Workshop Speakers
Michele Anciaux Aoki is World Languages Program Supervisor at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington State. Prior to taking this position in 2008, she consulted with schools on language learning and assessment and businesses and non-profits on project management and effective communications. For over 15 years she has been actively involved in local, state, and national education reform efforts, including serving on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) for Foreign Languages Steering Committee in 2000. Since 2002, she has been part of the Asia Society’s national effort to promote international education in the schools, and in 2003, she co-founded the Washington State Coalition for International Education http://internationaledwa.org to help Washington achieve the goal of preparing all students for today’s interconnected world. With the Coalition, she has led a variety of state innovation projects, including “Mapping & Enhancing Language Learning in Washington State” (http://depts.washington.edu/mellwa), Capitol Forum on America’s Future (a program out of Brown University), and the Expanding Chinese Language Initiative. She currently serves on the “Global Competency Workgroup” of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Michele has a B.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic Linguistics, all from the University of Washington.
Shari Becker Albright serves as the Norine R. Murchison Distinguished Professor of Practice in Education and the Chair of the Department of Education at Trinity University. Before joining Trinity University, she was the Executive Director of Education at the Asia Society and served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Society International Studies Schools Network, a national network of small, internationally-themed secondary schools dedicated to preparing college ready, globally competent citizens for the 21st century. Shari also served as the principal of a public, magnet school in the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas – the International School of the Americas – and was named the Texas High School Principal of the Year for 2004 by the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards. In 2004, her school was also awarded the Goldman Sachs Prize in International Education. After earning her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1992, Shari served as an assistant professor of education at Trinity University and as an educational consultant for the National Basic School Network and the U.S. Department of State Overseas Schools, serving Mexico, Central and South America.
Natalie Arsenault is Outreach Director at LLILAS, where she oversees educational programming for K–12 and postsecondary schools, businesses, civic and non-profit organizations, the media, and the general public. She holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies, with a focus on Brazilian Studies, and has worked extensively on Latin American content-based activities with educators at all levels. Ms. Arsenault served as project coordinator on UT’s Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad programs in Brazil (2004, 2010) and Mexico (2006), for which she organized the pre-departure orientations, handled travel logistics, oversaw day-to-day activities, and managed the curriculum development process. Ms. Arsenault has co-authored six original curriculum units, and has presented them to teachers at venues throughout the state and nation. Working in consultation with state and national teaching standards, and in response to needs identified by educators, Ms. Arsenault has developed a solid reputation in curriculum development and has started to share best practices with other outreach professionals.
Mary Ellen Bafumo is a full-time faculty member at SUNY, New Paltz. She consults for the Council for Educational Change, developing its statewide Florida Leadership Academy each year. Previously, she has been Program Director and developer of the Council’s Accelerated School Administrator Program (ASAP), Executive Director of Professional Development for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, and a Research Associate at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where she worked closely with Dr. Ernest L. Boyer on researching, writing and editing policy reports. She directed Boyer’s Basic School Network from its first 12 school cohort to an international movement of more than 150 schools. Mary Ellen taught in grades K-12, was an Associate Professor at James Madison University, and authored Teaching K-8’s monthly column on professional development. She is the author of articles, study guides and book chapters on educational issues and is an international consultant for the US Department of State.
Barnett Berry is the founder and President of the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc., based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Created in 1999, CTQ, seeks to dramatically increase student achievement across America by advancing teaching as a 21st-century, results oriented profession. A former high school teacher, Berry has worked as a social scientist at the RAND Corporation, served as a senior executive with the South Carolina State Department of Education, and directed an education policy center while he was a professor at the University of South Carolina. He has authored numerous academic reports and publications and many articles for the popular education press. Also, Berry frequently serves in an advisory capacity to organizations committed to teaching quality, equity and social justice in America’s schools. His new book, Teaching 2030, penned with 12 expert teachers from CTQ’s dynamic, virtual community, Teacher Leaders Network, poses a provocative and hopeful future for the profession that makes all others possible.
Yvonne Martínez Brathwaite serves on the senior leadership team as Associate Executive Director at the Partnership for After School Education (PASE) where she supervises the training department staff and oversees the implementation of capacity building programs offered to over 1,600 NYC youth organizations. Ms. Brathwaite directly provides management-level training and technical assistance, including in-depth needs assessments, coaching and strategic program planning, and presents afterschool best program practices at national conferences. Recent presentations include Afterschool Youth Outcomes, Community Asset Mapping, and Creating Professional Development Plans. She also represents PASE as co-chair of the New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Capacity Building Committee and on the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) Workforce Development Work Group. Ms. Brathwaite is an experienced program manager and trainer with 20 years of work in youth services. She started her career working directly with youth, implementing social service and leadership development programs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and a Master of Public Administration from New York University.
Dan Brown is an educator and the author of the teaching memoir The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle, which will be re-issued in an expanded edition by Skyhorse Publishing in September 2011. His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, and Education Week. He also blogs regularly for The Huffington Post and the Teacher Leaders Network. Dan currently teaches high school English in Washington, D.C. at the SEED Public Charter School, which is a tuition-free, college prep public boarding school for inner-city students. He holds a master’s degree in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College, and a bachelor’s degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Charmagne Campbell-Patton is the Program Manager for the World Savvy Challenge program. Based in Minneapolis, Charmagne oversees the Challenge nationally. Charmagne got her start with World Savvy as an intern in 2003. She went on to join the team full time in the fall of 2008 when she moved back to Minneapolis-St. Paul, her hometown, to open World Savvy’s Twin Cities office. Before returning to World Savvy, Charmagne was the Program Associate for Innovations in Civic Participation in Washington DC, where she facilitated the generation of innovative youth civic engagement programs and policies internationally through technical assistance and capacity building. She has also worked as an educator with Creative Peace Initiatives and as a curriculum design consultant for Women Waging Peace. Charmagne received a BA in Political Science from Grinnell College in May 2003 and an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University’s School of International Service in May 2007. She has worked and traveled throughout West Africa and was the recipient of the West African Research Association’s Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in 2006. She also recently co-authored the article “Conceptualizing and Evaluating the Complexities of Youth Civic Engagement” in the Handbook of Research on Civic Engagement in Youth.
Neelam Chowdhary is the Executive Director of Professional Development and Curriculum at Asia Society. She oversees the Partnership for Global Learning curriculum and professional development production to help promote and spread global competence to more schools and districts, as well as oversee the content of our annual summer conference. Previously, Neelam was the Vice President of Programs at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and headed professional development and curriculum development, including a focus on global education and 21st century skills. In that role she oversaw program training for a network of sites and coaches around the country and the world, as well as managed curriculum production and evaluation. A former teacher, she is finishing up her EdD in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College.
Ryder Cobean brings his passion for using technology to facilitate educational and community development to IREX. As a Program Associate for IREX’s civil society and technology programs, he coordinates online project activities between United States high schools and their counterpart classrooms in Kyrgyzstan as part of Global Connections and Exchange, a program funded by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Mr. Cobean served in the United States Peace Corps in 2007-2008, joining a pilot program as an English educator in an ethnic minority community within the Republic of Georgia. During his service, he advised school administrators on grading reform, designed and facilitated open source software training sessions for regional educators, and worked to extend Georgia’s youth leadership camp for girls into the country’s ethnic minority regions. Mr. Cobean is proficient in Russian and conversational in Armenian and Georgian. Above all else, he is an avid believer in the power of ICT to bring disparate groups together, to enrich classrooms, and to serve as a platform for free expression.
Bob Compton is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. He is the founder and CEO of Vontoo Corporation, Indian Math Online, and the founder and CEO of True South Studios. He is executive producer of the documentary Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination that compares and contrasts the high school education experiences of students in India, China, and the United States. After traveling to India in 2005, Compton was inspired to create this documentary to take a deeper look at how the three superpowers of the 21st Century- China, India and the United States are preparing their students for the future. After revealing the decline of American Education in Two Million Minutes, he searched the world for a solution to the education crisis. Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution demonstrates that American students are capable of competing globally given the right curriculum, the right teachers, and expectation for success. In 2009, his documentary Win In China was released, a movie which opened a window into Chinese capitalism. Win In China is the world’s largest and most lucrative business-plan competition, and beneath the game show’s surface lies a subtle view of Chinese business practices, ambitions, ethical norms and competitive behaviors.
Betsy Delvin-Foltz Since 2002, Betsy Devlin-Foltz has led the Longview Foundation’s work building the global competence of young people in the United States through grant making, convening and technical assistance. The foundation supports state coalitions of education, government, business and non-profit leaders that promote international education, comprehensive programs to build the global teaching expertise of pre-service teachers, and innovative strategies to bring the world into P-12 classrooms and out-of-school time programming. She was the lead author on the foundation’s 2008 report Teacher Preparation for the Global Age: The Imperative for Change and is working with state leaders and international education experts on a planning rubric for state international education initiatives. Earlier in her career, Betsy directed a study abroad program for American university students in Zimbabwe, taught middle school English and Social Studies, and English as a second language to secondary students in France. As an independent consultant she developed and facilitated workshops on organization development and cross-cultural communication and was the lead writer for the Peace Corp’s manual Working with Youth: Approaches for Volunteers. A U.S. citizen raised in Belgium, Betsy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in French and English Literature from Swarthmore College, a Master’s Degree in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a graduate certificate in Organization Development from Georgetown University.
David Donaldson is the Director of Education at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and is responsible for the organization’s K-12 resource development, educator website – TeachUNICEF.org, educator workshops, and new initiatives such as UNICEF Connecting Classrooms. David began his career in education with the Peace Corps in 1998 in Slovakia, where he served as an Education Volunteer. Later he taught 2nd and 5th grades in Montgomery County, MD and 4th grade in Washington, DC. David also supervised student teachers at the University of Massachusetts and conducted research on special education in Bangladesh with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee. David received a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and an M.Ed from the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. David is pursuing an Ed.D at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Judy Estrada graduated from CIS in 1999. She continued her education at the University of Denver receiving a B.A in Sociology and Spanish. She attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law and the University of Colorado Law School graduating with a JD in 2007. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado and the District of Columbia. After law school, Judy proudly represented juveniles and adults as a Colorado Public Defender. She currently works at the US Department of Agriculture’s Civil Rights Division in Washington DC. Judy has received international an award recognizing her leadership in community development. She has also received a national award for her work as an educator of health issues that impact the Latina community.
Kim Carter is the Executive Director of the QED Foundation. With 35 years of experience in education, she has taught PreK through graduate school, and provided training, coaching, and facilitation for administrators, teachers, parents, community partners, and youth in schools and learning organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom. As 1991 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year and 1996 New Hampshire Media Educator of the Year, Kim has been actively involved in local, state, and national education reform efforts for over two decades, including Souhegan High School, Monadnock Community Connections School, Five Freedoms Project, the QED Foundation, and the recent New Hampshire charter approval of Making Community Connections Charter School. Kim’s expertise and interests include designing high quality personalized standards-based learning and assessment, democratic schooling, educational equity, learning theory, and high school redesign.
Alan Gershenfeld is currently Founder and President of E-Line Media, a publisher of digital entertainment focusing on computer/video games that engage, educate and empower. E-Line works with leading foundations, academics, non-profits and government agencies to harness the power of games for learning, health, and social impact.
Prior to E-Line, Alan has been CEO and Co-Founder of Netomat, a leader in mobile-web community solutions, Senior Vice President of Activision, where he helped rebuild the company from bankruptcy, and spent nearly a decade in the film industry on numerous feature films and documentaries. A published author, Alan has also led game design workshops throughout the world and spoken at a variety of conferences. Alan additionally serves on numerous boards including the Board of Directors of FilmAid International, and the Advisory Boards of PBS Kids Next Generation Media, Global Kids, and Games for Change, where he is also a former Chairman.
Jennifer Gibson is Chief of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Branch. By exchanging skills, knowledge, and people, such as teachers, the Fulbright Program works to plant and foster mutual understanding amongst people around the world. Jennifer has worked in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Teacher Exchange Branch since 2005.
Jessie Gorant is a middle school teacher of the Gifted/Talented in Teaneck, New Jersey where she has taught for 19 years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Jessie has been incorporating iEARN projects into her curriculum for four years.
Shawn Stelow Griffin is a Senior Program Associate at The Finance Project, where she supports the financing and sustainability of youth programs and out-of-school time initiatives. She provides technical assistance to grantees of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s Statewide Afterschool Networks project and supports the work of the Forum for Youth Investments Ready by 21 project. Prior to joining The Finance Project, Ms. Griffin worked both for the U.S. Department of Education and the Maryland State Department of Education as its Director of Youth Development. She currently serves as a board member of the J.C.Penney Afterschool Fund. Ms. Griffin holds a Master’s in Leadership in Teaching from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Dickinson College.
Jennifer Hanson Exploring various perspectives on history is one of Jennifer Hanson’s passions. As a librarian at Primary Source, she is delighted to share the organization’s collections with teachers who share this interest. Formerly the Instructional Coordinator on Information Literacy at Emerson College, Jennifer assisted both undergraduate and graduate students with research strategies in many subjects. Prior to becoming a librarian, Jennifer worked at the Art Institute in Chicago, was a teaching assistant in Greece, and completed a B.A. in History at Harding University in Arkansas. Jennifer received her Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University. While at Indiana, she worked in the Lilly Library, which houses the university’s rare books and manuscripts collection, and the Herman B. Wells Library in the Information Commons and Research Collections. She is eager to expand Primary Source’s reach to teachers through electronic resources.
Tonilee Hanson, a science educator for over thirty years, has taught PreK-16 students, developed curriculum, served as a teacher trainer, coach and mentor, coordinated events, and formed partnerships. For example, Tonilee served for three years as the Science Education Coordinator at the University of Southern California Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology. She managed the National Science Foundation Grant, PRAXIS, which trained 150 teachers and administrators in inquiry based, hands-on-science. Tonilee also served for three years as the National Director of Professional Development for Different Ways of Knowing, a school reform model implemented in twelve states by the Galef Institute. Most recently, she has developed stewardship and watershed curriculum for the National Park Service, evaluated a Southern California Edison water and energy efficiency curriculum, and served from 2005 -2008 as an Asia Society ISSN coach in Los Angeles. Tonilee is now Program Director for the Spokane River Forum Meet Me at the River Raft & Kayak Eco-Tours interfacing with scientists and natural resource managers to design eco-tours focused on water quality and watershed restoration. She has paddled the entire 111 mile length of the Spokane River and created opportunities for over 300 individuals to participate in river eco-tours. Tonilee is a passionate advocate for a healthy global environment.
Bobby Hobgood is the director of research and development in online curriculum and instruction for LEARN North Carolina, a K–12 outreach program of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Currently he manages special initiatives in online learning, such as the development of online language courses in Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese for the North Carolina Virtual Public School. He has chaired the North Carolina Distance Learning Association Conference for the past three years and serves as president-elect. Bobby speaks French and Spanish and uses his research interests in global education, technology integration, and intercultural competence to develop professional development workshops for K-12 education.
Jenifer Gager Holland oversees training and technical assistance for The Finance Project’s sustainability planning engagements. Ms. Holland also conducts research and develops policy and technical assistance tools on financing for The Finance Project’s Children and Family Services and Education Reform practice groups. She works primarily to provide technical assistance and sustainability planning to grantees of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s Statewide Afterschool Networks project. She also provides research and information services to state child care administrators around supporting access to quality afterschool programs. Prior to joining The Finance Project, Jenifer had conducted extensive research in workforce development and community and economic development through directing an intensive business development training and technical assistance project for home-based child care providers in New York City, and offering program development, market research, and fundraising assistance as a consultant for local and national nonprofit organizations focused on serving diverse, low-income populations. Ms. Holland holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Talia Howard is a rising senior at the International School of the Americas. Talia is a part of the 21st Century Global Leadership class at ISA and spent a semester co-teaching the course with her teacher, Cassie Allen. She then presented her work in this class at the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum in 2010. Additionally, she holds numerous leadership positions on campus. Most notably she is the Director General of Model United Nations San Antonio XVI that will be held in the fall of 2011. There, she will teach her peers how to facilitate as co-chairs of the MUNSA conference which boasts nearly 1000 delegates. This summer, Talia is delighted to attend the PGL conference and be amongst global educators.
Alysha Huggins is a 17 year old junior who attends the High School for Global Citizenship in Brooklyn. She is an active participant in many Global Kids programs including the Human Rights Activist Project and the Undesirable Elements Performance Arts group. As a peer educator, she helped plan and facilitate the Global Kids Conference on Children’s Rights and Conference on Media and World Affairs. She has served on the Global Kids Board of Directors for one year, and has had the opportunity to spend a summer studying and traveling in Morocco with the Experiment in International Living. She is interested in studying International Relations with a focus on Africa and Arabic language in college. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her mother, sister and two brothers.
Anthony Jackson is vice president for education at Asia Society. He also leads Asia Society’s Partnership for Global Learning (PGL), a national membership network of practitioners and policymakers dedicated to integrating knowledge about Asia and the world, as a mainstay of American education. At Asia Society, he has led the development of Asia Society’s International Studies Social Schools Network, an effort within the PGL to create a network of small, effective, internationally themed secondary schools across the country. Trained in both developmental psychology and education, Jackson is one of the nation’s leading experts on secondary school reform and adolescent development.
Carissa Johnson, a Program Manager at World Savvy, is an artist and an educator who passionately believes in the personal growth and empowerment potential of the arts. A former Peace Corps Volunteer (Tonga, 02-03) and an avid traveler, her work in the arts and education has crossed cultural borders and built communities all over the world. She has served schools as an artist-in-residence, created arts integration workshops for teacher professional development, and for the past 6 years ran her own educational consulting firm that created courses in arts, yoga/wellness, and personal development for schools, community centers and corporations in Chicago and Portland, OR. Carissa holds a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and a M.Ed. in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In her other life, she is a spirited Yoga Teacher and Licensed Massage Therapist.
Barry Joseph holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MA in American Studies from New York University. Barry came to Global Kids in 2000 through the New Voices Fellowship of the Academy for Educational Development, funded by the Ford Foundation. He has developed innovative programs in the areas of youth-led online dialogues, video games as a form of youth media, and the educational potential of virtual worlds, combining youth development practices with the development of high profile digital media projects that develop 21st Century Skills. He has also worked with GK’s development program to secure funding from a number of foundation’s and corporations. Barry serves on the steering committee of the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning initiative and his writing appeared in the Foundation’s Ecology of Games volume in 2007. He has spoken at numerous conferences and published articles in a wide variety of publications.
Andrea Kamins As Associate Director of Development Without Limits, Andrea oversees the administrative operations of Development Without Limits, and provides staff development, technical assistance and other supports to youth development programs throughout New York City and beyond. Andrea also has extensive experience developing curriculum and facilitating workshops related to youth workforce readiness, literacy, life skills, health and wellness, and gender-based programming. Andrea has worked with young people ranging from Pre-K through College both in and out of the classroom. She has also worked with college students and adults in the private sector, leading workshops on issues related to diversity and professionalism.
Coco Killingsworth Since joining the Global Kids staff in 2002, Coco has helped create and open Global Kids’ High School for Global Citizenship (HSGC) in Prospect Heights Brooklyn, a small public high school. At HSGC, Coco helps carry out the mission of Global Kids by designing and implementing school wide activities exploring global citizenship, training teachers in theme integration in the classroom, providing international travel opportunities for students, helping students put on conferences on global issues of their choice, and acting as a liaison between Global Kids and the Department of Education. In 2008, Coco won the PASEsetter award for her work with Global Kids in after-school education and in 2009 she was awarded the Revson Fellowship with Columbia University. Coco holds a BA from UCLA in History and African Studies and a Master’s Degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
Timothy Kubik Since earning a joint doctorate in History and Political Science from The Johns Hopkins University, Tim has worked in and consulted with a variety of initiatives designed to increase student engagement with the ever-changing world of the 21st century. Currently Senior History and Social Studies Consultant to the Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network and National Faculty Member at the Buck Institute for Education, Tim has written curricula and taught courses at the elementary, secondary, post-secondary, and graduate level; conducted numerous workshops on simulations-based learning; and is a vocal advocate for a genuinely student-centered revival of lifelong education in his home state of Colorado.
Marjorie Larner, a former teacher and administrator, works with educators across the country, as a facilitator, instructional coach, and designer of professional development for districts, schools, universities, publishers and non-profit organizations. She is currently a School Coach for ISSN as well as serving as Site Professor for University of Colorado Denver Urban Teacher Education Program and Co-Director of Colorado Critical Friends Group. Marjorie is the author of Pathways: Charting a Course for Professional Learning (Heinemann 2004), Tools for Leaders: Indispensable Graphic Organizers, Protocols, and Planning Guidelines for Working and Learning Together (Scholastic 2007), and “Access to Power: From School to Life,” in a collection, The Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools: Creating a Culture of Thinking (TCPress 2008).
Elizabeth Leicester is Assistant Director of the Asia Institute at UCLA. She oversees K-12 outreach for UCLA’s East Asia Title VI center and coordinates the UCLA International Institute’s partnership with South Gate International Studies Learning Center, an ISSN school in Los Angeles. Elizabeth holds BA and MA degrees in East Asian Studies and a C.Phil. in Japanese History.
Chris Livaccari is associate director for education and Chinese Language Initiatives at Asia Society and the instructional coordinator for the Confucius Classrooms Initiative. Livaccari previously led the development of The High School for Language and Diplomacy, and spent three years as a Chinese and Japanese language teacher in New York. He is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who held postings in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Washington, and a co-author of the Chinese for Tomorrow textbook series. He studied Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literature at Columbia University and holds advanced degrees from the University of Chicago and New York University.
Veronica Boix Mansilla is the Principal Investigator of the Interdisciplinary Studies Project at Project Zero. Her research and publications focus on how students, teachers and experts develop expertise in disciplines such as history, biology, and the arts, and how they integrate such perspectives to examine interdisciplinary problems of global significance (e.g., globalization, genocide, global health, climate change, or bioethics). Her research brings together theories and methods in cognitive psychology, epistemology, pedagogy and sociology of knowledge.
Verónica has argued for the significance of global consciousness as an aim for contemporary education. She is examining this construct empirically in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate. As a member of the Asia Society-CCSSO working group, Veronica has contributed to the definition of Global Competency. As a Bernard Schwartz Fellow she will be writing about global competency and the educational demands of our changing world. Verónica has an Ed. D., in Human Development and Psychology and a Masters in Education from Harvard University.
Valerie McGinley Marshall has been with the Stone Center since 1995. Her responsibilities as Director of External Affairs include overall planning and supervision of outreach activities, media and public relations including production of Center publications, and coordination of all funding initiatives of the Stone Center including major gift solicitation and institutional and foundation applications. Previous to her current position she coordinated educational outreach activities through the Latin American Resource Center. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and a M.Ed. in Second Language Instruction, both from Tulane University, and taught high school Spanish and adult ESL in the metro-New Orleans area.
Carol McElvain works for the Learning Point Associates, a not-for-profit educational research organization. She is recognized as an expert on quality after-school programming. Trained as a lawyer, Carol has worked as an advocate for special needs children and has been a member of the District 41 School Board. She has been a Glen Ellyn Children’s Resource board member since 2007.
Connor McLaren, a student at Washington International School, is a charismatic, precocious eleventh grader. He is an accomplished journalist and was a presenter last winter at our school’s Global Issues Network Conference, the first of its kind in North America. At the conference Connor, who has a profound hearing disability, spoke about the power of American Sign Language to engage internationally with students who are hearing impaired. The students and teachers who attended his presentation raved about it. Additionally, Connor is editor of the school’s editorial pages and he fulfills his responsibilities admirably. Witty, inclusive, and earnest, Conner McLaren is an impressive young man.
Carol Mendenhall is an educator with 35 years experience who has done everything from teaching high school English to directing professional development for a nationally recognized school district. Along the way she has developed a passion for ensuring that all students receive the same quality of education she wished for her two sons. Currently, Carol works for the Asia Society as a coach for two schools and is Director of Coaching consultant for the English Language Arts curriculum creation process. Carol is a national facilitator for Courage to Teach and Courage to Lead and believes all of us deserve to take the time to remember why we became educators in the first place.
Alexis Menten is Assistant Director in Asia Society’s Education division, where she leads afterschool and youth leadership initiatives for the Partnership for Global Learning. She rejoined Asia Society after several years in Central Asia and the Middle East, where she coordinated youth programs for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and directed educational technology projects for Relief International – Schools Online. Prior to her work abroad, she was a producer for Asia Society’s family of websites as well as the websites of other organizations, including the Museum of Modern Art. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.
Diane Midness is the Director of Professional Development for iEARN USA. She is a former high school Media Specialist and Coordinating Teacher for Technology Integration and program coordinator for The University of North Carolina’s Center for International Understanding’s International School Partnerships through Technology.
Shaheen Mistri is the founder of the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to impact the lives of less privileged children, enabling them to maximize their potential and change their lives. Akanksha works primarily in the field of education, addressing non-formal education through the Akanksha centre model and also formal education by initiating school reform. Over the past 19 years, the organization has expanded from 15 children in one centre to over 3,500 children across Mumbai and Pune. Mistri is an Ashoka Fellow (2001), a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum (2002), an Asia Society 21 Leader (2006) and serves on the boards of Ummeed, The Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation and is an advisor to the Latika Roy Foundation. Mistri has been working on the idea of Teach for India from 2007, and serves as its founding CEO and one of its founding Board Members.
David D. Molin currently serves as the senior mathematics consultant to the Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network. A former high school teacher, he most recently served as a Program Director and Senior Staff Member at The Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, David has served on the faculties at The University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University in San Antonio. He has also served on authoring teams for high school, middle school, and elementary mathematic textbook series. David uses research that is grounded on evidence from the field to contribute to curriculum design and implementation, instruction and assessment practices, campus and district leadership development, data analysis, and strategic planning.
Honor Moorman is the Dean of Instruction for English and Social Studies at The International School of the Americas (ISA). She previously taught 9th and 12th grade English at ISA and became a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) before serving as a secondary literacy specialist for North East ISD, teaching pre-service teachers at Texas State University, and becoming a co-director of the San Antonio Writing Project. As a result of her avid interest in educational uses of technology, she has recently become a Discovery Educator Network STAR and a Google Certified Teacher. In addition to her work at ISA, Honor is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Education Department at Trinity University, a teacher consultant with the San Antonio Writing Project, a reviewer for ReadWriteThink.org, and the associate editor for NCTE’s Voices from the Middle. Honor has presented at numerous national conferences and her publications have been featured in English Journal, English in Texas, The ALAN Review, and Horace: The Journal of the Coalition of the Essential Schools.
Diane Niedzialkowski is a Science teacher at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Springbrook High School is a diverse International Baccalaureate World School that serves a large number of underprivileged students. The Alumni Small Grant she won in December of 2010 will fund two one-week summer academies for incoming 9th grade students. The goal is to foster global citizenship and develop literacy and communication skills by focusing on the study of India and collaborating with a collaborating school in India. The project will follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) model of inquiry based learning through projects and interdisciplinary instruction.
Matt Nink has been the Executive Director of Global Youth Leadership Institute since its inception in December of 2005. He also has fifteen years of experience as an award winning English teacher and administrator at three high schools in Wisconsin. Among his achievements, Matt has developed and improved many dynamic programs for students and teachers in the areas of community building, student discipline, and student leadership. He has been a part of many successful efforts to raise awareness about diversity issues and global awareness in schools and has conducted student and teacher workshops at schools throughout the USA, as well as in Costa Rica, India, and Nigeria. Furthermore, he has presented widely on major topics of his work for Global Youth Leadership Institute. Matt holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Boston College and a Master’s Degree in English from Northern Illinois University.
Grace Norman is the managing editor for Asia Society’s web features on education. She is also a multimedia producer whose projects––aimed at youth––have covered a range of topics, including redefining places after war; the effects of disasters and pandemics on local communities; and identity in a post-9/11 world. Her latest project, Homeland Afghanistan, features 75 short documentaries that explore the cultural and political history of Afghanistan. The website, http://afghanistan.asiasociety.org, was designated a 2011 Webby Honoree.
Rita Oates has been using and creating online educational communication networks, activities, and lessons since 1975. At ePals, she works with state and national education leaders and large districts to successfully implement ePals LearningSpace, a virtual workspace optimized for creating, sharing, collaborating and managing educational content, and the free web 2.0 tools.
Rita earned a PhD from Indiana University in Educational Applications of Media and is author of 10 books, including one on technology professional development published by NSBA. For over seven years she was the Director of Ed Tech in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. There, she led co-development of the software and print materials, Steps to English Language Learning, and was recognized with the Lifetime Ed Tech Leadership award in Education in 2010. At Barry University, she was associate professor and Chair of the Educational Computing and Technology Department. Earlier in her career, she was education editor of the first U.S. online service with color and graphics, pre-internet, called VIEWTRON. After earning degrees in Curriculum and Instruction and in Journalism at the University of Kansas, Rita taught high school language arts and journalism in urban, rural, and suburban schools in Kansas. As a child she lived in San Jose, Costa Rica and attended a girls-only public elementary school in Spanish.
Chris Page is currently the Executive Director of CSIET. Previously, he has served on the faculty at Episcopal High School in Virginia in various capacities since 1989. He has been a Spanish teacher, Director of Curriculum Technology and the Resident Director for the Episcopal High School Spain Summer Program. While at Episcopal, Chris also served on the CSIET Board of Directors from 2003-2009 and on the CSIET School Outreach Working Group. Chris has a varied background working with exchange programs and U.S. secondary schools. Instrumental in building strong relations between the school and exchange program communities, Chris works to develop and grow CSIET’s representation of inbound, outbound, short-term and long-term programs and continues to work with U.S. Department of State officials in the pursuit of safe, high-quality exchange experiences. Chris Page has a BA in Spanish and Economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and an MA in Spanish Language and Culture from Middlebury College covering Madrid, Spain and Vermont.
Lok Yim Pheng is currently Secretary General of EI’s affiliate in Malaysia, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP). NUTP comprises 12 branches and represents 130,000 teaching personnel in Malaysia. After obtaining her Diploma in Education, Yim Pheng commenced her teaching career in 1978. In 1990 she became a Senior Assistant and in 2000 the Headmistress of her school. In 2004, she was seconded to the Public Services Department of Malaysia as an Officer. Yim Pheng’s active involvement in teacher union activities resulted in her election as Committee member, then Assistant Secretary of NUTP’s Federal Territory Branch, where she still holds the position of Honorary Secretary. Yim Pheng firmly believes in the empowerment of female workers and in gender equality. She is currently Coordinator of the Women’s Network in EI’s Asia-Pacific Region and was Treasurer of the National Council of Women’s Organizations of Malaysia (NCWO). Her dedication to unionism, however, is not limited to the teaching sector: She is also Deputy Secretary of the National Joint Council for Support Group Workers and the Executive Council of Malaysia Trades Union Congress (MTUC), as well as Deputy Secretary General of Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (CUEPACS). Yim Pheng was elected member of the EI Executive Board at EI’s 4th World Congress held in July 2004 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Tonya Muro Phillips coordinates and directs GNG’s direct outreach and planning towards helping educational institutions foster global citizenship. She is responsible for the design and implementation of a dynamic array of interactive and innovative classroom programs that integrate popular culture and global education to make it an exciting experience while kindling a keen interest among students for pressing global issues. Tonya’s experience in the field of international education has spanned roles ranging from direct teaching in elementary and middle schools in both the U.S. and Latin America, to consulting for international NGOs across diverse educational domains that include the United States, Latin America and Africa. She is also a trained health educator who specializes in HIV/AIDS education. Her diverse expertise is critical towards the monitoring and evaluation of existing curriculum and identifying key opportunities for integrating GNG’s global education initiatives into the school setting. Tonya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Spanish from the University of Massachusetts, and Master of Arts and Doctor of Education degrees in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. She was awarded a Fulbright for her dissertation research in Tanzania in 2006.
Donald Proffit
Principal of Lawrence High School in New Jersey until 2006, Don Proffit’s priorities were promoting a caring, inclusive, safe school community, and supporting academic rigor, diversity, and ethics. In the years leading up to his work in Lawrence, Proffit’s innovative education initiatives included directing a “Fame” magnet high school in dance and theater and acting. Proffit’s passion for finding and implementing tools for forming stronger, more inclusive communities has led him from Maine to Bali. He is a regional steward for The World Café – “a natural & effective way to host meaningful conversations that awaken collective wisdom & engage collaborative action;” and an arts curriculum consultant with Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network. He also serves on the executive committee of the Bali Institute for Global Renewal. Proffit holds a master’s degree in educational leadership with a visual arts focus from Bank Street College and Parsons School of Design, a master’s in creative arts education from Rutgers, and a bachelor’s degree in music from the Westminster Choir College.
Cheri Quinlan has been the Coordinator for World Languages, International Education and Gifted and Talented at the New Jersey Department of Education for the past year and a half. For fifteen years she served as a Supervisor of Instruction for the Toms River Regional Schools in New Jersey. During the first ten years, she worked as the World Languages and Fine Arts Supervisor at the high school level. After her superiors discovered that she could not sing, dance, nor draw a straight line, she was given the responsibility of supervising the World Languages department K-12. She began her teaching career as a Spanish teacher in Toms River in 1980. Cheri has served on the board of Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ) since the early 1990’s. She is the immediate past president of FLENJ and serves on the board as the liaison to the New Jersey Department of Education.
Lori Langer de Ramirez holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics and a doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently the chairperson of the ESL and World Language Department for Herricks Public Schools, N.Y. Dr. Ramirez is the author of several books, including Empower English Language Learners with Tools From the Web and Take Action! Lesson Plans for the Multicultural Classroom and several Spanish-language books and texts.
Steve Regur is founder of Aveson Educational Cooperative, Inc. and is the Executive Director of the Educational Consulting Division. He also serves on the board of directors. Steve began his career teaching in Texas. He then worked on the East Coast as a school consultant and traveled nationally as a program manager. Following a move to California to work as a director of school accountability, he founded his own company, which eventually merged with the consulting division. He has authored or coauthored more than $4.2 million in grants for schools, two school charters, a pilot school design, and a collaboration workbook to support teachers.
Heather Singmaster is a Senior Program Associate in the Education Department at Asia Society where her work primarily focuses on state and national policy. She previously worked at the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Heather holds a Masters degree focused in Anthropology from New York University and a Bachelors degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. Publications include, Putting the World into World-Class Education: State Innovations and Opportunities, Going Global: Preparing Our Students for an Interconnected World (An Introductory Guidebook for Secondary Schools), States Prepare for the Global Age, and “International Education and the Early Language Classroom” in Learning Languages.
Homa Sabet Tavangar is the author of the widely-acclaimed Random House release, Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World, which is sparking initiatives to bring global learning to public and private schools, as well as creatively engaging parents. She spent 20 years working in global competitiveness, organizational and business development and cross-cultural issues with hundreds of private businesses, non-profit agencies, governments and international organizations, before turning her sights to education and parenting issues. Today, she works with audiences from CEOs to kindergartners to help them learn and thrive in a global context – and have fun along the way. Born in Iran, she also has lived in East and West Africa, South America and throughout the U.S. She holds degrees from UCLA and Princeton University, speaks four languages and her religious heritage includes four of the world’s major faiths. She is married and the mother of three girls.
Mike Thiruman joined Singapore Teachers’ Union (STU) full-time in May 2004. Before that, he was a Gifted Education Specialist at MOE. Besides work, his time is spent with his wife, Lynette and two boys, Michael and Zachary. For Mike, his aim in life is to ensure that he will always be there for his family and the union and to do as much good as possible.
Meredith Wedin, an educational consultant, is the Director of Leadership Development with the Asia Society International Studies Schools Network and coaches the ISSN Houston schools. In addition, she serves the Lead Leadership Coach for the Texas High School Project STEM Initiative and as a coach for Houston A+ Challenge Preparing to Dream Project. A school and district level administrator for over 25 year, Meredith was a principal for 18 year in the Houston Independent School District and at St. John’s School. She was named an Outstanding Elementary Principal by the National Association of Elementary Principals and the Region IV Outstanding Principal by the Texas Association of Secondary Principals.
Brandon Wiley is the Director of the International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) for Asia Society. He has most recently served as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the West Seneca Central School District, a suburb of Buffalo, New York and before that as the Director of Staff Development and Social Studies (K-12) for the District. During his tenure in West Seneca, he was instrumental in leading ongoing work in the area of curriculum, assessment and quality instruction. Prior to joining West Seneca, Brandon served as a staff development coordinator at Erie 1 BOCES, focusing on curriculum and assessment development, data analysis, social studies and literacy instruction. Brandon has experience as a classroom teacher at the elementary, middle, and collegiate level. As a life-long learner, he is currently attending the University of Pennsylvania to pursue doctoral studies in educational leadership.
Brandon has presented at the local, state and national level on a variety of topics, including curriculum mapping, literacy instruction, data-driven decision making, district/school strategic planning, development of quality professional development and building Professional Learning Communities. He serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Staff Development Council and the Board of Trustees for People to People International (PTPI). His work with PTPI allows him to continue to work with students, where he has led over a half dozen humanitarian programs for students both in the United States and to countries such as Russia, Egypt, Australia, Poland, Costa Rica and Morocco.
John I. Wilson, a long-time special education teacher and Association leader, became executive director of the National Education Association on November 1, 2000. Since coming to NEA, Wilson has championed a minimum salary of $40,000 for every teacher and a living wage for Education Support Professionals (ESP). He also launched an NEA initiative to engage the best teachers in sharing ideas on staffing high-poverty, low achieving schools with the most accomplished teachers. Wilson has chaired the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Learning First Alliance, and previously served the Association as president and executive director of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). His accomplishments include the development of new support systems for teachers pursuing certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Wilson has been an NEA activist since his days at Western Carolina University, where he served as president of the NEA student chapter. As a middle school teacher of special needs students, Wilson was an active Association leader throughout his 20-year teaching career. He served as president of the Raleigh Association of Classroom Teachers and the Wake County Association of Classroom Teachers, and also served on the NEA Board of Directors and the NEA Executive Committee. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in education and received a master’s degree in education from the University of North Carolina.
Jenn Zinn
Jennifer Zinn is the founding Principal of the Global Learning Collaborative (GLC), a new small school in Manhattan that is proud to be part of the International Studies School Network (ISSN.) Her experience includes working as a math teacher and administrator in New York City and San Antonio, Texas as well as coaching basketball. She earned a Masters in the Art of Teaching as well as a Masters of Education and has studied through international learning programs such as a Fullbright-Hayes trip to India. Jenn has been fortunate to travel with family, colleagues and students to China, India, Costa Rica, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Tanzania, Peru, Chile, Canada, Germany, Austria, Belize and more. She considers herself a lifelong learner and global citizen, enjoys learning new languages and meeting new people.
