Advisory Board
Chris Thomas
Christopher Thomas is Director of Partnerships at the Yidan Prize Foundation. He recently completed two-years as Lecturer and Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. Before coming to the Yidan Prize and Stanford, he was the Advisor to the Education Global Practice at the World Bank. He has served in a range of corporate strategy and management roles at the World Bank Group, including Lead Strategy Officer, Advisor to the Managing Director, and Manager of human development programs in Asia and Africa. Mr. Thomas played a key role in forging the World Bank’s contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations agreements on Financing for Development, and partnerships with the IMF and multilateral development banks. Mr. Thomas holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University.
David Barth
With over 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian relief, David Barth leads Save the Children US’s international work, serving children in over 100 countries. Focused on helping all children learn, survive, and be protected, David and team focus on those who have suffered from exclusion and discrimination. Save the Children is a global leader on helping students access quality education in the world’s most complex environments. Prior to joining Save, David served as Director of the Ford Foundation’s Youth Opportunity and Learning Division. This followed a decorated career with USAID, where he held a number of senior positions including Director of Middle East Programs, Global Director for Education, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, Agency Deputy Chief of Staff, and Mission Director to Bosnia and Herzegovina. At every stop, David has centered elevating the role of the school in building global citizens, strengthening communities, and combatting inequality.
Elinor Sisulu
Zimbabwean-born South Africa writer and human rights activist Elinor Sisulu combines training in history, English literature, development studies and feminist theory from institutions in Zimbabwe, Senegal and the Netherlands.
She is the author of the award-winning children’s book The Day Gogo Went to Vote (1997 and the biography Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime (2003) that won her the prestigious Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.
Elinor is a founder member and current Executive Director of the Puku Children’s Literature Foundation. In 2016 she was awarded an honorary PhD by the University of Pretoria for her work in human rights and reading promotion. In September 2020 she was appointed Chevalier de L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres by the French government in recognition of her work with Puku. Under her leadership, Puku has been awarded the 2021 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize.
Gus Schmedlen
Gus Schmedlen serves as President & Chief Revenue Officer at Merlyn Mind. He formerly served as Vice President and Head of Worldwide Education at HP where he oversaw a period of rapid expansion, leading to the creation of a multi-billion-dollar global education technology business. During his tenure at HP, Gus also led international efforts to improve access to quality education for students in marginalized contexts, contributing innovation, support, and scale to help realize UN SDG4.
Gus currently chairs the Leadership Council of the Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education and serves on the Board of Governors of JA Worldwide and the Board of Directors of the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. He previously served in leadership and consulting positions at a range of non-profit efforts, including the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Education project, the UN Education Data Roundtable, and the Public School Forum of North Carolina. Gus was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship by former US Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, to study human capital development systems in the European Union, focused on the democratizing force of pervasive mobile technology. Gus earned a BA in Classics from Colgate University, an MBA from Duke University, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Helen Crompton
Helen Crompton is the Executive Director of the Research Institute of Digital Innovation in Learning at ODU Global and an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology, Director of the Virtual Reality Lab at Old Dominion University Virginia, USA. She is a highly experienced researcher, educator, author, and presenter in the field of educational technology. She draws from over 25 years in education and a Ph.D. in educational technology and mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Crompton was officially recognized as one of nine mobile learning experts in the world by the United Nations. She has received numerous awards in the USA and her home country England for her work in technology integration, including the SCHEV award for the Outstanding Professor of Virginia. She works as a consultant for various bilateral and multi-lateral organizations, such as the United Nations, advising and writing on technology in education. She also consults for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in designing courses (tech integration, AI, and mobile learning) and coaching. Dr. Crompton has published over 150 papers on technology integration including writing publications for the United Nations and ISTE. Her CV and further information can be found here.
John Kimotho
John Kimotho is a champion and thought leader in Educational Media in East Africa Community and Africa continent. He is currently an EdTech Consultant and formerly the Head of Educational Media Directorate at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and leads the Country in educational media for levels other than University. His portfolio included overseeing the development and provision of quality print and electronic media curriculum support materials. He takes leadership in Digital literacy in curriculum content and delivery.
He is a PhD Communication Candidate at Daystar University writing a dissertation having completed the course work and defended the research proposal. He holds a Master’s Degree (Communications – Media Studies) from Daystar University. He holds Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in African Leadership in ICT and Knowledge Society from Dublin City University and PGC in media management from University of Alberta, Canada. He has undertaken several professional courses in strategic leadership and development, strategic negotiations, results based performance and public private partnerships. Mr. Kimotho is registered with the Engineer’s Registration Board. He is an award winner in Pan African Heritage awards in Television category and Public service award in Innovations. Prior to joining KICD he has worked in the educational media field and served at Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Educational Media – Canada and National Museums of Kenya (NMK).
Lucy Kithome
Ms. Lucy Kithome is a Kenyan citizen with over 30 years of experience in designing, implementing and managing projects and/or programs aimed at empowering education stakeholders to access and utilize digital technologies in the education sector for provision of quality education. The stakeholders included teachers, college tutors, and heads of institutions as well as senior management at the National Government level and learners. Lucy worked with several international IT companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, and Intel to provide foundational digital skills to the youth in order to give them tools that help them increase their employability.
Over the last 16 years, up to December, 2022, Lucy was a Project Management Specialist in the office of Education and Youth at United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in Kenya. During that time Lucy was charged with the responsibility of coordinating programs that support uptake of digital technologies in the education sector. Specifically, she managed activities that laid the foundation for smooth integration of ICT in teaching and learning processes as well as the use of technologies to empower youth with digital skills. In addition, she supported projects that increased capacities of the Ministry of Education in the area of education management. In this regard, she supported the use of Education Dashboard where school data is easily uploaded and accessed in real time. Lucy holds a PhD in Distance Learning from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Mark Lynd
Mark has worked in international education since 1983 when he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central African Republic. In 2002, Mark co-founded School-to-School International, a nonprofit that provides evaluation and research services internationally while exploring ways to combine education, health and engagement to improve learning outcomes. He has helped organizations and governments develop and implement education policies, teacher training programs, research designs, large-scale learning assessments, and theories of change. When he’s not traveling, Mark likes to surf, hike, and strum his guitar. He lives in northern California with his wife, Anastasia.
Radhika Shah
Radhika is an angel/impact tech investor, passionate about civic engagement, community building & transformative social change. She is an advisor to Impact Experience & Illumen Capital Fund-of-Impact-Funds reducing biases in investment ecosystem, Co-President of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs – community of 2000+ Stanford alumni, students, faculty advancing Tech Innovation & Entrepreneurship, on Center for Effective Global Action, U.C. Berkeley board (US west Coast Universities academics collaborate with Governments, NGOs for evidence-based research/action to reduce poverty), Fellow & Founding Chair of Tech+Innovation Advisory Group at The Stanford Center for Human Rights & International Justice and Sr. Advisor to former Global Center for Gender Equality at Stanford University.
Influenced by Gandhian philosophy, Radhika cares deeply about our planet, respecting human dignity, women’s empowerment, education, racial, ethnic, socio-economic justice. She is Founder & Co-Chair of the U.S.-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment STEM Collaborative under joint Alliance of State Department, USAID, George Washington University & USISPF, Cofounder & CoChair of United Nations Joint SDG Fund Breakthrough Alliance for Climate & advisor to Sustainable Development Goals Philanthropy Platform (UNDP, WINGS), Benetech, Business and Human Rights Resource Center, Co-founder former Ashoka-SV-Chapter, on Action-for-India’s-SV-Leadership-Council & Center for Global Development’s Technology-for-Development study group member. She holds a Stanford MSCS and an MBA from U.C. Berkeley
Scott Isbrandt
Scott Isbrandt is a Senior Technical Advisor at Palladium. Scott is a tech entrepreneur and advocate for innovation with technology to promote education, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment. Scott is also the founder of RisingRoad, a consortium of tech innovators who identify needs and drive the agenda (currently in Mali) for locally appropriate tech solutions and models for self-sustaining revenue streams for tech entrepreneurs who strengthen small businesses and education systems through tech innovation, learning and training.
Over the past two decades, Scott has worked extensively with local experts and local organizations in emerging economies to enhance digital ecosystems, designing and developing tech solutions to bring affordable educational multimedia to developing communities across rural Africa, focusing on those with limited access. Scott previously led Project ABC (Alphabétisation de Base par Cellulaire) in Niger, delivering basic education services to rural learners via mobile phones and improving the livelihoods of agricultural producers by creating systems to access agricultural market data. Scott also created an edtech learning platform called Stepping Stone, a content creation tool and delivery system for low-cost mobile phones, delivering learning and training content to hundreds of thousands across Africa. Scott is also a proud alumnus of the mEducation Alliance.
Victoria Collis
Victoria Collis provides interim leadership and advice, helping organisations and programmes navigate change or shape new ideas, particularly in the international education sector. In 2020/21, she served as the first Executive Director of EdTech Hub, a global research partnership supported by the UK FCDO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Bank, and a partner of the mEducation Alliance.
Victoria has a background in supporting public sector leaders in LMICs to strengthen planning and delivery of services to citizens. Between 2016 and 2018 Victoria served as a resident adviser to the Lebanese Education Minister and Director General. She has also worked in Pakistan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Syria, and Peru. Victoria has served as a Trustee of the Eden Academy Trust, a group of special schools in England since 2015.
