Board of Directors
Kate Schelbe
Kate is the Executive Director of Girls Education International as of October 2019. Kate graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature and Latin American Studies. The majority of Kate’s professional experience has been in a school setting as a classroom teacher as well as the director of a middle school. She believes that access to education is a basic human right.
Lauren Sadler
Lauren Sadler is the Communications Director of Girls Education International. She holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration concentrating in Nonprofit Management and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Colorado Denver. She values strengths-based leadership approaches and believes in maximizing collaboration, equity, curiosity, and empathy in all that she does. Currently, she works in social impact.
ToQuyen Doan
ToQuyen is the Development Director of Girls Education International. She holds an MA in international development and social change from Clark University, and a BA in environmental studies from Temple University. Her expertise lies in designing and implementing development plans to strengthen fundraising strategies for global, national, and local nonprofits. She currently works as a consultant, where she places a strong emphasis on intersectionality and creating sustainable fundraising projects through a lens of social justice. Originally from Vietnam, she now resides in Philadelphia with her partner and cat.
Interns and Volunteers
Anna Iwanciw
Anna Iwanciw
Anna graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs. Last year, she was the Racism in the USA Chair for the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder, CO. She is currently based in Taipei, where she is leveling up her language skills in Mandarin. In her spare time, you can find Anna hiking, scuba diving (she's rescue certified!), or bouldering.
Shelly Braun
Shelly is the Board Chair for Girls Education International. Her interests in culture, health, and learning have taken her down a winding path through the nonprofit, academic, and private sectors. She currently works as a consultant, helping clients create learning-centered professional educational experiences and classroom resources. She holds Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of Utah and enjoys traveling, reading, adopting senior dogs, and walking.
yolonda Riley
Loni is the Treasurer of Girls Education International. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Policy to pursue her desire to advance the quality of life for all, particularly those from marginalized and disadvantaged populations, a choice born from her second passion of exploring the world. Loni has worked as a grants coordinator for a tribal community, as a program coordinator with a refugee resettlement organization and currently carries out the bookkeeping for a charitable organization providing assistance to disabled Haitian children.
Mercedes Ward
Mercedes is the Pakistan Project Manager for Girls Education International. Through many years of international engagement, she has developed a deep awareness of – and empathy for – the kinds of challenges that students and their families face. From 2015-2020, she was a member of the project management team for a USAID-funded initiative to establish a center for graduate education and research in Pakistan (U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water). She has a PhD in anthropology and has experience as an educator, curriculum developer, institutional reformer, and researcher. She currently works at the University of Utah as a grant development specialist focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion.