Written by Téa Weinstein, Programming Intern for the LU/UN Partnership | February 18, 2026 | SHARE
This March, Lizi Tevdorashvili, ‘28, will be attending the National High School Model United Nations at the UN headquarters for the third year — this time as a leader.
In 2023 and 2024, she attended the conference as a participant representing her home nation of Georgia. This year, she has been asked to mentor Georgian students coming to America for the event.
Tevdorashvili moved to Brooklyn in 10th grade, and only a year later, she pursued the opportunity to attend the International Model UN as a representative of her home country.
After being selected as one of ten Georgians to participate, Tevdorashvili began months of training before the conference, including lessons on important skills such as collaboration, communication, adaptability, and negotiation.
The International Model UN is a 5-day event, with about 5,000 students who attend meetings with diplomats, work for committees to draft resolutions on particular issues, and vote on these resolutions.
It is cited as the “world’s largest and most prestigious Model UN conference for secondary school students” on IMUNA’s website.
Tevdorashvili recounted the experience in awe; she was given an official UN badge and was amazed at the headphones that were able to translate all conversations into her native language.
In 2023, Tevdorashvili was assigned to the United Nations Environmental Assembly committee; together with some colleagues, she drafted a resolution on safety during the nighttime for women in NYC, and a means to approach the issue of poverty in Southern African countries.
The 40-page resolution on women's safety ended up winning the top vote out of five total resolutions. In it, they made recommendations such as changing lighting in the parks and a mobile app that signals the closest police department.
In 2024, she worked on the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee to uphold prisoners’ rights to healthcare.
This year, she was asked to be a mentor for 15-16-year-old Georgian students attending the conference, including those who have never been to America before.
As a mentor, Tevdorashvili holds weekly Zoom meetings where she gives lessons to prepare them for the conference. She said that during the training she strives to be open about her experience, and that she wants to make sure the students will maximize their time at the Model UN.
“It’s really easy to just get lost. You get excited to see the hotel, the views, and everything and it’s easy to forget why you’re here. I just want to make sure they’re participating and having fun,” Tevdorashvili said.
Tevdorashvili said during the conference, it can be tempting to sit by oneself because there are so many people, and it can be nerve-racking to approach others.
However, she emphasized the importance of making connections with different country representatives, and not letting the worry that English isn’t their first language, or that they are from a small country, get in the way of having the confidence to speak up. In fact, she said her favorite memory was meeting students from other countries.
Tevdorashvili highly recommends the conference to others.
“No matter what your future goals are, [the conference] is really worth the experience,” she said. “You see the working process behind the scenes. How they write everything, and how much work goes into it. It was really stressful, but it prepares you for what’s coming in your career.”