Be A Global Citizen!

Maria Guajardo is a goal-driven and innovative global leader. She has held government roles, non profit leadership, and university deanship. The theme of leadership is evident in her multiple career pathways. What is inspiring about Maria’s work as an educator and leader is the emphasis on student agency to take action that is rooted in purpose. Maria shares about her sense of identity as a Mexica...

Jason Lions is the regional vice president for Center for Social Dynamics. He has worked as a teacher, coordinator, principal, superintendent, and executive across public and private schools in the United States. He shares about how he was able to transform his childhood trauma into fuel for fostering young people as capable learners with a mission for society. With a deep sense of appreciation fo...

Generosa Sangco-Jackson is a PhD in Classics and Classical Languages from the University of Florida and a recent graduate from the masters in Education Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a first generation college student and speaks about her journey studying and teaching Latin. Her sense of awe and wonder about ancient mythology and civilizations is still very much intact...

Larry Meadows Jr is a recent graduate from the Education Leadership Doctorate program at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His career started in finance and accounting and later shifted to the non profit space and then once again to schools. His career pursuit has been to make an impact on young people with an emphasis on family and community engagement. Larry draws from his adolescent years g...

Reem Olaby is an accomplished pharmacist, educator, researcher, and leadership trainer with more than 15 years of scientific research experience and 14 years of higher education teaching. She currently serves as an Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Biotechnology at California Northstate University and is pursuing her master’s in higher education leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of...

Alex Smith is the Executive Director of an Early Childhood Center in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He has taught at the preschool and kindergarten levels for over 20 years and is passionate about shaping young learners to uncover their unique interests and strengths. He is driven by the philosophy that every child deserves excellent educational opportunities and that we achieve that by partnering with...

Chirag Patel is an educator, writer, and media specialist who lives in Los Angeles. He is the son of immigrants and was taught by his parents the value of grit and resilience. Throughout his studies and career, Chirag has been driven to learn from others and reflect on his own impact. Our conversation centers on the role that friendship plays in cultivating oneself as a global citizen. From each i...

Rasheen Jamison-Richardson is the non profit founder of Legacy School of Performing Arts. With over two decades of teaching experience in music, she created her own school to cultivate the creativity and passion of youth through musical expression. Her educator journey has been one of transforming suffering and hardship into strength and resilience. Despite suffering a stroke, Rasheen drew strengt...

Cristi Marchetti is passionate about making a positive impact through her love of literature and teaching. She has experience as an independent publicist in her early career and later discovered that working with young people and cultivating their curiosity about the world is where she wanted to make her greatest impact. She speaks about her desire to connect the local with the global and the impo...

Sandy Arntzen is a Los Angeles-based educator who works with children to help them achieve their fullest potential. She takes the time to build trust with students one-on-one and addresses both their academic and emotional needs through various approaches that cultivates their innate desire to learn and be their authentic selves. She mostly works with clients from ages 3 to 21 with autism and atte...

Neera Sameda is the Director of Customer Success and College Coaching for CollegeConsulting. US . She comes from an immigrant family and speaks to her own childhood, navigating the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago and the urban streets of New Jersey. A big part of her story centers on her parent’s story of the American Dream. Neera speaks about her struggle to carve out her own narrative of the Amer...

Ian Read is the Associate Dean of Faculty at Soka University of America. He is a professor of Latin American Studies and his research has focused on the social, economic, and medical history of Brazil, particularly the history of slavery, race, and public health in the nineteenth century. Ian shares about what passion is and the implications of being passionate over the long run as a means to crea...

Maryke Luijendijk has worked in higher education for two decades in countries such as South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Her path was informed by historic events like working on a large project in her early career to help merge two universities in South Africa in the wake of Apartheid. Other formative experiences of hotel management overseas in the UK were also important to show her the va...

Elaine De Velez is the CEO and Co-Founder of FrontLearners, an e-learning content and solution provider to boost student competency and to increase school enrollment. From her early childhood experiences of studying hard to make the most out of limited opportunities, she is committed to democratizing education in the Philippines by creating more avenues for young people to access high quality e-le...

Kumiko Hayashi is a director, producer, and educator who is passionate about uplifting and amplifying indigenous voices and their cultures through the art of storytelling. She has worked on media projects that document the traditions of indigenous communities who are seeking and building new paths of coexistence and harmony. This conversation provides insight into global citizenship as a way to br...

Amy White is an African American History Professor at Harlem Children’s Zone. She teaches 3rd–5th grade students to critically engage with history, identity, and the world around them. She is committed to equity, justice, and the limitless potential of every child. In our conversation, her passion for combatting systems of oppression is evident in her spirit to envision new pathways within educati...

Logan Stamey is the Class Dean at the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut. From an early age, he knew that teaching was his calling. Logan shares about how the belief that his teachers saw in him reflected in his own approach to mentoring young men to build their integrity and sense of responsibility. By making the most of each opportunity, Logan found his passion in teaching, theater, and...

Dora Pan is passionate about emergent technologies and the value of education in an ever changing society. She recently graduated from Harvard’s Learning Design, Innovation and Technology program. Prior to coming to Harvard, she worked as a high school English teacher at an innovative high school called Moonshot Academy in Beijing, China. She grew as an educator and engaged students in open inquir...

Margarita Adame is a learning strategist at the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has decades of teaching experience as an elementary school teacher in various school districts across the United States. She speaks to her passion for conflict resolution as a tool in and outside of the classroom. As an undergraduate at Chapman University in Peace Studies, she jumped at an opport...

Lydia Musliu is the Elementary School Principal at Kosovo Leadership Academy. She is a dedicated teacher and school leader who is fostering the next generation of leaders in Kosovo. Her educator journey was largely influenced by her mother who used creativity to spark interest in all subjects. Lydia started teaching since she was in the 7th grade, and has built on her skills to serve teachers and...

Joe Aleardi is the Executive Director at Horizons Bridgeport, a non-profit created to serve the local youth in Bridgeport, Connecticut with academic and enrichment programs. His early career was spent as a lawyer and then a private wealth manager. With a strong desire to connect with people and extend his impact, he pivoted to teaching where he became an elementary teacher for Teach For America. W...

Byron Jon Aho is a cyber security specialist, project manager, and educator. His background is in construction and he incorporates much of his trade knowledge and skill into his leadership and business development for cyberspace security. He believes in creating a strong foundation to anchor oneself amidst an ever changing world. There are several values that he brings into the discussion like hum...

Gayl Porter-Laurel is the Chief Technical Policy Officer of the Second Congressional Commission on Education who is based in the Philippines. She started off her educator journey as an early childhood teacher who genuinely loved teaching, playing, and learning with her students. Her passion for teaching young people led her down new uncharted paths. From curriculum design to policy reform to syste...

Marijke Conklin is an elementary school teacher and instructional coach for the Oakland Unified School District. Her international perspective began in childhood where she spent her formative elementary school years living in Saudi Arabia. With a major change to return to the United States at the age of ten, she had to learn to navigate differences while building her sense of identity. Marijke has...

Benjamin Gulla is an experienced educator whose journey has taken him all over the world to places like South Africa and Colombia. His drive to learn more about the world around him through travel, books, and people speaks to his solid sense of being a global citizen. From designing classroom curricula to reimagining study abroad experiences, he is passionate about bringing students into new learn...