Best Delegate
We are a team of educators who help schools build Model United Nations programs
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Since 2010, our training and resources
have helped over 3 million people learn
Model United Nations
Our Mission is to Empower Today’s Students to Solve Global Problems
We believe Model United Nations is the single best activity for preparing today’s students to be leaders in the world. Model United Nations introduces young people to the world’s biggest problems in peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development — and inspires them to find global solutions. Model UN gives students a chance to learn about different countries, foreign policies, and most importantly to critically think about issues from multiple perspectives and points of view different than their own.
Model UN teaches students critical 21st century leadership skills that are valuable for college, careers, and lifelong learning. Students develop their public speaking, negotiation, research, and teamwork skills while debating about global issues in Model UN. These are skills that students will use throughout their lives as they grow into positions of leadership. We believe that the students who do Model UN today will be the leaders changing the world tomorrow.
Best Delegate is a rapidly growing education company with a goal of Model UN For All. We’re on a journey to create what Model United Nations needs to be worldwide so that this generation of students can lead the world to a better, more peaceful, just, and sustainable future.
What We Do
Best Delegate provides in-person programs that directly impact over 3,700 students and teachers worldwide every year. Its website, BestDelegate.com, is used by over 750,000 Model UN participants from around the world every year and is the thought leader in the development of the global Model United Nations community. Best Delegate has consulted for the United Nations and its work has been featured in the New York Times.
Our flagship program is the Model United Nations Institute, which is the world’s largest Model United Nations summer program, held at top universities including Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Berkeley, and UCLA. The MUN Institute has trained thousands of students and teachers at the high school and middle school levels.
Our organization has innovative partnerships that has helped a diverse set of organizations develop their Model UN programs, including organizing conferences at the United Nations Headquarters. This includes partnerships with the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), the World Federation of the United Nations Associations (WFUNA), the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, IDEA Public Schools, the US Embassy in Mexico City, and various school districts and nonprofits.
And Best Delegate has provided Model UN workshops for students and advisors held in over twenty countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This includes the Directors Training Institute, a professional development program for teachers in partnership with the THIMUN Foundation and THIMUN Qatar.
Best Delegate was co-founded in 2011 by Ryan Villanueva and Kevin Felix Chan, who met while doing Model UN at a high school conference in Southern California. The two kept in touch as Secretaries-General of the Model UN conferences at Yale and UCLA, respectively, and by volunteering for UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms. They both wanted to give back their Model UN experiences to the community after graduation, and eventually decided to quit their jobs at Goldman Sachs and AT&T, respectively, to turn a blog that Ryan had started at his dorm room at Yale into a global education organization dedicated to helping others succeed through Model United Nations.
Who We Are
Ryan Villanueva is the Co-Founder and Education Director of Best Delegate. With 18 years of Model UN experience, Ryan leads Best Delegate’s Model UN teacher training and certification programs. He works on aligning Model UN with education standards, including Common Core, International Baccalaureate, 21st Century Learning, and Global Citizenship Education. Ryan advises the United Nations, governments, NGOs, school districts, and educational organizations on how to create Model UN programs.
Ryan Villanueva
Co-Founder & Education Director
Kevin Felix Chan is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Best Delegate. He manages the strategic growth of Best Delegate to deliver Model UN programs that directly impact over 3,700 students and teachers and Model UN resources used by over 750,000 participants every year. Kevin believes in the power of Model UN to help students find their voice and become global leaders having personally grown from being a shy student when he started doing Model UN to eventually introducing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN General Assembly Hall.
Kevin Felix Chan
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Laurabeth Goldsmith is the Executive Director of Partnerships at Best Delegate. She has developed partnerships with governments, nonprofit organizations, school districts, the United Nations, and businesses to create sustainable, student-led, and standards-aligned Model UN Programs. Laurabeth believes in the power of Model UN to help create global citizens and to empower students to succeed in college and beyond.
Laurabeth Goldsmith
Partnership Director
Erik Leiden is the Executive Director of Programs for Best Delegate. Erik is responsible for organizing Best Delegate’s MUN Institute, international workshops, and Model UN conferences around the world by creating the curriculum that thousands of Best Delegate students learn each year, and organizing the staff, facilities, and materials needed to create amazing experiences for all the participants at Best Delegate events.
Erik Leiden
Operations Director
Aaron is a Program Director at Best Delegate. He works to help families and educators get involved with the Model UN Institute while also planning and executing marketing and sales strategic plans. Aaron’s love of competing got him involved with the community before developing a passion for educating and empowering students through Model UN.
Aaron Kalafarski
MUN Institute Manager
Conna is the Marketing Manager of Best Delegate. In her current position, Conna draws on her 10+ years of Model UN experience to help families around the world connect with Best Delegate and the MUN Institute. She also manages the Best Delegate Media Team, which is comprised of 25+ members of the global MUN community who write articles and blog posts for Best Delegate, the MUN Institute, and MUN Education.
Conna Walsh
Marketing Manager
Katrina Stevenson is the Operations Manager for Best Delegate. As an Operations Manager, Katrina sources vendors, manages logistical details, and helps supervise on-site programs, including the Best Delegate MUN Institute and other Best Delegate programs. In addition, throughout the year she serves as an MUN Mentor for middle school and high school students.