Results-driven Program Officer and Coordinator with nine years of project management experience in education. Proven expertise in communication with government entities, delegation visits, and program alignment. Fluent in Arabic, English, and French, facilitating effective collaboration. Strong organizational skills, adept at multitasking, and proficient in MS Office. Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Languages from Lebanese University. Skilled in problem-solving, critical thinking, and relationship-building. Committed to driving positive change in education through efficient project coordination.

Pascale Khalil is a dedicated professional with extensive experience in finance and international development. Having recently completed an Executive MBA program, Pascale now possesses advanced knowledge, strategic insights and a valuable network of experienced peers. Pascale currently serves as the QITABI 2 Deputy Chief of Party at World Learning, contributing her expertise in fundraising, program management, and team leadership. Prior to this role, she excelled as the Director of Finance and Operations for nearly 25 years, demonstrating skills in auditing, financial analysis, and strategic planning. Pascale’s journey reflects dedication, commitment, and a passion for making a positive impact in her field.

Dr. Kara McBride works in the areas of teacher training, curriculum design, and online and distance learning. The online teacher training courses and MOOCs that she designed for the U.S. Department of State OPEN program have been completed by more than 30,000 participants from over 100 countries. In her capacity as the headquarters English specialist for QITABI 2, a USAID-funded project in Lebanon that targets literacy, math, and social and emotional learning (SEL), Dr. McBride and her team worked with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to create UDL- and SEL-aligned teaching and learning materials for both in-person and distance learning, grades 1-6. Lessons learned from that process are informing the design of an upcoming in-person teacher exchange on incorporating SEL into English instruction. Dr. McBride is also currently supporting the USAID-funded Uzbekistan Youth Employment Skills (YES) activity.. Dr. McBride serves as co-chair for the Education for Development workgroup for the Society for International Development U.S. chapter (SID-US). Before coming to World Learning, Dr. McBride was a tenured professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Saint Louis University, where she served as director of both the basic Spanish program and, later, the Spanish MA program. Dr. McBride holds a doctorate degree in second language acquisition and teaching from the University of Arizona, a master’s degree in applied linguistics – TESOL from Indiana University, a master’s degree in Spanish and Latin American studies from Purdue University, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Oregon. Her publications include journal articles and book chapters on online task design, interculturality, and language learning. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and currently actively learning American Sign Language.

Dr. Garene Kaloustian is the SEL specialist under QITABI 2, at World Learning Beirut and is currently a TWCF visiting research fellow at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University. She holds a Ph.D. in Child Development from Purdue University. Among the various SEL activities under QITABI 2, Garene is currently working on the development of Lebanon’s national SEL framework and contextualized SEL measurement tools in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) and with Q2 research partner New York University Global TIES.

Garene has been in the field of early childhood education for over 10 years working as a researcher and consultant in both the public and private sector in Lebanon and the region.Prior to joining World Learning, Garene taught at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, for 8 years in ECE in the department of Education; during this time, she re-designed the Early Childhood Education MA program, revived the EC Lab School under the Department of Education with its original mission to serve as both an early childcare and research centre, and established research relations between the School of Arts and Science and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health.

Her research interests center around policies in early childhood; teacher quality of care, classroom environment, and children’s social and emotional development; exploring the diverse, unique, and fragile conflict-laden context to better understand the cultural nuances that prevail in schools and how those impact children’s social environment and development.

David Simpson is the Divisional Vice President for Global Development at World Learning. David is responsible for the oversight of the technical and program teams in the practice areas of education, civic engagement, youth workforce and entrepreneurship, TESOL, and STEAM.

David has over twenty years of experience developing and managing international development programs worldwide in economic growth, governance, workforce development, education and agriculture. Prior to World Learning, David served as the Director of USAID programs at the Institute of International Education. David also served as the Managing Director of Programs and Compliance at Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance where he worked closely with USAID and VEGA members managing competitions under a Leader with Associate Award. As the Director of the Graduate School USA’s International Institute, he managed training, exchange, and governance programs for public administrators. David spent two years in Armenia as a Country Director managing education and exchange programs funded by the Government of Armenia and USG. David lived three years in Uzbekistan as a Peace Corps and United Nations Development Program Volunteer.

David holds a MA in European History from American University and a BA in secondary education from Springfield College.

Craig is on the board of the Basic Education Coalition, the former Co-Chair of the Global Literacy SIG for CIES, former member of UKFIET and the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) and has spoken at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), the United States of Women and the Scottish Parliament.

Previous to working for World Learning, Craig has held positions for World Vision International as Head of the READ Team/Global Director for Literacy Boost, Plan International as Senior Technical in Child Protection and Education, DAI, and Creative Associates as Senior Program Director, overseeing portfolios in excess of $120 million and leading in business acquisition, program management and technical design. Craig spent 12 years living overseas working in crisis and conflict zones and more traditional development programs, as Chief of Party for the DfID Girls Education Challenge and USDA McGovern Dole programs in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as a Senior Technical Advisor and Business Development Lead for Joint Aid Management (JAM) and World Vision Zimbabwe, leading teams of over 300 staff across national programs and multi-layered consortiums. Craig has spent the last 16 years working in humanitarian aid and development, primarily focused on formal and non-formal basic education, education and community development in crisis and conflict, girls’ education and inclusion, youth and economic development, health, agriculture, and community engagement and social advocacy. Craig is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, was born in Zimbabwe, and attended The College of William in Williamsburg, Virginia and the Spanish American Institute in Sevilla Spain, focusing on International Relations, Government and Sociology. Craig has additional certifications in USAID Acquisition and Compliance, Gateway to Grants, Proposal Pro and Situational Leadership. Additionally, Craig is a trained Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children (CASA)/Guardian Ad Litem, and a Mandated Reporter.

Senior Basic Education Specialist with 10 years of experience across education and youth programming, design, and implementation for USAID, FCDO, and US DOS. She currently supports World Learning’s Global Education practice through providing support to programs, technical tool development, leading business development strategy, program design, and external partnership engagement. Prior to working with World Learning, Caitlin worked with Winrock International and Chemonics International where she served in a variety of technical, program management, and business development roles.

Caitlin holds a Master’s of Education in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Bachelors degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from Furman University. She is also a children’s book author and is working on her second early childhood book.

Wendi Carman is an education champion with two decades of international development and education experience, including leadership for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and research of basic education, youth development and community participation programs. Wendi has developed curricula and teaching and learning materials for formal and non-formal learning experiences, and has taught middle school, English as a Second Language, family literacy, and high school equivalency for youth. Her areas of focus include positive youth development and youth engagement, violence prevention and mitigation, school dropout prevention, and gender considerations in education programming.

At World Learning, Wendi is project director for a large-scale USAID-funded education project in Lebanon, QITABI 2. She has held long-term field positions in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Ecuador, and Mauritania. She has also managed and conducted short term technical support for education and youth projects in Algeria, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, Nigeria, and Panama. Wendi holds an M.Ed. in International Education and Development from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA in Spanish from the University of Oregon. She also earned a Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate from the Project Management Institute.

Tharwat Abed El Sater works as an Arabic Specialist. Tharwat holds a law degree from Beirut Arab University. Over the past 22 years, she has been teaching Arabic for students in primary and middle school for native and non-native speakers. In 2007, Tharwat joined the international baccalaureate program as an Arabic teacher, and then joined the IB organization as a PYP trainer and school consultant until now. In 2018, She joined world learning as an Arabic specialist until present. Recently, Tharwat held a project manager position for a non- formal education program.

Expertise: Developing curriculum-based assessment, mapping and analyzing curriculum, developing lesson plan for differentiated learning, developing self-paced lessons for primary students, developing e-lessons for teachers, authoring self- paced training material, training teachers and master trainers face to face and online, developing curriculums for IB schools, managing schools.

Senior Management Information Analyst for QITABI 2 project, with more than 10 years of experience in the education field. Proven expertise of working in the field MERL, data analysis, and managing data visualization platforms.  Fluent in Armenian, English, and Arabic languages. Master’s degree in mathematics and Statistics.