2024 Symposium Presenters

Paul Frank is the Associate Director for the Language Solutions Portfolio for SIL International. He has more than a decade of experience with EdTech and forty years of experience working with marginalized language communities. He is a Bloom Master Trainer, the former director of the Bloom Program, and the former Executive Director of SIL LEAD, Inc.

Nadia NIBAGWIRE is a project manager at eKitabu, focusing on the adaptation of accessible digital content to promote inclusive education. Nadia is a passionate Deaf Educator, having worked as a sign language instructor at the Rwanda National Union of the Deaf. Nadia is passionate about promoting Deaf awareness and disability inclusive education. Nadia holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Dr. Jennifer Williams is the founder of TeachSDGs and the co-founder of the non-profit organization Take Action Global. She speaks, writes, and advises on practices that develop global perspectives and social good through creative uses of technology, and her research interests include innovations in teaching and learning, equity and diversity in education, and social action. As an educator and author of the ISTE book, Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good, she champions teachers to use educational technology for social good.

Ritesh Agarwal is passionate about solving for learning outcomes in public schools of India. He currently leads Ei’s work on large-scale assessments and EdTech in regional languages, working with government, foundations, CSRs and civil society partners. Under his leadership, Ei grew 5x Mindspark users, significantly improving learning outcomes in rural India.A History graduate from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, he’s been part of some of the most prestigious fellowships like Gandhi, Young India, and Anubhav with UChicago.

Anett Ngongi, a passionate design and qualitative researcher, blends human-centered design with co-creation for 8+ years, crafting user research strategies for children’s edutainment. With a Masters in Project Management, Anett focuses on driving positive social behavioral change in youth. Proficient in team collaboration, she excels in crafting groundbreaking methodologies, infusing strategic insight and creativity into impactful initiatives.

Clíodhna is the Director of Education & Research at Ubongo, creating fun, localised edutainment for kids across Africa. A primary school teacher, she is a strong advocate for inclusive, play-based learning. In addition to a B.Ed in Primary School Teaching, she holds an M.A in International Development and is a trained practitioner of the Communication for Behavioural Impact (COMBI) approach. For more than ten years, she has worked with schools, NGOs and the UN to improve access to quality education for children worldwide.

Dr. Dhinesh Radhakrishnan is a research scientist at the DeBoer Lab at Purdue University’s School of Engineering Education. His current research endeavors include ways learning could be localized in displacement contexts by centering the learners’ and teachers’ agency.

Nadia is the Director of Refugee Programs at Imagine Worldwide. She specializes in scaling digital education programs for refugees. Prior to joining Imagine, Nadia spent seven years working in the field of higher education for refugees, helping to coordinate scholarships and employment pathways for displaced individuals across Africa and the Middle East. Nadia holds a BA in Government from the College of William and Mary and an MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies from the University of London.

Vinod Lobo is the founder and CEO of Learning Upgrade, which publishes online courses and smartphone apps to educate people facing poverty and crisis with English, math, and job skills. He has brought together educators, musicians, artists and programmers to produce innovative, engaging lessons designed for breakthrough growth. Through songs, video, games and educational research, Learning Upgrade has helped millions of students worldwide find a new path to learning success.

Susann Gihr is Junior Policy Advisor at the GIZ-sector programme Education. She advises the BMZ on digital transformation in Education with a focus on digital inclusion of persons with disabilities. Together with UNESCO, she supports the implementation of the Future Teacher Kit, which is a low-tech teacher training solution. Prior to this role, she worked for the GIZ Global Programme on media literacy for female students and the Civil Peace Service in Nairobi/ Kenya. She studied sociology and social research in her academic background.

Monica Caminiti is the Sr. Director of Save the Children’s Skills to Succeed Program, which operates across 7 countries to empower marginalized youth in education and employment. Passionate about youth empowerment, women’s economic advancement, and disability inclusion, Monica believes in young people’s potential for positive change. With 25 years of experience in the private sector and international development, Monica holds an MA from George Washington University and an MBA from Vlerick Management School.

Michael, with his Mathematical Science and IT background, is deeply committed to igniting curiosity in preadolescent children and exploring the marvels of math and nature. His expertise in Instructional Design at Edutab Africa has shaped innovative face-to-face and e-learning resources for institutions across Africa. As a Columbia University Fablearn Fellow, he champions student learning through maker spaces, enhancing their educational journeys.

Nat Dinham is Partnerships Lead at onebillion, a non-profit organization based in the UK which develops comprehensive EdTech solutions for children learning to read and become numerate. Nat supports global partners to implement onebillion’s onecourse software and onetab dedicated educational device, including in Malawi where onetab is being scaled to 3.5 million children across government schools.

Rapelang Rabana is Co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide. She has deep technology industry expertise and a visionary mindset, along with an unwavering commitment to education and skills development in Africa. Rapelang has over 15 years of experience building tech, including her first startup right after university and becoming the Chief Digital Officer at BCX, one of South Africa’s largest IT companies.

Aaron Hemphill is the Mobiles for Literacy Advisor for SIL International and the Alpha Tiles Project Manager. He has lived in Guerrero, Mexico since 2013 supporting Me’phaa language development projects. He has supported over 80 teams in creating their Alpha Tiles app. He is passionate about developing literacy app platforms that can be scaled up to support the world’s 7000 language communities.

Nina Bolte, Head of Learning at EIDU: MSc. Developmental Psychology (with specific focus on school psychology), and MSc. Pedagogical Science from the University of Reggio Emilia. Over fourteen years of experience in the ECDE sector including serving as the Head of several ECDE institutions, teacher trainer and evaluator

Sindhuja Jeyabal is the Cofounder of Dost Education, a non-profit that helps all children be school ready. She has led Dost to develop highly impactful programs that have reached over 300,000 families since 2017. Sindhuja is passionate about improving access to quality education and brings over 15 years of tech and education experience with her, working as a Computer Scientist at Adobe’s elearning Division, and at Samsung Electronics building their first ever smartphone. She holds a Bachelors in Computer Science, and a Masters from UC Berkeley.

Julie Clugage is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Team4Tech, an education-focused nonprofit accelerator supporting 700+ NGOs across 90 countries. She leads Team4Tech’s global team to maximize support for community-based NGOs advancing teaching and learning through technology integration and capacity building. To this work, Julie brings over 20 years of experience in the fields of education, technology, and international development. Julie holds an MPA from Princeton University, an MBA from UC Berkeley, and an AB from Dartmouth College.

April Williamson is a Project Director for Global Programs at Digital Promise. Previously, she served as a math teacher and instructional coach in Washington, DC; an expert mentor for the Modern Classrooms Project; a researcher and project manager with Results for Development (R4D); an environmental health educator with Peace Corps Senegal; and an AmeriCorps volunteer in public middle schools in Madison, WI. She holds a bachelor’s in art, French, and African studies from UW-Madison and a master’s from Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs.

Alfred is the Founder and CEO at KAINOafrica, He an Industrial Engineer with Lean-Six Sigma training and is also an innovation expert with a focus on Human-Centered Designs. Alfred has partnered and worked organizations like; African Union, Ministry of ICT in Uganda, MasterCard Future of Education, Social & Inclusive Business Camp in Paris, France, UNICEF Uganda, Aga Khan to build an ECD EdTech STEM blended curriculum for children in Africa.

Richard is CEO/co-founder of Whizz Education. He has extensive experience working with schools, governments, ministries of education, donor organisations and partners across the globe to support the mission to raise standards in education through innovative ICT and personalised learning with a core focus on STEM. His vision for innovative solutions combined with a human approach to learning and commitment to social impact brings partners together to design and deliver effective models to integrate ICT in education that are rooted in reality.

Michael Leventhal is co-founder of RobotsMali, a pedagogical and AI4D laboratory and STEM education center in Bamako, Mali. RobotsMali has trained thousands of students from elementary school to high school in computer science, robotics, and artificial intelligence, coached national robotics teams that have won 32 medals in international competitions, and developed technologies using AI and robotics for the social and economic development of Mali. Before becoming an educator in Mali, Michael worked as a technologist in Silicon Valley.

Enouce Ndeche is the founder and Director of Vijana Amani Pamoja ,VAP a community scheme based in Nairobi Kenya that uses the power and the popularity of the game of soccer/football as a catalyst for social, educational and economic empowerment.Enouce holds a degree in sociology from Egerton university and he is also the 2020 individual award recipient “Diversity and Inclusion Eminent Leader Award Enouce is also a certified Sports Philanthropy and Executive, George Washington University and is a 2023 Gratitude Network fellow.

Kenneth Y T Lim operates at the intersection of neuroergonomics, the learning sciences, and cognitive psychology. In 2023, he and his team were identified by UNESCO to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, in the session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’.