Krista Northup

Director for Global Partnerships
knorthup@email.unc.edu 
+1 919-962-0299
3015 FedEx Global Education Center
she/her

Krista Northup is the director for global partnerships at UNC Global Affairs. She has served in this role since 2022, focusing on spotting opportunities for Carolina faculty and departments to create, sustain and expand international collaborations. Krista actively supports the University’s four strategic partners and several other partnerships that are important to various schools, departments and stakeholders. She assesses partnerships, advocates for funding and identifies regions, countries and institutions with emerging possibilities. In 2024, under Krista’s leadership, UNC-Chapel Hill won the IIE Heiskell Award for Strategic Partnerships for its work with Carolina’s strategic partner Eberhart Karls Universität Tübingen. 

Previously, Krista served as the director of education for North America for Sannam S4, a higher education consulting organization specializing in global operations. Before that, she worked for Cambridge Education Group, where she was responsible for developing strategic relationships with North American universities. She has also worked at State University of New York (SUNY), the University of Melbourne and Washington College. Krista spent about 10 years working in the Australian education sector, traveling the country and learning about the differences in Australian and North American education systems. This experience, as well as her time in admissions — her first job after graduating from college — inspired her to help others develop meaningful cross-cultural relationships. 

Krista earned her bachelor’s degree from Washington College and a Master of Business of Administration from Charles Sturt University in Australia. She has lived in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Chestertown, Maryland. She is a regular presenter at association conferences including the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) and NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Krista loves spicy food, audiobooks and pickleball, and she lives with her family in Chapel Hill. 

Hometown
Rochester, New York, USA

Education
B.A., Sociology, Washington College
MBA, Charles Sturt University 

Awards
2022, International Education Partnerships Certificate, State University of New York
2022, DAAD German Exchange “Germany Today” Study Tour of Higher Education participant