Be A Global Citizen!

Lauren Jensen is a High School English teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience. Her journey as a teacher is about deepening her connection and impact with students. She is happiest in the classroom where she engages students to explore their identity and voice through writing. With the help of past mentor figures and current students, she is committed to highlighting the interconnectedne...

Robb Meade is a transition assistance program manager. He spent nearly a decade working in the US Navy. With a diverse skill set and adaptable mindset to try new and challenging things, Robb thrived in chaotic situations. His training came from being a pastry chef, and even extends back to his childhood years spent doing meal prep with his father in the kitchen. Robb has a unique journey of naviga...

Lauren Ebersol shares her journey as an educator and mother, detailing her transition from teaching in traditional classrooms to homeschooling her children. She discusses the challenges and joys of parenting, the importance of adaptability in education, and her experiences in a homeschool co-op. Within the homeschool co-op, she served on the Board of Directors and played a pivotal role during the...

Ankitt Agarwal is working on a masters of Learning Design, Innovation and Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is originally from India and speaks to his childhood role models who helped him to pursue his education. From growing up in a rural village on the border of India and Nepal, Ankitt has broadened his global perspective by traveling within and outside of his home count...

Mandy Krause is a teacher and school leader based out of Lake Forest, Illinois. She reflects on her early global experiences, including studying abroad in Australia and teaching in China, which shaped her perspective on education and global citizenship. Mandy discusses the challenges of balancing her career and personal life, especially when she was a single mother, and emphasizes the importance o...

Kedaar Sridhar is currently doing a masters in Learning Design, Innovation and Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was born and raised in Oman by immigrant parents from India and attended an international school from kindergarten up until high school. With such diverse influences, he identifies as a Third Culture kid and Global Citizen. Kedaar is passionate about the interse...

Xian Hui Ang is currently pursuing her masters in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was a risk consultant in Malaysia for seven years working to build structures that mitigated crisis situations. However, her early career interests were in teaching. From the initial step of working at a kindergarten, she has maintained a strong desire to support learn...

Chuck Chaoke is the Head of Counselors and Coaching at Moonshot Academy in Beijing. His passion is to support his school community in finding their purpose through various curricula that he designs and implements. His school values the importance of reflective practices that are coupled with immersive experiences such as visiting and partnering with communities near and far. Chuck draws from his p...

Kiran Faridi is the founder and president of IAWV Elementary School. Her passion for education and commitment to fulfilling the needs of the Charleston Muslim community led her to lay the foundation of the first Islamic school in the state of West Virginia in 2019. Ms. Faridi has been devoted to education for over a decade. After earning her Islamic education speakers training from the Islamic Net...

Ashley Aluko is an Associate Director of DEI at a private school in Lakeville, Connecticut. She is passionate for history and has implemented innovative approaches to teaching history through pop culture references and meaningful role play. Ashley speaks to the need of using history as a lens through which we can better understand ourselves and the world around us. Her own ancestral roots in the C...

Roni Pavick is an interdisciplinary art and astronomy teacher at Boston Public Schools. She is also the astronomy director working with Harvard Smithsonian, and she is a lecturer and presenter at NASA on space exploration and the history of the space program. She shares how watching space launches and pursuing her passions in the arts blazed a unique path for her as an educator. Her perspective ch...

Greg Daniel is the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning (DIAL) for the NYC Department of Education. He is a seasoned teacher and school leader who had his start with Teach For America.  With a passion for servant leadership and empowering students in underserved communities to find and use their voice, he shares about his extensive work with...

Pili Lindley is the Co-Founder and Head Counselor at the non profit organization SCORE in Lima, Peru. She is passionate about supporting students navigate through the college admissions process and cultivating within them the soft skills needed to find their way towards achieving career success. A major influence on Pili’s own education journey was her college experience debating in Model United N...

Rommel Mejia is a special education teacher and school leader with 15 years of experience in the classroom. He is passionate about family and community engagement with an emphasis on social justice, inclusion, and culturally-responsive learning. From his own experiences going through schooling in the Philippines with the support of both his school and family, he advocates for students to feel a gr...

Lucia Sanchez is a Special Education teacher in the Franklin McKinley School District. She grew up on the east side of San Jose and her story is closely tied to her parent’s struggle in achieving the American Dream as Mexican immigrants. For her parents, it was about working multiple jobs with very little money to create the best conditions for their family. Education was a high priority, and Luci...

Mayra Da Rocha is a SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) teacher at Boston Public Schools. She is the daughter of Brazilian immigrants who dedicated themselves to building community and advocating for legal protections for other immigrants in the Boston area. Mayra speaks about the profound influence her parent’s advocacy work had on her views on social justice. There are...

Aaron Seria has a background in accounting, finance analysis, grants management, and leadership education. Currently, he works for Sound Transit in Seattle, Washington as their Senior Project Control Specialist. He shares a story about his ambition to build a small company out of a garage when he was in high school. From small beginnings to larger endeavors in governmental roles, he would continue...

Chelsie Wong is a current student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Human Development and Education program. She is a dual citizen of Hong Kong and Canada. She talks about how she navigated these cultures by persevering in the face of homesickness and expanding her sense of self by embracing the local culture. A core pillar of her identity is family. She shared a multi-generationa...

Zaher Ibrahim is a coach and leader who is passionate about supporting individuals and organizations to become more thoughtful and effective global leaders. He shares about his struggle to build his own sense of self through transforming and reframing his traumas growing up in a war-torn country of Lebanon, leading an unsatisfying early career in civil engineering, and confronting his personal and...

Bethiel Girma is a Program Officer at Oak Foundation. She has worked in various capacities as an educator in the classroom, in non profit organizations, and in family foundations. Her decision to follow her gut instinct to move from California to Massachusetts for work set her on an exciting path that has opened up her view on the scale of her impact in the US and abroad. Bethiel places great emph...

Catie Hitzigrath is a transitional advisor at the University of Miami. Before starting her current role in higher education, Catie worked for over a decade as a chorus teacher and choir director for various schools. Her passion for music led her to teach middle school, which is her favorite age group. One big takeaway from her teaching career is that we all should be more open minded and follow ou...

Mark Hermano is a physics teacher with over two decades of teaching experience. Despite not dreaming of becoming a teacher when he was little, it seems like his path to teaching was written in the stars. He uses the analogy of our life being like a solar system. We are acted on by gravitational forces all the time and it reminds us of what is at the center of these forces. Mark has worked at vario...

Jenna Ekulona is a Partner Success Manager at Huron/ Studer Education. She started off her career as an 8th grade teacher and has worked across state lines from California to Texas to Michigan. Through deep reflection and critical reflection on her teaching praxis and the wider school systems in the US, Jenna strives to create equitable conditions and greater access to high-quality education for a...

Christine Vince is the Senior Curriculum Manager for the Primary Years Program at the International Baccalaureate (IB). She started off teaching 4th grade and then took on school leadership to lead her district as a PYP coordinator. With a strong desire to model what it means to be a global citizen to her children, she made a big career decision to accept a job with the IB in the Hague and move he...

Bryan Penprase is the Vice President for Sponsored Research and External Academic Relations at Soka University of America. He is an astronomer, researcher, professor, former Dean of Faculty, and global citizen. His path is unique, and one that he speaks of as being somewhat improbable. From his global travels to telescope sites to his participation in founding new institutions of higher learning t...