Carolin was born in Torrance, California, but was only able to enjoy the West Coast sunshine for three weeks before her parents moved the family back to homeland Germany. Along with her older brother and a procession of house pets, the Kunzes lived in Schleswig, Germany for three years until they once again shipped over to sunny California, where they have lived ever since. Carolin attended Newbury Park High School from which she received a full International Baccalaureate diploma, and spent her high school years playing soccer and tennis, volunteering with her National Charity League group, and eventually following in her brother's footsteps to become Editor-In-Chief of the school newspaper. Now a Trustee Scholarship recipient at Mills College, Carolin plans to major in English and minor in Economics so as to complete an MBA in her fifth year at Mills. In addition, she hopes to study abroad junior year and to gain as much experience as possible in the publishing world to achieve her goal of becoming a literary agent. Outside of school, Carolin loves to spend time with her family, including their German shepherd Rudy, playing sports, baking, traveling, visiting relatives in Europe, and of course, reading. (Most especially stories with happy endings!)

Liana Ma is a recent graduate of the University of California, San Diego, where she obtained degrees in Sociology (B.A.) and Cognitive Science (B.S.) with a specialization in Clinical Aspects of Cognition. She is working with and for the elderly in an effort to contribute to the field of aging, and studying mental health issues prevalent in today's local and global communities. She first became interested in working with aging populations in high school, as a volunteer with the Self-Help for the Elderly San Mateo Senior Center. Currently, her goal is to gain a better understanding of the mental health issues that exist within her community, and to later pursue graduate studies in a related field.
As an intern with Pacific Institute, Liana is working on projects geared towards spreading awareness about the elderly and the mental health services available to them. She views the internship as an ideal opportunity to use multi-disciplinary approaches in furthering community outreach, and believes it will help shape her career goals in a hands-on way. Liana grew up in San Mateo, CA and has recently returned to the San Francisco Bay Area after living in San Diego for five years.

Rudolfo San Miguel, called Rudy by everyone who knows him, comes from a small Mexican family originally from San Antonio, Texas on his father's side and white mid-western family on his mother's side. Born in San Francisco, Rudy grew up all around the Bay Area where he developed a deep appreciation for the Northern California community.
Rudy has spent the last two years working towards a degree in Technical and Professional Writing at San Francisco State University. He previously earned a degree in creative writing and published a book of poems titled Cinders from the Bonfire. Instead of focusing technical documentation for a high tech, Rudy has decided to focus on grant and promotional writing for non-profits. He has joined the Pacific Institute as a grant writing intern and hopes to contribute in their endeavor to help those who have already given so much to us, our community's seniors.

A Bay Area native, Raquel graduated from Carondelet High School, in Concord, in 2003. In 2007 she graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a degree in Political Science and minors in Psychology and Asian Studies. She took her studies abroad for a year to Beijing, China, where her volunteer work at a psychiatric hospital intensified an interest for working in the mental health field.

David Clark was raised in Philadelphia, and attended Kenyon College in Ohio. He graduated in 2007 with a degree in Political Science, focusing primarily on political theory. Shortly after school he moved to Berkeley, lured by the people and the environment of the Bay area. After working with a refugee NGO in Washington D.C., David became intrigued with the the nonprofit world. As an intern at the Pacific Institute, he is directing his efforts towards development, looking to increase awareness about the Institute's work and to gather more support for future projects.

Allison is a native of San Francisco and received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and German at UCLA. After graduation, she moved back to San Francisco and has worked at non-profit organizations both locally and abroad in Germany. She became interested in gerontology after attending a water aerobics class and later volunteering as an instructor. She decided to attend San Francisco State University to pursue her Master's degree in Gerontology. Her areas of interest lie in development, educational programming and advocacy, because she believes in awareness and knowledge as the catalysts for empowerment and change.