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Esteemed Speaker

Alina Siddiqui

Full Bio


Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Alina Siddiqui is a counselor at Valencia College where her work primarily focuses on developmental advising and student wellness. For the past two years, Alina has worked extensively with international students, especially students on academic probation and/or under emotional distress, providing intervention-focused advising as well as advocating for international students’ needs at the university level. Alina holds a Masters in Counselor Education and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Central Florida.

Originally from Pasto Nariño, Colombia, Dr. Bedoya graduated from La Pontifícia Universidad Javeriana with a B.A. in Psychology. Her senior thesis focused on Creativity Styles and Business Success. She obtained an internship with Universidad Icesi and grew her career there for 12 years, becoming the Academic Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Center. Among the multiple projects, she coordinated included working with a grant from the Banco Interamericano de Desarollo to develop national entrepreneurial policy initiatives. During her administrative career at Universidad Icesi, she also obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration and worked as a faculty for undergraduate and graduate programs for 10 years. She relocated to the United States and began pursuing her doctoral degree in Higher Education and Public Policy at the University of Central Florida. Her research topic was focused on the impact of higher education in the economic and social integration of highly educated immigrants in the United States. She has worked at UCF for several years, both in the UCF First Year Advising and Exploration and in the College of Graduate Studies. She is now the Academic Director at Global UCF, where she oversees the curriculum for dedicated programs for international students at the University of Central Florida.