Study Abroad Staff

Maraina Montgomery, MA Ed (she/her)
Director

Montgomery joins UP from Washington D.C. where she was Assistant Director of Study Abroad in the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. Her work at Howard University was instrumental in internationalizing one of the premier HBCU’s in the United States. Her writing has been included in numerous venues including the PIE News and International Educator Magazine. Furthermore, she has served on multiple academic advisory committees for national study abroad providers and professional organizations.

“A feeling of inspiration fills my heart as I assume the important responsibility of Director for Studies Abroad at the University of Portland. I hold a commitment to empowering students and supporting faculty to enhance their lives and curricula through intentional and reciprocal cross-cultural learning opportunities.” Montgomery said, “I am grateful to be welcomed into the UP community by thoughtful campus leaders determined to leverage the momentum of the times to build upon the institution’s existing commitment to ‘...responding to the needs of the world and its human family.’”

Montgomery has a B.A. in Spanish Studies and Anthropology from Howard University and a Master’s in Education (Higher Education and Student Affairs) from Rutgers University. She has worked abroad in Japan, South Korea, & Ghana, and she studied abroad in Spain, Belize and the Dominican Republic.

Holly Peterson, MA (she/her) Program Coordinator

Prior to coming to UP, Holly was the Study Away Advisor at Pacific Lutheran University in the Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education. Holly worked with Middlebury College students onsite in Madrid, Spain, while completing a master’s degree in International Education Management from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey in California. As an undergraduate Spanish major at Willamette University in Salem, Holly studied in Granada, Spain, and Quito, Ecuador, through the same programs that UP students also participate in. Holly is passionate about language learning, student intercultural development, and fostering equity, access and inclusion in education abroad.