Secretariat Bios
Katie McNall is excited to be back for NWMUN-Portland 2021! She caught the Model UN bug in high school, attending conferences in Tokyo for two years, before transitioning to college MUN. This is Katie's fourth year on the staff of NWMUN-Portland, and her first as Secretary-General after a year each as Chief of Staff and Director-General. Katie loves participating in NWMUN conferences, as they really represent the ideas of the Pacific Northwest, focusing heavily on human rights and environmental issues.
Katie graduated in 2016 with a degree in Exceptionality and Disability, a degree combining Special Education and Human Services coursework, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Nonprofit Management. Last year, she relocated to Wenatchee to work at the Wenatchee Public Library. At the library she runs a Cookbook Book Club and helps to plan and run the first Sensory Storytime in North Central Washington. In her spare time, Katie loves doing all things crafty and, of course, reading.
Eileen Austin is happy to return to the NWMUN-Portland Executive Secretariat, this year as Director-General. Eileen earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the State University of New York at Oneonta in 2014. She currently works as a Staff Accountant for Danone North America, which is the company that owns Dannon Yogurt and Evian. She works in White Plains, NY and is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University.
This will be her third conference with the NWMUN organization; last year, she served as Chief of Staff for NWMUN-Portland. Her favorite thing about MUN is watching the delegates work together and produce work that they are proud of. She also likes to hear all of the delegates’ perspectives on the issues that the world is currently facing. In her spare time Eileen likes to travel, crochet, and spend time with her family and friends.
Aaron Thao is excited to join the NWMUN-Portland 2021 Executive Secretariat as Chief of Staff. Aaron graduated from California State University, Chico in 2016 with his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and minor in Spanish. Currently, he works in the healthcare insurance industry as a Supervisor in Human Resources. Aaron is a Certified Professional through the Society for Human Resource Management and a Certified Senior Professional Career Coach.
Aaron has done MUN for over 7 years, including five times as a committee staffer for NWMUN conferences. Aaron also serves as a Board Member, Co-Chair Institute of the New Leaders Council – Sacramento Chapter equipping leaders with the skills, tools, and resources to impact progressive change. In his spare time, Aaron loves to volunteer, explore the outdoors, cook, hang out with family and friends, and spend time with his dog Daisy.
Shaun Martinez joins the NWMUN-Portland 2021 Executive Secretariat as Assistant Secretary-General for Logistics. This is his first year at Northwest Model United Nations, though he has been staffing MUN conferences since 2016. He is excited to be a part of NWMUN-Portland 2021!
Shaun served for 5 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an Intelligence Specialist and Persian-Dari linguist, and was deployed for a year to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He received his B.S. in Political Science in 2016 from Texas Christian University and is a few credit hours away from his second bachelor’s in Advertising at The University of Texas at Arlington. Shaun works as a freelance copywriter and social media planner, and in his free time enjoys tuning / breaking his car and PC gaming. He currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his spouse Katelynn and their 6-year-old pit bull mix, Kelso.
Benton Liu has been involved with Model United Nations since 2017, and he is excited to be back for more! This year, he returns as Assistant Secretary-General for Conference Services at NWMUN-Portland 2021, after having served in the same role for the 2020 conference.
Benton's interest in MUN stems from his interest in global cooperation, issues that concern information and communication technologies, and the use of these technologies, such as cybercrime. With a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Cal Poly Pomona, Benton works for Booz Allen Hamilton as a Cyber Security Engineer as an Offensive Security Certified Professional, where he helps strengthen and support the United States' infrastructure and mission. In his spare time, Benton loves to play online games, watch anime, read manga, go out to music concerts, and listen to music.