Education is our passion. Our team brings decades of experience leading and supporting educators as trusted advisors and expert trainers.
Paola Alvarez
Paola leads the development of Spanish-language curriculum and helps with global Fellowship programs. She also supports partners in Latin America, with a focus on leadership training, teacher coaching, and curriculum implementation.
Josh Zoia
Josh leads much of One World’s work in Israel and South Africa, with a focus on strategic planning, leadership coaching, and school improvement. He has served as a Dean of Education, as well as a coach and trainer for networks of schools.
Colin Smith
Colin leads One World’s early grade reading efforts, and he supports partners across Latin America. He is the lead facilitator for principal training in the Dominican Republic, and he is a coach, trainer, and curricuum developer for other partners.
Brian Sims
Brian leads One World and helps guide the strategy and internal knowledge management. Brian also provides support to partners in Africa and Asia, with a focus on strategic planning, leadership development, and data analysis.
Samira Shibli
Samira leads One World’s in-country work in Israel and helps with teacher development in Asia. In this capacity she leads trainings and provides coaching. She also supports our work with global fellowship programs and the development of resource libraries.
Melanie Smuts
Melanie leads many of One World’s initiatives across the African and Asian continents, focusing primarily on new-school start-ups, personalized learning, and college & career pathways. She also supports internal strategy and codification efforts.
Krista Maddox
Krista is One World’s Director of Finance and leads all operational aspects of the organization, from finance and technology, to HR and governance. She also supports on strategic planning and financial modeling, as well as contract compliance.
Lariely Garcia
Lariely leads One World’s effort to create a Character education framework. She also supports partners across Latin America, Europe, and Asia, with a focus on leadership development, instructional coaching, and curriculum writing.
Mark Gregory
Mark leads One World’s effort to build an Instructional Excellence framework. He also leads our work in the UK, and he supports partners across Africa, with a focus on systems-level change, leadership development, and teacher coaching.
Juan Fernandez
Juan leads One World’s internal operational efforts, including new partner development, talent recruitment, and knowledge management. He also supports the monitoring and evaluation work with partners across the portfolio.
Elizabeth Namba
Elizabeth leads One World’s projects in Malawi and India, with a focus on curriculum and assessment, teacher development, and school improvement. She also supports projects in Europe, and she leads our International Schools efforts.
One World Friends & Family
We benefit from a broad range of talented educators who provide additional bandwidth and expertise.
Dudu Makhari and Rachel Fowkes provide strategic support and content expertise to the ECDE project in Malawi. Monica Arzate and Ramy Abdel-Nabi help us with our Literacy Toolkit, including training and implementation support. Chris Liang-Vergara, the Chief Learning Officer at AERDF, and Bailey Thompson Blake offer their ed-tech expertise for our partners. Sharath Jeevan, founder of Intrinsic, is a thought partner with strategy and growth modeling.
We are also grateful for the ongoing support and collegiality we receive from colleagues at Ark Schools UK, the Academy for Urban School Leadership, KIPP, Relay GSE, the Leverage Leadership Institute, and Uncommon Schools, as well as Norman, Yvonne, and everyone else at Array Education (formerly Together Ed), without whom we wouldn’t exist.
Board Members
Aida Bekele
Aida is a social impact consultant and executive coach based in Berlin. Trained as a lawyer, she led the growth strategy and development work for Europe and Africa at Teach For All. Previously, she served as International Program Director at the Goldman Sachs Foundation and also worked at the NYC Department of Education.
Tom Boasberg
Tom is the Superintendent of the Singapore American School. Previously he was Superintendent of Denver Public Schools in the US for 10 years, as well as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to working in education, Tom was in the corporate sector, including work in Hong Kong.
Sandra Licon, Chair
Sandra is a strategic consultant for Foggy-Paxton Consulting. Previously she was a VP for the National Geographic Society’s global education work, and before that was a Senior Program Officer for the Gates Foundation. She also led Teach for All’s Latin American strategy and growth.
Josh Edelman
Josh is the Head of Network at Transcend Education. Prior to that, he was a Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation. A former teacher and high school principal, Josh also led the offices for new school development and innovation in Chicago and Washington, DC, in the US.
Ben Shapiro, Treasurer
Ben is the President of Mason Avenue Investments. A former Vice President for Strategic Planning at Prairie Packaging, he also served as a VP for investment banking at Prudential Securities. Ben served on the board of AUSL, a Chicago-based education non-profit.
Nithin Iyengar
Nithin is a Partner with the Bridgespan Group, where he also heads the San Francisco office. He has published several articles focused on the non-profit sector and K-12 education. Prior to becoming a consultant, Nithin was a teacher and district leader in school districts across the US.