Julia Sylla

Julia Phelan Sylla is Director of Programs who leads the development and delivery of QFI’s grants and activities. She also strengthens strategic linkages with QFI’s partners through our focus on Connected Communities.

Julia has worked in the international education field for over 15 years at both the secondary level and in higher education. Most recently, she worked at American Councils for International Education where she led the implementation of U.S. Department of State-sponsored overseas programs for U.S. high school students to study languages intensively in eight countries, including Jordan and Morocco. She was the Supervisor of Academic Programs for the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service from 2012-2015. Prior to that, Julia served as Program Director for the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program at the Council of American Overseas Research Centers including oversight of intensive Arabic programs in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen. She has experience managing funded programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as well as the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).

Julia has an M.A. in International Education from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development and a B.A. in French and English from Bates College in Maine. She studied abroad in France during her undergraduate degree and also conducted research in Bangladesh during her master’s degree program. Julia is a violinist with the Capitol City Symphony.