Jonathan Baumel joined Spirit of America as Project Specialist with the International Operations team. Passionate about supporting allies on the front lines of authoritarian aggression, Jonathan­­ previously worked as a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute, where he coauthored a full-length report and several analytical products on the threat to Taiwan’s security. He also brings two years of experience from professional roles in Taiwan, including sales to restaurants for a food supplier, software design for a language education startup, and Chinese-English translation for an instrument accessory firm.

Jonathan has long been fascinated by languages and linguistics. In college, he researched topics in Chinese linguistics such as sentence structure and social use of language. Now focused on maintaining his Chinese, he previously pursued Spanish immersion through internships in Medellin and Buenos Aires. He also reads French and knows some Japanese. 

Born and raised in southeastern Pennsylvania, Jonathan earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard with a joint concentration in computer science and linguistics and a secondary concentration in East Asian studies. Watching films and playing bridge are two things that never get old for him.