiling, happy and
ready to engage with everyone else who arrived at the site before them.
I was very happy to work with Yasmine in Nepal. She was able to see what I did not see, ways in which processes
could be improved, and ways to implement some of the processes most effectively. In addition to her hard skills, she
also brought her soft skills, in dealing with people at an interpersonal level. Her experience in India and her Hindi
language skills were a great asset. She was our liaison when working with hotel staff, taxi drivers and other support
staff. Yasmine was able to carry out complicated multi steps tasks, in a smooth and effective way. She has the most
energetic and ‘everything is possible’ kind of attitude. It was an incredible feeling, to have someone on the team that
was ready to carry on the work assigned and in the most professional and yet friendly manner.
Should I have the opportunity to work with Yasmine again, I would love to do so. She is a fantastic team member:
engaging, cheerful, supporting, and encouraging. She is able to engage others, anticipate needs, and respond most
promptly. She is equally a leader and a servant and will always go beyond her call of duty when needed. With her on
board, I felt assured that everything will work out well.
If you have any questions about my experience working with Yasmine Kohli Fordham then please feel free to contact
me. Any organization would be lucky to have her on their team!
Sincerely,
Mariana Palade Syrotiak
Director