Webcast: Advancing Equity through Literacy in Egypt and South Sudan

Yasmin Adel is a project management professional with 10 years of experience in development and humanitarian program management specializing in empowerment of marginalized categories of the society such women, youth, refugees, and small farmers. Adel supports the development of delivering detailed work plans, budgets, and monitoring and reporting on the impact and effectiveness of program activities. Adel enjoys mentoring local program staff and developing and maintaining collaborative relationships with donors and stockholders. Adel is currently managing education projects in Save the Children–Egypt country office that mainly targets Syrian and African refugees and migrants.

Dr. Nikhit D’Sa is a developmental psychologist with experience as a technical advisor and applied researcher on education and child protection programs in development and humanitarian contexts. He has expertise in designing and managing cross-sectoral learning frameworks, leading summative impact evaluations, conducting formative qualitative and mixed methods research, designing appropriate measures and surveys, and working with practitioners to make evidence-based changes to interventions. Currently, D’Sa is the principal investigator on studies related to Positive Youth Development (PYD), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and Education in Emergencies (EiE). Before joining Save the Children, D’Sa worked as a trainer, youth counselor, and consultant on child and youth development projects with several international and civil society organizations. D’Sa holds a Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, as well as a Master of Education in International Education Policy and a Doctor of Education in Human Development and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Julia Finder Johna is an education specialist with over ten years of experience working domestically and internationally in the field of education. She is currently an Education in Emergencies Advisor in the Department of Education and Child Protection with Save the Children. In this role she provides technical support to projects in the Middle East and East and West Africa, and contributes to strategy formation, proposal development, and creation of practical tools and resources related to non-formal education and social emotional learning. Julia is the co-convener of the INEE’s Psychosocial Support and Social Emotional Learning Collaborative, and an active member of ECCN’s SEL Task Team. Julia holds an MA in Social Justice and Education from University College London’s Institute of Education.

Wendy Wheaton has over 20 years of experience in developing educational standards, policies, guidance, programs, and technical response modalities in Africa, particularly in conflict and crisis settings. Her representational roles  include those at the inter-agency level in the humanitarian and development community and within academic technical groups focused on education and child protection fields of practice. She has had 15 years of field-based experience implementing education programs in crises; conducted research on adolescent psychosocial well-being, education in emergencies, gender-based violence and peacebuilding and education, provided technical inputs to currently used Inter-agency Guidance including INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, IASC Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Guidelines, Child Protection Minimum Standards and Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence Guidance. She has lived and worked in Kosovo, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal, Chad, Burundi, and DRC. Wheaton is a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is fluent in spoken French and taught a course on Education in Conflict over five years at Georgetown University’s Justice and Peace Center. She currently works in USAID’s Office of Sudan and South Sudan Programs, in Washington, D.C.