Allen Cutler is a private investor residing in New York. From 1983 to 2012, he worked as investment banker for Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, retiring as a managing director. Over the course of his investment banking career, Cutler held senior positions in New York, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong with responsibility for advising governments and companies on a broad array of capital raising and corporate finance transactions. In addition to serving as a trustee of World Learning Inc., Cutler is a member of the New York Angels, an investor consortium focused on start-up enterprises in the New York area. Cutler is a graduate of Amherst College, where he majored in political science.

Jenny Backus joined World Learning Inc.'s Board of Trustees in 2016. She is the owner and president of Backus Consulting LLC, a strategic communications firm specializing in strategy development, campaign and project management, and intergovernmental consulting for corporations, media outlets, trade associations, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and political campaigns and committees. A nationally recognized spokesperson and expert on strategic communications and partnerships, Backus has worked for Fortune 500 companies, national trade associations, and NGOs and in the political arena serving in leadership positions in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and on presidential campaigns, including managing more than 40 presidential primary debates and forums and events for the national media in the 2004 and 2008 presidential cycles. Most recently Backus served for three years as a senior policy advisor and head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement for Google, where she developed Google’s state-by-state public affairs teams and strategic plans, managed all Google’s U.S. NGO and third-party relations and oversaw a multimillion dollar public affairs and policy budget. Prior to that, her company, Backus Consulting, was one of Google’s top U.S. consultants from 2013 -2015, managing key coalitions and campaigns. Backus also served in the first two years of the Obama Administration as the acting assistant secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) and the principal deputy assistant secretary for Strategy & Planning at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), working closely with then-Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the White House. She managed communications activities for HHS and all their operating and staff divisions and, during her tenure, grew HHS ASPA from a $6 million to a $20 million department; she also expanded web and new media capabilities and supervised and managed more than $250 million worth of communication contracts across HHS. During her time as ASPA, Jenny managed communications and marketing efforts around the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, including the creation of a new consumer website, healthcare.gov, and a multimillion dollar communications contract for online and new media advertising around key benefits of the new law. She served as the lead U.S. government communications official for the H1N1 Pandemic, managing the creation of Flu.gov with Google’s Flu Vaccination locator and under her leadership helped make possible the first-ever U.S. Government YouTube contest on flu prevention. In addition to running her own consulting business, Backus also serves on several boards, including as chair of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and as nominations chair for the DC Public Library Foundation Board. A graduate of Brattleboro Union High School and Brown University, Backus lives in Washington, DC, with her husband Ed Pagano and son Jack.

Jack Benson is a partner at Reingold where he guides market research, strategy, social media, and interactive and digital marketing. Previously, he was a principal at Birdwood Capital, a venture capital consulting firm, providing strategic, marketing, and financial expertise to companies in emerging industries. Benson also served as chief financial officer and chief information officer for Varsity Group, Inc., a leading provider of e-commerce solutions for educational institutions nationwide.

He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colgate University and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, where he was a Shermet Scholar and recipient of the Genovese Fellowship.  Benson is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and co-lead of its Changing the Conversation priority group.  He is a member of the Google Public Sector Advisory Council and co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Military Family Advisory Network.

Spencer P. Boyer is a Partner in the Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), leading a new National Security, Defense, and Aerospace practice. ASG, part of DGA Group, is a premier global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm based in Washington, D.C. Directly before ASG, he spent the 2024 winter academic term in residence at Dartmouth College, where he was the Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, teaching a course on Russian influence in Europe. He recently completed nearly 3 years of service in the Biden Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy where he was responsible for managing the day-to-day defense relationship between the United States and NATO, the European Union, and more than 40 countries in Europe. He served in senior roles in both Obama administrations. From 2009 – 2011, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, where his portfolio included Western Europe, public diplomacy, and public affairs. From 2014 – 2017, he was the National Intelligence Officer for Europe in the National Intelligence Council—the center for long-range strategic thinking within the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Mr. Boyer is an Adjunct Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Global Fellow in the Global Europe Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center). He has been a Senior Fellow or Visiting Scholar with numerous think tanks, including the Center for American Progress, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the Brookings Institution. He has also served as the Director of the Washington Office of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. He began his career as an Associate with the law firm of Jones Day. Later, he worked in The Hague as a Law Clerk to the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Zurich as a Staff Attorney at the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and in Paris as Counsel at the International Court of Arbitration. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature from Wesleyan University, during which time he spent a semester in Cameroon with the School for International Training. He received his juris doctor from New York University School of Law, where he specialized in public international law and the work of international organizations. He also earned a master’s degree in French studies, with a concentration in French politics, history, and economy from NYU. He lives in Maryland with his family.

Michael Clarfeld joined the World Learning Inc. Board of Trustees in 2016. He studied abroad in Bolivia with SIT in 1997. As part of his SIT experience, Clarfeld conducted an independent study project focused on the role that three women played in launching a grassroots movement in the late 1970s that ultimately led to the downfall of the military dictatorship. Clarfeld works in New York as portfolio manager for ClearBridge Investments. Along with his partners, he manages two suites of portfolios: one focused on diversified dividend payers and the other on energy infrastructure companies. Clarfeld started his finance career at Goldman Sachs and has worked in the industry for more than 15 years. Clarfeld and his wife, Tamar, live in Brooklyn with their two daughters. In addition to World Learning Inc., his family actively supports Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal rescue and advocacy group with animal shelters around the country. Tamar has been on the board of Farm Sanctuary since 2012.

Elana Aquino has 20 years of experience as a practitioner and academic in international development, diplomacy, and global peacebuilding with a portfolio of strategic and operational leadership and impact. She currently is the Director of Conflict Resolution at the Carter Center. Aquino has supported community-driven solutions for the return of South Sudanese internally displaced persons, and as a peacebuilding program officer, she supported locally-driven women’s empowerment initiatives that recognize women as crucial factors in solidifying peace. In Kenya, she was a researcher and then head of the key coordination secretariat between the government of Kenya and 17 international development agencies. She led the production of the national joint assistance strategy for Kenya, targeting her strengths of team facilitation, communications, website development, research, data and risk analysis, benchmarking best practices, and relationship building. She organized the first National Development Partnership Forum in Kenya co-chaired by the prime minister and the regional head of the World Bank, with key participation from regional United Nations agencies.

She is a fellow for both the International Career Advancement Program and the International Peace and Security Institute and a board member of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation. As a child of immigrant parents from the Caribbean, she is passionate about global peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and poverty prevention and reduction.

Brandolon Barnett is an investor, author, and entrepreneur dedicated to merging technology and social impact to better move resources to those in need. His book, "Dreams Deferred: Recession, Struggle, and the Quest for a Better World," chronicles his personal journey through poverty and adversity to a career in social impact and technology. He is the founder of The Regular App and serves as head of Innovation and Philanthropy at Giving Compass. Prior, Barnett worked as chief product officer for Humanitas AI and Y Combinator-backed Deed and as director of product, and later corporate social responsibility industry solutions lead, for Salesforce.org Philanthropy Cloud. He has appeared on NPR and been a speaker at numerous events, including SXSW, Dreamforce, BBCon, and others. Barnett holds certifications from Pragmatic Institute and the Black Venture Institute at University of California, Berkeley, along with a master’s in international studies from the University of London SOAS. He served as an elected advisory neighborhood commissioner in Washington, DC, and currently serves as a board member of Spur Local (formerly The Catalogue for Philanthropy). He also actively volunteers as a mentor and investor in entrepreneurs of color.

Bob Chase is a former vice chair of the World Learning Board and a retired former senior vice president of World Learning for International Development. He served as interim president of World Learning in the winter and spring of 2005. His son attended SIT Study Abroad in India in 1987. Bob spent five years in Rome as assistant secretary general in charge of programming and distributing food overseas for the World Food Program of the United Nations, and 30 years in senior policy positions with the United States government, both overseas and in Washington, including as deputy director of the President’s anti-poverty program. He serves on several not for profit boards, both international and local. Bob holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MA from the Maxwell School of Public Administration at Syracuse.

Elizabeth Clay Roy is a lifelong leader of civic engagement and social change initiatives, and the new Chief Executive Officer of Generation Citizen, a national nonprofit committed to providing youth with the knowledge and skills they need to actively participate in our democracy.  Leading Generation Citizen brings Elizabeth full circle to her childhood roots, when she campaigned door to door for candidates in Boston before she was old enough to vote. She was so active in voter registration drives that PBS’s show In the Mix chose her to lead youth coverage of the 2000 Presidential election. 

Prior to joining Generation Citizen, Elizabeth was Executive Director of TakeRoot Justice, a New York City-based social justice organization that supports grassroots organizations and provides legal services to over 2000 clients each year. Elizabeth’s work at TakeRoot Justice built on her success as an entrepreneurial and collaborative leader, especially as Chief of Staff at Phipps Neighborhoods where she co-led South Bronx Rising Together, an education equity collective impact partnership.  

Elizabeth was the founding Deputy Director of Opportunity Nation, a national campaign to expand economic mobility and she began her career working in participatory planning in India and serving Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as a Policy Advisor and the Director of Grassroots Governance. 

Elizabeth co-authored Shaping Vibrant Cities, a guidebook on effective community-led urban planning based on her participatory governance work with Janaagraha in Bangalore, India. A long-time champion of experiential learning, she serves on the Board of World Learning, a leader in study abroad and global development.

Elizabeth received a B.A. from Columbia University and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  She and her family live in Harlem.

Founder and president emeritus of Management Systems International, Larry Cooley has more than 40 years of experience in the fields of strategic management, public sector reform, and international development.  Currently serving as board chair of the Society for International Development and of World Learning Inc., he is the author or co-author of widely used methodologies for managing policy change, scaling innovation, entrepreneurship development, and results-based management. Cooley has served as project director or principal investigator for numerous high-visibility domestic and international public management initiatives, as facilitator for three Cabinet-level working groups in the United States, and as advisor to the leaders of more than a dozen governments and international agencies. Cooley is an elected fellow and board member of the National Academy of Public Administration, a non-resident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution, and a trustee or advisory board member for a wide range of foundations, nonprofit organizations, and global initiatives. He was chairperson of the Development Management Network of the American Society of Public Administration for 15 years and is a past recipient of the Society’s National Award for Training Excellence; and he is a founder and co-curator of a global community of practice on scaling up development outcomes. Prior to establishing MSI in 1981, Cooley worked for the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, Practical Concepts Incorporated, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  He is a summa cum laude graduate of Colgate University and participated the International Honors Program. He also holds advanced degrees in economics from Columbia University, public policy from Princeton University, and management from the Cranfield Institute of Technology in the UK.

Aicha Cooper is a development professional, who has dedicated her life to supporting initiatives and organizations that aim to improve the lives of marginalized people around the world.

A Liberian-American,  she brings an interesting perspective to the development space by drawing from her experience of living through the Liberian civil war.  A frequent speaker and champion for the rights of women and children, Cooper believes in the power of the human connection through storytelling as a means of finding common ground to build a more peaceful world.   She shares her personal refugee story of resilience with many audiences to raise awareness of the global refugee crises while highlighting the impact of civil conflict on women and children. Cooper views challenges as opportunities to work in close partnership with others to find solutions to some of our world’s development challenges.

Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Minnesota – Duluth and a master’s degree in Sustainable Development, International Policy, and Management from the School for International Training (SIT). She has helped  a wide range of organizations deliver impact-driven programs and yield measurable results. Cooper currently works at the World Bank, which is the largest international development institution, dedicated to ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity.

Dr. Mahesh Daas is an academic leader, author, designer, technologist, and speaker. He serves as the eighth president of the Boston Architectural College, a 132-year-old independent institution. His career spans three decades at diverse institutions and practices including an Association of American Universities flagship university, two public, first-tier research universities, and an independent institution. In 2011, Dr. Daas became the youngest educator and the first person of Indian origin to be elevated as an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor and served as the 2021-22 chancellor of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture College of Distinguished Professors. He is the author of “Leading with Aesthetics: The Transformational Leadership of President Charles M. Vest at M.I.T.”and a co-editor of “Towards a Robotic Architecture.” Additionally, he serves on the editorial board of the Construction Robotics Journal.

He is an award-winning creative writer and poet with an interest in existentialist and Latin American magical realist literature. Dr. Daas earned a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania; a master’s degree in urban design from Kansas State University; and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India. He also received executive certificates in business and nonprofit management from the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University.

Rosamond Delori began her World Learning Inc. trusteeship in 2002 and served as board chair from 2011 to 2014. She also served as vice chair from 2004 to 2006 and was head of the organization’s Investment Committee from 2003 to 2011. Her ties to The Experiment in International Living go back to the 1950s, when her parents hosted two Experimenters and created a foreign film festival in Keene, New Hampshire, to benefit the program. In addition, three of Delori’s children attended SIT Study Abroad programs in the 1990s. Delori is the retired executive director of the 1911 Office, which manages the David F. Putnam family’s financial strategy. She currently manages family investment pools and oversees the investments of the Putnam Foundation, a charitable trust created by her family in 1952 to fund historic preservation, cultural enhancement, youth programs, ecological maintenance, and education in New Hampshire, particularly the Monadnock region. Her expert financial know-how and investment skills, her public service, and her land planning and conservation experience make her an invaluable member of the boards of World Learning Inc., the Silver Lake Land Trust, and the Investment Committee of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Delori received a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1967. As a teenager, she studied abroad for a year in Chatou, France, with the International Christian Youth Exchange. Delori attended the College for Financial Planning in Denver and has been a certified financial planner licensee since 1997.

Travis Feldler is a technology executive based in New York and Berlin. He is the founder and CEO of TechRow, a venture-backed educational media startup. Feldler co-authored The New York Times Virtual Reality Curriculum Guide and is an editorial contributor to the Learning Network section of the publication. He serves as an advisor to two education initiatives: DREAMS at Teachers College, Columbia University, which focuses on exploring the opportunities of metaverse-based education, and the Harlem Renaissance Education Pipeline, a "Cradle to Career Impact Partnership" that is improving outcomes for families and students in central and west Harlem. As part of World Learning’s student research program in Oman, Feldler conducted research in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar on political and economic development in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

Raimund Grube is an Operating Partner with Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.  He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, focused on investments in sustainable energy and water infrastructure, and related companies and technologies. Over the last 25 years he has been involved with infrastructure development and investment with responsibility for business development, acquisitions, finance, and marketing. He has served as an advisor or board member for companies and volunteered and served in various board roles for nonprofit organizations including, most recently, as chair of the board of the Oregon Zoo Foundation focused on promoting education, conservation and animal welfare globally. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies and Economics from Colgate University and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Sarah Ingersoll is a social entrepreneur who leverages media, technology, money, and partnerships for good. She is the granddaughter of Donald Watt, founder of The Experiment in International Living, and the daughter of Phyllis Watt Ingersoll, who was an active leader and trustee for decades.

Throughout her career, Ingersoll has been a leader of collaboratives with the White House, Fortune 500 companies, investors, foundations, artists, youth, and nonprofits, addressing issues from healthcare and juvenile justice to democracy and conservation. Her current role is director of strategic communications at Terra Praxis. Prior roles include co-founder of the Amazon Investor Coalition, focused on the rainforest, and strategic partnerships for ValuesAdvisor, a platform to connect high net worth investors to financial advisors with impact expertise. While at National Geographic, she managed initiatives for the new innovation lab and global partnerships team, including directing a partnership with Microsoft AI for Earth. Prior to that, Ingersoll was director of innovation strategy and marketing at MedStar Health. She also directed Text4baby, a partnership between Johnson & Johnson, the Wireless Association, and White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, which inspired 650,000 mothers to use the maternal health innovation.

Ingersoll holds a bachelor's in arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's of education from Harvard University. Ingersoll also participated in The Experiment in International Living in France as a teenager.

Sean Kirk is a private investor who began his career in 1990 working in fixed-income capital markets at Credit Suisse First Boston. He has worked on debt financings for Boeing, The World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, The Government of Israel, and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), among others. From 1995 to 2007, Kirk worked as a proprietary trader specializing in distressed mortgage and asset-backed debt for Bear Stearns in New York and United Capital Markets in Miami. In 2007, Kirk started the structured trading department at Seaport Global Securities before he retired in 2018. Kirk is a board member for International Medical Response and a supporter of GOALS Haiti. From 2005 to 2008, he was a board advisor to Women’s Emergency Network. Kirk graduated from Brown University where he earned degrees in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace and business economics. He grew up in Keene, NH, and now lives in Spofford, NH, and Miami Beach, FL.

Lauren Landis joined World Learning Inc.’s Board of Trustees in October 2019. She is currently the director of nutrition for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome. She has spent most of her career working in the field of relief and development.

Landis began her career in 1985 working for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), then known as Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO), in Geneva. She then took on assignments in Washington, DC, and in Africa working as a disaster operations specialist and as an emergency operations coordinator for the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In 1993, she turned her efforts to the NGO sector. From 1993 to 1995 she worked for lnterAction as a program officer. In 2002, Landis returned to the U.S. Government to take up the position of director of the Office of Food for Peace within USAID. Subsequently, Landis transitioned to the U.S. Department of State in 2006, where she served as the senior representative on Sudan.

After returning to the UN in 2009, Landis served in Rome for three years as chief of staff and director of the Office of the Executive Director for the WFP, as well as subsequent assignments for WFP leading their Geneva office, and then as country director for Chad.

Landis graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor of arts in international relations and affairs.

Stephen Lowey held a trusteeship with World Learning Inc. from 1986 to 2000. He was board chair from 1997 to the end of his term. In October 2000, he was named chair emeritus. Lowey was an Experimenter to France in 1952 and a group leader to France in 1957. In 1968, Lowey co-founded the law firm now named Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart, P.C. a highly regarded litigation firm, representing institutional and individual investors and consumers in actions to recover financial losses. He attended and graduated from Woodmere Academy, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. He served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve from 1959 to 1967 and as assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of New York, from 1961 to 1964. Stephen and his wife, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. They have three children and eight grandchildren.

Lynne Maguire joined World Learning Inc.’s Board of Trustees in 2014 and became board chair in October 2016. Maguire is the head of innovation strategy for Columbus Regional Health, based in Columbus, Indiana, where she has worked for more than 25 years. During that time, she also served as the organization’s director of marketing, and vice president and chief strategy officer, helping to transform the hospital into a national role model for excellence in community health systems. Maguire currently serves on the boards of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Brooklyn Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Heritage Fund, and is board chair of the Irwin Sweeney Miller Foundation. She is a founding board chair and board member emeritus of kidscommons, Columbus’ Community Children’s Museum. Maguire has received a number of awards for her work including the Distinguished Hoosier Award, the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award, the Athena Award, and the Beacon Award. Maguire holds an MBA from Stanford University.

Virgil Miller is senior policy advisor for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. He has created and managed a coalition of advocacy organizations on behalf of independent workers and provided pro-bono counsel to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He serves as the sole representative of his firm’s African American General Counsel program, which strengthens relationships between the firm, general counsels, and other corporate leaders from Fortune 500 companies.

Previously, Miller served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Cedric L. Richmond, where he approved strategies and tactics on all legislative issues and advised members on compliance requirements of the House Ethics Committee, Federal Election Commission, and all other applicable federal laws.  Miller served in three other congressional positions: health policy fellow for U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns; professional staff for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; and health policy advisor for U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell.

Miller is a 2020 recipient of the National Minority Quality Forum 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health Award and a recipient of the 2008 Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust Staff Leadership Award. He is a current member of the Corporate Advisory Council, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s 21st Century Council. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s of public health degree in epidemiology from Florida A&M University.

Rajesh Misra is a principal at KPMG LLP, a leading audit, tax, and advisory firm, where he focuses on operational issues for life sciences companies. For more than 20 years, he has worked at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and economics to provide timely access to high-quality, safe, and effective pharmaceutical and medical devices to patients globally. He has built his career around a goal, inspired by personal experiences, to tackle social issues by leveraging technology that promises to create a brighter and sustainable future across different communities. He lives in the greater Boston area.

Roopali Phadke is professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Macalester College, where she has taught since 2005.

Her teaching and research focus on energy and climate, citizen science, community based research methodologies and sustainable development initiatives. 

Phadke is currently the principal investigator on a multiyear National Science Foundation study on the future of the Mississippi River. 

She has also directed a NOAA funded project on diversity and deliberation in urban climate adaptation called Ready & Resilient, which received a 2016 award from the Climate Adaptation Partnership. 

Locally, Phadke serves on many nonprofit boards including with Northern Lights and Climate Generation.

Internationally, she serves on the advisory board for SIT Study Abroad's International Honors Program (IHP) and on the Governing Council for the Society for the Social Studies of Science (known as 4s). 

Phadke has also served as one of co-organizers of the U.S. World Wide Views on Climate and Energy project, sponsored by the Danish Board of Technology to provide citizen input into the UN Climate Summit. 

Susan Plimpton served as a trustee of World Learning Inc. from 1998 to 2007 and as chair of the board from 2004 until the end of her term. She was named chair emerita in February 2011 and elected co-chair of the Advancement Committee in October 2012. Her affiliation with World Learning Inc. began in 1963, when she went to Sweden with The Experiment in International Living. She subsequently went to Tanzania with the School for International Training in 1967 and led an Experiment group to Italy in 1968. Both her sons have World Learning Inc. affiliations as well: one traveled to Nicaragua with SIT Study Abroad in 2001; the other was an Experimenter to Japan that same year. Plimpton served as a marketing executive with General Mills, Pillsbury, and American Express Financial, before retiring in 2000. She currently serves on the boards of the University of Minnesota Medical Foundation, the Minnesota International Center, Freedom from Hunger, and Friends of Ngong Road. Plimpton received a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a master's degree in international administration from the School for International Training.

Laura Roos joined World Learning Inc.'s Board of Trustees in October 2016. She has been in public accounting since 1991 and serves a variety of not-for-profits, including universities, research organizations, foundations, and social service organizations. Roos is a partner at Moss Adams and a CPA. She has significant experience conducting audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and the Single Audit Act. She provides training on accounting and auditing topics for Moss Adams professionals as well as clients and industry organizations. Roos leads the Moss Adams Not-for-Profit Practice in Southern California and has overseen its growth and development. She’s also a member of the firm’s Not-for-Profit & Government Executive Committee and participates in firm-wide training internally and externally. In May 2010, Roos was appointed one of 17 members of the brand-new FASB Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee (NAC). The NAC will serve as a standing resource for the FASB in obtaining input from the not-for-profit sector on existing financial reporting guidance, current and proposed technical agenda projects, and longer-term or pervasive financial reporting matters affecting those organizations. Roos holds a bachelor's degree in business from San Diego State University.

Michael Siegal joined World Learning Inc.'s Board of Trustees in October 2016. He has been practicing internal medicine and cardiology in Manhattan for more than 30 years. A figurative and literal child of the New York City Public School System (which he attended, in which his mother taught, and of which his father was Assistant Superintendent), Siegal graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, where he concentrated in chemistry and physics. He spent several undergraduate summers studying and working in France and traveling throughout Europe; during the 1968-1969 academic year he participated in the International Honors Program, studying sociology and political science in seven countries. Siegal went on to complete MD and PhD degrees at Columbia University. During the early years of his medical practice, he participated simultaneously in medical administration, holding positions as a hospital division and departmental chair, as a hospital medical director, and as an HMO medical director. In addition to being an experienced clinician, Siegal is a teacher, strategic thinker, and communicator. For the past 15 years, he has been a consulting medical strategist with Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, a subsidiary of WPP, involved in multiple aspects of medical communications—professional and direct to consumer advertising, payer marketing, and patient and professional medical education. He also consults in medical management with several health care delivery entities. Siegal is a member of the Century Association and sits on the boards of the International Friends of the Lyric Arts Festival of Aix-en-Provence, the French Institute/Alliance Française, and Beth Morrison Productions.

John Wanda is a principal and vice president of finance at Chapman, Cubine, Allen & Hussey Inc. in Arlington, Virginia. He and his wife Joyce are the founders of the Arlington Academy of Hope (AAH) in the United States and in Uganda, where they have built and run Arlington Junior School and two medical clinics. Each year they provide scholarships for more than 500 secondary and tertiary students. Their work has earned numerous humanitarian awards, including recognition by the Uganda Embassy in Washington, DC for Outstanding Service to the Country of Uganda during the 50^th Independence Anniversary. Born and raised in Bududa, Uganda, John completed his education at Makerere University, Kampala, with a degree in accounting. He received an MBA at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He earned a CPA from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants.

Ambassador (ret) Bisa Williams is special advisor on Mali for The Carter Center and, since 2018, has served as an independent observer for implementation of a peace agreement in Mali. She is also a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where she teaches a course on peacebuilding. Her distinguished career in foreign service includes two years at the National Security Council in the White House, U.S. Ambassador to Niger, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs, and acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where she led the U.S. delegation to talks in Havana, Cuba, ending a seven-year hiatus of high-level direct discussions. Upon retirement, she co-founded Williams Strategy Advisors, LLC, while chairing boards dedicated to public health, food security, environmental sustainability, and more. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Yale and holds a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College of the National Defense University, a Master of Arts, and an ABD in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Carol Jenkins is the CEO of World Learning Inc., which encompasses three distinct branches: The Experiment in International Living; School for International Training, which includes SIT Study Abroad and SIT Graduate Institute; and the nonprofit global development and exchange unit World Learning. Jenkins also serves as president of the global development and exchange division, where she oversees programs in more than 30 countries. Jenkins has served in multiple positions at World Learning over more than a decade. She first joined in June 2007 as senior director of international programs after a 16-year career in humanitarian aid and development. She spent seven years at the organization, including three years as head of its International Development and Exchange. In 2014, after nearly a year working on business and program development for World Vision in East Africa, Jenkins returned to World Learning. Under Jenkins’s leadership, World Learning’s development portfolio has seen revenue increase by 14 percent with continued anticipated growth. She oversaw the merger of World Learning’s three development and exchange offices into one location, leveraging the assets of more than 100 staff members. She was named CEO in February 2018. Prior to joining World Learning, Jenkins was director of program development for International Medical Corps, where she managed a team of technical business development professionals to improve the quality of field programs and expand the coverage to project recipients. She also previously spent 12 years working for World Vision, including a period during which she was posted in Southern Africa. Jenkins holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Messiah College in Pennsylvania. She was a fellow at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at University of California, Los Angeles, in 2012 and a participant in the Leadership Program at the International Civil Society Center.

Expertise: program management; program development; business development; humanitarian aid; food security

Dr. Howlett comes to SIT from Kean University in New Jersey, where she was Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. She holds a PhD in European Renaissance Philosophy and Literature from York University, UK, and a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University. She has extensive international experience in more than 40 countries. During the past two decades, she has taught, researched and written in philosophy, literature, and comparative and international higher education policy.

In 1997, Dr. Howlett became director of the External Higher Education Co-operation Office at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. She founded the school’s Special and Extension Program focusing on international higher education development for emerging democracies, and was its Dean from 1999 through 2012. There, she developed the first international program providing access to graduate education for Romanies; oversaw human rights activities across the region including the creation of the first LGBTQ network for Eastern Europe; and developed faculty support programming recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

She has served on the boards of NGOs including the Civic Education Project. She was an Open Society Institute Fellow, a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and a consultant, trainer and evaluator with Open Society Foundations, Amideast, Institute of International Education, the Academic Training Association, the Swiss Development Agency, and others.

She worked at the ministerial level to support higher education in Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia and the Palestinian territories. She has conducted policy briefings for NGOs and research on Renaissance philosophy. Howlett has written several books examining Renaissance philosophy and philosophers, including Marsilio Ficino and His World published in 2016, and her most recent work, Re-evaluating Pico: Aristotelianism, Kabbalism, and Platonism in the Philosophy of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, published in 2020.

Kote Lomidze is the chief financial and administrative officer (CFAO) and senior vice president for finance at World Learning, overseeing all global financial operations and activities. He originally joined World Learning in 2009 and spent three years at the organization, serving as finance director for international development and exchange programs and then deputy CFO. After spending nearly two years as CFO of Project Concern International based in San Diego, he returned to World Learning in 2014. Prior to joining World Learning, Lomidze spent 11 years working in finance at World Vision in his native Georgia, Russia, Zimbabwe, and the United States. Lomidze is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor's degree in mathematical economics and a law degree from Tbilisi State University and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Expertise: Financial analysis; Accounting; Auditing; Budgeting; Risk management; Information technology;

Rae is a New England native with a commitment to social justice. She joined World Learning in 2007 as Associate General Counsel, and in 2011, became Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel. She advises World Learning and School for International Training on all legal matters relating to its international education and exchange programs, inclusive of student and staff health and safety concerns, labor issues, agreements with international ministries and host countries, and crisis response. Rae also manages all litigated matters for World Learning internationally and has taken cases to the Supreme Court in several countries. She is a frequent speaker at the national level for NACUA and NAFSA and has been a faculty speaker for the Harmonie Group Network. Earlier in her career, she focused on corporate law, but always pursued pro-bono assignments and nonprofit service, supporting NAACP “Get Out the Vote” initiatives and lobbying legislators on civil rights issues in the Boston area. She was the lead author on an amicus brief in the landmark case regarding the constitutionality of same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2003, she moved to Vermont and specialized in business law and litigation with a private practice. She was then named director of the Medicare Advocacy Project of Vermont Legal Aid, where she fought for health coverage for elderly and disabled Vermonters. Always a proponent of local community-building, Rae has served on the boards of United Way of Windham County and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center and volunteers for Out in the Open. She is an elected member of the Representative Town Meeting, serves as chair of the Town of Brattleboro’s Finance Committee, and lives in Brattleboro with her two teenage sons. Rae graduated cum laude from Brandeis University in politics and earned her JD magna cum laude from Suffolk University Law School. 

Melissa Oppenheimer is the vice president for Global Programs. In that capacity she manages global development and exchange programs, as well as program monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Oppenheimer further provides oversight of the technical quality of international development business acquisition. Through a career of 15 years at World Learning, she has served in various program implementation and management roles for projects funded by the U.S. Department of State and USAID. Oppenheimer has also served as an assistant education advisor at the Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange between the U.S., Belgium, and Luxembourg. Earlier in her career, she was a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the U.S. Department of Education overseeing grants and acting as a liaison with state education officials. Following the completion of the PMF Program, she remained at the Department of Education, holding various analytical positions in budget policymaking and planning and evaluation in the Office of the Under Secretary. Oppenheimer holds a bachelor's degree in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College and a master's degree in Latin American studies from Georgetown University.

Expertise: academic exchanges; program management; business development; grants management

Sravani Ghosh-Robinson brings over 25 years of experience in international affairs including in strategy, business development, policy and advocacy, and capacity building in capture and proposal development. Prior to joining World Learning in March 2020, she served as director of business development for five years at FHI 360 with responsibilities for overseeing the growth of its portfolio in civil society and peacebuilding, global education, economic participation, global exchanges, and research and evaluation.

Prior to joining FHI 360, she served as senior associate at Creative Associates International and specialized in managing large and complex bids with U.S. government clients in the education and youth sectors and in transition programs. Prior to her work managing federal procurements, she served as director of resource development at the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit product development partnership, translating scientific research on microbicides to winning bids for European funders, foundations, and USAID, and supporting policy and advocacy efforts globally on novel HIV products for women.

Ghosh-Robinson’s career also includes nine years at the International Youth Foundation working with private sector and youth organizations to promote youth development. She has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from St. Joseph’s University and a juris doctor from Temple University.

Joel Colony is World Learning Inc.'s vice president of External Engagement & Advocacy, where he oversees global policy, strategic partnerships, and external affairs to promote and strengthen international education, sustainable development, and people-to-people exchanges. Prior to joining World Learning, Colony worked in the U.S. Senate in a variety of legislative roles, including as foreign policy adviser where he focused extensively on issues related to development, social inclusion, and diplomacy. Colony was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the European Union, which included an affiliation with the German Marshall Fund in Brussels. He also completed a master’s degree in global politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has participated in fellowship programs in conflict mediation and foreign policy, including Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation, and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Wilson Foreign Policy Fellowship Program. Colony graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College. He is an SIT Study Abroad to China alumnus where he studied Mandarin Chinese and learned from and lived with ethnic minority populations in the country’s rural southwest.

Expertise: strategic planning, organizational change management, policymaking, advocacy

Nara de Sa Guimaraes is a global marketing and communications specialist, currently serving as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at World Learning. Her role oversees the global marketing, branding, and communications strategies and campaigns for World Learning’s three distinct branches: World Learning, School for International Training, and The Experiment. She brings to the role 17 years of experience spanning over 30 countries. Prior to joining World Learning, she led large-scale marketing, branding, and communications campaigns and strategies at leading non-profits, startups, and major corporations. Throughout her career, she has strengthened marketing partnerships and worked with local and national media to grow brand awareness. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in international economics and foreign languages with a focus on development from the University of Kentucky and continued her studies in digital marketing at Georgetown University. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and French, and lives in Washington, DC.

Expertise: global marketing, communications, branding, and media strategy; international communications; development

Anne Brnger is the vice president of human resources at World Learning, overseeing all domestic and international processes, procedures, and strategies for the department. Prior, she held leadership positions in human resources with Merrill Lynch and Lotus Development Corporation and was an independent consultant in the areas of strategic recruitment and workforce development. She also served as School for International Training’s executive director of human resources from 2012-2018. Brnger holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Colby College.

Expertise: organizational development, recruitment, employee relations, benefits and compensation, leadership coaching and development

Jane Yates serves as Senior Director of Philanthropy for World Learning. In this role, she works with individual donors to create meaningful and enduring change for World Learning’s mission through philanthropic giving. Prior to World Learning, Jane worked as Director of Philanthropy at March of Dimes in the greater Washington, DC, area where she worked with donors to help bridge the maternal health equity gap. She has also served as Major Gifts Officer and Director of Go Red for Women at the American Heart Association in Chicago. Jane also has held development and marketing roles at Call Box in Dallas, TX, as a Director of Business Development. In her own time, she is a member of the Junior League of Washington and volunteers for a local animal rescue organization and community learning garden for children. Jane holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Oklahoma State University.

Expertise: campaign management, transformational giving, event planning, social impact funding

Wagaye Johannes is the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer for World Learning. She is responsible for driving the implementation of World Learning’s DEI priorities across the organization’s operations and programs. She works to foster a more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible workplace, learning environment, and culture, in addition to supporting the entire World Learning team’s contributions to lasting, cultural change.

Wagaye has extensive experience at the intersection of DEI and international education. She was the former director of operations and organizational development at Diversity Abroad, where she led efforts to strengthen the organizational infrastructure and visibility and led DEI consulting projects, including an assessment of World Learning and the School for International Training in 2020-21. Before this, she worked for the Institute of International Education (IIE) where she launched Generation Study Abroad, a campaign involving a network of more than 700 institutions to increase and diversify participation in study abroad. She also led the organization’s first diversity and inclusion task force and headed internal global communications. She has experience designing programs with a global, inclusive lens and facilitating DEI trainings, and brings with her a global perspective, having worked in Japan, Germany, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

Expertise: Global scholarship & fellowship management; Diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI); Organizational development; Communications

Tim Rivera is senior advisor for innovation and strategy at World Learning where he leads the coordination of organizational strategy and the development, incubation, and implementation of innovative programming. He previously served as interim diversity, equity, and inclusion advisor to the CEO. Before joining World Learning, he worked at the European Union's Delegation to the United States for five years, overseeing a portfolio of public-facing initiatives spanning the transatlantic agenda, including trade, security, climate change, the digital economy, gender equality, and educational exchange. Over three years at the British Council, he contributed to programs on religion and international affairs, intercultural dialogue, and common European cultural relations initiatives.

In addition to his work at World Learning, Tim is concurrently an affiliate of the Transatlantic Policy Center at American University, a security fellow at the Truman National Security Project, and a member of the Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen Initiative. He received his master's degree in international relations from King's College London and a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University.

Expertise: organizational strategy; diversity, equity, inclusion, and access; public and cultural diplomacy; transatlantic relations; refugee resettlement

Paige Alexander joined The Carter Center as chief executive officer in June 2020.

Alexander has had a distinguished global development career, with over two decades of experience spanning the government and nonprofit sectors. She has held senior leadership positions at two regional bureaus of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), covering missions and development programs in 25 countries.

Between 1993 and 2001, Alexander was USAID’s deputy for the Europe region with a focus on immediate post-conflict reconstruction in the Balkans. She held several roles in the Bureau for Europe and the Newly Independent States Task Force, including chief of staff, acting director for the Democracy and Governance Office, deputy director of the Bosnia Task Force, and country desk officer. After leaving for 10 years to work in a leadership role in the nonprofit sector, Alexander returned to USAID in 2011 in the Senate-confirmed position of assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia; in 2015, she was again confirmed to lead the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bureau, overseeing 1,000 employees, programs in 12 countries, and more than $1.4 billion in annual funding.

Between her assignments with USAID, Alexander was senior vice president and European founder/president of IREX (2001-2010), an international civil society, democracy, and education nonprofit organization. From 2017 until her appointment to The Carter Center, she served as executive director of the European Cooperative for Rural Development (EUCORD) in Brussels and Amsterdam, working to bring market-led solutions to marginalized farmers in Africa to sustainably improve the livelihoods of families and communities. Earlier, Alexander was associate director of Project Liberty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (1992-1993) and a consultant to institutions including the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Open Society Institute in Prague. She has served on many global boards and committees, including the advisory boards for World Learning and IREX. Alexander currently serves on the boards of the Romanian-American Foundation, the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, the ADL Southeast Region, and as a member of several human rights organizations.

Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and social psychology from Tulane University Newcomb College in 1988.

Dr. Alnaserbelh AlNaseri is an Iraqi-American medical doctor and youth leader. Born and raised in the war-torn Iraq, he spent over 10 years serving his community as an Iraqi Youth Parliament member, Y-Peer educator, and student leader working on the youth’s most pressing issues in terror-struck areas of conflict in his Iraqi homeland. After several life threats and attacks by terrorist organizations and militias, and barely escaping an assassination attempt in Iraq in 2015, he sought refuge in the United States, where he started working in the field of ophthalmology, helping develop and streamline treatments for aggressive eye conditions, including glaucoma, cataract and amblyopia. He currently is a senior researcher at Vold Vision in Arkansas, working with industry-leading eye surgeons providing next-generation eye care to patients. Dr. AlNaseri is a proud World Learning alumnus, having had participated in the 2010 State-sponsored Iraqi Young Leader Exchange Program (IYLEP), which positively impacted the course of his life, arming him with the knowledge and training to become a successful youth leader.

Amir Ben Ameur is a young Tunisian social activist, who advocates for youth development and democracy. Ameur recently received a Middle East Partnership Initiative Tomorrow's Leaders (MEPI TL) scholarship to study business management at the American University in Cairo. He has been involved in social activism since 2009 and is an alumnus of the English Access Microscholarship Program and the Youth Leadership Program for Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia. In March 2012 Ameur founded WeYouth, a nongovernmental organization that promotes youth participation in decision making, leadership, education, and civic engagement. He aspires to help young people build leadership skills in order to become change agents in their communities. He has directed several projects within his organization on gender advocacy, government transparency, and political accountability, and delivered trainings on leadership and youth development. Ameur is currently the chairman of a national campaign funded by MEPI and implemented by WeYouth, which aims to provide information and raise awareness about the 2014 electoral process, targeting citizens located in neglected areas in rural areas of Tunisia.

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of ICAN, spearheading the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with member organizations active in preventing violent extremism by promoting peace, rights and pluralism in over 30 countries. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. In 2011, she was the first Senior Expert on Gender and Inclusion on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team. For over two decades she has been a leading international advocate, researcher, trainer and writer on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. In 2000, she was among the civil society drafters of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Between 2002 and 2005, as Director of the Women Waging Peace Policy Commission, Ms. Anderlini led groundbreaking field research on women’s contributions to conflict prevention, security and peacemaking in 12 countries.  Since 2005, she has also provided strategic guidance and training to key UN agencies, the UK government and NGOs worldwide, including leading a UNFPA/UNDP needs assessment into Maoist cantonment sites in Nepal. Between 2008-2010, Ms. Anderlini was Lead Consultant for a 10-country UNDP global initiative on “Gender, Community Security and Social Cohesion” with a focus on men’s experiences in crisis settings. In 2018 she was invited to join the Commonwealths Panel of Experts on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). She is also a member of UNDP’s Civil Society Advisory Council. Prior appointments include the Advisory Board of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF), the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) on Resolution 1325, chaired by Mary Robinson in 2010 and the Working Group on Gender and Inclusion of the Sustainable Development Network and between 2005-2014 she was a Research Associate and Senior Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies. Ms. Anderlini has published extensively on peace and security issues, including on Iran and Saudi Arabia, the phenomenon of violent extremism, and women’s agency in shaping national security. In 2007 she published Women building peace: What they do, why it matters (Lynne Rienner) . She was the 2014 recipient of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area Perdita Huston Award for human rights and the 2016 Greeley Peace Scholar at the University of Massachusetts.  Her media appearances include the BBC World Service television and radio. Her editorials have appeared in The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Open Democracy, Ms. Magazine and other publications. She holds an M.Phil in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University. Iranian by birth, she is a UK citizen, and has twin daughters.

David D. Arnold became the sixth president of The Asia Foundation on January 1, 2011. A highly respected international development veteran with years of experience across the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, Mr. Arnold leads all aspects of The Asia Foundation, including its headquarters in San Francisco, an office in Washington D.C., and 17 different country offices in Asia. Established in 1954, The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region. Since assuming the presidency in 2011, Mr. Arnold has undertaken a major review of the organization’s regional development activities and launched new initiatives focused on technology innovations and Asian leadership development. Before joining The Asia Foundation, Mr. Arnold served as president of the American University in Cairo (AUC) for seven years. During his tenure at AUC, Mr. Arnold oversaw the construction of a new, state-of-the-art $400 million campus, including the region’s largest English-language library and the first public park in the suburb of New Cairo. Mr. Arnold spearheaded AUC’s $125 million fundraising campaign, the largest in the University’s history. He also oversaw the launch of several new academic programs, including the University’s first Ph.D. program, and expanded AUC’s continuing education and community outreach programs. Previously, Mr. Arnold served for six years as executive vice president of the Institute of International Education, the world’s largest educational exchange organization. From 1984 to 1997, he worked for the Ford Foundation, serving as its first program officer in the field of governance and then for six years as the organization’s representative in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Mr. Arnold began his public service career in 1975 in his home state of Michigan as a program budget analyst with the Michigan Department of Labor. At Washington, D.C.’s National Governors Association, he handled intergovernmental relations in the areas of employment, housing, and economic development. He later served as executive director of the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, a regional think tank and policy institute. Mr. Arnold serves on the board of the World Affairs Council of Northern California. He is also a frequent public speaker on issues of governance and development in Asia-Pacific. Mr. Arnold holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. He received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Michigan State University in 2011.

Serving as Executive Director of the Bernstein Family Foundation, Ms. Aronson oversees the Foundation’s governance, fiduciary management, grant making and communications. She has played a leadership role in taking this historic family foundation into the 21st century through strategic planning, estate liquidation, mergers and acquisitions. In addition, she remains visible in the community by engaging with community leaders in the Foundation’s three focus areas: Jewish causes, American democracy, and arts & culture. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Aronson worked on global and national public health issues such as women’s health, adolescent health, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, violence prevention and nutrition education. She has more than 18 years of experience in designing, developing, implementing and evaluating health communications programs. Her areas of expertise include entertainment-education, public-private partnership, special event production and materials development (print and video). Ms. Aronson has extensive international experience, having worked in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Ms. Aronson is a native of San Francisco, but resides in Washington, DC, area with her husband, two children and two dogs. She is active in her community serving on Advisory, Honorary and General Boards including Sixth and i Historic Synagogue, Global Advisory Council for World Learning, Environmental Working Group (EWG) and S&R Foundation.  

Alex Arriaga has served in leadership positions at the White House, the U.S. Congress, and at non-profit organizations. She is a managing partner at Strategy for Humanity LLC, a boutique consulting firm that provides institutions with policy, advocacy, and structural strategies to achieve their full potential. Alex has vast expertise on global human rights issues and a proven record helping organizations to develop strategic priorities, attain policy objectives, increase membership, and meet fundraising goals. She has special expertise on human rights issues affecting women, children, minorities, and individuals with disabilities. Alex’s clients have included Futures Without Violence, Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Human Rights First, American Jewish World Service, The International Law Development Organization, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Thriive, and the International Center for Research on Women, among others. Alex’s policy leadership was featured in “A ‘Pragmatic Idealist’ Pursues Justice for All” (The Washington Post, 2002).  During her tenure as director of government relations, policy and advocacy at Amnesty International USA, The Hill recognized AIUSA as a top human rights lobby in Washington.  Alex was appointed as special assistant to President William J. Clinton and chief of staff to the President’s Special Envoy for the Americas.  Previously, she served as senior adviser in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State where she was U.S. delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights and Executive Director of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad.  Alex began her career in the U.S. House of Representatives as director of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus, increasing Membership to encompass a majority of the Congress and expanding activities on human rights to over 100 countries and myriad issues. At the local level, Alex’s activities center on supporting children with special needs.  Recently, Alex collaborated on new initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution to expand access for individuals with disabilities. In 2012, the Arlington School Board recognized Alex as an Honored Citizen for her extraordinary and multi-year contributions on behalf of students with disabilities.  Her efforts to organize and improve educational services in classrooms across the country were showcased in “More Autism Training for Teachers”(The Washington Post, 2012). Alex co-authored the Special Education Family Research and Information Binder, that is being distributed to all families with a child with a disability in the Arlington Public School system and was recently translated into Spanish; the publication was recognized with an Award of Excellence in the 2012 Communications Contest held by the National School Public Relations Association’s Chesapeake Chapter (DC, VA, MD, WV). Alex has co-led the State-mandated, School Board-appointed Special Education Advisory Committee over many years and was named to the implementation team for a Virginia Department of Education grant to improve services for children with autism. Alex has received numerous awards and serves on the Board of Directors of organizations focused on international human rights, education, and disability rights.  She is an experienced spokesperson in Spanish and English whose writing has been published in a variety of journals. A graduate of the University of Virginia and a former scholarship recipient with the Joffrey School of Ballet, Alex is a first generation American of Spanish and Chilean descent.

Susan Barduhn is Professor Emerita of SIT and a past President of the International Association of TEFL. She holds a doctorate in English language teaching. In 2003, she joined SIT Graduate Institute, where she has directed the summer MA in TESOL program and now directs the low-residency MA in TESOL program, teaches in the MA in TESOL program, and supervises student teachers all over the world. Her experience includes English and Spanish language teaching, teacher training, supervision, management, program assessment, and consulting. She has worked for extended periods in Kenya, Britain, Switzerland, Colombia, Spain, and Portugal and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Swahili. Barduhn is a past president of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language); former director of The Language Center in Nairobi, Kenya; and former deputy director of International House in London. Her professional areas of interest and research are intercultural communication, teacher thinking, and teacher trainer development. She co-authored the book Integrating Language and Content (TESOL, 2010), which provides practical examples of integrating language and content into areas such as conflict resolution, social justice, philosophy, and cultural identity. The book was shortlisted for the prestigious Elton award. An expat for 25 years, Barduhn is now deeply engaged in the Brattleboro community, where she sings in three local choirs and volunteers at the overflow shelter for the homeless. She also enjoys camping and is an invited speaker at conferences around the world.

Fayezul Choudhury is the former CEO of the International Federation of Accountants. He also worked for the World Bank for 25 years, where his roles included vice president of Corporate Finance and Risk Management and controller and vice president of Strategic Resource Management. Prior to the World Bank, Choudhury worked at Price Waterhouse in London in public accounting and management consulting.

Julius E. Coles is the Director of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership. Before assuming this position, he was president of Africare from 2002-2009. He has also served as the director of Morehouse College’s Andrew Young Center for International Affairs from 1997-2002 and as the director of the director of Howard University’s Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center from 1994-1997. Most of Mr. Coles’ career of nearly thirty years in the Foreign Service has been spent as a senior official with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where he retired with the rank of Career Minister. He received a B.A. from Morehouse College (1964) and a Masters of Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (1966). He has appeared on CNN International, the Lerner News Hour, VOA TV and radio programs, and Radio Canada.

Sarah Costa is the Executive Director of the Women's Refugee Commission (WRC), a leading global organization advocating for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. Under Sarah’s leadership, WRC has expanded its ability to ensure refugees’ right to sexual and reproductive health care, to safety from gender-based violence, and to economic and social empowerment. Sarah has more than 25 years’ experience in the fields of women's rights, reproductive health, gender, and youth development, as well as global philanthropy. Throughout her career, she has worked in partnership with those closest to the issues, from government officials to local women's organizations. Before joining WRC in 2010, Sarah served as regional director of the Global Fund for Women, a grant-making organization that supports women's rights organizations working on economic security, health, education, and leadership. Previously, she was a program officer for the Ford Foundation in Brazil and New York, developing and managing international and national programs on gender, sexuality, reproductive health, women's rights, HIV/AIDS, and health policy. During her tenure as professor of women's health at the National School of Public Health, Brazil, Sarah was active in the national women's movement, serving as a member of the Advisory Committee to the National Council on Women's Rights. She also served on the boards of several women's organizations. She is a member of World Learning's Global Advisory Council. Sarah holds a master's degree in medical demography from London University and a PhD in social medicine from Oxford University.

Elizabeth Cousens was recently named incoming President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, a post she will assume in January 2020. She currently serves as Deputy Chief Executive Officer where she oversees all aspects of the Foundation’s programmatic, advocacy, and communications work. Before joining the Foundation, Cousens was U.S. Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council and Alternate Representative to the UN General Assembly. During her tenure, she led U.S. negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals, served on the boards of UN agencies and the UN Peacebuilding Commission, and worked as Principal Policy Advisor and Counselor to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. Cousens has broad expertise in global cooperation and has lived around the world, serving with UN political missions in Nepal and the Middle East and working as an analyst in conflict zones, including Bosnia and Haiti. Her prior experience includes Director of Strategy for the HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue which promotes and conducts mediation of armed conflict; Vice President of the International Peace Institute, where she led initiatives on global crisis management and UN reform; and Director of the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, a research group that provides expertise to the UN on conflict and crisis situations. Dr. Cousens has a D.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. in history and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Puget Sound. She and her husband, Bruce Jones, have one child.

Geri Critchley's life goal has always been to create a more peaceful world through cross cultural understanding which began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, W Africa. Geri founded the Rochester International Center (Mayo Clinic) where 10,000 citizens participated in 12 programs in the first year to utilize the untapped int'l resources in the community for cross cultural understanding. As a cross cultural specialist at the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture,  Geri organized the first cross cultural trainers conference in Canada. In addition, she escorted international visitors for the US State Dept. and was Program Director at Crossroads Int’l Student Center, University of Chicago.

Engagement with the world and local communities has been high priority evidenced by the many NGOs Geri works with including Operation Respect, Nat'l Peace Corps Assn, Special Olympics, SIETAR, Atlas Corps, Irish American Partnership, Niall Mellon Fd, Project Children, Africa Peace Service Corps, Nyumbani/Kenya, Global Camps Africa, CorpsAfrica, Black Hills S Dakota Initiative, Women’s Earth Alliance, Swim for Life,  Harris Wofford documentary, Teilhard de Chardin Project and WL/EIL among others.

Geri's interest in developing human capacity resulted in creating International Career Roundtables at TranCentury - mentoring students on careers/internships and later connecting individuals with int'l development positions as Director of Recruitment at MSI

Ireland has held a special place for Geri who directed the Irish American Partnership in Dublin and carried JFK's eternal flame back to his family homestead in Ireland. She was her children's first study abroad leader on the Dingle Peninsula and participated in Project Children in N Ireland. She studied James Joyce at University College Dublin, reads Ulysses on Bloomsday, and recently organized a family genealogy journey in Ireland. Exploring the world has also been a life-long interest, and she has led art tours and student groups abroad.

Geri's affiliation and positions with EIL/WL extend over decades including Editorial Advisory Board of EIL founder Donald Watt’s book, Letters to the Founder, Director EIL/DC, Director EIL/Canada, EIL Quebec Rep, EIL Leader Mexico, EIL Parent Ecuador & France, SIT Parent Samoa, host of many DC/EIL Ambassador receptions, organizer of a Peace Corps/EIL event with Sargent Shriver as "MC" with 1,000 attendees on the DC Mall to celebrate the 1960s pioneering collaboration, committee member of WL Global Citizen Award events among many others.

Jennifer Dulski is the president of Change.org, the world’s largest platform for social change, with more than 150 million users. Change.org empowers people everywhere to create the change they want to see and enables companies and elected officials to engage in dialogue with their constituents. An accomplished leader and entrepreneur, with more than 15 years of experience in both successful startups and big-brand internet companies, Jennifer was an early Yahoo! employee, rising in the ranks over her 9-year tenure to ultimately lead one of the company’s 6 business units as group VP and general manager of local and commerce. In 2007, Jennifer left Yahoo! to become co-founder and CEO of The Dealmap, a mobile, location-based deals site that Google acquired in 2011, making Jennifer the first woman to sell a company to Google. She stayed at Google for nearly 2 years as a senior executive before coming to Change.org. Jennifer has a deep passion for making the world a better place. Early in her career, she was the founder and executive director of Summerbridge Pittsburgh (part of the Breakthrough Collaborative), a nonprofit organization that helps underserved middle school students get on a path to college. A prominent thought leader in Silicon Valley, Jennifer has been featured in outlets including CNN, New York Times, Forbes, Businessweek, and Fortune and writes frequently about management and leadership for LinkedIn Influencers. She is a member of the Young Leaders Forum of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, the President’s Council of Cornell Women, and she currently serves on the boards of TEGNA (NYSE: TGNA), Little Passports, and She++

Kathy Edersheim brings 20 years of alumni relations and leadership experience to Impactrics. She was senior director of International Alumni Relations and Travel at the Association of Yale Alumni, responsible for Yale Educational Travel and the three global mission programs, YaleGALE, YASC (Yale Alumni Service Corps), and YASA (Yale Alumni Schools Ambassadors), as well as being part of the management team for five years. Edersheim was a lead developer of the metrics system to assess alumni engagement and programming effectiveness. Edersheim is also co-editor of the YaleGALE Guide. She currently serves on the Advisory Group for the Alumni Association of the Max Planck Society and is treasurer of Future First Global, a UK based charity dedicated to community development through alumni relations for secondary schools. As a volunteer, Edersheim served on the AYA Board of Governors for four years. Edersheim was the first woman president of the Yale Club of New York City — the largest college club in the world with a 22 story building located in the heart of midtown Manhattan. Prior to joining AYA, she worked as a financial advisor and marketing professional. Edersheim is a graduate of Yale College and received an MBA from the Stern School of Business.

Abby Falik is an award-winning social entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Global Citizen Year — a nonprofit using the power of a global immersion between high school and college to unlock curiosity, conviction, and courage in our next generation leaders. A recognized expert on social innovation, leadership, and the changing landscape of education, Abby has been profiled by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Abby is a frequent speaker and has been featured at forums including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Obama Foundation Summit, the Fast Company Innovation Festival, PopTech, and The Nantucket Project.  In 2018, Abby was named one of America's Top 25 Philanthropy Speakers by The Business of Giving. In 2019 she was named one of Goldman Sachs’ Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs for the third consecutive year, and in 2016 Fast Company named her one of the Most Creative People in Business. For her achievements as a social entrepreneur, she has been recognized as an Ashoka Fellow, a MindTrust Fellow, and a Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of World Learning, Teach for All, and Harvard Business School. Abby received a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in International Comparative Education from Stanford University.  She received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Ali Gallagher is the Founder and CEO of SCP Incorporated. Gallagher is an attorney and former nurse practitioner and has held several senior executive positions, including CEO of a publicly traded medical device company. Her past accolades included being awarded Exporter of the Year by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and nominated for several awards including Women Led Business of the Year Award and Entrepreneur of the Year. She has also served as an industry representative to the FDA’s medical device panel. Ali has a BS in Nursing and a JD from The University of Texas at Austin.

Liz Berry Gips is the Executive Director of the Kigutu International Academy, a transformative secondary school that will produce a new generation of entrepreneurial leaders for Burundi. The Academy is being established by Village Health Works, where Liz also serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Village Health Works operates in rural Kigutu, Burundi, working in partnership with the community to improve lives and livelihoods.  Liz has over two decades of experience in the education sector and is passionate about improving the quality of education for young people in Africa. She has served in leadership roles for a variety for organizations, including the African Leadership University, the Mastercard Foundation and USAID, where she served as the founding Coordinator for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), President Obama’s legacy initiative to develop young leaders across Africa. Liz received a BA from Williams College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Tamara Gould is a documentary filmmaker, senior media executive and global partnership builder. She is the Head of ITVS' Co-productions and Strategic Partnerships, based in Washington DC. Tamara has served as the Production Executive for over 200 documentaries and series. In addition, Tamara has spearheaded ITVS' international work, including the Global Perspectives Project, an international documentary exchange program between U.S. and global filmmakers with major support from philanthropic and government partners and Women and Girls Lead Global, a public-private partnership to bring the power of documentary film to work for women and girls in countries around the world. She has also developed multiple partnerships with journalism outlets, media outlets and NGOs to amplify documentary storytelling. Among Tamara’s credits include: TED TALKS LIVE, a three part television series in partnership with TED TALKS and PBS, HALF THE SKY, a four hour television special for PBS based on the best selling book, and AMERICAN GRADUATE LATINO, a bilingual television program. In addition, Tamara has developed numerous distribution partnerships for short form content and long form documentaries and is currently serving as production executive for StoryCast, a new digital channel developed in partnership with PBS Digital Studios. She has directed and produced multiple films including the award winning HELL OF A NATION and NOBEL: VISIONS OF OUR CENTURY. Prior to joining ITVS Tamara served as an Executive Producer in Television at KQED and as Executive Director of the Bay Area Video Coalition. Tamara holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Film, where she graduated with honors from Brown University. Tamara also earned a Master’s Degree in Cinema and Social Change from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is a passionate advocate for international exchange and was herself an exchange student in High School living in Spain. She and her family just recently spent two years in London before returning to Washington DC.

Ambassador Michael Guest is the Founder and currently Senior Advisor to the Council for Global Equality. Previously, he served as America’s first openly gay, Senate-confirmed Ambassador (to Romania, 2001-04). He ended his 26-year diplomatic career in December 2007 after having sought, without success, to end the State Department's discriminatory treatment of the partners of gay and lesbian Foreign Service Officers in foreign postings, then worked successfully on President-elect Obama’s Transition Team to change those policies. Ambassador Guest's career focused on European policy, with emphasis on using rule of law, individual and collective rights, and anti-corruption measures to anchor Europe's new democracies. His assignments included executive-level duties as Dean of the Leadership and Management School; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission in the Czech Republic; and Deputy Executive Secretary. He subsequently was recalled to service in 2010 as U.S. Head of Delegation to the Human Rights Review Conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  Ambassador Guest's numerous awards include a Leadership Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the State Department's Christian A. Herter Award, given to a Senior Foreign Service Officer in recognition of intellectual courage, initiative, and integrity in the context of constructive dissent. He holds an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a BA in History and Political Science from Furman University. He and his husband, Alexander Nevarez, reside in Sonoma County, California.

Mark is co-founder of Progressive Shopper. He is also a research fellow with Stanford University's Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice and is developing two start-ups: ActionMap.us and TheOrangeBook.us. Previously, Mark helped found several social impact organizations: the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation at Georgetown University to engage global leaders to drive social change at scale; the Organ Alliance (now Organize) to address the unnecessary deaths due to a shortage of transplantable organs; and United to End Genocide to empower citizens and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide. Mark also served as a White House Fellow working in the Office of Vice President Joe Biden as the National Security Affairs Special Advisor for South America, Africa, and Human Rights. He has been awarded several fellowships for social entrepreneurship, including Ashoka, Echoing Green, Draper Richards Kaplan, and Hunt Alternatives Prime Movers and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Mark graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in political science and public policy. He is the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors and was raised in Quito, Ecuador. Hanis participated in World Learning's Experiment in International Living in Italy in 1998. He graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in political science and a minor in public policy. Hanis is the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors and was raised in Quito, Ecuador.

Swanee Hunt is President of Hunt Alternatives, which for more than three decades has advanced innovative and systemic approaches to social change at local, national, and global levels. Her work related to combating the demand for illegal purchased sex (including trafficking) and promoting the full inclusion of women leaders in international security processes spans more than sixty countries.

From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Hunt served as President Clinton’s ambassador to Austria, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia focused on the warring Balkan states, which had descended into bloodshed and destruction.  At Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, she is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy, founder of the Women and Public Policy Program (a research center she directed for a decade), core faculty at the Center for Public Leadership, and senior adviser at the Carr Center for Human Rights. She holds two masters degrees, a doctorate in theology, and six honorary degrees.

Ambassador Hunt has been a syndicated columnist and authored articles for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Magazine, New York Times, L.A. Times, International Herald Tribune, et al. Her first book, This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace, won the 2005 PEN/New England Award for non-fiction. She has also authored Half-Life of a Zealot, Worlds Apart: Bosnian Lessons for Global Security.

Shamil Idriss is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest dedicated peacebuilding organization. In his current capacity as CEO, and in his previous capacities as President, Chief Operating Officer, and Burundi Country Director, Shamil has led Search’s efforts to end violent conflict in more than 35 countries globally, including some of the most devastating conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa. Shamil was appointed in 2005 by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Deputy Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations. In this role, he supported high-level political and religious leaders in developing policy recommendations and action plans to improve cross-cultural relations between Western and Muslim-majority countries, before, during, and after the Arab Spring revolutions. During his tenure at the UN, he worked closely with policymakers from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in conceiving and implementing conflict prevention projects and increasing cross-cultural understanding. From 2004-2005, Shamil worked with the World Economic Forum to establish the Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders, conceiving and leading the Council’s “Action Track” to identify and attract support for innovative high-impact programs. Shamil is also a pioneer in the use of interactive media technologies for cross-cultural education and collaboration. In 2008-2014, as the CEO of Soliya, he led a coalition to create a market for virtual exchange through partnerships with public and private sector leaders across the United States, the Arab League, and the European Union. This led to the establishment of the J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative announced by President Barack Obama in February 2015, and the subsequent announcement by the European Commission of their dedicated fund to expand virtual exchange in 2017. A graduate of Swarthmore College with degrees in Economics and Philosophy, Shamil has authored several op-eds, papers, and articles on conflict transformation and peacebuilding for print and online publications around the world. He has also delivered numerous presentations, media appearances, lectures, and keynote addresses on international conflict resolution, media and social change, Islam and West-Muslim World relations, and social entrepreneurship. Most recently, he delivered a TEDx presentation on “Truths About Violent Conflict” and a lecture on “Conflict is Inevitable, Violence is Not” at Pacific Lutheran University as part of the Ambassador Chris Stevens Memorial Lecture Series. He also delivered a feature speech on “The Search for Belonging through Violent Extremist Networks” at the 2016 Global Philanthropy Conference.

Since becoming the sixth president of the University of New Haven in 2004, Steven H. Kaplan has created a bold vision for the University, leading it through a period of remarkable growth and development. Thanks to his inspired — and inspiring — leadership, the University of New Haven now ranks among the top universities in the Northeast and boasts nationally ranked programs in a number of majors across business, criminal justice, engineering, forensic science, and the liberal arts and sciences. Under his leadership, enrollment has grown more than 60 percent to 6,800 undergraduate and graduate students, hailing from 47 states and some 57 countries. Full-time undergraduate enrollment has more than doubled, and first-year applications have nearly tripled. Over the last decade alone, the University has completed $300 million in construction projects and has launched 26 new academic programs. Refusing to rest on his laurels, Dr. Kaplan in 2016 spearheaded the creation of The Charger Challenge: The Campaign for the University of New Haven. Launched as a precursor to the University’s historic centennial in 2020, The Charger Challenge endeavored to raise $100 million to help shape the University’s next 100 years. The centerpiece of the comprehensive campaign is the new Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation, a state-of-the-art academic facility that is scheduled to open in early 2020. On April 2, 2019, the University announced that the campaign had exceeded its original goal more than 18 months before the conclusion of its centennial year. President Kaplan increased the goal to $120 million by the end of 2020. In 2015, in recognition of his many achievements, Dr. Kaplan was presented with the Chief Executive Leadership Award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District I. He also was named "Businessman of the Year" by Business New Haven magazine in 2008. Dr. Kaplan began his teaching career in 1982 as an Instructor of English at the University of Maryland, European Division. From 1985-1989, he served as Visiting Lecturer in American Studies at Eberhard-Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany – one of the oldest and most highly regarded universities in Europe. After completing his doctoral studies at Eberhard-Karls Universität, he returned to the U.S. to teach English at the University of Southern Colorado. Within only three years, he was made department chair, serving in that capacity for two years before becoming Director of the Center for International Studies.

Alexander Knapp is the founder and Chief Executive of The AKCGlobal Group. He’s worked for twenty-five years in international development policy, planning, fundraising, operations and effectiveness, including fifteen years with the United Nations in eleven peacekeeping, post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian aid missions around the world including Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Angola, Liberia, Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tajikistan, Dafur, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. In addition to consulting, he is a Visiting Lecturer in Complexity and International Relations at Regent’s University in London, and a Visiting Professor of International Development at the American University School of International Service in Washington DC. He holds degrees in international relations, international law, and public administration.

Sefakor’s personal experience as a woman of color with a physical disability has shaped her journey as an international advocate for underrepresented especially, people with disabilities from around the globe. Her experiences include serving as an international disability rights advocate, educator, researcher, and policy analyst for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD), and as the Resource Center Coordinator of the Ghana Education Service. She has been a staunch supporter of inclusive education for people with disabilities and lobbied successfully with other advocates in Ghana for the establishment of the Disability Law (Act 715) of Ghana as well as the ratification of the UNCRPD. She has won so many international awards including the International Service Award from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), Ford Foundation International Fellowship award and the International Alliance of Women (TIAW) award. Sefakor is the Founder of Enlightening and Empowering People with Disabilities in Africa (EEPD AFRICA). She presented on so many platforms including the American Educational Research Association AERA (SIG RWE), New England Educational Organization (NEERO), African Studies Association (ASA) and European Conference on African Studies -Switzerland (ECAS). Her work represented an attempt to transform her experiences into a coherent intellectual critique, and, in the process, to make sense of the shortcomings and idiosyncrasies that underlie contemporary responses to human rights abuses in schools. In 2016, Sefakor was named the 6th most influential disabled person in the world. Sefakor also teaches the Global Disability Studies course and Race and Racism Course as adjunct at the University of Vermont. At Saint Michael’s College, she teaches Disability Justice and Ethical Leadership and Disability Policies. She won the prestigious Prelock 2022 award for her excellent asynchronous online course at the University of Vermont. Sefakor works with Vermont Center for Independent Living with all students across the State of Vermont between the ages of 14 to 26 to build their self-advocacy skills and strategies. She serves on so many boards including the World Learning Global Advisory Council, The High-Level Political Forum of UN (HLPF), African Association of Disability and Self-Advocacy (AADISAO), The Free Wheelchair Mission, The Presidents Commission on Inclusive Excellence (PCIE) of UVM, and the ADA Taskforce of UVM. Sefakor co-authored the books “Disability in the Global South: The Critical Handbook”, “Next Generation Digital Tools and Application for Teaching and Learning Enhancement 1^ST Edition” and the "Handbook of Research on Contemporary Issues in Multicultural and Global Education.

Carla Koppell is a Distinguished Fellow with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, where she leads a national effort to transform international affairs education to ensure that issues of diversity, equity and inclusion are central to studies. She recently served as a vice president with the United States Institute for Peace and prior to that chief strategy officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as inaugural USAID senior coordinator for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Previously, Ms. Koppell directed the Institute for Inclusive Security, served as deputy assistant secretary for international affairs with the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development, and worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

A former Experimenter to Switzerland, an Experiment leader to Australia and the mother of an Experimenter to Ireland, Amy credits World Learning with her lifelong passion for driving cross-cultural transformational experiences. Now an award-winning leader in advancing women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, Amy is Founder & CEO of Inclusion Innovation, which trains organizations to cultivate inclusive climates for innovation using engaging strategies like virtual reality and design sprint competitions. Amy’s VR film “Belonging”, on unconscious gender bias, premiered at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and screened at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Women Funded 2019. From 2015 to 2019, Amy served as President of the Board of UN Women USA - San Francisco Bay Area where she founded the Global Voices Film Festival, the HeForShe Champions for Change Celebration and other programs. After Amy’s departure, the new board inaugurated the Amy Logan Visionary Award to honor the top film fest prize winner. Amy was also an annual Delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and a featured speaker at its Women in Film Forum and other events. Amy is a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker (“The Price of Honor”, on honor killing in the USA, which screened in the US Capital with the US Justice Department hosted by three congresswomen) and a critically acclaimed novelist (The Seven Perfumes of Sacrifice, on the origins of honor killing in the Arab world). As an expert on women’s empowerment, Amy is a speaker on call for the US State Department who has presented at the UN, TEDxSacramento (“It Hasn’t Always Been a Man’s World”), World Learning, World Affairs Council, International Women’s Forum, and Oxford University, among many others.  Having founded and exited two companies, Amy is also a seasoned and certified executive coach for venture-backed startup founders. She helps them transform their leadership and create organizational cultures where everyone can perform at their highest potential. Amy has a BA in Communication from American University, did graduate work in International Relations at Washington University in St. Louis and earned a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University. Amy loves her active, adventurous life in the Bay Area with her teenage son, hiking and camping in the Sierras, stand-up paddleboarding in lagoons and lakes and of course, traveling the world.

Kristin Lord is the President and CEO of IREX, a global education and development non-profit organization that promotes more just, prosperous, and inclusive societies by investing in people and the conditions that help them to thrive. She brings more than twenty years of experience in the fields of education, foreign policy, global development, and security and peacebuilding to this role. Prior to joining IREX in 2014, Kristin served in leadership roles at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Brookings Institution, and George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She has also served in a senior advisory role at the U.S. Department of State and currently serves as a board member of the United States Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and the American University in Cairo (AUC). She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Georgetown University and her B.A. from American University.

John Lucas is the President and CEO of International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP). John comes to ISEP Study Abroad with two decades of experience in higher education and student mobility. He has served as provost of the School for International Training and associate vice president of IES Abroad. John also spent 12 years working in Spain, directing international programs for IES, CIEE and the Institute for Social and International Studies at Portland State University. He has extensive experience working with partner universities and sees partnership as the path to increased student mobility. John has published on language and intercultural communication and is an active member of several international education associations and cultural societies. He currently serves on the board of the Forum on Education Abroad. John holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in Spanish from Penn State University and a master’s degree in international education from SIT. When not on the road for ISEP, John enjoys hiking and biking. He considers himself an avid foodie and enjoys trying new international cuisines. He speaks Spanish, French, Catalan fluently, and he has studied German and Italian as well. John also serves as ISEP's Council of Advisor's Ex-Officio Member.

As a high school student, Elisabeth McMorris participated in Experiment in International Living trips twice, traveling to China in 2004 and Chile in 2002. She recently graduated from SIT Graduate Institute in Washington, DC, with a master’s in sustainable development. McMorris spent her practicum in India, working on a start-up social enterprise established to digitally map the city's cultural heritage. As an undergrad at Middlebury College, Elisabeth spent her junior year abroad, studying in Spain. In addition to her master’s degree from SIT she has a bachelor’s in international studies and art history from Middlebury. She completed her JD at the University of Fordham Law School in 2017 and currently is an Associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York, New York.

Philip von Mehren is co-chair of Venable’s Corporate Group in New York. Philip negotiates cross-border and U.S.-based acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and dispositions. He also advises private equity and venture capital firms on purchases, sales, and investments involving the Latin American market. He has negotiated onshore and offshore transactions in Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela. He currently serves as outside counsel for the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LAVCA), a trade organization that represents Latin American-focused limited and general partners. Philip has participated in the Experiment in International Living program, living with local families in Bolivia (twice) and Mexico. He has also worked as the assistant regional director for Asia for the Freedom from Hunger Foundation, an NGO focused on nutrition programs in emerging markets.

Ruth Messinger served as President of American Jewish World Service, an international human rights and development organization, from 1998 to 2016, and is currently the organization’s inaugural Global Ambassador. Ms. Messinger’s 18-year presidency at AJWS began after a 20-year career in public service in New York City as a city council member and Manhattan Borough President.  Under Ms. Messinger’s leadership, AJWS grew exponentially—granting more than $270 million to promote human rights in the developing world and launching campaigns to end the Darfur genocide, reform international food aid, stop violence against women and LGBT people, end land grabs and respond to natural disasters around the globe. A social change leader and advocate, Ms. Messinger works in the faith-based advocacy arena and is also, now, a social justice consultant, facilitator and instructor with various organizations.  She is married to an educator, has three children, eight grandchildren and two plus great grandchildren.

Jaime Montoya is a programmer from El Salvador who studied for the first time in the United States with the World Learning Global UGRAD Program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2009-2010. He obtained his masters degree in information sciences and technologies in 2016 at Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. In 2012, Jaime was one of the first participants in World Learning's Alumni Engagement Initiative to receive an online small grant training course to implement the Computers Return to School project at a school located in the mountains in El Salvador, providing computers and basic computer and internet lessons to the kids. He was one of the core team leaders who implemented the Career Mentoring Network for High School Students with a $25,000 grant from the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund for connecting U.S. State Department alumni mentors with students in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Jaime continues volunteering in El Salvador using his web development skills to donate websites for La Casa de mi Padre Foundation, an NGO that provides integral support to at-risk children and adolescents in El Salvador, and an English-speaking local church in San Salvador. He also teaches Sunday school and has taught programming and database courses at university level in El Salvador. Jaime's mission and dream is to work diligently as a programmer to make notable and significant contributions to software.

Currently President of the Forum for African women Educationalists and Chairperson of the Africa Board, Naana Jane E. S. Opoku-Agyemang is a Professor of Literature, School of Humanities and Legal Studies, University of Cape Coast. She has been Minister for Education, Ghana from January 2013-2017, and Vice Chancellor (President) of the University of Cape Coast (2008-2012), the first woman to hold the position of Vice Chancellor in Ghana. At the University of Cape Coast she was Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dean of the Board of Graduate Studies and Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research. She was the Academic Director of the School for International Training’s African Diaspora Program for eleven years. Professor Opoku-Agyemang has a BA (Hons) in French and English, a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast; A Diploma in Advanced Studies in French from the University of Dakar; an MA and PhD in Literature from York University, Toronto, Canada. She is the recipient of many inter/national awards, including Officer of the Order of the Volta which is the highest award Ghana bestows on her citizens (for Academic Distinction); Ghana Women of Excellence Award (Category: Education); Doctor of Letters (DLitt) University of Cape Coast (Honoris Causa HC); Doctor of Humane Letters  (DLitt) [HC], Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA (HC); Doctor of Humane Letters, (DLitt) [HC], Winston Salem State University, North Carolina, USA (HC); Doctor of Laws (LLD) University of the West Indies (HC);  Global Leadership Award, University of South Florida, USA; Twice recognized for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA. She has been member of many inter/national boards and committees including the College of Physicians and Surgeons as Eminent Citizen; the Centre for Democratic Governance, (CDD-Ghana) the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);.; Editorial Board, The Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora (Africa World Press Inc. USA); Africa Initiative, Canada; Adam Matthew Digital, UK. She has many publications on Women in Literature, Oral Literature in Africa (the narrative) and Issues in the African Diaspora. Professor Opoku-Agyemang has been twice a Fulbright scholar and is currently a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning.  She is very happy with three adult children and two adorable grandchildren.

Allan Rock is President Emeritus of the University of Ottawa, and a Professor in its Faculty of Law. He practiced in civil, administrative and commercial litigation for 20 years (1973-93) with a national law firm in Toronto, appearing as counsel in a wide variety of cases before courts at all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Allan Rock was elected to the Canadian Parliament in 1993 and re-elected in 1997 and 2000. He served for that decade as a senior minister in the government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in both social and economic portfolios. He was Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1993-97), Minister of Health (1997-2002) and Minister of Industry and Infrastructure (2002-03). He was appointed in 2003 as Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations in New York where he led the successful Canadian effort  to secure, at the 2005 World Summit, the unanimous adoption by UN member states of The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing and other mass atrocities. He later served as a Special Envoy for the United Nations investigating the unlawful use of child soldiers in Sri Lanka during its civil war. In 2008, Allan Rock became the 29th President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, a comprehensive university of 50,000 students, faculty and staff. He completed two terms as uOttawa President in 2016. Allan Rock was subsequently a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, associated with the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict. He is a member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, and a Senior Advisor to the World Refugee Council.

Rick Ruth recently retired from his role as acting principal deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. He also served as senior advisor to the assistant secretary. In this capacity, he advised on all aspects of international exchange policy, programs and management.

Ruth is a former foreign service officer and member of the Senior Executive Service. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he taught Russian language and literature at the University of Arizona. He joined the government in the mid-1970s as a Russian-speaking staff member on a traveling exhibition in the Soviet Union. Ruth subsequently joined the Foreign Service, serving abroad in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.

He was deputy chief of staff at the United States Information Agency (USIA) from 1988 to 1999. With the integration of USIA and the Department of State, Ruth organized the office of the under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and served as its first chief of staff. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, he was the sole public diplomacy representative on the senior level steering committee responsible for coordinating the U.S. State Department's response to the attack.

Ruth has also served in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as deputy assistant secretary for Policy, deputy assistant secretary for Private Sector Exchange, and principal deputy assistant secretary. He established the Department's first global alumni network, spearheaded cultural heritage as a key component of foreign policy, pioneered the quantitative measurement of exchange programs, originated the first high school exchange for the Arab and Muslim world, and implemented historic reforms in the regulation and oversight of private sector exchanges.

Ruth has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, awarded jointly by the U.S. Department of State and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the Lois Roth Foundation’s Ilchman-Richardson Award for contributions to cultural diplomacy, and the Alumnus of the Year Award from the College of Humanities of the University of Arizona.

As a businessman, Paul Sack has been in real estate for most of his career--acquiring and managing properties for investors.  In 1975, he founded The RREEF Funds to facilitate such investment by large pension funds and endowments.  RREEF owned and managed $95 billion of real estate at its peak and was purchased by Deutsche Bank.  He also spent ten years in department store merchandising in San Francisco at the start of his career.

In 1966-67, he was country director of the Peace Corps program in Tanzania, comprised of 380 Volunteers and a professional staff of 12.  In 1968-69, he worked in Peace Corps/Washington as director of the Office of Planning, Programs, and Research, which made the decisions as to which requests from overseas for Volunteers would be approved and thereby influenced the character of Peace Corp programs. Returning to his home in San Francisco, he enrolled in the Ph.D. program in economics at the University of California at Berkeley, where he specialized in the economics and politics of development and secured his Ph.D. in political economy in 1975.  He also holds an A.B. degree from Harvard College in economics and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He has served overseas as a volunteer in the International Executive Service Corps, consulting on the development of housing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Blantyre, Malawi; Alexandria, Egypt; Sabah and Sarawak, East Malaysia, and on department store merchandising and shopping center development in Singapore. He is an enthusiastic collector of photography and a former trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and of the Ansel Adams Center.  He is currently a trustee of the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, and is an active emeritus trustee of the San Francisco Art Institute.

Dr. Chloe Schwenke serves as the president of the Center for Values in International Development. She is an educator, author, researcher, international development practitioner, and human rights activist with extensive senior level and management experience in academia, government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. She has work experience in over 40 countries, including 15 years based in sub-Saharan Africa. Previous employment included a one-year research assignment as the director of the Global Program on Violence, Rights and Inclusion at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in Washington, DC. Before that posting, she served as vice president at Freedom House, after leaving the Obama administration where she had spent three years as a senior political appointee assigned to USAID’s Africa Bureau, focused on human rights, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ issues. Her memoir, SELF-ish: a transgender awakening, was published in May 2018 (Red Hen Press). Her first book was published in 2008, titled Reclaiming Values in International Development: The Moral Dimensions of Development and Practice in Poor Countries. She has also written many chapters for edited volumes, and articles for various journals on online platforms. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland at College Park, where she was chosen as Alumna of the Year for 2013. In that same year she was also awarded a National Public Service Award by the National Center for Transgender Equality, and in 2016 she was awarded the Global Advocate Award by DC Center – Global.

Shannon Service is an independent reporter and filmmaker whose work has appeared at Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, The New York Times, and The Guardian of London.

In 2012, she broke the story of slavery at sea for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Her feature documentary Ghost Fleet follows up, setting sail with a Thai abolitionist as she scours remote islands for slaves who’ve jumped ship.

​Service was a finalist for DOC NYC’s best new director award and won the Palm Springs Film Festival’s emerging director's prize. As a reporter, she has earned several awards including an Edward R. Murrow, a National Press Photographers Association award, and a Knight Award for Best Narrative Science Journalism. Service is an alumna of School for International Training’s International Honors Program.

Tara Sonenshine served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs until 2013. Tara has a distinguished career in government, non-profits and the media. She has demonstrated expertise in foreign policy, programming, communications strategy and public policy and has had extensive dealings with business, community and governmental leaders worldwide. Her high-level experience in the media includes producing news programs for network television and authoring articles for national print and online media. She is the winner of 10 News Emmy Awards and other awards in journalism for programs on domestic and international issues. Having served on the Board of Trustees at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and other organizations, she has actively consulted to the private sector, NGO sector, and multiple clients on media outreach, board development, and strategic communications including facilitation and moderating programs for The Wilson Center, The United States Institute of Peace, Voice of America and others. Tara has worked at The White House as Deputy Director of Communications. 

Jim Suglia is the National Sector Leader for the Investment Management practice at KPMG, LLP. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he has served an extensive roster of both Mutual Fund and Alternative Investment clients. As the sector leader, Jim is responsible for setting the strategy for the practice and overseeing execution. Jim also is a member of the firm’s Global Investment Management Executive Leadership team. Prior to his current role, Jim was the U.S. Advisory Leader for Investment Management. While in that position, the U.S. Investment Management Advisory practice doubled and its portfolio of Advisory capabilities significantly expanded.

Dr. Michael Sutcliffe is, together with Ms. Sue Bannister, a founding partner of City Insight (Pty) Ltd, established in 2012.  He earned an M. Sc. degree from the University of Natal and a PhD degree from Ohio State University.  The work of City Insight revolves around promoting strategic planning, local democracy and development, working primarily in South Africa but with appointments on global analyses, as well as to do work across African cities and specific assignments in places such as India and Palestine. Previously, from 2002-2011, he was the City Manager of eThekwini metropolitan municipality (www.durban.gov.za), a city of some 4 million people, where he headed the administration of some 25000 employees with a budget of over R26 billion (US$3.5 billion) per annum.  Before that he was appointed by President Mandela to chair the Municipal Demarcation Board (www.demarcation.org.za), which redrew the boundaries for municipalities for the whole of South Africa. And his other positions have been as a Member of Provincial Legislature (KwaZulu-Natal) (1994-1999), Director Public Affairs: University of Durban Westville (1991-1994) and Associate Professor: Town and Regional Planning: University of Natal (1982-1991). Dr. Sutcliffe was integrally involved in the transition process from an undemocratic, racist South Africa to a free and democratic state.  He was involved in developing the ANC’s policy positions, the Local Government White Paper process and the development of the local government legislation. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Sutcliffe has acted as a consultant to a wide range of local and international organizations and continues to serve as a board member of a number of developmental organizations.  During this period, he has written over 500 articles and reports on a wide range of issues, from demarcation and delimitation issues to urbanization, economic analysis and analyzing political trends. He continues to research local government in South Africa. He has received a number of awards, most recently receiving a prestigious professional award from the Association of American Geographers. Dr. Sutcliffe has been invited to present papers at conferences in the following countries: Canada, Mexico, UK, Sweden, Turkey, France, Norway, Australia, USA, Tanzania, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria, Mozambique, India, Bahrain, Kenya, Brazil, Zambia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Germany and Spain.  In addition, he has attended and presented papers at over 200 conferences in southern Africa and South Africa. Dr. Sutcliffe was Co-Chair of the UCLG’s Commission on Urban Strategic Planning and an international Board member of the Global Cities Indicator Forum. He was until recently the Chairperson of the Local Government Skills and Education Authority of South Africa.

Susan Sygall, an internationally-recognized expert in the area of international educational exchange, international development and leadership programs for persons with disabilities, is CEO and co-founder of Mobility International USA (MIUSA). MIUSA is a non-profit organization advancing disability rights and leadership globally®. It has over 2300 alumni from over 135 countries, building the pipeline of leaders with disabilities. For over 35 years, Ms. Sygall, who is a disability activist, has co-authored numerous publications and lectured throughout the world on a variety of topics related to inclusive international development, women’s leadership, and disability rights. During the course of her career she has focused on issues related to women with disabilities, having spearheaded MIUSA’s signature program, the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD). Through MIUSA, Ms. Sygall is working with several organizations and foundations to enhance the inclusion of people with disabilities in their internal and external strategies and programs. Ms. Sygall is a MacArthur Fellow, an Ashoka Senior Fellow, and a Kellogg Fellow. She is a Rotarian who has received a Rotary Alumni Achievement Award and is a Board Member of InterAction. She has also received the President’s Award from President Bill Clinton at the White House for her active role throughout our country and the world in empowering people with disabilities. Ms. Sygall is a graduate of the University of Oregon and received an honorary doctorate from Chapman University and the University of Portland.

Bettina Wiedmann is Executive Director of the Experiment in International Living in Germany (Experiment e.V.). From 2008 until 2014, she served as Vice President and then President of the worldwide network of the Experiment in International Living (Federation EIL), our non-profit membership association which facilitates and promotes the work of its autonomous member organizations in 23 countries. Bettina is an active member on the Board of German Youth Associations, serves as an advisor to several German and international exchange organizations and is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. As a former high school and university exchange student herself, she knows first-hand the power of exchange programs as a means to promote intercultural understanding. Bettina and her family have also already hosted 3 long-term high school exchange students in their home. She believes strongly in the fact that intercultural experiences are an important part of lifelong learning and bring huge benefits at any age and for all parties involved.