Who We Are

 Andrew Brown holds a Baccalauréat (Bachelors) in Philosophy and French Literature from Académie de Rennes (France), as well as a B.A. in International Affairs and a Master in Public Administration in Non-Profit Management and International Development from The George Washington University. Andrew founded The Global Language Network in September 2005. While Andrew is the Founder of GLN, he credits much of the organization’s growth and success to the many devoted teachers and other volunteers who have contributed and allowed him to build GLN to what it is today. 

 Charles Maslin holds a BA in Economics from Temple University, a JD in Corporate Finance from New York Law School, and completed an Executive Education program at University of Pennsylvania’s esteemed Wharton School. His focus in that program was Banking, Corporate, Finance, and Securities Law. Charles is the owner of Cayden Capital, LLC, and the founder of Tubz which develops ultra-high capacity, low weight, rechargeable energy storage technologies. Charles dedicates countless hours to help GLN strategically and GLN is privileged to have him on the Board.  

 Dr. Richard Sawaya is the Vice President of USA*ENGAGE at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and has directed the organization since January 2009. Previously he was the Executive Director of the United States–Venezuela Business Council. He also served as Washington Representative for Devon Energy from 2009 through 2012. From 2000 through 2008, he was the Vice President for Government, International and Community Relations at the George Washington University. 

 Benn’s passion for community and language led him to work with GLN as early as 2006, while GLN was still centrally-located at The George Washington University. Benn formally joined the Board of Directors in 2008 and has been an active Board member since. Benn is Mayor of Morningside, Maryland and is the Director of Marketing at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.  

He has also served over twenty years in the business community in various capacities of management in promotions, marketing, and advertising for non-profit and for-profit organizations.

 Mr. Ilya Budik is the most recent addition to GLN’s Board of Directors. For the past 7 years, Ilya has served in various managerial roles in the life science industry, and over the last 4 years founded and grown Imagine Bio, a boutique consultancy which advises global strategic players as well as startups in life science industry with clients based across the US, Europe, and Israel. Ilya is a strong believer in the mission of GLN, sees great potential to expand GLN’s mission in the DC area and beyond, and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute his skills, experiences, and a diverse global network to help take GLN to new heights.