Official Symposium Webpage - The Marvelous Education Alliance

Hosted at the recently opened and high-tech Fuse Building at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, the 15th Annual Marvelous Education Alliance Symposium, brought together 190+ educators, innovators, policymakers, and partners from across the globe to exchange ideas, showcase impact, and forge new cross-regional collaborations.

This year’s theme — The Marvelous Education Alliance — celebrated current and new individuals and organizations that make up our mEA family.

Over the course of the Symposium, participants explored what makes education truly marvelous through inspiring keynotes, engaging presentations, and vibrant networking opportunities.

The Marvelous Education Alliance Symposium in Numbers

Event Highlights

Marvelous Networking and Scavenger Hunt (7 October 2025) – Location: The National Mall & National Air and Space Museum

General Symposium (8 – 9 October 2025) – Location: Mason Fuse, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia.

Alliance Member Day (10 October 2025) – Location: World Bank offices, Washington, D.C. For Alliance Members, event sponsors, and special guests.

Quick Links

Symposium Agenda
Presentation Abstracts
List of Accepted Institutions

Presentation Thematic Groupings

AI and Emerging Technologies

Early Childhood Education

Education in Crisis and Conflict Settings

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Inclusive Education

Open Educational Resources

STEMtastic Adventures!

Teacher Empowerment

Wondrous Learning is…!

Youth STEMpreneurs

AI and Emerging Technologies

Chatac, PBC; Reimagining Access to Education for Everyone, Everywhere, Mati Amin, Founder & CEO
EDCET; The Need for Offline AI Platforms in Remote Communities of the Global South, Mani Sabapathi, Co-Founder
Learning Equality; Designing Offline AI for Teaching & Learning in Low‑Connectivity Contexts, Laura Danforth, Head of Global Community Engagement
Learning Generation Initiative at Education Development Center; Centering teachers in designing and implementing EdTech interventions using the High Touch High Tech approach, Madelyn Cunningham, International Project Manager
Maxim Nyansa Foundation; Empowering Underserved Learners Through Offline Digital Education, Stanley Kwakye Dankyira, Mr.
National Institute of Education, Singapore; Student-initiated inquiry in the digital humanities with natural language processing (NLP) from East and Southeast Asian contexts, Kenneth Lim, Senior Research Scientist
Saddle River Day School; The Student-Led Global AI Learning Initiative, Kevin Merges, Chief Global Impact Officer
Save the Children & Accenture Development Partnerships; The New Learning Loop: Youth, Data, and the Future of Learning with AI, Monica Caminiti, Senior Director, Skills to Succeed (Save the Children), and Natalie Co, Managing Director (Accenture Development Partnerships)
Solar Spell; Arizona State University; Solar-Powered Offline AI for rural schools, Bruce Baikie, Co-Director, ASU of SolarSPELL Initiative and Laura Hosman, Professor and Co-Founder and Co-Director
Team4Tech & Fab, Inc.; Building AI Capacity for Edu-Efficiency, Julie Clugage, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Team4Tech.
University of Kansas; VOISS Adventures: Where XR, AI, and Social Skills Unite, Amber Rowland, Associate Research Professor

Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education Landscape Update Sara Poehlman, Senior Advisor, Basic Education and Literacy Rotary International
Northwestern University; Dr. Terese Eckrich Sommer, Research Professor and Director Two-Generation Research Institute (virtual)

Education in Crisis and Conflict Settings

Arizona State University & Na’amal; Connecting Refugee Youth in Africa to Remote Digital Work, Marc Alan Sperber, Assistant Director (Arizona State University)
Learning Upgrade; Bringing EdTech to Kenya’s Refugee Camps: Learning Upgrade, Satellite Connectivity, and Devices Enable Foundational Skills Instruction, Vinod Lobo, CEO, Learning Upgrade, and Ginhee Rancourt, Director (Our Future Prize)
Learning Upgrade & Sahar Education Afghanistan; Sahar Education’s Secret Scholar Online Program: Harnessing Learning Upgrade’s EdTech Program for Afghan Women & Girls, Haneen Khalaf, Director, Global Business Development (Learning Upgrade) and Farzanah Darwish, Program Manager (Sahar Education Afghanistan)
Maketank Inc; The Illustrated Memoir Project: Changing Lives and Changing the World through Refugee Stories, Kate Carlier Currie, Executive Director and Enock Sadiki, Berea College
Partnership Afghanistan Canada; Online Parenting Education for Afghan Families (Men & Women), Shahnaz Qayumi, Chief Executive Officer
ProFuturo Foundation; ProFuturo: an evidence-based intervention of a digital education programme in vulnerable environments, Valentina Ríos, Head of Evaluation and Strategy
War Child Alliance; From Innovation to Integration: Institutionalising Can't Wait to Learn in Ukraine, Marwa Zahr, Implementation & Practitioner Lead

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Curious Learning: Building Bridges to Literacy: Curious Learning's Inclusive Tech Stack for Global Edtech Interventions, Stephanie Gottwald, Co-Founder and VP of Content
Central Square Foundation; LiftEd EdTech Accelerator, Abhimanyu Maheshwari, Senior Project Lead - EdTech
EEDI Labs; AI-Augmented Tutoring for Equitable Mathematics Learning: Scaling Human Expertise with Generative AI, Anjali Nambiar, Research Coordinator, and Bibi Groot, Chief Impact Officer
Educational Initiatives and PLT Health Solutions; A Breakthrough Mindspark Initiative in Mpumalanga and Lusaka; Paul Flowerman, Mindspark Evangelist
Imagine Worldwide & onebillion; Research-Based Continuous Improvement of Learning Software in Personalized EdTech, Sarah Bardack, Research Director(Imagine Worldwide), and Sam Weekes, Content Author (onebillion)
Leap Learning; Scalability in Innovative Educational Solutions, Marit Linnebo Olderheim, Founder and CEO
mEducation Alliance; Math Power! Community, Prize Call, and Festivals, Anthony Bloome, Executive Director

Inclusive Education

eKitabu; Unlocking Language and Literacy for Deaf Learners: Digital Story Time Season 2 and Beyond, Matthew Utterback, CoFounder, eKitabu
George Mason University; WEGO: Writing Efficiently with Graphic Organizers, Kelley Regan, Professor, and Anya Evmenova, Professor
RTI International; “I am not slow; I just need glasses” – Adding open-source vision screening functionality to Tangerine; Carmen Strigel, Sr. Director, Education Technology
Vizmoo; Virtual Reality for Special Education - an Overview and Current Work, Michael Stauffer, Founder/CEO

Open Educational Resources

Take Action Global & Creative Commons; Marvelous Remix: Impact of OER for Climate Education and remote learning, Jennryn Wetzler, Director of Learning and Training (Creative Commons), Dr. Riley Justis, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Growth & Development (Take Action Global), and Laura Danforth, Head of Global Community Engagement (Learning Equality).

STEMtastic Adventures!

Breshna.io; Breaking Barriers with Bite-Sized Games: The Breshna Revolution in Education, Mariam Nusrat, Founder & CEO
GaiaXus LLC and Hilo Intermediate School; Innovation Through Partnership: Developing Water Quality Tools with Educators and Communities, Dietrich Ruehlmann, Managing Partner, GaiaXus, and Dr. Pascale Creek Pinner, Science Teacher, Hilo Intermediate School
mEducation Alliance; The Science of Animal Senses; Anthony Bloome, Executive Director
PhET Interactive Simulations (Univ. of Colorado Boulder); PhET Interactive Simulations: Marvelous Tools and Strategies to Elevate Student Agency in STEM Learning, Rebecca Vieyra, Director of Global Initiatives
Rede Brasileira de Aprendizagem Criativa (Brazilian Creative Learning Network); Teachers as creative learners: a novel professional development approach for 21st century educational transformation, Leo Burd, Founder and Researcher, Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.
Save the Children; A New Wave of Learning: Engaging Youth in the Blue Economy, Katie Pons, Advisor, Knowledge, Learning, and Communications, Save the Children and Mark Meziere, Lead Associate, MEAL and Research
SIL Global; Alpha Tiles Updates: New Features and New Supported Scripts, Aaron Hemphill, Mobiles for Literacy Advisor
Take Action Global; Learning for a Greener Future: Driving Climate Action through Education Measurement Together, Riley Justis, Chief Operating Officer
The International SeaKeepers Society; Education at SeaKeepers: Building a Global Network of Educational Opportunities, Jack Rucker, Educational Outreach Manager
Thinkering Collective & Learning Upgrade; Humanizing Education: How a Connected Ecosystem Sparks Sustainable Impact, Vinod Lobo, CEO/Founder, Learning Upgrade and, Evin Schwartz, Founder/CEO, Tinkering Collective
University of Georgia; Eyes on Learning: Boosting Classroom VR with Eye Tracking, Addi Mavengere, PhD Student

Teacher Empowerment

Alpaca & Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative; Using Pulse Surveys to Understand Early Childhood Educator Wellbeing: A Statewide Pilot to Support Early Childhood Workers, Karen Borchert, CEO and Tierra Harper, Manager, Omaha Childcare Partnerships
Blue Butterfly; Apwòch Lekòl Vivan (Vibrant Schools Approach)—An innovative model for enhancing teacher professional development in Haiti, Suzanne Cole, Co-executive director
SeaVuria; When Teachers Learn Together, Students Thrive: A Cross-Continental PLC Model, MaryMargaret Welch, Executive Director

Wondrous Learning is…!

Amarok Society: Start With Mothers; Illiterate Mothers Reverse Learning Poverty Trend, Tanyss Munro, Illiterate Mothers Reverse Learning Poverty
ARES Education; Realities of Digital Education in Rural Kenya, Mark Knittel, CEO
Central Square Foundation; EdTech Tulna: Establishing Quality Standards for EdTech, Abhimanyu Maheshwari, Senior Project Lead - EdTech
Imagine Worldwide; Avoiding Attenuation of Impacts At Scale: A Multi-Method Approach, Karen Levesque, Head of Research and Sarah Bardack, Research Director
Kibeam Learning; Unlocking Potential: Transforming Early Literacy, Jeffrey Piontek, Strategic Business Consultant
Learning Upgrade and Education Above All; Out-of-School Youth: New Education Approaches From Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya and Afghanistan; Vinod Lobo, Founder and CEO, Learning Upgrade & Sarah Wragg, Head of Education Innovation, Education Above All
Storytime AI; Reading the future: how culturally responsive, AI-powered storytelling can close the literacy gap and spark early AI proficiency, Brian Carlson, CEO and Co-Founder
Teacher in a Box; How do you get them in the box?, Kate Huth, Educational Co-ordinator
The N50 Project, Learning Upgrade & Our Future Prize; Empowering 100 Schools in Africa with Connectivity, Digital Learning, and Devices: An N50 Project, Learning Upgrade, and Our Future Prize Initiative, Erin Bown-Anderson, VP of Partnerships and Community Engagement (The N50 Project), Haneen Khalaf, Director of Global Business Development (Learning Upgrade), Ginhee Rancourt, Director (Our Future Prize)
University of Chicago; Chat2Learn: Digital Tools and AI for Boosting Parent Engagement and Children’s Skill Development, Michelle Michelini, Executive Director, Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab (BIP Lab)
WISE Zambia; Meet WISE Zambia--A Small Nonprofit with an Outsized Impact, Joanne Bollinger, Board Co-Chair

Youth STEMpreneurs

Endless Access; Player-to-Changemaker: A Game-Making Pathway to Digital Literacy, Heather Drolet, Director of Learning and Joana Filizola, Product Design Lead
Foldscope Instruments; Magnifying Scientific Curiosity through Frugal Science, Christopher Lowe, Director of Growth and Partnerships
IEEE; Through the Lens of History, a Free, Eye-opening Resource Sparks Interest and a Passion for STEM, Kelly McKenna, Sr. Program Manager, IEEE REACH
mEducation Alliance; Co-Designing the Global STEM Education Champions Network & STEMpreneurs for Change Fellows Program, Anthony, Executive Director
National Center on Education & the Economy; Bridging innovation, adaptation, and project-based learning with Pacific Island communities, Alexandra Goodell, Senior Development Officer
The Wilderness Technology Alliance & Gensler; The Cycle of Transformation, Lou August, Executive Director, and Amy Daffe, Volunteer
Teach for All; Unlocking STEAM Teaching Resources to Connect Learning with Real-World Challenges, William Molano, Future of Work - Project Manager
University of Georgia; Building Entrepreneurial Resilience through Inner Infrastructure in Children in K-12, Henriette Paula Mugisa - Graduate Researcher, University of Georgia

A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Learn more about the mEducation Alliance!

The mEducation Alliance (mEA) and its Members are committed to strengthening education ecosystems to bring wondrous learning opportunities to those in low-resource contexts.

Interested in becoming an Alliance Member? Contact us at medalliance@meducationalliance.org.

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