Strategic Advisors
Erwin de Leone, Ph.D.
Erwin de Leon, Ph.D. is the inaugural chief diversity officer of Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS) and a lecturer in SPS' Nonprofit Management Program. He is also a research fellow at Knology, a member of the Empire State Bioethics Consortium, and an adviser to the president of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. Prior to his current position, Dr. de Leon served in various nonprofit organizations including Urban Institute, Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness, Aspen Institute, Human Rights Campaign, Episcopal Relief and Development, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project. He received a Ph.D. in public and urban policy and an M.S. in nonprofit management from the New School’s Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment. A native of the Philippines, he earned his B.S. in management engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Camille Catlett
Camille Catlett is a Senior Technical Assistance Specialist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina and consultant to multiple states, colleges, and universities. She has held positions in public school, professional association, federal government, and higher education settings that ranged from providing direct service as a speech-language pathologist to directing multiple US Department of Education personnel preparation grants. Her work with talented partners on the Crosswalks project yielded a flexible and evidence-based model for increasing the emphasis on culturally and linguistically responsive practices in higher education courses, field experiences, and programs. That model has been revised to incorporate emphasis on children with disabilities and inclusion and successfully replicated in community colleges in multiple states. Through technical assistance, research, presentations, writing, and product development, Camille is currently working with faculty and leaders in multiple states to incorporate an explicit and intentional emphasis on culture, equity, language, diversity, and inclusion in early childhood and early childhood special education higher education programs.
G.V.S Prasad
Mr. GVS Prasad has been the Executive Director of CfBT Education Services since 2002. He is a Chartered Accountant with thirteen years of experience in project finance, financial consulting, promotion of co-operative banks, audits, taxation, and training. He is currently national head of academics at Dream India Schools. He is also Chairman of Rural Development Foundation, which runs 4 schools in remote rural and tribal areas. He was a regular Panel Judge at Indian School of Business for evaluating proposals received for the Global Social Venture Competition. He designed and delivered capacity building programmes for leaders and staff of non-profit organizations during his stint as a guest faculty at the Centre for Social Initiatives and Management. He is involved in heading CfBT’s initiatives in India - School Improvement Programmes, Teacher Training and Leadership Development Programmes, Quality Reviews/School Inspections, and English Language Skills Enhancement Programmes for learners at various levels and from varied backgrounds.
Jessie Lee
Jessie is the CEO and founder of Better Future Strategies which provides consulting services to improve efficiency by developing operational and organizational structure while building data-driven and innovative culture. She has strong skills and knowledge in technology, data, and risk management to help organizations build their resilience, not just to survive but thrive. She has 25+ years of leadership experience in nonprofit, education, public, and financial sectors. She employs data-driven approaches and builds collaborative and trusted relationships with boards, executive leaders, staff, strategic partners, funders, and sector leaders.
She served multiple nonprofit and pubic organizations: Advocacy Committee of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, the Board of the Cameron Kravitt Foundation, the Advisory Board of the City Tutors, the Language Assistance Advisory Committee of New York City Civic Engagement Commission, Grants Advisory Committee of New York Women’s Foundation, Advisory Council of International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) USA, Board Chair of International Human Rights Art Festival. Currently, she is on the board of the Association of Nonprofit Specialists and chairing the membership board committee. Jessie holds a Master’s degree in Enterprise Risk Management from Columbia University where teaches Nonprofit Management and Enterprise Risk Management Master Programs courses.
She lives in Queens where she enjoys exploring many diverse cuisines and cultures. She loves cooking, experimenting with recipes, and creating her own recipes. She believes that food is a universal language that has amazing personal and heartfelt stories
Ed Greene, Ph.D.
Over his fifty- year career, Ed Greene has worked directly with infants, toddlers, preschool children, adolescents and families, as well as in a variety of roles and capacities in the philanthropic, private and public sectors, media and in higher education.
Originally from Inkster, Michigan, Dr Greene completed his B.Mus. Ed at DePauw; an M.A. in Child and Human Development at Pacific Oaks College; and a PhD from the College of Graduate and Professional Studies at Indiana State University.
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Chandani Punia
Chandani Punia is an innovation practitioner with 14+ years of global experience in product, process, and service innovation. She has worked extensively on leveraging human-centered design (HCD) and innovation methodologies to co-design programs for social impact.
Most recently, Chandani served as the Deputy Director of Innovation at the International Rescue Committee where she ran innovation programming in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela to help Venezuelan migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) recover and gain control of their future.
Previously, Chandani worked with Plan International to manage girl-centered innovation projects and built the capacity of country offices to retool existing programs through HCD.
At the local level, she worked with City Harvest to develop their program strategy and led efforts to align Monitoring and Evaluation with piloting and testing of new approaches to food security in New York City. Chandani has also worked with Merrill Lynch, the U.N. World Food Programme, Akshaya Patra, Asia Society, and Geller & Company.
Chandani is passionate about inclusive design, uplifting voices, and spurring action.
Michele Bedor
Supporting children and their development has been a passion of mine my entire adult life. I have worked with young children and their families for 30 years. I believe the family is the child's most important teacher and ally. The Saamarthya foundation is rooted in the belief that children learn through their families and their experiences. I am proud to be a supporter of this foundation and look forward to helping the program grow so that more children can get the help that they need across the globe.
Christopher Johnstone
I am excited to be part of the Saamarthya team to learn more about how teachers can be effective in creating inclusive spaces for children. Saamarthya cares about the whole child. The organization works from a philosophy that inclusion is about changing systems to be responsive, rather than asking children to adjust to fit rigid systems. I am excited to be a strategic advisor to share lessons I have learned through research and practice and to engage with the Saamarthya executive and advisory teams.