Our Team

Kristal Sawatzke

Assistant Director of Member Relations | Members located in the U.S. East

Based in the Twin Cities, Kristal brings more than 15 years of experience in international education, risk management, academic programming, and student services to her role as the Assistant Director for the U.S. East and Midwest regions. Before joining ISEP, she supported key relationships at universities, non-profits, and with a third-party provider. Most recently, Kristal was the Senior Lead for Campus Partnerships with International Volunteer HQ & Intern Abroad HQ. She has also managed an AmeriCorps program with Habitat for Humanity and lived abroad for five years while working at both the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Northwestern University in Qatar. Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Kristal studied abroad in Indonesia as a first-gen college student - an experience that she credits with transforming her entire worldview, perspective, and career path. Since then, she has traveled to more than 60 countries and is passionate about increasing access to study abroad opportunities for students. Outside of work, she is the Chief Activities Officer for her three young kiddos and can be found adventuring, sipping coffee, enjoying the sunshine, making silly art projects, or walking the family's two pups, Emmy and Jeff.