Presentations

2025

Camp Changemaker: Cultivating the Next Generation of Social Activists. (March 2025). New York University. New York City, USA. Invited panelist and contributor.

2024

Three Years Later: The Dire State of Afghanistan and Global Strategies for Ways Forward (August 2024). Afghanistan Policy Lab at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Washington, D.C., USA. Invited panelist.
Decolonization and Localization in Aid (March 2024). New York University, Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities. Guest lecturer.
Rapid and Relevant: Approaches to Contextual Implementation and Content Adaptation for Acute Emergencies (March 2024). Miami, Florida. Panel Chair and presenter. Hosted by Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). In-person. Exploring three approaches to rapid, content and implementation adaptation in acute emergencies which have prioritized meaningful client engagement and succeeded in providing contextually relevant responses quickly and efficiently.
Exploring Challenges and Promising Practices for Measurement for Social Emotional Learning and Educator Well-being (March 2024). Miami, Florida. Workshop designer and facilitator alongside USAID, Education Development Center, and American Institutes for Research. Hosted by Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). In-person, activity-based workshop focused on approaches to understanding how children, parents, and teachers define and prioritize SEL and educator well-being, and processes for applying this understanding to produce context-relevant, validated assessments for each.

2023

Decolonization and Localization in Aid (April 2024). New York University, Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities. Guest lecturer.

2022

Supporting young children with disabilities in humanitarian settings (June 2022). Online. Featured speaker. Hosted by the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Early Childhood Development Task Team.
Best practices of playful learning interventions for children and families in crisis and conflict settings (June 2022). Billund, Denmark. Featured speaker. Hosted by the LEGO Idea Conference.
Developing globally relevant play-based media content for humanitarian contexts: A case study of Sesame Workshop’s Watch, Play, Learn early learning videos (April 2022). Online. Co-speaker. Hosted by Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). Presented on ways to develop globally-relevant and culturally-rich media content.
The Global Symposium on Post-Pandemic Play: How play can help children transition to post-COVID societies (March 2022). Online. Featured panelist. Hosted by University of Cambridge Faculty of Education with support from Cambridge’s PEDAL and REAL Centres, UCL, BRAC University, and Early Start, University of Wollongong. Discussed how play can be incorporated in global post-COVID work for young children (ages 0-8).

2021

Building Resilience Through Play: How Global ECD Programs Help Children Cope During COVID-19 (July 2021). Online. Featured Speaker to members of Capital Hill hosted by the Thrive Coalition. Speakers from Sesame Workshop and Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of ECD programmes, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Real Talk about Partnerships: Examining Process, Priorities, and Power in Educational Partnerships (April 2021). Online. Featured Panelist, Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Presidential Panel. Discussed issues relating to social responsibility, changing relationship, and evolving agendas pertinent to partnerships in international development and education. Reflected on Play to Learn programme as an example of equitable partnerships working toward decolonizing the humanitarian space.

2020

Promoting Early Childhood Development Globally in the Time of COVID-19. (August 2020). Online. Featured Speaker, American Academy of Pediatrics. How Sesame Workshop has adapted its approach and developed materials and content for the COVID-19 response.
Sesame Workshop’s Response to COVID-19. (April 2020). Online. Guest Speaker, Bank Street College of Education EDUC 510/Early Childhood Curriculum Course. How Sesame Workshop has adapted its approach and developed materials and content for the COVID-19 response.
Sesame Workshop’s Response to COVID-19. (April 2020). Online. World Bank Early Years Community of Practice. How Sesame Workshop has adapted its approach and developed materials and content for the COVID-19 response.

2018

Learning Motivations (January 2018). Domasi, Malawi. National Early Grade Learning Training for Malawi Initial Primary Teacher Education Curriculum.
Differentiation in the Early Grade Classroom. (January 2018). Domasi, Malawi. National Early Grade Learning Training for Malawi Initial Primary Teacher Education Curriculum.
Teaching Literacy in Mathematics. (January 2018). Domasi, Malawi. National Early Grade Learning Training for Malawi Initial Primary Teacher Education Curriculum.

2017

Planning and coordination of Learners in the Center of the Action conference. (May 2017). Limpopo province, South Africa. One day teacher training conference attended by 200 teachers.
The Access Circle: A Community of Practice Across Africa Webinar Series. (July-October 2017). Online. Targeted English Access Microscholarship teachers in Southern Africa.
V is for Vocabulary. (May 2017). Learners in the Center of the Action Conference. Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Effective Lesson Planning. (May 2017). Dedza, Malawi. National Early Grade Learning Training for Malawi Initial Primary Teacher Education Curriculum.
Women in Education. (March 2017). Zomba, Malawi. Lilongwe Public Affairs Office, U.S. Embassy.
English Literacy Resources. (March 2017). Dedza, Malawi. National Early Grade Learning Training for Malawi Initial Primary Teacher Education Curriculum.

2016

Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. (October 2016). Let Girls Learn Literacy and Learning Laboratory. Zomba, Malawi. Addressing literacy needs and the needs of second language learners.
Making Reading Fun! (March 2016). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (October 2016). Reading Association of South Africa KwaZulu-Natal Conference. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Use of pre-, during-, and post-reading activities to promote functional literacy.
Characteristics of a Facilitator. (June 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for teacher training college lecturers.
Active Teaching—Becoming the Guide on the Side. (May 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for teacher training college lecturers.
Feedback Using Rubrics. (April 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for teacher training college lecturers.
How to Use Active Activities. (March 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for teacher training college lecturers.
Workshop: Asking and Receiving Information. (February 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for pre-service primary school teachers. Using locally available resources to demonstrate communicative ways to teach.
Resume Writing. (January 2016). Machinga, Malawi. Training for pre-service primary school teachers.

2015

How Languages Are Learned. (September 2015). Nandasmo, Masaya, Nicaragua. Use of scaffolding and target language in the Nicaraguan educational context.

Third Language Acquisition. (July 2015). Laguna de Apoyo, Masaya, Nicaragua. Language acquisition and the use of solely the target language when in the classroom.

Maps in the Classroom. (July 2015). Rama Cay, RAAS, Nicaragua. Instruction of cross-subject use of didactic murals and cultural inclusion.

Rubrics and Evaluations. (May 2015). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Alternative ways to assess language learning.

Dynamic Activities. (April 2015). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Use of communicative, out-of-the-box teaching techniques.

Research and Citation. (April 2015). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Effective web searches for credible sources; giving appropriate credit in research papers.

V is for Vocabulary. (March 2015). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Grassroots techniques for teaching vocabulary in the TEFL classroom.

The Magic of Planning. (February 2015). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Utilizing 4MAT lesson plans and setting measurable objectives.

2014

Culture in the Classroom. (December 2014). NicaTESOL Conference. Managua, Managua, Nicaragua. Incorporating global cultural elements into the foreign language classroom.

Evaluate This! (November 2014). Nueva Guinea, RAAS, Nicaragua. An interactive presentation and conversation about classroom evaluations

Pronunciation. (August 2014). NiCaribbean TESOL Conference. Bilwi, RAAN, Nicaragua. Use of various techniques to improve instructional delivery of pronunciation abilities.

Classroom Management (May 2014). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. How to manage classroom environments to be more motivational, participatory, and effective.

Back to School Workshop. (February 2014). Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua. Setting measurable classroom objectives.

2013

Dynamic Activities: Without Shame. (October 2013). Nandasmo, Masaya, Nicaragua. Creating positive class environments to encourage dynamic, communicative activities.

2012

Student Attitudes Toward Foreign Language Study. (Spring 2012). South East Coastal Conference on Languages and Literature. Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Research Assistant.