Anais Escobar is a higher education leader, public speaker, and educator with more than 13 years of experience in admissions, recruitment, and leadership development. She currently serves as Director of Admissions and Special Programs at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she oversees strategy and recruitment for mid-career master’s, doctoral, and fellowship programs, building partnerships with U.S. military, global institutions, and international organizations.
Previously, Anais was Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, where she led a team managing over 100,000 prospective student leads annually, generating more than $9.7 million in program revenue. Her work included designing recruitment strategies, leading admissions committees, and developing innovative training modules using tools like Gallup CliftonStrengths, DiSC, and the SCARF model to strengthen leadership and team performance.
As a public speaker, Anais has presented twice at the NAFSA conference on higher education recruitment and technology, as well as for the Russian government’s Forum on Education, where she shared insights on the Indian and Latin American markets. She holds a Master of Science in Management Studies from the University of Maryland, and earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and Spanish from Colorado State University–Pueblo.
