Cristina Bernardo Kullberg

Cristina Bernardo Kullberg is the Executive Director of Emzingo|U. She works every day to fulfill their mission to train the next generation of responsible and inclusive leaders. Born in the DC area to Cuban immigrant parents, she is the last of 10 children and has been passionate about social justice, foreign policy, and how we interact and lead across cultures from a very young age. She received her Masters at the London School of Economics in Political Economy of Development, and thereafter, went to South Africa to complete the Emzingo|U award-winning NexGen social impact program working with an orphan and vulnerable children center in Soweto called PUSH (Persevere Until Something Happens), who they still work with today. She joined Emzingo|U shortly thereafter and has helped to grow partnerships and expand the organization's mission and reach for the last 7 years. She also had the honor and privilege of working for the Obama Administration focusing on rural and tribal economic development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Rural Development and consulting for the Obama Foundation thereafter. With a strong passion for education, women's empowerment, and providing access to opportunity, she founded Open Dreams with her friend and fellow LSE classmate Blaise Buma in 2015. To date, Open Dreams has helped nearly 100 high achieving, low income students in Cameroon receive full scholarships to leading universities across the world.