Our people.

Sameer Kanal is the current Chair of the Board of Directors for NWA. He is a co-founder of NWA and served as Executive Director from 2009–2024.

Sameer is currently an elected City Councilor for the City of Portland representing District 2 (North and Northeast Portland). Sameer was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in the Portland area. After high school, he attended Clark College, earning an A.A. with a focus on Political Science and International Relations. He transferred to the University of Washington, where he received a B.A. in Political Science and Economics; after which he attended New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, graduating with a M.S. in Global Affairs with a focus on Human Rights and International Law.

During this time, Sameer consulted on relationships with international organizations for philanthropic organizations, tutored in subjects ranging from test prep to drums, monitored arms control and disarmament negotiations at the United Nations, worked and managed in retail, and worked on several political campaigns. After nearly 15 years away from his hometown, primarily in Seattle and New York, Sameer returned to Portland in 2021. He worked at the City of Portland’s Community Safety Division / Public Safety Service Area for three years, project managing the Police Accountability Commission, providing support for advisory groups focused on public safety, and eventually serving as Inclusive Policy Manager for Public Safety, connecting community engagement with policy development processes. He left his role at the City to run for City Council in Portland’s historic 2024 elections, and was elected in November 2024 for a four-year term.

Sameer began participating in Model United Nations in high school, and got involved in leadership while at Clark College, serving as Clark’s Head Delegate for 2 years. He founded Model United Nations at the University of Washington after transferring, serving as President for two years and as an Advisor for two more. While at UW, he founded Northwest Model United Nations (NWMUN), now known as NWMUN-Seattle, in 2007. He served as Secretary-General for two years, including during the transition of the NWMUN program from a project of the UW student club to the newly-formed NWA nonprofit. When NWMUN expanded into two conferences, he served as the first Secretary-General of what is now NWMUN-Portland in 2014. Outside of his work with the NWA, Sameer has also participated in nearly 60 other Model United Nations programs, including as Chief of Staff of National Model United Nations (the largest MUN program in the world).

sameer@nwassociation.org

Morgan Deters has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2017.

She graduated from Lewis & Clark College in 2013 with a degree in Economics and International Relations where she was President of the Model United Nations club. Morgan served as the Secretary-General of NWMUN-Seattle 2016.

She currently works as a Data Analyst in Portland, OR and spends her spare time baking gluten-free bread.

morgan@nwassociation.org

Alexander Rodewald served as Secretary-General of Northwest Model United Nations - Portland 2024, his first time in that role and his seventh time staffing at NWMUN. He began staffing in 2007–2008 and returned in 2021. He served as Assistant Secretary-General for Logistics at the two NWMUN-Seattle conferences preceding Portland 2024, including Seattle 2023. Prior to 2022, he served in various committee staff positions, and originally came to MUN as a student in both high school and college.

Outside of MUN, Alexander owns and operates a small business in Vancouver, WA, and spends his free time with his children, woodworking, being a snob about books and coffee, and enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

alex@nwassociation.org

Adam de la Cruz has served on the board since 2009.

Adam received his BA from the University of Washington, where he was the President of the Model United Nations club, and his MA in Applied Linguistics from King’s College London.

Adam currently works as an English for Academic Purposes Lecturer at Beijing-Dublin College in Beijing, China, where he helps prepare Chinese students to study abroad in English speaking countries.

He currently does research on English as a Lingua Franca and Intercultural issues within English educational settings.

Adam Oberstadt-Petrik is a history teacher in Boston, MA. He holds an MA in History from Boston College and a BA in history from Western Washington University.

He first experienced Model United Nations as a delegate at NWMUN-Portland 2016 and has been engaged in the Pacific Northwest Model UN scene ever since. Adam served on staff at six NWMUN conferences before taking on the role of Director-General of NWMUN-Seattle 2022 and 2023. Outside NWMUN, he has been on the secretariat of a major Canadian high school MUN and on committee staff at other regional high school and collegiate conferences. He enjoys the buzz of a highly engaged committee and helping delegates and new committee staff refine their research and writing skills.

At Boston College, Adam studied borderlands and colonialisms in the 19th-century North American West and was a tutor for the university’s core history and writing classes. A lifelong Seattleite, Adam gradually adjusted to the quirks of Boston living, including the paradox of iced coffee and snow boots being equally quotidian. When not reading, writing, or tutoring, he enjoys cooking and entertaining with his spouse and cat.

adamop@nwassociation.org