Managing Director
Wendi Aylward
Wendi’s interest in travel and cultural exchange was fostered at a young age by her father who had explored the globe in his younger years. Raised in Sydney’s southern suburbs, a teenage obsession with all things Japanese led her to Japan (via Europe and the US) where she worked for 2 years before returning to Australia to begin a career in the youth travel industry. For the past 16 years Wendi has continued her career in cultural exchange including roles with DFAT and CIEE and has been the managing director of AIFS Australia for the last 5 years. She has lived in Boston, London and Tokyo, speaks Japanese and maintains her passion for Japan.
She is an active member of the NSW Backpackers Operators Association (BOA) and the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) and was a founding member of the Australian Internship Industry Association (AIIA) and the Cultural Au Pair in Australia Association (CAPAA).
Wendi lives in Sydney with her husband Tomihiro and children Taiyo and Ren. She is still trying to find time to play her new jazz guitar…
Favourite city: Tokyo
Inbound Department
Au Pair in Australia
Stephanie Prenzlau
Steph is originally from Frankfurt, Germany but has lived in Africa, South & North America and throughout Europe. She speaks German, English and a little bit of French and Spanish. Besides living in eight different countries Steph has been involved with cultural exchange programs from the other end – by hosting two au pairs herself when her children were young. With that first hand experience Stephanie provides support to au pairs coming to Australia as well as the families hosting them.
Favourite city: Sydney
Sylvia Gustafsson
Sylvia is originally from Germany, can speak German, English and a little bit of Swedish and Russian. She has a Masters in Cultural Studies & Anglistics and has had the pleasure of first hand experience as an Au Pair in New York for one year with Au Pair in America! Sylvia now uses her experience to provide support to au pairs travelling to Australia!
Favourite cities: Bremen & New York
Aline Horst
Aline is originally from Brazil, but has travelled and lived throughout the world; she believes that discovering new cultures, meeting new people and sharing stories together is a great way to have grown up! Her cultural exchange experiences include working as an au pair in Munich for one year, studying and working in tourism for three years in Munich and studying in New Zealand and Australia’s Gold Coast. Her passion lies in the tourism and she has studied and worked in the industry for a few years. Aline can speak Portuguese, German, Spanish and English.
Favourite cities: Rio de Janeiro & Munich
Professional Internship Australia
Kate Elston
Kate is from Sydney but recently returned from 13 years living in the UK which she used as a base while she travelled through Asia, Europe, Africa and America. While studying a degree in Biomedical Sciences in the UK, Kate spent four summers at Summer Camps in California, Massachusetts & New Jersey through the Camp America program. Since completing her studies, Kate spent many years working with global companies in developing and launching new business before taking on her own Media Business. As the Internship Coordinator, Kate is bringing together her experience of working with young people at Summer Camps & in running her own business with her background in Global Business Development.
Favourite city: Assuming a city contains 100,000 or more people, then there are approximately 3000 cities Kate still need to see before she decides ..
Work and Travel Australia
Nina Schmidt
Nina is originally from Berlin, but now calls Sydney home. She has worked in the tourism industry in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, the USA and Australia and has taken part in a range of cultural exchange programs. These include being an au pair through Au Pair in America, the Work & Travel Australia program and completing a hotel internship in Chicago. Nina speaks German, English, French and Japanese.
Favourite city: Chicago
Meri Jankuloska
Meri has roots in Macedonia, but spent most of her life growing up in Germany. She has worked in the hospitality and tourism industry in Germany and Australia and worked for an Embassy in Madrid. Her cultural exchange experience includes a high school exchange in Pennsylvania, USA and a language course in Spain. Meri speaks German, English, Macedonian, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian.
Favourite city: Madrid
Outbound Department
Sarah Lockhart
Sarah had a work background in the arts, music and hospitality industries before finding her true vocation in cultural exchange. She is passionate about working with people and providing experiences that can change their lives. Her cultural exchange experience includes hosting an au pair from Sri Lanka when she was a child and she grew up hosting international students. When she was 16 she participated in a high school exchange to the US and upon returning to Australia became a volunteer advisor for the program for three years. Several years later she applied to become a camp counsellor in the USA and now coordinates the Camp America program. During her time at AIFS, Sarah has worked in both the inbound and outbound departments.
Favourite city: Sydney
Nicolle Duyvelshoff
Nicolle is one of the few precious Aussies in our super multicultural office. Thanks to her two years participation in the American Au Pair program in Chicago, she is our American Au Pair expert. She loved it so much that she decided to share her wonderful experience with others and help them join too. She is the person who will talk to you at our info sessions and the right person to call up and ask anything about the program. Apart from the Au Pair program in America, she also helps to coordinate Camp America. She is passionate about travelling and exploring the world and is currently finishing her Diploma in Tourism.
Favourite cities: San Francisco and New York.
Petra Janouskova
Petra is from the capital city of Czech Republic, Prague. Being born in the heart of Europe she took advantage of the great location and there are not many places in Europe she hasn’t been to. In 2006 she spent her summer as a camp counsellor in the USA and for a month after the camp she travelled all over America. She says that this experience changed her life and gave her new direction. Later she participated in an exchange program at university in Arizona, where she studied Marketing and made friends with people all around the globe. Petra is very passionate about travelling, exploring new places, experiencing cultures and meeting new people. Petra speaks English, Czech and some German and French. She now uses her education and experience background to run all marketing activities at AIFS.
Favourite city: Prague, the city in the heart of Europe
AIFS Accounts
Tony Chew
Tony is from Penang, Malaysia but completed his final years of high school and university in Australia. He studied Business Communication, majoring in accounting at the University of New South Wales. Tony speaks English, several Chinese dialects and Malay.
Favourite city: Bangkok
