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.

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.

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

Lusayo is originally from Lilongwe, Malawi. After getting her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications there she became a Project Coordinator with the Center for Alternatives for Victimized Women and Children (CAVWOC).  In that position she facilitated, organized and conducted community mobilization and sensitization meetings on HIV and AIDS, Education, Women’s empowerment, Human Rights and child protection issues.  She then entered the Master’s program International Education at UMass Amherst.

My research interests focus on the relationship between online learning and culture, with the goal of developing effective instructional design practices to meet the needs of diverse learners.

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.

Nyaradzai is originally from Zimbabwe.  Before coming to CIE in 2014 she was active in a number of educational programs. She volunteered at Mashambanzou Care Trust, a not-for-profit organization in Harare, where she contributed to community education programs that empowered youths with practical life skills and promoted positive behavioral change. Specifically, the program encouraged girls, who were the majority of high school drop-outs, to take greater control and interest in their health and welfare.

I am originally from Aceh, the most western part of Indonesia. I started my career as a volunteer at a local NGO, where I was involved in humanitarian assistance and an alternative education program for children affected by 30 years of armed conflict. Later, I joined the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, where I was involved in facilitating the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (2002–2003). My interest in working in the education and peacebuilding fields stemmed from those experiences.

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.

Javid completed his degree in International Education at UMass Amherst in February 2023. His dissertation was titled, Accreditation of Teaching and Research Universities in Afghanistan: A Policy Implementation Analysis. The dissertation analyzes the historical development of quality assurance and accreditation systems in Afghanistan and some developing countries. During his doctoral program, Javid published four articles in peer-reviewed journal articles, an encyclopedia entry, and a media review.