Roy E. Pietro, Ed.D.
Project Director/PI
Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI)

Email: roy.pietro@uconn.edu
Tel: (860) 486-4252

Dr. Roy Pietro has served as the Principal Investigator for numerous professional and academic exchange programs for UConn, funded by the U.S. Department of State. During his 20-year tenure at UConn, Roy has led efforts to secure approximately $20 million in federal and state contract awards, which promote GTDI's mission to provide transformational learning experiences to international participants. In 2008, he was selected as New England’s nominee for the prestigious Adelle F. Robertson Professional Continuing Educator Award.

Roy has also initiated academic partnerships and educational collaborations with various national and international higher education institutions, including the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS); the University of Maryland; Brown University; the University of Texas at Austin; the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel; Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey; Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong, China; the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa; and the UN-mandated University for Peace in Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica. He has also established partnerships with several highly regarded international NGOs, including TechnoServe, Ashoka, the Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Institute for International Education (IIE).

Roy holds a Doctor of Education degree in International Education from the University of Bath in the UK, Master's degree in Public Administration from UConn, Master's degree in Education from Springfield College, and Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from UConn. His research interests include transformative global citizenship, critical service-learning, and sport for development and peace (SDP).

Glenn E. Robinson, M.A.
Academic Director, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI)

Email: glenn.robinson0427@gmail.com

Mr. Robinson has over four decades of senior management experience, delivering innovative leadership solutions to businesses globally to help them transform and succeed in challenging, dynamic environments. He is founder of the Global Acceleration Lab, which assists emerging technology startups with entry into the global marketplace, after fourteen years as director of global innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure at UT, he directed successful programs in multiple geographies, including a three-and-a-half-year ex-pat stint in India, during which he designed and implemented multiple successful incubators and accelerator, resulting in over $3 million in incremental revenue and over $2 million in investment capital for companies in the portfolio.

His experience prior to joining the University of Texas at Austin covered the spectrum of general management and capacity-building responsibilities, directing sales, marketing and customer response teams, and providing oversight driving record growth in both domestic and international operations at various multinational corporations, including Dell Computer, Sun Microsystems and Apple Computer, as well as conducting workshops on coaching and business development. He has held executive management positions in the non-profit sector, and is also a seasoned entrepreneur, having launched profitable companies on three continents. He is Academic Director of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, a highly-competitive cultural exchange program for emerging leaders from the ASEAN region, sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, which helps leaders learn how to plan, govern, fund and implement social enterprises, as well as learning about U.S. History, Government, and Culture; and the role of community service and volunteerism.

He is a consultant to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC, is a charter staff member of the NSF’s Convergence Accelerator, and has held Board of Director positions with various incubators, start-ups and non-profits. He is a published author and frequent keynote speaker, providing insight based on extensive experience developing successful innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial capacity. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and seminars around the globe, and trained tens of thousands of innovators on how to create high-impact ventures and effectively assess the market entry potential of grassroots innovation. He designed a curriculum to train incubator managers on setting up incubation processes to recruit and develop both “deep tech” and social entrepreneurs, and has delivered training sessions at U.S. Consulates, universities and private institutions in Central Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Robinson holds a dual Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in English and Spanish Philology from San José State University, and a Masters of Arts degree in Spanish Literature from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain.

Laura Labato, M.A.

Assistant Director, UConn Global Training and Development Institute (GTDI)

Administrative Director, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI)

Email: l.labato@uconn.edu

Laura is the Assistant Director for UConn’s Global Training and Development Institute (GTDI).  She provides administrative and program support for the Global Training and Development Institute’s programming for international participants. She holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies with a focus on cultural studies, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a focus on diversity.  Additionally, she has completed three Graduate Certificate programs at UConn in Human Rights; Culture, Health, and Human Development; and College Instruction. She enjoys learning about other cultures and working with the international participants involved in educational and professional exchange programs implemented by UConn GTDI.