Our Team
Tony Bloome – Executive Director and Founder
Anthony Bloome is the Founder and Executive Director of the Mobiles for Education (mEducation) Alliance. He has specialized in the field of international development and technology for over 28 years.
From 2009 to 2020, he was USAID’s Senior Education Technology Specialist where he provided technical advice to HQ, Missions and counterpart agencies regarding the appropriate uses of technology to support quality educational outcomes in developing countries. While working at USAID, Tony founded the mEducation Alliance to strengthen global collaboration and catalyze knowledge exchange and evidence-informed investments for edtech use in developing countries. He also founded the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development as an open innovation competition and partnership with World Vision and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to catalyze tech-based innovations to advance early grade reading. He subsequently managed both programs for 11 years before leaving USAID in 2020 and establishing the mEducation Alliance as an independent non-profit.
From 2006-2009, Tony was Peace Corps’ technology for development specialist where he supported staff and volunteer activities across all development sectors. From 1995-2006, he served as a distance education specialist for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and Zimbabwe where he focused on various applications of technology for education, health, and youth and workforce development. While at the World Bank, he also served as the Zimbabwe Country Director and Anglophone Africa Regional Coordinator for the World Links for Development (WorLD) initiative which supported national EdTech policies, teacher training, and national schoolnet development.
Tony serves on multiple advisory boards including for Benetech and Rotary International’s Basic Education and Literacy Action Group (BELRAG). He previously served for many years as a board member on the Library of Congress Literacy Awards. He is also the 22-23 President of Rotary Club Washington Global. Tony has a M.A. in Telecommunications from George Mason University and a B.A. in English Literature from UCLA.
Mary Effie Akinyi – Director of Communications and Engagement
Mary Effie Akinyi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, with a concentration in Global Business and Economics and a Minor in Politics and Public Policy. As the Director of Communications and Engagement for the mEducation Alliance, Effie manages a variety of communications products and oversees the creation of content for these, including the eNewsletter, Landscape Reviews, and other key materials.
Effie also leads stakeholder engagement, building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders through organizing and attending meetings, events, and networking opportunities. She is particularly interested in improving educational outcomes in the developing world, with a focus on leveraging technology to achieve this goal. Her long-term aspiration is to merge her multidisciplinary expertise and passion for education to influence educational policies and unlock the full potential of future generations.
Kenneth Muimi Muthengi – Assistant Event Coordinator
Kenneth Muimi is a seasoned event and partnerships coordinator with a diverse background in education, hospitality, and research. He holds a degree in Graphics, Communication, and Advertising from Moi University.
Before joining mEducation Alliance, Kenneth worked with various organizations, including the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), where he played a key role in advancing educational initiatives and fostering collaborations with policymakers and development partners.
He has also contributed to research at 60 Decibels, focusing on projects in education, agriculture, and renewable energy. With expertise in relationship management, branding, and event planning, he has been instrumental in building impactful cross-sector partnerships.
Passionate about leveraging collaborations for innovation and development, Kenneth is dedicated to creating engaging experiences that drive meaningful change in education.
John Comings – Senior Literacy Specialist
Dr. Comings has more than 40 years of experience focused on the teaching of basic skills (reading, writing, and math) for children and adults in the U.S., Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and later directed a World Bank funded team of consultants advising the government of Indonesia on the implementation of their national adult literacy program. After returning to the US, he served as a vice president at World Education, the director of the National Center for the study of Adult Learning and Literacy at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, an appointee in the Obama administration advising on the startup of USAID’s early-grade reading initiative and the All Children Reading: a Grand Challenge for Development, a Senior Literacy Consultant at the Education Development Center and World Education, and a faculty member at the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he teaches a course on systems change in support of literacy learning in low income countries.
As an integral part of our team, John provides his vision, leadership, and guidance to help shape the mEducation’s Alliance portfolio of foundational literacy and numeracy activities including capitalizing on our Literacy League and Math Power! initiatives.
Peter Joyce – Senior Digital Scaling Specialist
Dr. Peter Joyce is a known expert in the power of technology and education, shaped by over 30 years in both the private and public sectors. He is a Senior EdTech Advisor to the Alliance on matters related to accelerating and scaling evidence-based EdTech good practices. Dr. Joyce was Global Manager with Cisco Systems, including work on the Networking Academy program that included partnerships with 10,000 schools in 125 countries. He most recently completed a 3 year special assignment with USAID Kenya and East Africa as the Senior Advisor to the Education and Youth Unit where he supported an ICT Private Sector Working Group. Dr Joyce concurrently serves as a Senior Visiting Scholar at the University of North Carolina’s Global Social Development Innovations. He holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University.
Mark Saul – Senior Mathematics Advisor
Mark Saul has touched the lives of thousands of students around the world through his work as a teacher and author. He has served as Executive Director of the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, as Director of Competitions for the Mathematical Association of America, and as Director of the Center for Mathematical Talent at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. He has been President of the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML), Director of the Research Science Institute, and editor of Quantum, The Mathematics Teacher, and the AMS Notices.
Mark grew up in the Bronx, got his BA from Columbia University and Ph.D. from New York University. He then spent 35 years in and around New York, teaching mathematics in classrooms from grades 3-12.
Mark has also served as Senior Scholar for the John Templeton Foundation, and as a program director for the National Science Foundation. His portfolio there included directing the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. He is a 1984 recipient of that award, the nation’s highest honor for work in the classroom.
Mark has consulted for mathematical organizations in more than 25 countries, including Russia, Bulgaria, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and India. In 2001, he served as Chief Guide for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Washington, D.C., and in 2013 as coordinator. He has been a program officer for the National Science Foundation and a consultant in gifted education to the John Templeton Foundation. His publications include 15 books and numerous articles, including an elementary text on trigonometry, co-authored with I.M. Gelfand, and a translation and reader’s companion for Jacques Hadamard’s Elementary Geometry.
Matthew Incardona – Web Designer
Adeline Kwakye – Intern
Adeline Kwakye is a second year student at the University of Virginia pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in Computer Science, with an interest in potentially minoring in Data Science. She is eager to expand her knowledge of technology and explore its applications across various fields to drive advancement and innovation.
Iliana Vasslides – Intern
Iliana is a second year at the University of Virginia, majoring in Data Science and minoring in Business Spanish. For the past three summers, she worked as a US Sailing instructor, helping children of all ages learn to sail in a variety of boats. Additionally, she worked as a peer mentor and tutor. With both education and technology as her passions, she can work to help reach more children and communities through mEducation Alliance.
Shunmei Zheng – Intern
Shunmei is a second-year undergraduate intending to major or minor in Applied Statistics at the University of Virginia. She enjoys learning about community engagement and ways to improve educational access, which led her to research more about some of the problems behind it. She likes to read, write, and do various graphic design work. Outside of mEducation Alliance, she also has interests in biotechnology and health economics. At mEducation Alliance, she will pursue her passion for creativity and expression in working on communication-related projects to help the organization’s activities.
