Meet The Team!

Deewa is a Senior from Oregon studying Political Science and Persian and Iranian Studies. She has been deeply involved with YIRA during her time at Yale. She has served as the ASG of delegations for YMUN 50, USG of international delegations for YMUN LI, chair for YMUN LII, USG of international delegations for YMUN LATAM, USG of delegations and Secretary-General for YMUN Dubai.

Jesse is a junior from Montana studying Global Affairs with a certificate in Education Studies. He has been involved with MUN broadly for seven years, and with YIRA for three. Previously, he has served as the Under-Secretary-General of Delegations for YMUN South Asia and as the Director-General of Operations for YMUN Singapore.

Mary Fahy (she/her) is a sophomore at Yale University double majoring in Global Affairs and History. She was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. Within YIRA, Mary was the Yale International Relations Leadership Institute (YIRLI) 2026 Director of Communications and is currently a staff writer for YIRA's semi-annual publication, the Yale Review of International Studies (YRIS). Mary plans to continue being a part of YIRLI in the upcoming year. This summer, Mary studied abroad in Paris, where she learned alongside French university students about the economics and law of the international commercial order from Yale Law and Oxford professors. Mary also worked as a paid intern at a law firm this summer. Mary did not do MUN in high school, but has vice-chaired MUN sessions for high schoolers at Yale competitions. Mary is so excited to meet everyone in Japan!

Pia is a sophomore from Manila studying Economics and Global Affairs. Celebrating her ninth year in MUN, she has been in the shoes of delegates, dais, and secretariat, in conferences all around the globe. She currently serves as the Director-General of Committees for YMUN Taiwan XIII, following her stint as the Undersecretary-General for International Delegations for YMUNT XII. Outside of YIRA, Pia is involved in the Yale Policy Institute’s Foreign Policy Center where she is enjoying analyzing Latin American ports.

J.G. (James George) Hodge is a sophomore from Wisconsin studying History. He has been involved with Model UN through Yale’s Collegiate team MUNTY, and he has been involved with YIRA since arriving on Yale’s campus last year. He is looking forward to seeing all the great work of the delegates!

Elspeth Yeh is a junior in Ezra Stiles college, originally from Cambridge, MA, pursuing a double major in Sociology and the Humanities. She has been a member of YIRA for three years, having chaired for YMUN and served on the YMUN Taiwan secretariat as the Under-Secretary-General of Committees. She is so excited to be headed to Tokyo this fall to work with you all!