The Washington Center’s staff includes more than 70 professionals, most of whom hold postgraduate degrees and many years of experience in experiential learning, teaching, mentoring and supervising students.  The U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program is led by:

Pilar Mendiola Fernández, MA
Senior Vice President for International Initiatives and Advanced Leadership Programs

Pilar Mendiola Fernández is an expert in the field of education and the development of advanced leadership training. She has ten years’ experience designing educational programs for the young leaders of the world.

Pilar is responsible for creating and implementing advanced leadership initiatives and international projects for TWC with institutions of higher education, as well as the public and private sectors. She also raises scholarship and program grants for international initiatives and forges ties with international organizations based in Washington, D.C.

Pilar created a new international division within TWC to bring young leaders from countries throughout the world to Washington for rigorous training in public policy.  She designed and implemented several programs of elite leadership for outstanding students, including the NAFTA Leaders Internship Program. Established in 1996, this program has received considerable recognition throughout North America as the best program of its kind. Her efforts have been particularly successful in Mexico where over the last eight years, 18 Mexican states have partnered with TWC to fund their students’ participation in Washington Center programs.

In 2003, under Pilar’s leadership, The Washington Center launched the prestigious Bush Mulroney Salinas Graduate Fellowships in NAFTA studies.  Recently, Pilar directed TWC's groundbreaking international expansion with more than 16 countries.  Pilar received her bachelor's and master’s degrees in communications and graduated with honors from the University of the Americas-Puebla in Mexico.  Pilar was born in Veracruz, Mexico and resides in Washington D.C.

Virginia Gergoff, MBA
Managing Director for International Initiatives and Advanced Leadership Programs

At The Washington Center, Virginia’s duties include expanding TWC’s reach into new markets, overseeing the quality of international programs, and managing academic staff who supervise and mentor more than 500 students every semester.  Virginia is also responsible for designing and executing new international programs and initiatives such as the U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program sponsored by The Boeing Company and the Ford Motor Company Global Scholars Program.  Prior to joining TWC, Virginia was Marketing Director of Global Expand, an internet start-up company, where she designed marketing strategies, participated in the company’s business development, financial forecasts, website content, market research, and e-learning modules.  

Virginia holds an MBA in International Business from Bentley College in Massachusetts and a BS in Economics from Catholic University in Venezuela, and was recognized as one of the top students at both institutions.  At Bentley College, Virginia was president of the Graduate Entrepreneurs Association, founded the school’s “cyber-café,” and joined the Graduate Honor Societies -- “Beta Gamma Sigma” and “Alpha Epsilon Lambda.”  She also appeared in “Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.” In 1995, Virginia was among the top 5% of Venezuelan students awarded scholarships by the Venezuelan government to pursue graduate studies abroad.  During her last year of studies in Caracas, she was also selected as one of the top 100 students from all the economics faculties in Venezuela.

Andrey Gidaspov, Ph.D.
Program Manager, Global Scholars and U.S.-China Programs

Andrey Gidaspov joined The Washington Center as a Program Manager for the U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program in December 2007.

Prior to joining The Washington Center, Andrey worked as an international trade and business consultant. From 2004 to 2007, he managed his own private consulting business in Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region, China, providing China market access services to American and European companies.  From 1995 to 2004, Andrey worked as a high-tech and telecom sector advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce at the U.S. Embassies in Tashkent and Moscow.  He has actively promoted and helped develop many successful e-commerce projects, including U.S. Government e-portals BuyUSA and BISNIS, as well as GidaByte, a comprehensive web-portal dedicated to business developments in the Russian and Asian technology sectors.

In 2007 Andrey authored his first book “Riding the Russian Technology Boom”, a comprehensive guide to developing business partnerships with Russian telecom and IT companies. He also regularly contributes to a number of international IT industry journals on topics related to mobile and general telecom industry developments in Eurasia.

Andrey holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, where he focused on U.S.–China relations in the 21st century. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese History from Tashkent State University. In 1990-1991 he completed a one-year intensive language program at Tianjin Normal University in China.

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Andrey has lived and worked in Russia, Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and the United States. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Russian.  Andrey and his family currently reside in Alexandria, Virginia.

Charles Martin, Ph.D.
Faculty Director, U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program

Dr. Martin is past president of the American Chamber of Commerce – China (2003-2006); former VP/Director Monsanto of the Government and Public Affairs, China –Asia division where he served as chief representative in China and administered a 30-person office in Beijing.

From 1995-1996 Dr. Martin was Deputy Commercial Counselor, Foreign and Commercial Service to the U.S. Embassy – China with the job of educating U.S. business persons about the Chinese operating environment and to assist them in entering into business interactions. He was awarded a Department of State Meritorious Honor award for his service.

Charlie was also stationed in Manila where he founded a furniture manufacturing facility and served as president and CEO (1988-2006).
Form 1985-1988 Charlie was the First Secretary, political section to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. He also served as First Secretary, to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China (1980-1982) and worked as Chief, China Division, Department of State where he managed all State Department analysis and research on China. His political career also included a decade of service as a China political and economic advisor and analyst for the CIA (1973-1983).

Dr. Martin is fluent in Mandarin and holds a PhD from Harvard (1975) Department of Government. Dr. Martin has previous teaching experiences with the U.S. Government, University of Maryland, and Harvard University.