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Advisory Team
Aaron Dworkin
CEO of the National Summer Learning Association
Aaron Philip Dworkin is a national leader in the education, out-of-school time (OST) and youth development fields. He currently serves as CEO of the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), a national organization based in Washington DC helping 25,000+ programs and leaders provide quality summer learning experiences to all children.
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Prior to NSLA, Aaron served as President of the After-School All-Stars National Network, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles offering free afterschool and summer programs to 90,000 low-income students in 20 major cities. In addition, he previously founded and directed Hoops & Leaders, an award-winning, mentoring and leadership program for teenage boys in New York City.
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He is a graduate of Tufts University, holds a Masters in Education from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, an MPA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and serves on the national board of the American Camp Association.
Wolfram Rollett
Professor at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
Wolfram Rollett is a full professor of school pedagogy with a focus on school development at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg.
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Previously he worked as a researcher and lecturer in the field of Educational Science and Psychology at Universities in Potsdam, Berlin, Braunschweig, Dortmund and Wuppertal. From 2012 to 2024 he was a full professor of empirical research with a focus on school development at the University of Education Freiburg.
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His research topics and interests include school development processes, all-day schools, quality of extra- and co-curricular activities, evaluation of learning environments, computational thinking, educational effectiveness, effects of class composition, student feedback on teaching and teacher training.
Yaacov Yablon
Professor at the Faculty of Education of Bar-Ilan University
Yaacov B. Yablon is a Professor and the former Founding Dean of the Faculty of Education at Bar-Ilan University. He serves as the academic director of the Center for Simulations in Education at Bar-Ilan University. In previous positions, he has held a variety of leadership roles, including Head of the School of Education, Head of the Department of Teacher Training, Head of the Educational Counseling Program, and Head of the Institute for Community Education and Research at Bar-Ilan University. Yablon's research focuses on affective education and risk prevention, with particular emphasis on how educational institutions can support children facing adversity in school, their home, and community environments. In addition, he develops and investigates simulation-based learning, bridging theoretical learning and practice in developing social-emotional competencies in teacher training.
Ratlaleng Desmond Jeremiah (Jerry) Lengoasa
Consultant and Senior Advisor for the World Bank on Hydrometeorology and Disaster Managemen
Ratlaleng Desmond Jeremiah (Jerry) Lengoasa, is a consultant and senior advisor for the World Bank on Hydrometeorology and Disaster Management in South Asia and Africa with a focus on Early Warning Systems. With a senior management career spanning academia, private and public sector, he is a former Assistant Secretary General (2005-2010) and Deputy Secretary General (2010-2016) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and former CEO of the South African Weather Service (SAWS) from 2003-2005 and 2017-2019 respectively. Jerry holds Masters degrees in Geography (Synoptic Climatology) and in Public and Development Management both obtained from WITS University in Johannesburg. He is currently a PhD candidate in Disaster Risk Science with the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa.
Arthur Pearson
Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Thompson Island Outward Bound
Arthur Pearson has five decades of experience as an outdoor educator, team builder and organizational leader. He built his leadership and management skills from the bottom up, starting as an instructor, then base camp manager, regional supervisor, chief executive officer, trustee and board chair. In the last decade, he has focused on field building that integrates research, policy, and practice.
During his 18 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Thompson Island Outward Bound, the organization earned national recognition for out-of-school time and summer learning. He founded the Outward Bound Professional Learning Lab that made the national Outward Bound network an exemplar for using research and data to drive continuous improvement. He is on the Board of Advisors of Higher Ground Boston, serves as a Field Consultant for the National Summer Learning Association, an Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance, and Advisor to the Maine Outdoor School for All coalition.
Bettina Dahl Søndergaard (Soendergaard)
Associate Professor at the Aalborg UNESCO PBL Centre at Aalborg University in Denmark
Associate Professor at the Aalborg UNESCO PBL Centre at Aalborg University in Denmark and a Professor of mathematics education at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Bergen in Norway. She holds a Ph.D. is in mathematics education (Roskilde, 2003), a M.Sc. in Educational Research Methodology (Oxford, 2000) and another M.Sc. in mathematics (Aalborg, 1997).
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She has done consultancy for the World Bank and is currently an Expert for the European Commission. She is on committees on K10 mathematics education under the Danish Ministry of Education and is vice chairman of the ministerial corps of examiners for mathematics at universities. She was a member of the International Committee (and treasurer) of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (IGPME) and chair of the Out-of-School Time SIG in AERA.
She has 200+ publications and is also a frequent referee at K12 STEM competitions such as FIRST LEGO League. She is PI or co-PI on several projects on mathematics and vocational education.
Mohamed El Nagdi
Educator and STEM expert
Mohamed El Nagdi is a seasoned teacher educator and STEM subject matter expert working across a variety of local and international research programs in Egypt and the United States in both the precollege and university settings for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in STEM curriculum development, organizing teacher professional development and research opportunities, as well as coordinating and assisting in several research projects like EngrTEAMS at the University of Minnesota, the Interdisciplinary Centennial Lab for Innovation and Technology in Education (ICLITE) at AUC, Evaluation of the USAID funded STEM project in Egypt (STESSA). He is founding member of the STEAM Track of the Professional Educator Diploma (PED) at AUC, and an expert in STEM schools in Egypt and the Arab World. He gives consultations to international schools in Egypt on building STEM programs, preparing STEM teachers and STEM curriculum. He has contributed over a dozen research articles on STEM teachers’ identity, STEM equity, STEM education assessment, and technology integration in STEM. His most recent contribution is developing a guide to introduce STEM education to non-STEM schools with the title RIDE in reverse (Explore, Develop, Implement, and Reflect).
Helen Janc Malone
Image and Bio coming soon!
Gil Noam
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Erika Bienek
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Madhav Chavan
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Kazu Furukawa
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Jan Morrison
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