Meet the Staff
Julie Anne Friend
Julie Anne Friend has worked in the field of international education for over 20 years. As the Director of the Office of Global Safety and Security at Northwestern University, she is charged with developing a comprehensive, university-wide approach to international risk management.
Awards/Recognition
Ms. Friend was named Technical Analyst of the Year in 2014 by the U.S. Department of State for her leadership in advancing the international safety and security interests of the academic community. In 2015, Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Law featured her in an alumni profile.
Textbooks
In 2017, Ms. Friend contributed three chapters covering institutional liability, legal history and managing the death of a student abroad in Crisis Management for Education Abroad. Three year later, she contributed a chapter on international risk management for Undergraduate Research Abroad. Currently, she is working with a UCLA colleague on a textbook about legal issues in higher education and university-sponsored international travel inspired by three years of teaching a course on Law and Ethics in Higher Education for Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy.
Periodicals
For many years, Ms. Friend wrote regularly for NAFSA’s International Educator magazine about insurance and risk management. Her 2014 publication, “When A Student Dies Abroad: Preparing for the Ultimate Tragedy," includes helpful planning and response checklists. Later that year, she served as a guest author for NAFSA’s “Hot Topics” blog to discuss the threat (or lack thereof) of Ebola to academia. Her last IE publication, “Health Forms 2.0: Developing an Ethical and Effective Health History Disclosure Process for Education Abroad,” outlines a student-centered process to encourage pre-departure medical management planning (printed in the Nov./Dec. 2016 issue). In 2018, Ms. Friend collaborated with two colleagues to produce “Your guide to the new U.S. Department of State travel advisories,” but her ground-breaking essay, “How sexual misconduct threatens the security industry: real and reputational risk” has generated more discussion in the profession than any other work.
Travel and Education
Ms. Friend has traveled in over thirty-five countries and has lived in both France and Zambia. In addition to earning a Juris Doctor in Law and a Master of Arts in English from Michigan State University, Ms. Friend has a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communications from Syracuse University, where she was also in the first cohort of Remembrance Scholars, a prestigious award in honor of the 35 Syracuse University students who lost their lives in the Pan Am 103 explosion over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. She is a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan. For additional information and complete list of publications, contact Ms. Friend for a copy of her full biography.
Beth Osterlund
Beth Osterlund has worked in international education for over 15 years. As Assistant Director of the Office of Global Safety and Security, she works to support undergraduate and graduate travelers including pre-departure medical management planning; traveler outreach; and trip leader preparation/support.
Beth began her career at The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, an international non-profit headquartered in Evanston. She worked for 12 years for one of the largest privately funded international scholarship programs in the United States sponsoring over 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students for study abroad each year. During her tenure at Rotary, Beth also worked on Rotary’s high school exchange program to help certify that volunteer leadership created and maintained a safe environment for high school exchange students in Rotary programs.
Beth graduated from Miami University in Oxford, OH with a Bachelor of Arts in French. She spent a semester abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France and participated in a faculty-led summer program in Dijon. She is working towards her master's degree in global studies and international relations with a concentration in global student mobility. In addition to studying abroad, she and her husband have served as a host family for Youth Exchange students from Finland and Mexico attending Evanston Township High School through the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club's Youth Exchange Program.
Joining the OGSS in 2013, she is a member of the Northwestern’s Education Abroad Crisis Management Council and is an active member of Pulse, a network of university international health and safety specialists.
Andrea Mendoza
Program Coordinator | Data Analyst
Andrea Mendoza works as the Program Coordinator|Data Analyst of the Office of Global Safety & Security. She manages the International Travel Registry, non-credit undergraduate student travel, and supports pre-departure requirements and travel outreach.
Andrea graduated from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago, IL with a Bachelor of Arts & Sciences in Economics and a minor in Psychology. During her time as a student, she was a member of NEIU’s magazine Que Ondee Sola, a publication established in 1972 with the goal of covering social issues from across the world. She worked as Visual Arts Editor and Editor in Chief. Additionally, Andrea also worked as a Student Ambassador, providing guidance to prospective students and their families, as well as giving campus tours.
She Joined Northwestern University’s Office of Global Safety & Security in 2022.
Jamie Li
Jamie Li works as an Administrative Aide at the Office of Global Safety & Security.
She graduated from high school in Tinley Park, Illinois. During her time there, she ran a Chinese club for students to learn and engage in Chinese culture and language. She also served as vice president for her school’s psychology club, helping host educational events on psychology and mental health. Jamie has obtained experience in computer programming through Girls Who Code and the Digital Scholars Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is currently an undergraduate student at Northwestern University in 2022.
