Before coming to CIE, Bonnie was a PCV in Honduras in the early 1970s where she worked on literacy and adult education.  She then worked with several organizations in Washington, D.C.  She was a Senior Associate with Creative Associates where she was a manager of the NFE and adult education group, working in various countries.

She enrolled in a Master’s degree program at CIE in 1976, but then took leave to work on projects in a variety of countries including Lesotho, Botswana, Yemen, Bolivia and Honduras.

From 1983 to 2002 she was president of the Bulletin... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE, Phoebe worked in Washington DC as the Campaign Director for Amnesty International USA before moving to California. She then worked for CIE on the Sudan Basic Education Project beginning in 2005.  Her experience in South Sudan started her career in international development education. As Phoebe reports, “The first time I got off the plane in Nairobi, I knew that I had found my professional calling. I wasn’t wrong, and it was the start of a long and rewarding career in international development education focused on education in post-conflict/fragile states.”

Before coming to CIE I founded a non-profit organization, the Pentok Institute, to promote quality education for Tibetan girls. Together with my team, we raised millions in grants for the programs. We worked closely with ten public schools and 7,000 children in the communities. We provided “culturally relevant curriculum” and teaching practice via several programs during summer and winter holidays.

In 2014, I established the very first private school in the area with authorization from the local government. The school is a pre-school that uses Montessori techniques combined... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE, I worked in Pakistan, Thailand and Mexico developing interdisciplinary academic curricula, teaching, as well as doing training and program development.

Since graduating from UMASS Amherst in 2021, I have worked in Residential Life at Mount Holyoke College as the Area Coordinator for Community and Belonging, and as the Power & Equity Specialist in the Student Wellness Center at Dartmouth College. My most recent role at Dartmouth is as the Associate Director... Continue Reading

After finishing my doctorate in 1978, I went back to Iran. Due to the revolution, the UNESCO branch in Tehran where I had previously worked closed. Then I became the Dean of a two-year teacher training college. A year later, I took a position as one of the three teacher training policy makers for the Ministry of Education.

Later I served for five years as an associate professor at the Tehran University for Teacher Education. During these five years, I taught courses such as Methods of Teaching, Educational planning, and Curriculum Development. I also wrote some articles and... Continue Reading

My Ph.D. program at the College of Education is in International education and development with a focus on education policies, administration, and research. My dissertation “Integrating Traditional Values and Local Knowledge in the Formal Educational System in Senegal” discusses the issue of culturally relevant education in Senegal through incorporation of more local values and knowledge along with a greater community engagement. In addition, my studies included valuable courses relevant to the field of training, evaluation, monitoring, project planning and research, education and culture... Continue Reading

Rovshan has been working in the Government of Azerbaijan since 2002. After graduation from UMass, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. He worked in various positions within the MFA and in Azerbaijan’s diplomatic posts overseas. He served in the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United States of America and currently serves as Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the OSCE and other International Organizations in Vienna, Austria.

He was honored to attend the 2024 New Year’s Reception for the Diplomatic Corps in Vienna which was... Continue Reading

In fall 2023 Tariq sent an update:

I resigned as Senior Counselor in the New Zealand Government and returned to campus once again - this time in Toronto, Canada. With a postdoctoral scholarship at York University, I do research and teach at the same university. This opportunity has not only enabled me to advance my expertise but has also provided a platform for reflection and scientific development. Returning to the scientific environment to update my knowledge and contribute to critical thinking is a great opportunity.

I hope that in the near future, the... Continue Reading

Upon graduation I returned to Iran where over the next 7 years I was able to establish two colleges, one for foreign languages and one for teacher training & education.  From 1974-1979 I was Dean of the College of Education & Psychology at the National University of Iran.

I was in the process of starting a new K-16 institution on Kish Island for International students when the Islamic revolution intervened and I returned to the States.

I went back to UMass where I took courses in Special Education & Administration and became certified in those... Continue Reading

Alessandra’s Spanish skills have been essential for reaching out to Latino students and their families (mostly from Ecuador and El Salvador) who are in need of extra support to transition to a new culture and a new school environment. Her cultural competency and anti-racism lens has given her the opportunity to participate in and co-facilitate meetings and professional development events organized by the Amherst school district addressing issues such as peer mediation, grief, hidden biases, white supremacy, anti-racism education and restorative justice.

Recently, Alessandra... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE Vijay spent 5 years at the University of Maine at Machias where he taught classes, introduced technology into the curriculum, and helped launch Maine’s statewide interactive telecommunications system.  He then moved to Mount Holyoke College where he directed academic computing, including some programs for the five-college consortium.

In 1996 he took a position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, initially as Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, then as Assistant Provost and Director of Academic Computing. 

Since then... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE Ron was a Peace Corps Volunteer.  He was sent to Ethiopia in the fall of 1961, among the first group of volunteers requested by Emperor Haile Selassie I, to assist in expanding educational opportunities for the people of his country. Ron’s assignment was to develop a music program at the only secondary school in Wollo Province in Dessie, north of the capital city of Addis Ababa.

After returning home, he worked at the Peace Corps National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for five years, with assignments including Africa Liaison Officer, in the office of... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE, Tom served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia. He came to UMass looking to prepare himself for a teaching career in science and EFL, both internationally and domestically.

After graduating he taught in Novosibirsk, Russia for a year, and then taught at a charter school in Providence Rhode Island for another year.  After that he worked for five years at the CATS Academy in Boston teaching science and ESL science. He also served as chair of the Science Department.

In 2020 he left the US and spent a couple of years teaching at the Haile... Continue Reading

Ash Hartwell has fifty years of field experience working at community, national and international levels on educational policy analysis, planning and research. He has provided technical assistance and training for the establishment and strengthening of national educational planning divisions in Egypt, Botswana, Lesotho and Uganda. In his own words:

I believe in the innate human love and capacity for learning (and playing), and hold that every child - and potentially every adult – has the capacity for genius (Awe, curiosity, joy, inventiveness, creativity…). In my work I... Continue Reading

After finishing her doctorate with CIE, Malena returned to Nicaragua where she founded two sister NGO's centered on women's economic and political empowerment: The Center for Economic and Democratic Development, CENZONTLE focusing on education, technical assistance, organization and advocacy; and FODEM-CENZONTLE, a micro-finance organization that facilitates credit. She left the executive director position at Cenzontle in 2001 having received a prize for best practice in the Latin American region.  The organization developed a methodology based on practice that articulated institutions,... Continue Reading

In her hometown of Dallas, Mary is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster children, a Lifeline Crisis Counselor for The Trevor Project, and a writer for local newsletters. She studies yoga and yoga teaching, relaxes with online language study, and creates pollinator-friendly gardens.

As a writer of poetry and fiction, Mary often describes the experience of those starting their lives over again—much like her four immigrant grandparents and the refugees she taught in New England and Southeast Asia. The online highlight of her month is the meeting of the... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE I had been a teacher since 2001. I have been working under the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) in different schools teaching Physics and Biology.

When Decentralization by devolution took place in our Country, I was appointed by the Permanent Secretary of MOEVT as a District Academic Educational officer under the department of Secondary Education. I have been working under MOEVT in collaboration with Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government for two years. Being an academician at District level has given... Continue Reading

Babacar came to CIE from Senegal, where among other things he was a griot – a story teller who preserves the oral tradition and history of a village or family.  After getting his Master’s degree in education he enrolled in a doctoral program in the French Department at UMass. 

In spring of 2005, at one of CIE’s Tuesday meetings, he announced that he was defending his dissertation that day, almost ten years to the day from when he arrived at CIE to begin studying for his Master’s degree,   His dissertation title was Negro African Theatre: Beyond traditional boundaries,... Continue Reading

After completing his M.Ed. at CIE in 1986 Mutala went back to Zaire and worked as IEC/Training Coordinator for two major USAID-funded public health projects working on Nutrition Improvement and Basic Rural Health. He advocated for the use of non-formal and adult education methods and techniques in community health education.

In 1993, due to the volatile political situation in Kinshasa/Zaire and the subsequent closing down of all USAID projects, Mutala left Zaire and went to South Africa. In South Africa he worked with the Gauteng Department of Education in piloting an... Continue Reading

While studying at CIE, Greg also worked as the manager of two USIA-funded projects at CIE called Teacher-Text-Technology projects – one in Somalia and one in Tanzania.   

After leaving CIE, Greg worked for more than a decade with United Airlines, and subsequently as Director of Sales Training for School Specialty, Inc. in 2009 Greg started a new career with Peace Corps.

I applied to the Peace Corps to serve as the Director of Programming & Training in any country that would have me.  Who would have guessed that the hiring official was... Continue Reading

I was born and raised in Newton MA and grew up in a musical household where there was a constant connection between life, politics and music. It was through my experience playing Jamaican music that I became interested in the intersection of music and youth movements in the Caribbean and Africa, a subject I studied as a Cultural Anthropology major at Hampshire College. 

In 1999 I traveled to Senegal and discovered a young and thriving hip-hop scene there. What inspired me most about the hip-hop music in Senegal was that it was created not just to entertain but also to... Continue Reading

Maria Diarra Keita is the Director and co-founder, with Cheick Oumar Coulibaly and  Debbie Fredo, of the Institute for Popular Education (IEP) in Mali, West Africa.

Maria was disillusioned with the impact of traditional development approaches, particularly in the form of women’s literacy and income generating activities that she had spent years organizing. Inspired by rural women and their own sharp critiques of those approaches, Maria led a group of dedicated educators in the practice of alternatives, first in... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, I returned to Chancellor College in Malawi in the Faculty of Education where I am now an Associate Professor. Since returning I have served as Head of Department, Dean of Faculty and University Senator. My responsibilities include: teaching Educational Policy and Leadership Issues and Sociology of Education both at post-graduate and under-graduate levels; conducting research and consultancies; conducting outreach activities; supervising postgraduate students on their theses writing.  I previously earned a Master of Arts (Sociology and Education) from Columbia... Continue Reading

Since graduating in May 2014, I have been fortunate to be involved in quite a few interesting projects and programs as a consultant. In reflecting on these opportunities, there are three key ways my graduate studies at the Center for International Education (CIE) has furthered my career: 1) applying my graduate research findings to my work, 2) nurturing critical awareness of important issues in our world, and 3) encouraging exploration of interests, particularly innovation.

It has become evident the hard work I put into my... Continue Reading

In 2022 Cliff moved back to the Amherst area with his family. Much to his surprise and delight he was appointed as the Interim Director of CIE in  June of 2023.  He had this to say about his new position: I recently started as the part-time, interim Director of CIE. I can’t believe how fortunate I am and how excited yet daunted I feel to take on this new challenge. Fortunately, both UNICEF and UMass have similar layers of bureaucracy and I am slowly but surely getting adjusted to the system at UMass. I now have... Continue Reading

Tracey has extensive experience in education and civil rights. Her work history includes 15 years as a civil rights investigator, consulting for various community-based organizations and working with public and private organizations to develop more inclusive programs and cultivate greater cultural competency. She has also taught in higher education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for more than 25 years.  

In 2023, she is now working as the Interim Director and Interim Title IX Officer at the University of California San Francisco.  Before that she was employed... Continue Reading

Janna Shadduck-Hernández is currently a project director at the UCLA Labor Center, where she has been for the past 15 years, and teaches for UCLA’s Labor Studies major and in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Her research and teaching focus on developing culturally relevant, participatory educational models with first- and second-generation university students, community members, and youth. Her research and policy work also examine the organizing efforts of low-wage immigrant workers to combat labor and workplace violations.

She has been on the Board... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE Bonnie spent two years as an English Teaching Fellow in Bolivia.  After that she worked as an English language teacher, teacher trainer and curriculum developer in several different countries including Namibia, South Korea, Bolivia, Spain and Mexico.

After finishing her Master’s degree with CIE, Bonnie moved to Hawai’i and enrolled in a doctoral program in Second Language Studies.  She completed her doctorate in 2017 with a dissertation that focused on the program assessment of an applied linguistics program.

Upon completing her... Continue Reading

My educational background from CIE and skills gained during my studies in CIE enabled me to join the education sector where I could apply the knowledge and skills for the development of the education sector of Afghanistan.

After I graduated from CIE, I rejoined Baghlan University as Assistant Professor and taught in the undergraduate program training both in-service and pre-service teachers. In 2011, I worked with World Bank as Research Consultant with the assignment to evaluate the establishment of School Management Committees.

In 2013 I joined Ministry of... Continue Reading

Jeanne Moulton worked in business development at the Education Development Center (EDC) from 2010 to 2020. Prior to that she worked at Creative Associates International for five years in project management and proposal development, and during the 15 years before that, she was an independent consultant.

Her consulting assignments included project design and proposal writing and a wide range of technical assistance in basic education, education policy and related areas in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Her most enjoyable assignments were in Uganda, Egypt, South Africa,... Continue Reading

Dr. Pempho Chinkondenji’s research focuses on school (re)integration of student mothers, pregnancy-related education policies, and the relationship between gender, education, and development in Southern Africa. With emphasis on African and African diaspora populations in primary, secondary, and higher education contexts, Pempho’s scholarship draws from interdisciplinary fields to address structural inequalities within educational policies and practices. In framing this work, her scholarship draws from post/de-colonial frameworks and African feminist thought to interrogate gender and power... Continue Reading

Bonnie (Mullinix) and I have told the story many times of how we came to CIE and UMass. While in the Peace Corps in The Gambia as volunteers and volunteer leaders (1980-1983), we encountered a few people who all shared a connection to a program called CIE at the University of Massachusetts. First there was Will Shaw, who delivered a training program for PC/TG, then "the Steves" (Anzalone and... Continue Reading

After getting my Master’s degree, I returned to Tanzania and was posted to the Department of Secondary Education as a head of the Secondary Education Division in Zanzibar. Four months later, I moved to Dar es Salaam, after being selected to work with the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), in the Secretariat. Once again I left my family and worked on the mainland for 14 months.

The task was critical and very challenging, though we succeeded in producing a second draft of the new Constitution of Tanzania. On 30 December 2014, the draft was submitted to the President, the... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE, Laura spent four years in North Carolina and Malawi working with World Camp, a non-profit organization that educates primary teachers and their students on HIV/AIDS, the environment, life skills education, and gender equality

After finishing her degree Laura spent two years working in Malawi for AIR as the Learning Resource Coordinator for the Malawi Teacher Training Activity. Her primary responsibility was to develop learning materials, including resource manuals and handbooks for training workshops.  She also worked regularly with... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, I continued to work in direct service and community organizing both in locally and internationally. I started as the Program Director for an organization in Turners Falls called The Brick House Community Resource Center, where Joanie Cohen-Mitchell was Executive Director in the early 2000s. Joanie pioneered a number of remarkable programs, most notably, M.I.N.D., a leadership development program for women in the community. 

As Program Director, I was involved in... Continue Reading

Before coming to Amherst, I worked as the English Language program Coordinator for USAID/Kabul.   Then, In 2012 I became the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Minister for Academic Affairs in the Ministry of Higher Education, Afghanistan.  During my degree studies at UMass, I worked as a project assistant on CIE’s higher education project in Afghanistan.

After finishing my Master’s degree at UMass I moved to Melbourne in August 2017 and started working at the Melbourne Polytechnic in September 2017.... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE I lived and worked in Japan for 2 years teaching English to everyone from 4-year-old children to 70-year-old pensioners. Despite the challenges of working in Japanese office culture I really enjoyed the work and the lifestyle. In 2006 I joined the Peace Corps and was sent to the Republic of Georgia, where I lived and worked as a secondary school TEFL volunteer for 2 years.

I began to see international education as a career and more than just a way to travel. This realization among other things prompted me to extend my PC service to the Central Asian... Continue Reading

Since leaving CIE I have enjoyed working with many CIE grads in Somalia, Lesotho, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Afghanistan and the US. For example, in 2008 I returned to Kabul for 2 months to work with Julio Ramirez and Chris Gamm on teacher education. I have worked as: a senior education advisor for Creative Associates International; education coordinator for the Aga Khan University in Karachi; NFE specialist for CIE in Lesotho; community/parent involvement consultant for AED in Namibia; training... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE, Kunduz returned to her home in the Kyrgyz Republic where she chaired the English Department and taught in the School of International Relations at Osh State University.  She also participated in a project of the US Department of State offering workshops on credit-based higher education in the Kyrgyz Republic covering all the state universities in the country.  During that time, Kunduz and a US Peace Corps volunteer, Bethany Burns, were awarded a Peace Corps grant and created an American room with many cultural and language media resources at Osh State University.

Before coming to CIE, Vongaishe worked with World Education Inc. in Zimbabwe on improving the lives of orphans and vulnerable children and families with programs in basic education, school governance, vocational and life skills education, integrated literacy, girls and women’s education, HIV/AIDS education and prevention. She was involved in the evolution of in-school and out-of-school nonformal education programs. These NFE centers were designed to offer safe places for out-of-school children and youth to develop functional literacy and numeracy skills using an accelerated curriculum.... Continue Reading

Since completing my doctoral degree in February 2020 I have been engaged in a variety of professional activities. I am currently employed as a researcher with EDC's school improvement portfolio. I serve as the study director for a nationwide randomized control trial investigating the impact of interactive digital games on middle school students’ historical content knowledge, empathy, and perspective-taking skills. I am also involved in a project that explores the integration of computational thinking into elementary... Continue Reading

Edgardo Rothkegel passed away in March 2023

His obituary can be found Here

Before coming to CIE, Edgardo was a Catholic priest in Valparaiso, Chile – his home town.  As a priest he worked with the Association of Catholic Universities, providing counseling to students.  He later left the priesthood and came to the U.S. in 1966.

In 1973 he came to Amherst with his wife ... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE/UMass in 2004, Askar, who is originally from Kyrgyzstan, taught social sciences and linguistics using advanced pedagogy at various national and international universities in Kyrgyzstan. He did research with the Canadian Center of Pluralism on the peaceful co-existence of people with different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

In 2007, he took a month-long course in Academic Writing at the American University in Istanbul. From 2008 to 2010 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Open Society Institute at New York University, where he focused on developing... Continue Reading

After finishing his Master’s degree, Lukas spent the summer with the Asia Foundation designing a smart phone app that provides high quality early grade reading content for Skaw Karen children in Northern Thailand who lack books at home in their mother tongue, but have access to smart phones. 

Lukas also assisted in the design of browser-based translation tool that simplifies and facilitates the complex task of translating existing open access reading materials into local languages by utilizing teachers and community members. Both the reading app and translation tool are... Continue Reading

Rita Raboin is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur:

I have been here in Brazil for 34 years. I first worked in the state of Maranhao with farmers for many years  and then on the island of Marajó as the Coordinator for the Pastoral Land Commission, which is a support of the Catholic Church for families who work on small plots of land either in the fields or, in our case, along the rivers. We seek to help the people analyze their situation and see what they can do to remain on the land.

... Continue Reading

Following an unexpected return to the Pioneer Valley after 14 years, I revived connections with long lost friends/colleagues.  With a bit of friendly pressure (read DRE), I’m taking a moment to sashay down memory lane and reconnect with the CIE community.

This January was my 71th birthday.  From this vantage point, I can detect patterns throughout phases of activity that were built upon the tenets of doctoral studies.  For me, the fertile groundwork for learning was first laid in mid-1980’s, when I stumbled naively into Turkey as a program developer but instead slammed into... Continue Reading

In 2023, although now fuly retired John is still active in supporting Afghanistan where he was a PCV many years ago!

I have now retired to a small desert community outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  My wife Cass and I managed to sell our online applications and our business (ITAP International, which operated in the cross-cultural area) and these sales allowed us to retire from the east coast to a place called Eldorado.  Here, between the mountains and desert, I continue to hike and enjoy and respect all four seasons for... Continue Reading

I left North America when I received my degree, planning to eventually return to Somalia. I spent time in Rome and London looking for an international career, but to no avail. I then returned to Somaliland, a self-proclaimed independent entity separate from the rest of Somalia. Somaliland is a former British colony that declared its own independence without seeking international recognition.

Upon return to Somaliland, I took a position in a small, but promising institution known as Amoud University.  There I worked in the teacher training department.  Interestingly, this... Continue Reading

Dr. Mariam Rashid is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on global refugee resettlement policies and practices, coloniality of displacement, and issues related to statelessness, nativity, and indigeneity within minority peoples of East Africa. Her work also critically engages with the discourse of diversity and inclusivity within higher education institutions.

Her current research draws on black studies, black feminist thought, and forms of diasporic feminism to explore recurring racialized, gendered, and colonial formations that are reproduced in refugee... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE Homa returned to Afghanistan.  From 2001 until 2017 Homa worked as a Technical Advisor with UNIFEM/UNWOMEN.  In that role she collaborated with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs on identifying policies and projects to empower women and promote gender equality.  She commented at one point during her work there that “The men think that shelters are a concept from the West that encourages women to run from their homes. A lot of men are trying to damage the reputation of shelters because they are fearful of their girls and women actually defending their rights.”

I returned to Kabul in 2010 and joined Computer Science Department of Natural Science Faculty at Kabul Education University (KEU). In mid-2010, I was elected as the chair of Computer Science Department. I led the department in addition to teaching various courses in both computer science and pedagogy.

In fall of 2013, I developed a proposal in coordination with my department members to promote the department to the status of a faculty. I talked to administrators at KEU and the Ministry of Higher Education and presented the reasons the department should be promoted to... Continue Reading

My career since leaving CIE has focused on teacher training and school/program improvement in developing countries. Generally, my work has been divided between the South Pacific and the Middle East.

In Papua New Guinea I was involved in implementing the Secondary Schools Community Extension Project (SSCEP). This program brought selected schools in remote coastal and inland mountainous regions together with local village communities, to encourage the learning of traditional skills (taught by village elders), combined with active classroom learning engagement. The aim was to... Continue Reading

Kip visited Amherst recently and met with BGW (DRE was on vacation).

I am still teaching ecological/environmental studies at the School of Environmental Studies, in the Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Education (ENSED) at Kenyatta Univ. I plan to retire in about 2 years. The CIE experience, and working in many team work experiences, and practical experiences in developing project proposals, and managing international education projects, helped me, and very many before me, and after many years it continues to help others to grow too. I greatly value the CIE goals and missions. [6... Continue Reading

Sheyla Castillo created and, as the Counselor/Coordinator, implemented the Immigrant-based Support Program (ISP) for adult students of San Diego’s College of Continuing Education. Additionally, she is the co-chair of the Immigrant-based Student Support Committee for the districts’ American Federation of Teachers chapter.  In that role she is currently involved in causes such as: institutionalizing the ISP on all four of San Diego’s Community... Continue Reading

Joining CIE was a great opportunity for me.  It allowed me to learn and better understand the concepts of non-formal education and be able to develop the skills to work with adults and help them improve their situation. Since getting my Master's degree from CIE, I have been involved in a variety of academic activities and programs. I have taught groups ranging from high school students to adult professionals and faculty members.

Subsequently I joined the Research and Evaluation Methods Program and received a CAGS.  Later, I enrolled in the Teacher Education and School... Continue Reading

For the past 10 years Fatimah has been an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Excellence in Gender Studies (CEGS) at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad where she has taught for over ten years and supervised numerous research studies.

Prior to joining the university Fatimah worked for two years as a Women’s Rights and Policy Advisor with the Emergency and Reconstruction Project with ActionAid Pakistan. In that role she was responsible for promoting and integrating women’s issues and highlighting the rights of people in... Continue Reading

In 2022, Rebecca accepted a new position as the Technical Unit Director for Education at Creative Associates International. In this role Rebecca will lead Creative's education technical team to grow their education portfolio and provide evidence-based technical assistance to development programs globally.  Previously Rebecca was a Principal Researcher and Program Director at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) where she was for almost 10 years prior to moving to Creative.

At AIR, Rebecca oversaw the collection and dissemination of evidence on early grade literacy (... Continue Reading

Since I last updated my CIE profile, there are a few things that I would like to share with you. As you may expect, based on my long work on human rights, most of these additions are in the same field. The highlight of my work was the success in bringing to court the head of security of the former regime of the longest African religious dictatorship. In January 2020 during the short-lived democracy of Sudan, the governmental authorities represented by the Attorney General‘s office, listened to my testimony on the 118 days of detention in a secret torture center run the government. 

After leaving CIE, I returned to my previous position as a literacy specialist supporting mother tongue literacy initiatives among Darfur refugees in eastern Chad. It was good to be back with some new ideas and inspiration after my time at CIE. My team leader retired not too long after, so I am now the project coordinator and spend a lot more time in the office these days, writing reports and proposals.

Some notable changes in the project after my return included looking more systemically at mother tongue literacy initiatives in multiple camps rather than just those closest... Continue Reading

Before coming to CIE I worked as a district nonformal coordinator in Gandara 1 and at the same time also served as the district clerk. Gandara is the second largest town in Western Samar.

I came to CIE as part of a program sponsored by the Bureau of Non-Formal Education in the Philippines.  A group of 3 adult educators came to CIE in the fall of 1996.  We were joined by 6 additional adult educators after 4 months – from Mindanao, Bicol and Western Visayas.  While we were at CIE we produced four training modules on literacy.  One of the things I remember most about CIE were... Continue Reading

Arlen retired as professor emeritus from the University of Nebraska in 2011 after 36 years in higher education at NU, Penn State and the University of Arizona. He has worked with faculty, students and local residents in the three states and 50+ countries to expand opportunities for international teaching, learning, research and outreach.

His book, Liderazgo Efectivo, was published in 1998 by Editorial Trillas, Mexico City (ISBN 968-24-3450-5). It describes leadership skills that are needed by... Continue Reading

Since finishing my Ph.D. degree in September 2021, I have been working as the Senior Research Fellow for the University of Massachusetts Boston. I am mainly responsible for managing the education sector portfolio of the USAID-funded Advancing Higher Education for Afghanistan’s Development (AHEAD) project. 

In 2015, after completing coursework for my doctorate, I returned to Afghanistan and served as the Senior Manager for Associate Degrees and the Senior Representative of UMass/CIE in Afghanistan for the USAID-funded Afghanistan University Support and Workforce Development... Continue Reading

Hi CIE family!

I came to CIE to better understand nonformal and complementary education for children, having previously worked in implementing such programs for various national and international NGOs in South Asia. Fortunately, I was able to do just that, as well as forge meaningful and lasting relationships with faculty and classmates! I began as an Ed.D. student and candidate from 2006-2009 and graduated with an Ed.S. in 2019.

Since my CIE days, I have been a full-time consultant on varied education policy and programming consultancies working with the... Continue Reading

Steve sent an update on his current activities in 2021 now that he and his wife Margaret are fully retired.

Since moving to Cape Cod in the fall of 2019, I haven’t completely settled on all the activities that will keep me fully engaged in my "rewirement," using Jan Droegkamp's definition of retirement. On the cerebral side, however, I am involved in the "Wake Up Cape Cod" group that meets regularly to discuss global issues... Continue Reading

David has worked in alternative education, out-of-school youth education, adult literacy and nonformal education, all of which he says were themes of his studies at UMass.

 "My education journey with C.I.E. began in 1969 with a Teacher Corps M.Ed program that was unequaled in it's opportunities for academic and community-based learning in competency-based, culturally appropriate and non-formal teaching and learning.  I continued with an Ed.D.program that both provided me with more in-depth education research and evaluation opportunities and through which... Continue Reading

In July 2021, ProLiteracy published a paper by Paul entitled “Basic Skills for Community-Oriented Development: A Resource Book for Educators and Other Partners.” The document explores the history of basic skills education in developing countries and how to build on that to develop effective services for diverse populations.   Paul says the publication contains information about CIE’s work and draws upon his experience at CIE. 

Paul has been a prolific writer on adult education, producing learning materials, opinion pieces and books. See his... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE, Antonieta worked as a consultant for various organizations, including ITD in Amherst, John Snow, Inc., and Greater Options for Adolescent Lives, Inc.  She then spent more than 15 years working with the Boston School system.  She served in multiple roles there including working as an Analyst in the Office of Language Learning and Support Services, as the Senior Director for Research & Instruction, and as the Assistant Superintendent for English Language Learners.

Recently she reported that I became an ESL teacher for Central American and Caribbean... Continue Reading

Since leaving CIE, I have had an eclectic and fulfilling professional life and worn many hats. CIE gave me the confidence and the tools to be creative, to contribute, and to thrive anywhere.

For six and a half years, Grant and I lived in Micronesia, where our son, Morgan, was born. I was faculty member in the College of Micronesia, Consultant for Peace Corps, and Education Director for the Utilities Company.  We also produced reports on the impact of climate change and see-level rise on micro islands, and created... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, Dr. Tashi Zangmo undertook the challenge of creating an NGO called the Bhutan Nuns Foundation under the patronage of the Queen Mother of Bhutan. The Foundation is dedicated to improving the education and living conditions for the Buddhist Nuns in the country.  Creating a new organization turned out to be a formidable challenge, but she persevered.

In September 2011, Tashi was a speaker at a reception to generate support for the Bhutan Nuns Foundation which also featured the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of... Continue Reading

After 25 years as a faculty member at Western New Mexico University in the Gallup Graduate Studies Center, Pat retired in 2011 and is now a Professor Emeritus. During her career she published many articles and book chapters based on her career-long commitment to Participatory Action Research, particularly as it links to feminism and teaching.  Her most recent publication was a book chapter entitled “Considering challenges with enacting conventional ethics in teacher action research” in which she discusses the conflict between modern IRB procedures and the principles that underlie action... Continue Reading

Many things in my life have changed since I left Amherst in 1994, but some things remain constant: I am still working on a UMass campus, still doing union and community organizing, still in a socialist group, and still being nagged by DRE to submit past-due writing.

When David asked me to update the CIE community on my ‘career,’ and kindly offered to draft something from my CV, it struck me that I am on a different track from many CIE graduates. For one thing, I haven’t updated my CV or LinkedIn profile in 10 years! But being committed to revolution doesn’t require dropping... Continue Reading

After finishing at CIE I soon went to work as World Education's Director of Training Services for five years in the early nineties with David Kahler (Downloads a pdf file) and John Comings. I then took a break and did some consulting work in nonprofit board development. 

In 1997 I was recruited to work with the NYS Dept. of Health AIDS Institute as a Quality Improvement and Management consultant working with... Continue Reading

Since completing my doctoral degree in the Department of Educational Policy, Research and Administration at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, I have taught at a number of institutions of higher education in Western Massachusetts, including the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Westfield State University, and Elms College. I am currently a Lecturer at the University of California, San Diego. I teach courses mainly in the realms of social sciences and education, dealing with issues related to power, wealth, and inequality in human development.

As a teacher, I... Continue Reading

Nolizwe's global experience in advocacy and policy work and in youth development organizations led her to CIE. She is a graduate of McGill University and holds a master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Prior to her studies at UMass, Nolizwe taught African Studies and History for five years at the Johannesburg-based African Leadership Academy (ALA). While at CIE, she conducted research on youth livelihoods in Burkina Faso and completed a short stint in the New York City Department of Education.

 ... Continue Reading

Upon leaving CIE Ken returned to his post as a lecturer in Education Policy, Planning and Leadership at Chancellor College, University of Malawi.  In 2005 he enrolled in the University of Witwatersrand in Republic of South Africa and pursued his PhD focusing on Educational Policy and Planning. Upon return to Chancellor College, he was subsequently appointed Director of the newly established E-Learning Centre at the University.

Interestingly,  Antonie Chigeda became the acting director of the E-Learning Centre... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE, Eligia worked for World Education in Kenya. In 1996-97 she worked for ACDI under a USAID contract during which she wrote a series of illustrated training manuals for the Agricultural Cooperative Finance Company in Honduras, The manuals focus on training members of cooperatives in a variety of areas, including marketing, finance, economics and record keeping.  (The last topic was the subject of a Technical Note which she published while at... Continue Reading

I currently serve as director or the Language and Culture Institute (LCI) at Virginia Tech, where I have been employed for the last 15 years.  In my role as a leader in international affairs, I represent the university with EducationUSA offices, foreign universities, international aid organizations, scholarship offices and globally minded businesses. Over the last several years, I have visited nearly 20 countries and given presentations on Virginia Tech to over a dozen leading universities.

I founded the LCI, a unique office... Continue Reading

Over the last several years, I have had a diverse and fulfilling career that has included working with K-12 schools, higher education, for-profit education service companies, as well as with NGO/non-profit community organizations focused on educational initiatives in a range of countries across six continents. 

After spending a few years living in the Philippines while I finished my dissertation, I returned to the U.S. to direct the Center for International Education at Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), a college preparatory, independent high school located in western... Continue Reading

My Family and I live in West Hartford, Connecticut where I have worked for over 28 years at the Performance Office of the Connecticut Department of Education as a senior psychometrician. My role has been to conduct or supervise all psychometric work for the Department, such as test construction, equating, scaling, and validation. I also coordinate test data management, auditing, and analyses. My team and I check yearly test results, and ensure the accuracy of scores for all students.

Besides my regular job in Connecticut, I have done other consulting work within the USA and... Continue Reading

I spent 10 years living and working in Asia on a variety of projects.  Stemming in part from my dissertation research on rabid dogs in Guayaquil, Ecuador, I worked in Nepal with World Health on a rabies eradication program.  In Sri Lanka I worked on a UNICEF project on women and children nutrition – the Mahawelli Rice Project.

While in the Philippines I worked on a huge national literacy campaign managed by the Bureau of Non formal Education. And in Singapore, I worked with the Asian Media and Information Center that publishes Media Asia, a scholarly journal.  

 ... Continue Reading

After graduating from UMASS with a M.Ed. from CIE, my partner (now wife) Peg Giffels (UMass M.Ed. 1993) and I moved to Seattle and have grown roots here.  I taught ESL in the Seattle area Community College system for a couple of years.  Then I joined Starbucks Coffee Company to assist in the development of the Starbucks Foundation’s literacy and young entrepreneurs’ grant program.  I enjoyed a ten year career at Starbucks and was part of the creation of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department.

In 2008 I left Starbucks and went back to graduate school full... Continue Reading

Wendy Wheaton is currently (2021) working as a Senior Education Advisor for USAID. She has over 20 years of experience in developing educational standards, policies, guidance, programs, and technical response modalities in Africa, with particular expertise in conflict and crisis settings.

Prior to joining USAID, she was Senior Director for Education and Protection at Plan International's Headquarters and held previous positions at the World Bank, UN, and international NGOs over the years. She served in representational roles at the global level across the humanitarian and... Continue Reading

While still working in Nepal on my doctoral research (Understanding Pictures), I was hired as World Education’s technical adviser on a USAID grant to design a nonformal education program for rural villagers. From 1979 to 1986, I worked with the Center for Research, Innovation and Development (CERID) at the Ministry of Education.  Initially, the program focused on visual materials to stimulate discussion and generate awareness, but the groups kept asking when we were going to teach them to read and write. So that led our team over the next few years to develop Nepal’s national literacy... Continue Reading

I have been involved in education, primarily in middle schools, high schools and colleges, since the early 1980s: in Africa, Canada and here in the United States. I was one of the founding teachers of the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. I served as a member of the instructional team and a teacher for multilingual classes.

Most of my experience as an educator, however - here in the U.S.A, has been as a Transitional Bilingual Educator for international English... Continue Reading

Mukul Acharya is currently working in academic affairs at Kean University. He provides leadership and support of Kean’s accreditation and assessment. Institutional accreditation has been his major focus for a year and will continue to be a significant priority for another year and a half as Kean is currently undergoing its self-study, a requirement for renewal of its accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Guiding and supporting over 30 academic programs in their specialized professional... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE Ryke returned to his position as Assistant Manager with the Ministry of Education and Culture, Directorate General of Early Childhood, Non-Formal and Informal Education.  In that role he was responsible for conducting evaluations of various programs and leading workshops.

In 2015 he was promoted to be the Head of Cooperation Affairs in the Directorate General of Early Childhood.  Since then he has conducted a variety of evaluations and was responsible for the campaign for National Accreditation for international kindergarten and playgroups in 2015... Continue Reading

In 2021, Tony Savdié is back in his village in the western highlands of Guatemala, a place he has called home since concluding his time with CIE's Proyecto COMAL in 2000. After twenty one years in Guatemala he has put in his papers and hopes to get his Guatemalan residency shortly. He feels he has devoted sufficient time to meditating on this important decision.

The year of the pandemic caught Tony by surprise. The fortnight he was meant to spend in Paris with friends and family turned into an eight-month, three-season sabbatical in the town where he was born. He... Continue Reading

At the end of 2020, Judith joined the EU Delegation to Myanmar as senior education specialist to work on the EU’s largest budget support program in education and TVET.

Earlier, she worked in Haiti, where she oversaw the education and TVET programs. As part of her functions, she participated as an advisory member to the national technical committee in the development of the Haitian national education sector plan Plan Décennal d'Education et de Formation (PDEF, 2020-2030) and assisted the Ministry of Education in the conduct of Haiti’s first public expenditure tracking survey... Continue Reading

After graduating, I returned to my home state of Minnesota and worked with CAPI USA to provide community engagement and civic education to refugees and immigrants. I then worked with the Community Education department of Minneapolis Public Schools where I managed an afterschool program for international baccalaureate students with a focus on socio-emotional learning and culturally responsiveness as well as piloted community outreach strategies in order to attract diverse students. 

I currently manage the Open Door... Continue Reading

I am presently teaching EAP/ESL at Qatar University (QU) and this is my sixth year here.  I have also been active in organizing the annual international ELT conference here at QU for several years. My department reminds me very much of the culture at CIE due to its innovative nature as well as the cultural diversity of the faculty. 

Many years ago, when the late Professor David Kinsey (my advisor) mentioned that he had a doctorate in Islamic Studies, I realized that I would somehow develop close ties with the Islamic region! The journey started with a U.S. English Language... Continue Reading

I recently retired from the University of Massachusetts Amherst after spending more than four decades in the academic administration. My association with the School of Education goes back to the 1970’s when I had just completed a Master's degree in Political Science. It was the start of a beautiful relationship, as my career and education at the University went side by side until I completed my doctorate in 2012.

At the University, I have had the opportunity to serve in numerous senior-level positions. My most significant accomplishments as the Associate Graduate Dean were... Continue Reading

Karin is now in her fourth year as an assistant professor at Arizona State University, School of Social Work.  Her research focuses on the intersection of violence against women, social support, and forced migration.  She has published multiple journal articles and technical reports.

After leaving CIE she completed her doctorate in social work at the University of Texas at Austin. She also worked at the Institute on Domestic Violence... Continue Reading

After completing my master's degree, I worked for Springfield public Schools for 7 years and continued my learning at Springfield College to become a Special Education teacher. I also worked in international student travel and for Elderhostel international, mainly in West Africa.  For the past two years I have been working as a special education teacher in Northampton, MA.

I maintain relationships with some of my CIE cohort, though they are spread across the globe. I met my husband, Sam, as I was finishing my program at CIE, and now have two sons Ezra and Moses. Unlike many... Continue Reading

Charles’ career continues to focus largely on government capacity building in the many areas related to migration and governance.  Building on earlier work with migrant and refuge communities in New England during his years at CIE, and subsequently as a member of the senior management team at the Philippines Refugee Processing Center in Bataan until its closure in 1994, Charles then joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM), now the UN’s migration agency.  He served in programmatic and senior management positions in Georgia (Tbilisi), Italy, Geneva, again the Philippines... Continue Reading

I moved to San Francisco in 2006 after many years living in Washington (and a few African countries) working for some wonderful NGOs as both a consultant and on staff. My beat was mostly francophone Africa, and mostly in small business and NGO development. My last seven years in DC were with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, where I was in charge of staff training and also supporting OFDA partners on institutional/staff development.

I went back to being a consultant once I settled in SF, and was busy and happy doing training, evaluation and curriculum... Continue Reading

In July of 2020, Lebohang Ramohlanka was sworn in as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Lesotho. She brings considerable experience to the post having previously served as Clerk to the National Assembly from 2007 to 2012.  In that role she was the Chief Accounting Officer and also acted as the Chief Advisor on Practice and Procedure. 

At her swearing in she said “I am most humbled to stand before you today to make these remarks in acceptance of the huge honour that has just been bestowed on me… As some houourable members might recall, I have served before as Clerk.  I am... Continue Reading

After many years working in communications, adult education and political action with the garment workers’ union, Sherry now oversees an adult education program for the Consortium for Worker Education focusing on ESOL and computer skills at various sites in New York City. 

She is a founding Board Member of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, which is currently spearheading the building of a memorial to women, workers, and immigrants at the site of... Continue Reading

In 1971 I left UMass to accept a job at the University of California/Santa Cruz to work with Joe Blackman, a fellow Charter member of CIE, on a Teacher Corps/Peace Corps program.  Later I became a faculty member and Director of Teacher Preparation at UCSC. I also was elected and served on the School Board of the Santa Cruz City School District from 1977 – 79.  

In 1979 I decided to take a two-year leave from UCSC in order to join another CIE'er, Jim Hoxeng, at USAID in Washington, D. C.  I couldn't decide at the time... Continue Reading

Sue is currently (2020) the Legal and Policy Advisor for a USAID-funded Economic Policy project in Liberia which provides support to key government ministries in developing legal and policy frameworks to promote economic growth for Liberia’s economy.

Prior to that she served in a wide variety of positions as a human rights attorney with the UN in Kosovo, Liberia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Earlier she also worked as an online English tutor for China and Japan, was an election observer in in Armenia and Ukraine, and worked with the American Bar Association... Continue Reading

After completing his Master's degree at CIE Ray worked as an associate dean at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont for four years before returning to UMass to complete his Ed.D. in Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies. His dissertation explored the long term impacts of an international study tour to Southeast Asia for public school teachers.

He then served as an assistant professor at SIT Graduate Institute for seven years while also teaching as an adjunct at the UMass School of Public Health and Health Sciences. In addition to continued affiliations with both SIT and... Continue Reading

I came to CIE after working in international development for 10 years. Doing my masters at CIE helped me set my practice in a theoretical framework. And I developed relationships with a group of wonderful and committed educators who became my friends. I feel very privileged to have been able to study full time in a new country in the middle of my career. 

After finishing my Master’s degree, I returned to Australia. Since then, I’ve provided monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) services in the Pacific and South East Asia. My work is in support of social justice in the... Continue Reading

Ann Hartman is Dean of the East-West Center Education Program. Founded in 1960, the East-West Center (EWC) promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.

As Dean, Ann provides overall leadership for the Center’s graduate student programs, which provide scholarship funding and a dynamic living... Continue Reading

Upon graduating from CIE, Maxwell returned to his position as a Senior Planning Officer in the Ministry of Education. In 2006, he became the Managing Director of Max Development Consultants, which provided services in program planning, participatory M&E, and training development.  In 2010 he took on the voluntary role of Country Director for the Chiyembekezo Trust.

In 2012, Maxwell was hired as an Education Specialist with the Malawi office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency where... Continue Reading

JoDe combined her M.Ed. from CIE with a Master’s in Public Health from UMass Amherst and has worked in public health administration since 1997.   

Almost all of JoDe's career has been in the orbit of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Program. Twelve years have been with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  At the inception of PEPFAR, she worked as the Coordinator of a CDC workforce development program to prepare professionals for international fellowships and overseas assignments.  This was followed by 5 years as an independent... Continue Reading

Since graduation 2002, as an instructor/adjunct faculty member I have developed and taught a number of courses in global and multicultural education for preservice and graduate teacher program at UMass Amherst, Salem State University, Northern Essex Community College and the Northeast Consortium For Global Education. I also worked as a substitute teacher for 5 years at all grade levels and special education in 5 districts in Boston’s North Shore area.

Unfortunately, I was hit by a car while in a pedestrian crosswalk in 2008 and was lucky to have survived. I sustained a... Continue Reading

In 2014, Johns Hopkins University Press published Steve's second biography, Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger. In the years since then, he has given over 80 talks on the Folgers, including six across the pond in these locations: London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, and St. Andrews in Scotland. Brits are a tad jealous that the largest Shakespeare collection is not in the UK but in Washington, D.C. Book reviews, videos, book trailers, and blog posts are available on Steve's Web site.  He... Continue Reading

Karen has more than 25 years of experience working with non-profit and community service agencies focused on social justice issues.  She currently works for the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (NY) as the Director of the Levine Center to End Hate, leading a new $1 million initiative to eradicate destructive, hateful influences in the region.  She also serves as the Director of Community Relations in the same organization, leading legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of the Federation and developing programming to... Continue Reading

October 2020 finds me living in a small town in Tasmania, working with local government in the area of land management. I live off-grid where I enjoy watching the sun rise over the ocean each morning and receive regular visits from wallabies, pademelons (right), possums, echidnas and a wide array of birds.

Since graduating from CIE in 2002 (just a few years ago), I have earned a PhD in anthropology based on my ethnographic field research in Bolivia on the subjects of identity, belonging and contested space. I also pursued a graduate degree in creative writing from the... Continue Reading

In early 1997 after finishing my studies at the CIE, I returned to Mexico to continue to work in distance education, my professional passion since my early days of grad school at UMASS.  While in Mexico I worked at Monterrey Tech as a graduate program director and subsequently for a large Mexican corporation in the cement and concrete industry.  In those days, I had the responsibility of training the company’s personnel in multiple international locations as it expanded to become one of the largest multinationals in the country.

Soon after my oldest daughter, who was born... Continue Reading

Rebecca G. Macugay (M.Ed. 1985)

Rebecca is originally from the Philippines. Before coming to CIE, as a Maryknoll Sister Rebecca worked as a member of the team that set up the Bugando Hospital at Mwanza, Tanzania, and trained lab technicians. In 1975, she went to Kenya, where she served in a variety of ministries, including high-school teacher, youth worker in a non-school setting, and Development Education trainer for adult literacy teachers in various Catholic dioceses in the country.

After getting her degree at CIE, she served several years as vocation minister for... Continue Reading

Dr. Mohasi is now retired after many years as a senior lecturer in the Adult Education Department at the Institute of Extra Mural Studies of the National University of Lesotho. Her responsibilities included coordination of the B.Ed. Adult Education Programs. In 2007 she played a key role in the introduction of the Master’s Program in Adult education. [10-20]

Prior to that she served as head of the department from 2000-2003, and acting dean of the Institute from November 2003 to October 2004. She facilitates undergraduate courses such as Introduction to Distance Education,... Continue Reading

After founding and then directing a youth entrepreneurship/job readiness/financial literacy education organization in Orange, MA for 14 years, I moved to the DC area in 2013 to join Joanie and our son Noah, settling in the cooperative New Deal-era community of Greenbelt, Maryland.

I created and ran a social enterprise development program with 3rd to 5th graders in an underserved part of the city. They planned and started a business selling bicycle-blended smoothies at community events. It was fun translating content geared towards teenagers to the younger set, half of whom... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, I returned to Latvia to work as The Director of an innovative Education Department at the Liepaja City Council (a city of 100,000 people on the Baltic Sea coast). This position involved advancing educators' ideas, acting as a liaison between businesses, the federal and local governments, and educators, as well as submitting improvements for legislation.

In 2004, life brought me back to the US and I had an opportunity to join a team as a research analyst at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois.  In 2010, I moved... Continue Reading

Deborah Fredo spent fifteen years residing in Mali co-founding and working at the Institute for Popular Education (IEP) before returning to Elmira, NY in 2011.  Prior to those years, she worked at World Education for West Africa programs and since those years has worked at Education Development Center (EDC) as Senior International Technical Advisor. 

During her years at IEP, Deborah worked in national language literacy and adult education, curriculum design in... Continue Reading

I came to CIE in 1979 via nine years in Nepal/Asia working in agriculture, fisheries, ESL, and Peace Corps training and three at the East-West Center, swapping the cool breezes of Oahu for the brisk winds of Amherst at the urging of John Comings, who said it was the right place for me to do my doctorate.  He was correct.  I found a vibrant learning community of kindred spirits, all of whom had significant development experience like the folks in my group such as Mike Basile, Margaret Maxwell, Kofi Bioh, et. al., and a talented faculty who were smart, practical, committed, available, and... Continue Reading

Before coming to UMass Sue spent more than 20-years involved in social activism in the South. In 1964, she helped organize the founding meeting of the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC), an organization dedicated to engaging white southern college students in the civil rights struggle. After spending the summer of 1964 as a volunteer with Mississippi Freedom Summer, she returned to Nashville to work full time with SSOC.  

In 1970, she co-founded the Institute for Southern Studies which published Southern Exposure magazine. In 1978, she joined the staff of the... Continue Reading

Jill has lived in Hong Kong for the past 6 years where she heads up the labour rights programme for the Laudes Foundation.  She says of life in Hong Kong:

Despite a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, people all wear masks here and are observant of measures needed to get things under control.  The political situation is a mess, but it's inspiring to live in a place where the majority of the population feels and acts passionately to protect their (beleaguered) democracy. 

After leaving CIE, Jill... Continue Reading

Since graduating from CIE, Bérengère has been based in Washington D.C. working mainly with The Academy for Education Development (AED) and its successor FHI360. 

Her work has been focused on social behavior change (SBC), adult education, training, capacity building for institutions and community organizations, advocacy, interpersonal communication, national communications strategy, learning materials and participatory research methods. Her experience includes working with HIV/AIDS, family planning, maternal newborn child health, malaria, tuberculosis, water sanitation and... Continue Reading

I am now living in Cape Coral, Florida.  It has now been 8 years since I packed all my precious belongings, loaded a big truck and drove to Fort Myers, Fl.  I had never been to Florida before, and never thought I would live in such a place!  But, I had to move to a warmer climate!  I got a map of Florida, found a place called Fort Myers, did a bit of research and simply decided that I would try this place.  I did not do this alone!  That was a huge undertaking.  My sons Mikael and Daniel, and Sogol, Daniel’s soon to be wife, took turns driving.  This adventure ended up being a four-day... Continue Reading

After leaving CIE and finishing up the contract for the Nepal Literacy Linkage Project in 1996, I moved to Indonesia where I spent the next 3½ years working as a consultant for the Directorate of Community Education (DIKMAS) developing the Adult Functional Literacy Program. This was the third World Bank funded project continuing the work CIE started in the 1970s. Many of the Indonesians I worked with knew the principles of NFE because of the foundation laid by CIE.

In 2000, I moved back home to Provo, Utah and began working as an adjunct faculty member at Brigham Young... Continue Reading

When I arrived at the CIE in Fall 2003 to start my Ed.D. program, my experience included several years in the Bangladesh Civil Service in various roles, including working as Assistant Director of Planning in the Directorate of Non Formal Education in Bangladesh for seven years. My major responsibilities included doing research, developing projects, and liaising with international agencies. My job also gave me a unique opportunity of interacting with differently literate rural people, observing and understanding their life, perspectives, educational priorities, and rural employment. I... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE and returning to Thailand, Mayuree joined Department of Nonformal Educadtion. She was first appointed Director of the National Book Donation Center where she administrated and organized the book donation program and campaigns. A year later she moved to the Education Technology Center where she put together a five-year master plan to establish a new educational television Chanel 11 that is now fully operational.

She returned to the United States a couple of years later to join her husband, who is an engineering UMass graduate.  In the U.S. she... Continue Reading

Donna works with the ICAP program at Columbia University where she is in charge of training for the Population-Based HIV Impact Assessments (PHIA) project. In that role she trains and mentors trainers and supervisors in adult learning theory, experiential learning pedagogy, and research methods for an HIV research project conducted in 15 African countries and in Haiti.

She develops and manages training curricula in collaboration with... Continue Reading

Since graduating from CIE I have been working at the National Assessment and Examinations Center (NAEC) Georgia. In the past two years, I have been the National Project Manager for Georgia in the 2018 PISA study and currently I am serving as a Research Consultant and a member of the Group on Research and Psychometrics at the same center. Needless to say, the knowledge and skills that I gained from both quantitative and qualitative research methods courses that I took at the CIE have been very valuable for my work.

I have... Continue Reading

Since graduating in 2002, my professional time has included a balance of teaching in higher education, non-profit management, educational program development, and volunteer service promoting environmental sustainability and a green and prosperous economy.

Teaching has included undergraduate and graduate courses in both the School of Education and the Office of Professional Studies and Continuing Education at Rhode Island College, as well as undergraduate courses in the School of Communication at The University of Rhode Island, the English Department at the Community College... Continue Reading

Greetings! My name is Mei Lan Frame and I came to the Center of International Education after 15 years of working in education as a teacher, trainer and consultant across several countries in the Asia and South Asia region. Throughout my work and research, I have engaged issues that include rural education in India, China, and Thailand, teacher education and professional norms amongst teachers in Beijing, and the role that culture (both institutional and social) plays in shaping education.

My experience in education has given me first-hand knowledge of a variety of... Continue Reading

During and after studying at CIE, Sonia has been working with the Human Resources department of UMass Amherst, first as a multicultural evaluator and adult education trainer.  More recently she became the Project Manager with Partnership Worker Education with a focus on career ladders development and multicultural workplaces.

Before coming to CIE She worked as a commercial television producer in Lima, Peru producing a variety of programs from soap operas to children’s and sports programs. She received a Master’s degree in... Continue Reading

Dr. Moletsane passed away in October 2012

Dr. R. I. M Moletsane comes from Lesotho where he served in many senior leadership roles. Since retiring he has been active in the area of rural and sustainable development. At the time of his passing he was the Minister of Development Planning for Lesotho.  Prior to coming to CIE, Dr. Moletsane was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Botswana, Lesotho & Swaziland- the predecessor of the National University of Lesotho (NUL).  He later served as Professor of Education at the... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, I joined The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Education.  The Institute was established in 2009 and offers four-year pre-service teacher preparation programs (B.Ed. Hons.) for prospective elementary and secondary school teachers. The Institute is located in a building constructed in 2016 with funds from USAID. The Institute also offers M.Phil. in Education.   Recently I became the Coordinator (Head) of the Institute of Education. Along with a... Continue Reading

While finishing her doctorate Yi Sun worked as an English instructor with Workplace Partnerships at UMass Amherst. Her class content is based on employees' needs at work and at home with the goal of improving their communication skills and enhancing the cultural competence of the workplace.

Before starting my degree at CIE, in 2009 I was a program editor with the Zhejiang TV International Channel in China, where I helped build economic and cultural ties between US, China and France. In the same year, I also worked as an intern at Zhejiang City Express, where I started to... Continue Reading

While finishing my dissertation I have been working with the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership in New York City. We organize various trainings, workshops and retreats to empower women and develop ethical leadership skills. I have also been working as a program officer with the Eurasia Foundation in New York.

My interest in educating women’s issues is closely connected to having received the World Bank’s Margaret McNamara Award and a P.E.O.  International Scholarship for commitment to the wellbeing of women and children in developing countries. Through the School for... Continue Reading

After completing her degree, Ola worked with the Ministry of Education in Ramallah, Palestine as the Head of the Assessment and Evaluation Division. In that role she designed national tests and developed teacher training programs. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Birzeit University.

Before coming to CIE she worked for 7 years in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. She served as a coordinator for National Teams conducting National Achievement Tests in Mathematics. She was also the National Research Coordinator... Continue Reading

Since leaving CIE, David Bell has held a faculty position at Clarke University in the Department of International Development, Community, and Environment. (IDCE).  He is currently the Professor of the Practice of International Development and Social Change. He is also currently IDCE Coordinator of Experiential Learning.

Bell's early research and consulting focused on the intra-psychic processes of empowerment and social transformation and on the impact of... Continue Reading

Upon finishing my Ph.D. at UMass in September 2018, I returned to Bangladesh and accepted a faculty position in BRAC University where I teach and lead two postgraduate programs. I am coordinating the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and School Improvement and the M.Sc. in Early Childhood Development programs at the BRAC Institute of Educational Development. Both programs bring students from the government, leading NGOs and INGOs and private sector to provide a rich academic and professional experience and an... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE with a CAGS, Anne continued as a nonformal education consultant wprlomg mainly in West Africa, but also in Yemen and Haitil.  From 1995 Anne worked with a group of hospitals in New Hampshire as the Oranizational Development and Training Specialist. 

In 2003 - 2006 she worked from Senegal as a Regional Planning and Training Manager for Peace Corps with 7 West African countries.  Upon returning to the US, she and her husband opened and ran a Bed and Breakfast in their home in Newburyport for 11 years until fully retiring in 2018. 

... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE, I went to Malawi and started volunteering for Outernet, which is an Open Access education project initiated by several professors at UMass Amherst. Based at the National Library in Blantyre, I worked on systematic evaluation of the initial sets of transmissions to the Malawi schools and libraries that UMass Amherst has been supporting.

While working as a volunteer, I was also helping college students who came to the National Library with research design and methods. This work challenged me to deepen... Continue Reading

Since my graduation from CIE in 2013, I have had the honor of working with various international aid agencies and professionals in Afghanistan and USA. In December 2013, I joined the Collective Transformations Organization (a local Afghan civil society organization) as the Country Program Manager. I managed and supervised the programmatic activities (e.g. civics education, teacher education, career-skill building, community mobilization, rule of law, women empowerment and youth advocacy networking) throughout the country.

In early 2015, I joined the Afghanistan Institute... Continue Reading

Looking back over the past four decades of my professional life, I realize how my experiences at CIE, in both in its formal education offerings and CIE’s modeling of collaborative processes, gave me a solid foundation for my future work.

Although I am supposedly semi-retired, during 2019 I completed my 19th year of teaching international students at Berkeley’s Environmental Leadership Program and working with their Master’s degree of Development Practice.  I also continued my work on a variety of initiatives with the... Continue Reading

Immediately after graduating, I worked with Ash Hartwell and CIE students Jacob Carter and Milka Ndura on the Global Citizens' Initiative which brought 13 leaders from around the world to Amherst for a 2-week course in Global Citizenship.

From 2013-2015, I worked in my home state of Wisconsin at the Social Development Commission in Milwaukee where I managed a federal Office of Refugee Resettlement program that trained refugees in financial... Continue Reading

Although I used to think I would teach forever, I made the decision to retire from the University of Michigan in 2013. I had some issues with the frozen North, as well as another book to write. That book, “Fractured: Race Relations in ‘Post-Racial’ American Life” (2015, Peter Lang) contains what I began to learn about race at CIE in the 1980s and then, after a good deal of study, what I taught at the U of M for nearly 20 years. It’s a little dated now that President Trump has made racism great again, but the premise, that racism in white liberal spaces is unspoken, unacknowledged, and... Continue Reading

Dr. Thobejane is currently an Associate Professor in the Institute for Gender and Youth Studies and is also serving as the chairperson of the Research and Publications Committee in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Venda in South Arica. The University is situated in Thohoyandou, Limpopo province.

He visited UMass in September 2013 to participate in the annual Re-thinking Marxism conference, where he presented a paper titled Re-envisioning Radical feminism:The case for... Continue Reading

Mohammad Tareque Rahman completed his Ph.D. at University of Queensland, Australia in 2019 and returned to Dhaka, Bangladesh where he is currently Associate Professor at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) teaching in the general education program.  He is also Director of the Center for Excellence of Teaching and Learning (CETL) at ULAB. [12-19]

In the spring of 2018... Continue Reading

Since graduating from CIE in 2019, I have been working as the Director of the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP). The efforts of the Institute are organized around two main lines of action—educational efforts with university students, and research initiatives on social phenomena.  

The seminars for university students offered by ISGP, in different regions of the world, support young people in gaining insight into how their studies and professions can be applied towards constructive social change... Continue Reading

In May 2019, Anita joined the LEGO Foundation as Senior Program Specialist supporting the foundation's new humanitarian portfolio with an initial focus on reaching the youngest children in settings of conflict and crisis, from birth to six, with Learning through Play (LtP) interventions.  The initiative aims to equip young children to develop the breadth of skills needed to thrive throughout their childhood and in adulthood.

At the LEGO Foundation she oversees the $100 million Play to Learn grant... Continue Reading

In the fall of 2019, Andrew published an article about twin Cambodian boys who were separated in childhood by the violence and reunited more than four decades later.  Read the story of resilience and hope here. Andrew commented: The education sector still bears the scars of the Pol Pot regime. In my work here, I know so many families whose relatives were either killed or separated. [11/19]

Since 2014, I have been working in the Education sector in Cambodia. As a Technical Education... Continue Reading

In October, 2019, at the annual meeting of CRNI, Bro was honored by having the annual CRNI award renamed in his honor as "The Robert Russell Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning." The society has been presenting this award for the past 15 years.  At this year's ceremony it was noted that last two or three recipients had either been freed from prison, or in some cases, relocated to safe haven countries where they could continue producing hard-hitting, political commentary... Continue Reading

My studies at CIE helped shape my perspective of how the world of education works. I left a career in the Nigeria Air Force because of the incessant interreligious conflicts between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria and came to CIE in order to learn how education could be used to contribute to peaceful coexistence among the adherents.

While studying at CIE I continued to be involved in peace education programs in Kaduna and Jos respectively. As a founding member of the Abrahamic Peace Center... Continue Reading

Since completing my Master’s degree at CIE, I have been exploring a forest of challenges and inspirations.  In brief, here is some of what I have been up to:

When I returned to Lesotho, I was took up the post of Director of the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre. With a team of about 50, led, managed and ensured the provision of NFE and basic education for youth and adults. Then, I graduated (reluctantly) to a position of Deputy Principal Secretary, Ministry of Education where I eventually became Principal Secretary.

After serving seven busy/hectic years with... Continue Reading

Habibullah Wajdi, originally from Afghanistan, is an educational development professional with over 19 years of experience in various areas of education development. During his career he has worked nationally and internationally with governments; well reputed national and international organizations; civil society, and donors on various educational projects and programs.

Wajdi joined the Center for International Education (CIE) as a doctoral student in September 2007. Prior to coming to CIE, he worked as an Education Specialist with the World Bank in Kabul... Continue Reading

Before beginning my studies at CIE, I worked as science teacher with UNRWA in Palestinian refugee camps. I also worked as a lecturer at Al Quds Open University teaching Educational Psychology, Creative Thinking and Coexisting with Technology courses. In addition I worked as an educational researcher with the private sector where I had the opportunity to train teachers in the use of technology in teaching.

Since graduating from CIE, I have worked as an Assistant Professor teaching Arabic Composition/Contemporary Arabic Literature and Thought at The Honors College for Liberal... Continue Reading

Fan Yihong was a professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education Research, Xiamen University, P.R. CHINA from 2004-2015, then an advisory professor at the Center for Faculty Development, Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) from 2015-2017, and finally is now in the Dean’s Office at SWJTU, 2018-2019.

From 2006 to 2010, she received a Ministry of Education grant for a comparative study of Faculty Development between Chinese and European Universities, during these years she visited many European... Continue Reading

I have had several notable accomplishments in my life. Probably the most notable was that I completed my master’s degree in international education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The master’s degree program equipped me with the significant knowledge, skills, and tools that I needed for my work in managing development and humanitarian projects. I would like to thank the Center for International Education (CIE) at UMass Amherst for providing me with an assistantship and the opportunity to work at the University Support and Workforce Development Project (USWDP). I learned a great... Continue Reading

After completing my Master’s degree, I resumed my position as a District Education Manager back home in Malawi. In 2010 I was transferred to the Ministry Headquarters to head the Education Sector Wide Approach Secretariat, a position I held up to 2016 when I was appointed Education Division Manager (Provincial).

I retired from Government in 2017 from the Division Manager position. Now I lead the Project Facilitation Team for a GPE supported basic education project which is working with the Ministry of Education. The four year Project is managed by the World Bank at country... Continue Reading

After graduating from CIE in 2004 I returned to my job at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) as a District Education Manager coordinating primary school education activities.

In 2011, I was posted to Malawi College of Distance Education (MCDE) as Acting Deputy Director. I was responsible for the development and production of Open Distance Learning instruction materials for distance education students at secondary school level. While at MCDE, I had a privilege of working together with Dezie Trigu... Continue Reading

In February of 2019, Simeon visited CIE in its new home in Montague House.  He met the new Director and some old friends.  He shared the following about what he has been doing.

I have spent the past five years in the Dammam, Saudi Arabia, working for a Saudi company, where my main responsibilities are teaching English as part of pre-employment training for recent college graduates.

Since graduating, I have continued my interest in studying obstacles to girls’ education in developing settings.  I my home country of Benin, I conducted site visits and class... Continue Reading

Ruth Stutts Njiiri passed away in November 2022View her obituary

Retirement has allowed me to make visits to Kenya to reacquaint myself with Njiiri family members and friends.  To my surprise, during my first trip, a reporter from the Daily Nation, Kenya's premier newspaper, called to ask for an interview the day before my departure.  On my return to the States, I was amazed when I started receiving e-mails from friends in Kenya telling me that an extensive coverage of the... Continue Reading

After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone and working in the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands Training Center, I came to the new School of Education at UMass as a founding member of CIE and a planning doctoral student.  We spent many hours, and not a small amount of uncertainty and confusion deciding what a center for international education was and should be.  Although it did take some years to create the Center, those years were exciting times, full of exploration and creativity.  I received my doctoral degree in 1973 and was director of... Continue Reading

Since graduating my career has focused on building systems that permit individuals, groups and institutions to gain knowledge and abilities to participate in constructive societal change.

From 2005 until 2018 I served as Director of the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP).  The Institute develops learning environments - engaging in research, writing materials, training people, and implementing programs - oriented toward bettering social conditions.  With a strong team of collaborators, the Institute has developed... Continue Reading

Greetings from Ithaca, New York!   I retired from Cornell University in 2009 after 28 years in international student services including advising, admission, recruitment and many professional activities with colleagues at other universities and schools around the world.   I must have feared not being busy enough, and so often found myself working long hours with the Unitarian Society board and in the refugee community in Ithaca.  I’m getting better, slowing down to enjoy extended family, friends and all this vibrant community has to offer and – oh yea – the health club.

... Continue Reading

Husband and wife CIE graduates, Ashley Clayton Hertz and Darren Hertz, recently relocated to Bangkok, Thailand. Ashley completed her doctorate in September 2017 and is now consulting remotely with the University Research Co, LLC supporting Reading within Reach (REACH) to develop tools and resources for members of the Global Reading Network. She is currently leading the development of REACH's Classroom Observation Toolkit which will provide guidance for conducting classroom observations in early grade reading programs. 

As my Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology in Pristina, Kosovo comes to an end, here are some of my reflections.

During the period from September 2017-July 2018, I worked at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST), in the Department of Higher Education (DHE) as an Education Specialist. I also engaged in a side project working with Roma Versitas Kosovo - an EU supported organization that promotes retention/graduation of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian-Kosovar students in higher education through various... Continue Reading

After finishing my Masters at CIE I subsequently enrolled in  a PhD program in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Center, CUNY.  In 2004, I was based in Kabul to conduct fourteen months of dissertation field research that involved travel to central, northern and western areas of Afghanistan, and the collection over one hundred life story interviews.  During this same period, I organized the Afghan Oral History Project at Kabul University, and directed the American Institute of Afghan Studies.  My dissertation, entitled We Went to the Hills: Four Afghan Life Stories, was successfully... Continue Reading

Hal Weaver is retired but continues to be active in working toward transnational cultural relations, cross-cultural communication, respect and understanding through film, media, education and the arts.

In Spring of 2018 he spent time at the Pendle Hilll Quaker center working on his memoirs.  While there he presented an informal evening discussion titled Balck Fire: An African American Quaker Seeker-Activist in a White Supremecist Nation.  He shared insights and experiences from his poursal journey through life.

Recent activities include a lecture on “... Continue Reading

The opportunity to grow up with multiple educational and work experiences in a global context has made me the kind of educator I am today: one focused on using the extensive opportunities I have had to foster positive change to improve lives through education. Studying at the Center for International Education at UMass nurtured my practical approach to education and my role as a global citizen.

Since my graduation, I have concurrently worked as educator on two fronts that are dear to my personal and professional goals.

First, I have worked in various... Continue Reading

I have been a Center member for so many years and I still feel  part of this large, multinational community. Most of my career has been in Central American and Afghanistan.

I have been in Afghanistan since 2007 as a Chief of Party of a large in-service teacher training project, of a workforce development project and, now, of a Ministry of Education capacity building project. I plan to be here for another year. I have been back in Afghanistan since November 2016 and plan to leave in 2019, when I should be replaced by an Afghan national. Then I will go back home to Maryland... Continue Reading

In January 2018 Kathy’s book Sex, Shame and Violence: A Revolutionary Practice of Storytelling in Poor Communities was selected by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2017.  During 2017 Choice reviewed over 5,300 titles from which they selected 504 as outstanding Academic Titles.  From those the editors chose their top 25 titles which included Kathy’s book.  The book describes her gender-based... Continue Reading

When I last posted on the CIE website in 2010, I had recently started work as Chief of Party of AED’s Improving the Quality of Primary Education Program in Ethiopia.  That was one of USAID’s last broad basic education improvement programs before early grade reading became the agency’s primary focus in education.  I completed the assignment in Ethiopia in August 2014 (AED in the meantime had morphed into FHI360), took some time off in Florida, and then in March 2015 started work as Chief of Party of RTI’s Early Grade Reading Program (EGRP) in Nepal. 

EGRP is a Nepali... Continue Reading

Pan retired from the Office of Nonformal and Informal Education of the Ministry of Education, Thailand after 37 years of service. She taught part-time at the Chiang Mai University School of Education until October 2016, and is now relaxing and going through old papers, as well as meeting occasionally with her 3 doctoral and 2 master’s advisees from Chiang Mai University.

In 2017 she began teaching basic English (after school) for primary school children – see photo.  She also spent time following up on the Hill Areas Education program which she participated in developing... Continue Reading

Greta Shultz is an independent consultant, conducting applied research, program evaluation, and policy studies for state and federal education agencies, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, and community-based groups. In June 2017, Greta founded a small consulting business, Green River Research, LLC. She is currently building a roster of consultants with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and is also seeking new client relations. Greta would welcome new or renewed connections with CIE members.

From 2000-2016, Greta was a senior research manager in the UMass Donahue... Continue Reading

Leaving Senegal in the early days of 2007 allowed me to recreate myself in new images. After 32 years living in Dakar, Senegal, working first with Peace Corps, and then a YMCA development program, followed by co-founding Africa Consultants International, aka The Baobab Center for the final 22 years, I thought that it would be interesting, and easy, to take the leap. Mmm...

A year in Rome, Italy, sloppily learning Italian and exploring the city on foot and by mouth, and the countryside by wheels, was what I needed and loved. Then a move to Seattle at the end of 2007, thanks... Continue Reading

Rob and Toon Fuderich have returned to Amherst, although this time not for the usual 2-3 week home leaves that have been their practice in the past, but to stay for a while.

Rob retired in June 2016, after 30 years in international development/humanitarian affairs since graduating from CIE. He spent 25 of those years with UNICEF, extensively but not exclusively in the Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States Region (CEE/CIS), and the last 12 years serving as UNICEF County Representative in Kosovo,... Continue Reading

Jeet Joshee is currently Associate Vice President for International Education and Dean of the College of Continuing and Professional Education at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). In the first capacity, he advises the President and Provost on all matters related to international education, including international student admissions and recruitment, study abroad programs and partnerships with overseas institutions. In the second, he is responsible for a wide variety of degree and certificate and online CPE programs.

Prior to moving to CSULB, Jeet was Dean of... Continue Reading

Before I came to CIE, I worked in Nepal for six years. I started as a Peace Corps Volunteer working in fisheries extension (my BSc in Zoology was preparation to become a marine biologist, and so Peace Corps sent me to a landlocked country), where I became interested in why it was easier to work with farmers who had some education.

After my volunteer service ended, I directed some Peace Corps training programs and worked on two research projects. I started at CIE in February 1976. At CIE, I had a chance to explore the question I had when I was working with farmers in Nepal [... Continue Reading

Karla Giuliano Sarr is an assistant professor in International Education at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont and a co-chair of that department. She instructs both face-to-face and online and teaches courses focusing on an overview of international education, M&E, Indigenous education, non-formal education and language issues in education.

Karla had the pleasure of taking a group of graduate students to Senegal in January... Continue Reading

Suzanne Kindervatter is currently an independent consultant based in Washington DC. She retired from InterAction in the fall of 2013, after 19 years of service.

During her 10 years as InterAction’s Vice President of Strategic Impact, Suzanne oversaw work on priority international development issues, gender integration and women’s empowerment.

In the course of her career, Suzanne has worked in 20 countries, in the areas of adult and nonformal education, microenterprise development, organizational... Continue Reading

Benjamin Oganga is currently serving as an Assistant Director for Secondary Education in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) in Dodoma, Tanzania. He was previously Education Coordinator and Principal Education Coordinator.

Oganga has also worked as a monitoring and evaluation specialist for the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training as well as for the Kigoma Regional Administration, focusing on the Kigoma Special Economic Zone.

He wrote to CIE about this work after he graduated in 2013:

 ... Continue Reading

I am currently involved with some research in Sierra Leone, on the privatization of our alma mater, St. Joseph's Secondary School, in Freetown. I am working with Nalinie Kouame, a British-trained lawyer who served as the most recent outgoing president of our USA alumni organization. She and I are both graduates of St. Joseph's.

Our research will examine the viability of privatization as an alternative to the government-funded option currently in place. We will be examining research from other West African countries, especially in Ghana and Nigeria, to gain further insights... Continue Reading

Karen Campbell-Nelson is a professor in the Faculty of Theology of Artha Wacana Christian University in West Timor, Indonesia. She teaches courses in theological English, gender and theology, and social research methods, and serves on the editorial board of the graduate program’s academic journal, Eureka. Her research focuses on gender, human rights and transitional justice. [2/17]

Previously, Karen worked with the Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women to set up a program... Continue Reading

Elias Moning is currently Director of Gaharu Kencana Estate Villa or “Ghrookeville” in West Java, Indonesia, an agro-eco-property development that emphasizes economic and environmental values by using traditional architecture for building, conserving the endangered Gaharu species by planting Gaharu trees, and facilitating the cultivation of durian and mangosteen fruit trees over their 6 hectares of land.

Elias also continues to run Outreach International, a company he founded in 2005 which promotes a program called Jatropha PLUS3, involving the planting of Jatropha trees... Continue Reading

Yang Gyeltshen is currently leading a group of five teachers for Lhomon Education, a project of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, a registered civil society organization in Bhutan. The Initiative aims to bring education alternatives to eastern Bhutan and beyond.

Lhomon Education (LME) provides students with “the opportunity to learn and prepare themselves for their lives and to fulfil their daily needs through practical hands-on experience. LME endeavors to make... Continue Reading

Steve Anzalone retired from regular work in international development in 2017 after 46 years of service. The last half of his career was spent at Education Development Center (EDC) in Washington DC. He was involved in EDC’s work in educational technology and leading EDC activities in Asia.

Starting in 2015, Steve worked with Nancy Devine as Senior Vice President and Co-Director for EDC’s International Development Division (IDD).

Shortly after completing his doctorate at CIE, Steve and fellow CIE graduate... Continue Reading

Patricio Barriga passed away June 26, 2019 Obituary

Patricio Barriga is currently a policy advisor to the Presidency of Ecuador. In January 2017, he was also in Honduras running an ethnographic research workshop for graduate students (right) at the School of Medicine in Tegucigalpa. 

He wrote to CIE in 2016:

I was Chief of Party for CIE's nonformal education project in Ecuador from 1971-1976. This was the beginning of my interest in nonformal education as a tool for... Continue Reading

Since graduating from UMass, I have been involved in academic activities here at Bamyan University, Afghanistan. At the beginning of my work I developed a proposal to establish an English department at Bamyan University. Fortunately it was accepted by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and the fourth cohort is now celebrating its graduation from the English department. At first, I worked as the head of English department for one year (2010) and then was appointed as the Dean of the Education Faculty, a position which I still hold.... Continue Reading

Marilyn Gillespie is an educational researcher and specialist in college/career readiness and literacy. Since leaving CIE, her work has focused on research, planning and evaluation of literacy education, English language learning, and workforce education.

Recent projects include the Global Reading Network, a community of practice for improving early grade reading in developing countries; revising the literacy and work readiness components of a 3-year program for Liberian youth; and developing standards for the Oregon Adult Basic Education System.

Marilyn... Continue Reading

Cynthia Perry is now retired, after serving her country with distinction as US Executive Director of the African Development Bank in Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia from 2001-2007 and as US Ambassador to Sierra Leone from 1986-1989 and to Burundi from 1989-1993.

In a video profile for UMass, she said:

When I was still in high school, we were required to take a course called civics. The teacher—his whole concept was service. The reason why you are here on Earth is to help make it a better place to... Continue Reading

My doctoral program specialization in international development allowed me to observe the evolution of different educational practices, whereas my voyage in doctoral studies in Educational Planning, Research & Administration (EPRA) provided me an opportunity to gain the knowledge and experience to make research more focused and doable in terms of reliability, resources, and time constraints.

Studying at CIE exposed me to various development trends—in educational organizations, and local communities—around the world. My Program of Study was designed to make maximum use... Continue Reading

Konda Chavva is a consultant with FAO India. He provides technical assistance in the design and implementation of "Farmer Field Schools (FFS)" in India to improve farmers’ adaptive capacity and strengthen their resilience to climate change and variability.

He helped design the FFS curriculum on improved goat management practices for the South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Promotion Program. He was also part of the global team of FFS trainers and experts who drafted the FFS Guidance Document, which provides insight into programming and implementation.

Konda has... Continue Reading

I am currently an assistant professor in the Education Department at Gordon College, where I teach undergraduate and graduate-level courses in special education, assessment, and early childhood / elementary math methods.

I am involved in a pilot study investigating the challenges out of school youth face in learning mathematics in Mumbai and Bangalore, India. These students face hardships at home – most of them live in extreme poverty, and encounter many environmental stressors, including trauma, which impact their learning in the classroom.

Additionally,... Continue Reading

Jane is currently retired and living in her home state of North Carolina. She does the occasional education consultancy, while also exploring her interests in politics, art, music and documentary research.

Most recently, she has been involved in work around early grade reading. She provided leadership in developing an international network for early grade reading, including supporting training for professionals in the early literacy community. She has also designed projects and workshops in early grade reading and education in emergencies, and provided field-based technical... Continue Reading

Recently Oliver came out of retirement as he was appointed as Chairman of the Tanzania Teacher Service Commission. The commission is in principle the employer of all teachers in Tanzania a primary and secondary schools and in teacher training colleges. [8-16]

I am now retired after working as a civil servant for almost 40 years. I last served as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and before that for many years in the Ministry of Education. After retiring, I am working with St. Joseph University of Engineering and Technology on special duties.

Here in Tanzania we are healthy, trying cope with challenging social and economic dynamics. There are a lot of educational reforms taking place in the country. I'm now working for the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE). I'm grateful for the competence I gained at CIE, it makes my life easier to adapt the changes quickly!

I hope the entire CIE family is doing fine. You are all in my heart, my best family in Amherst. [5/16]

Email: asselaluena@yahoo.com

luena@... Continue Reading

When Bella Halsted graduated from CIE she decided to become a writer—of fiction and poetry—and to lead creative writing workshops in the Valley for a living—and did so for the following twenty years.  During this time, she also worked as newsletter editor for the American Friends’ Service Committee, the Peace Development Fund, and more recently, the Markham Nathan Fund—all organizations involved in fundraising for grassroots groups in this country.

She began taking painting classes at UMASS, and later, through the excellent art program at Greenfield Community College. ... Continue Reading

After finishing her Master's degree, Dawn went on to complete her doctorate in Instructional Leadership (Cultural Diversity and Curriculum Reform) at UMass  in 1993.  She then worked in Boston in inner city schools, in Hawaii in educational research and with Hawaiian Education, and as a Race Relations/ Multicultural Consultant with the Vancouver School Board.

Dawn spent four years in south East Asia (the Philippines and Indonesia) doing working in non-formal Education, and intercultural communication. She has also taught as a sessional instructor in the Native Indian... Continue Reading

Elvyn passed away on November 14, 2012.   Obituary

Elvyn continues with her private practice in psychotherapy, is an adjunct professor at the Graduate School in the College of New Rochelle. At the end of 2007 she sent along this update:

I continue in my second profession as psychoanalyst and mental health specialist, which arose out of my experiences of living abroad for over twenty-five years.  During that time, I became aware of the paucity of knowledge and services available to indigenous... Continue Reading

A recent update from Peter since he has moved to Cambridge, MA:

I hit the big seven zero mark last August, a milestone I would be happy to forget. But I draw inspiration from a bumper sticker I saw the other day which read "Born just fine the first time". And in all candor, rocketing back and forth from extremes seems to suit me. Let me explain myself.

While I have a 45 year-old son who is a tenured professor at Bryn Mawr, I also have a 10 year-old half Samoan little bomber who rejoices in the name of Roxanna Ataata-o-Mauga (try saying that fast).  Through guile,... Continue Reading

Since leaving the Center in 1972 I’ve been an Education Professor at Swarthmore, Lafayette and Muhlenberg colleges, the director of a drug and alcohol education agency, and the director of a USAID project in Romania dealing with the awful orphanage situation there which you undoubtedly remember from the media coverage in the early nineties.  Since 1992 I’ve been “semi-retired”, spending much of my time playing serious senior softball (tournaments etc.), reading, writing, and occasionally consulting. Since 1993 I’ve directed a Peace Corps training project in Albania, worked with Muslim... Continue Reading

Tim has pursued two careers, one as educator and one as psychotherapist, and ended up as a manager in both. He spent 5 years in the north west of Pakistan, as Principal of Edwardes College in Peshawar, and then returned to what is now Roehampton University in London.

From 1991until retirement 11 years later he was National Director of The Westminster Pastoral Foundation, a counselling and psychotherapy charity. Since then he has been a part-time director of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust, and a director of Richmond Adult and Community College.His current passions... Continue Reading

At the present, I'm still working so as to fulfill my life in many ways.  I am teaching in a Ph.D. program in ASEAN Cultural Science in two universities where I meet many young students from different nations.  I am also working part time as an advisor in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture.  In that role I have the opportunity to travel to many ASEAN countries such as, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and China. I'm still utilizing all of my knowledge and experiences much which I have learned from the CIE.

When not working... Continue Reading

Arthur passed away in June of 2016.  Arthur's obituary

After 25 plus years of service to Unesco, Arthur retired from his last position as Director of Youth and Sports Activities in April 1998. He has since enthusiastically pursued a diverse agenda of activities, some of his recent ones are chronicled below.

* A series of short videos about the history of Paris on the web. To see the complete selection of more than 40 videos go to... Continue Reading

For those CIE affiliates who were not yet born or were still rolling around in a cradle, I am one of the early faculty members, recruited at CIE in 1975 as Assistant Professor, to develop and teach graduate courses in non-formal education for rural development. It was my first job after my Ph.D. studies at Cornell. Working at CIE was indeed a learning experience in itself, which I found of great value in my future career development. I left CIE at the end of 1977, with memories that I still cherish. Who will forget the 1970s colleagues like David Evans (evergreen), John Bing, David Kinsey... Continue Reading

Each day of my life, I continue to live with the pleasant memories of having the very best of education at UMass and being a part of the CIE family.

On my return to Nigeria, I served in the state schools system of Imo State in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, as a high school principal. In 1998, I went private and set up a Secondary School – City High School, Owerri - in Imo State as an institution where youth, apart from attaining academic and moral excellence, can appreciate and uphold democratic values. The school is already making an impact among the rural population... Continue Reading

This spring, Mary applied for and received a one-year sabbatical from her current job working as a teacher trainer in English Language Development (ELD) for the West Contra Costa County Unified School District in the East Bay, CA.

She has been accepted by International Educators for Africa – a project of the USAID-funded program International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), was founded by Dr. Leon H. Sullivan – to spend the year in Ethiopia working at the Bahirdar University, Faculty of Humanity as a pre... Continue Reading

Salaam CIE, I am back to Amherst after three years in Afghanistan. In the last three years, I worked with USAID as a Program Field Officer to cover education, health, and gender in two provinces in the East Region. In this capacity, I was working as a bridge to bring USAID vision and program policy as close as we could get to Province Reconstruction Team (PRT) and the local government of Afghanistan (GIROA), working in the design and implementation of USAID and PRT transition plans, by keeping government officials totally engaged and buying-in to the plan, and building the... Continue Reading

I am from Afghanistan, a country where I believe that education is THE ONLY option IF its people want to survive and bring lasting peace to their homeland. My passion with education and working with academia, during the past few years, led me to CIE where I believe I can earn food for thought to consume during the rest of my life in the development of education and higher education sector.

When I was privileged to work in the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) in my country, I came to realize how we badly need professional minds and education practitioners to develop, run... Continue Reading

Nana Ruth Seshibe passed away in June 2015Her obituary can be found Here.

Originally from South Africa, Nana was active on behalf of the Pan African Congress and as a result was forced to flee to Tanzania where she continued her fight against apartheid. In 1963 she moved to the U.S. to get her Bachelor’s degree before coming to CIE.

Her research at CIE was based on both her own and others’ experiences as refugees. She undertook a detailed review of policies of organizations... Continue Reading

Kotsho Lloyd Dube passed away in December 2014His obituary can be found Here.

Before coming to CIE Kotsho was an active supporter of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence. He worked for several years at the then Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland before moving to New York City to represent PF-Zapu at the United Nations and South America. There he was responsible for promoting Zimbabwe's struggle, lobbying and securing pro-freedom policy assets from governments, trade unions, students and the public.... Continue Reading

Jim Hoxeng passed away in August 2013.  His obituary can be found Here.

Jim arrived at CIE in the fall of 1968 as one of the founding members of the Center.  He was instrumental in introducing CIE to the concept of nonformal education which was a new idea in the early 1970s. He helped organized a trip to a conference in Washington D.C. where Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich were featured speakers.

Contacts made with the speakers at that conference led to a series of... Continue Reading

David Styles passed away in October 2010.  His obituary can be found Here.

Before coming to CIE, from 1974-76, David was Peace Corps Volunteer in Yap, one of the Federated States of Micronesia. He then received a degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Tennessee.  He then spent a total of five years in Southern Africa, first working as a lecturer in the School of Agriculture at the University of Swaziland and then for Academy of Educational Development in Botswana.

... Continue Reading

After a long interval during which CIE received regular Holiday cards from Retna, but then lost contact, we again have email contact. She sent this update on the state of NFE and the activities of some of her cohort who were at the Center in the 1970s.

Here is some information about the progress of NFE in Indonesia. Up to now there is only one state educational university (IKIP Bandung) in West Java, which offered NFE Masters and doctoral degree programs. Our friends Djudju Sudjana, Endang Sumantri... Continue Reading

Don Graybill passed away in August 2008.  His obituary can be found Here.

At the time of his passing Don was the Director of BEPS Activity working in Indonesia as the Chief of Party of USAID’s Indonesia Decentralized Basic Education III project with Save the Children.

Before going to Indonesia, Don worked concurrently as the Director of the BEPS Activity and Deputy Director of the Education and Social Mobilization Division at Creative Associates International, Inc (CAII). Under Don’s... Continue Reading

Mose Tjitendero passed away in April 2006

His obituary can be found here

It is with great regret that CIE announces the passing of one of our most distinguished graduates, the Hon. Dr. Mose P. Tjitendero. Mose, who was a former Member of Parliament of Namibia, died in the hospital in his homeland on the morning of April 26, after a long illness.

Among his many accomplishments, Mose served as the first Speaker of Namibia's National Assembly between 1990 and 2004. As Speaker, he built and... Continue Reading

Menzi Mthwecu passed away in May 2005His obituary can be found Here.

Menzi came to CIE in 1989 with a history of working on education of miners in the gold mines of South Africa, his home country.  He used his time at CIE to pursue that interest further, analyzing the content of educational materials used in the gold mines for his Master’s project. He continued that interest by undertaking a case study of the adult basic education activities of the National Union of Miners in South Africa for his... Continue Reading

Mansour Fakih passed away in February 2004. His obituary can be found Here.

Before coming to CIE Mansour worked at the Institute for Research, Education, and Social and Economic Development (LP3ES) as a member of the field staff and a researcher.  While there, he worked with a group of others to renew and develop methodologies of education and training. In that group was an activist from Volunteers in Asia (VIA), Russ Dilts, with... Continue Reading

Leon Clark passed away in October 2003His obituary can be found Here.

Prior to joining CIE, Leon held a number of positions in the field of International Education. His interest in international education grew out of his years of teaching and community development work in Bangladesh, India, and countries throughout Africa.

In his role as the deputy director of the Governmental Affairs Institute in Washington (GAI), D.C., Leon administered rural development programs overseas and was... Continue Reading