Aaron Moniz
& Steve Sostak
Learn more about Inspire Citizens’
co-founders, co-directors, and lead facilitators on the homepage.
Annie He
Expertise:
Chinese cultural and educational integration
Co-facilitation in Mandarin
Deep communication with Chinese educators and parents
Being the previous Chinese Integration Specialist at the International School of Beijing, Annie facilitated and developed the Chinese historical, cultural, and literacy experiences for communities, teachers, and students from PreK-3 to Grade 12. When co-designing lessons and projects linked to global goals and standards, she is always conscious about how learners best learn and do we think about our thinking?
As the founder of Teens of China, Annie's vision centers on creating interdisciplinary opportunities for 21st century learning competencies and leading workshops for students and parents in China.
As a popular literacy blogger in China, Annie’s deepest passion lies in communicating clearly to parents about the “why and how” behind teaching philosophies and the power of education for good. She continues to reach out to Chinese parents to share innovative learning that addresses the importance of well-rounded literacy and global thinking.
shihe1227@163.com
Sule Jacob Olaoluwa
Expertise:
Service learning experience in developing nations
NGO challenges and successes
Global connections and projects across borders
#TeachSDGs Ambassador
Jacob is the founder of iRead To Live Initiative, a non-profit organization that focuses on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals of Quality Education in Nigeria. He holds a bachelors degree in Public Administration and is nearing completion of his graduate study of Law.
As a leader of Inspire Citizens in Africa, Jacob has consistently advocated for the delivery of SDG 4: Quality Education for every child, launching schools literacy clubs and campaigns, while supporting teacher training and professional learning opportunities in rural areas of Nigeria.
His goal remains empowering all students, teachers, and community members to become educated, impactful, and sustainable thinkers. Jacob is also a featured guest in the Inspire Citizens Activist in Residence Program.
jacobolaoluwa@gmail.com
Twitter: @SuleJacobs
Brian Reverman
Expertise:
Infusion of global and cultural competence into art education
IB art and the SDGs
As an educator for over 30 years, Brian has published articles, and presented workshops throughout Asia, on teaching high school students effective strategies for analyzing and writing critically about art. He is the creator of the ISB Art History Channel on YouTube, which in collaboration with colleagues from around the world, has produced over 65 titles on art history for grades K-12. His website Occasionally you can see the mountains clearly outlines the global curriculum he has developed and provides resources for art teachers. For Inspire Citizens, he works as a visual arts consultant, consistently providing opportunities for students and teachers to question, “How can art change the world?” His exciting and powerful vision for teaching art and global competency can be found here: http://www.brianreverman.com/
You can read Brian's frequent posts about art education on the FB page, “Asian Region Art Educators” or purchase his book Inspiring Young Artists: 8 projects that engage high school art students in authentic artistic thinking (Practical Guides for the Idealistic Art Teacher, Book 1)
@bsreverman4
Erin Dowd
Expertise:
Design thinking and sustainability
#TeachSDGs professional learning community facilitation
Belouga.org classroom to classroom and whole school potentials
#TeachSDGs Ambassador
Erin Dowd is an educator, global education consultant, writer, presenter and founder of www.JRNEY.org, a website dedicated to amplifying the voices of teachers through global stories from the field. She is a founding ambassador of the Teach SDGs movement and serves as the professional learning chair for the ISTE Global Collaboration Professional Learning Network. For Inspire Citizens, Erin will be serving as workshop leader and transformative facilitator for integrating global competence and SDG targets into curriculum, programs, and whole school visioning.
Erin also holds a master’s degree in Global and International Education from Drexel University and presents frequently at conferences all over the world including ISTE, ASCD Empower, and AFS on global education topics.
In 2017, she was named an ASCD Emerging Leader and has recently joined the advisory board for Honduras Child Alliance to assist with curriculum and volunteer development.
A former classroom teacher and curriculum director in the Netherlands, US, India and Honduras, Erin has spent her career working to provide equitable education for students all over the world. She currently splits her time in both the US and China primarily working as director of education for Belouga.org, an innovative learning platform dedicated to education for sustainability and social justice..
Connect with her on Twitter @globaljrney and @eedowd27.
Todd Brown
Expertise:
SDGs and Project Based Learning
Activists in Residence
Integrating Computational Social Science in PBL
#TeachSDGs Ambassador
Todd is an expert at connecting classrooms with global change makers that pursued passions, overcame challenges, and created real world impact. His Inspire Project engages thousands of students during their IB journeys through four pathways of Earth, Equality, Health, and Innovation. The project engages students in real-life, applied problem solving, and deep conceptual understandings through active engagement while working with world changing mentors such as Dr. Pardis Sabeti, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Dr. Esther Ngumbi, Garth Brooks, Dr. Kira Radinsky, and Les Stroud.
Todd is a PhD in Computational Social Science, winner of multiple teacher of multiple Teacher of the Year awards, the US Congressional Teacher of the Year, and has been nominated by Harvard University as a CNN Hero.
For Inspire Citizens, Todd supports the Activist in Residence program through consultation and visioning, but also offering potential blended learning opportunities for schools interested in high-level project-based learning linked to SDGs and big data.
Ujkane Hana Beshiri
Expertise:
EAL project-based learning infused with SDGs
Action Research in SDG integration in developing nations
Driven by the quote, “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world." by Malala Yousafzai, Uki believes children are a gift and possess diverse talents and capabilities. She considers it a privilege to help facilitate their learning and academic growth that empowers teachers and students to think creatively and critically about the power of education for positive change..
An accomplished educational leader and expert in curriculum and EAL, she is now a 4th grade teacher leader at the American School of Kosova (ASK) in Prishtina. She strives to provide a safe and nurturing environment where each student can have the opportunity to experience success and progress. It is her goal to help encourage her students to look beyond the four walls of her classroom and view the world around them as a place of learning and discovery.
Recently, Uki co-facilitated the inaugural PhotoVoice project in Kosovo that centered itself on global competency between different socio-economic populations in our world’s second youngest country. She is also a workshop leader who provides affordable or free teacher training in collaboration with ASK and schools across beautiful Kosovo.
For Inspire Citizens, Uki provides EAL SDG teacher training and pilots Empathy to Action programs in Kosovo, providing valuable outreach, research, and feedback on the relevance and impact of Inspire Citizens work in developing and diverse nations.
Kavita Tanna
Expertise:
Play-based learning and developing global competence
Inquiry for preK-K aged children
Guided by the famous phrase accredited to Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world,” Kavita is an Inspire Citizens is the early childhood education specialist and activist on education equality in developing regions and schools. Following years of teaching in England and China, she encourages educators to inspire students to create impact projects, even for the youngest of learners, that improve global communities.
As a witness to injustice, Kavita's mission is to connect with like-minded individuals who wish to empower children through inspiring, globally minded and holistic education.
In workshops, Kavita helps design important roles educators play in shaping the attitudes of young people, offering practical ideas of how to implement ideas for creating globally-minded citizens via effective teaching and play-based learning.
kavita143687@gmail.com
Hannah Northcott
Expertise:
Empowering voice through drama
Drama, yoga and wellness connectivity
Embedding SDGs and global competence into drama
As a global theater artist and acclaimed drama educator, Hannah pioneered and currently teaches the middle school drama program at the International School of Beijing. She also launched the first Drama Yoga Festival in the world, runs Journey to Wholeness wellness retreats, and participates in the collaborative creation of drama festivals around the world as an ISTA Theater Artist.
Hannah is an archeologist of the soul – uncovering hidden jewels in people and inspiring them to connect deeper with themselves, each other and the world through global and cultural proficiency, drama, theater, yoga, and wellness.
Hannah continuously advises the Inspire Citizens community on voice, confidence, storytelling, wellness, and ways to support students with heartfelt public speaking and performance.
hannahbernardino@gmail.com
@DramaYogi
dramayogi.weebly.com
Laura Fleming
Expertise:
Design 4 Impact, Citizens Makerspaces
Designing the Best Creative Spaces in K–12
#TeachSDGs Ambassador
Laura Fleming has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for over 20 years. She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12. She has played a prominent role in education as a writer and speaker and has served as an educational consultant on next-generation teaching methods and tools.
Laura is the author of the best-selling books, Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School, and The Kickstart Guide to Making GREAT Makerspaces. She is also a recipient of the National School Boards ‘20 to Watch’ in Educational Technology Leadership for 2014 and was recently nominated as a White House Champion of Change for Making. She is also the architect of an online microcredentialing platform, and is considered by some to be a pioneer in that space. In addition, she is the creator of an online digital academy.
Laura currently serves as an adjunct professor for Rutgers University, where she designed and is teaching a graduate course on makerspaces. She is the founder of Worlds of Making, LLC, an educational company designed to offer meaningful professional development makerspace experiences for educators. She is also the co-founder of Hands-On Coding, LLC, which aims to offer kinesthetic coding experiences to children.
For Inspire Citizens, Laura supports schools and educators in the crucial endeavor of adding the WHY to making, looking at global competence frameworks and SDG targets as means of building student capacity for empathy, sustainable thinking, and designing for impact.
Dave Freeman
Expertise:
Education, Entrepreneurship, Cultural Competence
Educational Innovation in Asia
Dave is a highly experienced teacher, education consultant, entrepreneur, and cross cultural trainer. As a stockbroker turned educator, Dave has had the unique opportunity to work and serve in both public and private schools in China, Taiwan, and the U.S..
Dave has also founded a number of small businesses aimed at developing cross-cultural solutions through education and training. During the fifteen years that he’s been involved in the development and delivery of cross-cultural workshops, Dave has gleaned wide-ranging experience in teaching, training, and consulting, teaching and coaching individuals from all walks of life.
Not only has he provided professional development and instruction to students and teachers in a school setting, but he’s also had the opportunity to conduct group and individualized training for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Dave most enjoys approaching his craft as a teacher/trainer and his ability to combine educational expertise, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural understanding, has set him apart in the world of consulting.
Dave’s life and vocation is made up of a variety of experiences and opportunities that have brought together China and the U.S. in multiple ways. Dave grew up in Taiwan as a child of missionaries. He lived at an orphanage that his parents ran and attended a local Chinese school. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has a deep understanding of both eastern and western mindsets.