Our Team
Meet the Experts Behind Our Mission
Meet the people who make it all happen. We see big potential in every moment, and care deeply about what we do every day. Our unique development ensures that we have the very best staff all over the world, and at every level of operation. Our leadership team reflects a group of diverse individuals with breadth and depth of experience across the company.
Inclusive Development Partners Staff & Core Consultants
Dr. Valerie Karr
Founding Partner & President
Dr. Valerie Karr
Founding Partner & President
Dr. Valerie Karr is an international expert in inclusive education and disability-inclusive development, with over two decades of experience advancing human rights and social inclusion globally. Her research and advocacy center on ensuring that marginalized populations, particularly children and adults with disabilities, have equitable access to education, employment, and community life within the global development agenda. Guided by the “Leave No One Behind” movement of the Sustainable Development Goals, her work integrates rights-based approaches into national systems through evidence generation, capacity building, and policy reform.
Transdisciplinary in nature, Dr. Karr’s expertise spans inclusive education, human rights, international development, and public policy. She has led complex research and evaluation initiatives for the United Nations, the World Bank, USAID, and national ministries, with a focus on inclusive education systems, disability data, and equitable access to services. Dr. Karr has served as Principal Investigator for multi-country studies and national surveys across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa, including work in Cambodia, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, and Syria.
Her work engages stakeholders at every level—from ministries and schools to civil society organizations and parent networks—to develop and test contextually grounded tools and frameworks for inclusion. Recent projects include a national prevalence study on disability in Ethiopia, a rights-based reform of social protection for persons with disabilities in Lebanon, and a longitudinal study of early intervention centers in Malaysia.
Dr. Karr is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where her scholarship focuses on disability-inclusive development, human rights, and education systems reform. Her publications include contributions to the International Journal of Inclusive Education, Journal of Disability Policy Studies, and Disability and the Global South, advancing global evidence on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and inclusive education policy.
Anne Hayes
Founding Partner & Executive Director
Anne M. Hayes is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Inclusive Development Partners (IDP), where she leads strategy, operations, and a global portfolio advancing disability-inclusive education and development. With nearly three decades of experience spanning USAID, UNICEF, the World Bank, and leading international implementers, Anne brings extensive technical expertise in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the assessment and identification of learners with disabilities, the development of accessible learning materials, and the strengthening of inclusive systems.
Anne has directed and supported inclusive programs worldwide, serving as a lead technical expert on numerous donor-funded initiatives. She has authored and co-authored influential publications and guidance documents on disability-inclusive education and pedagogy, including USAID’s widely used toolkit, "Universal Design for Learning to Help All Children Read: Promoting Literacy for Learners with Disabilities." Earlier in her career, Anne served as the Disability and Gender Specialist at USAID and later helped shape donor coordination on disability within the World Bank’s Global Partnership on Disability and Development (GPDD). She also played an active role in NGO advocacy during the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a Steering Committee Member of the International Disability Caucus (IDC).
Having worked in more than 35 countries, Anne partners with ministries of education, multilateral and bilateral donors, NGOs, and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to translate policy into practice. She holds a Master’s degree in International Education Development from George Washington University and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas.
Anne is also the mother of two children, one of whom has a disability requiring significant support needs—an experience that continues to deepen her personal and professional commitment to inclusive development.
Dr. Hayley Niad
Vice President and Senior Technical Advisor
Hayley Niad has worked with IDP since 2019 and has led several projects as Project Director and Senior Technical Advisor. Her technical expertise relates to inclusive pedagogies for struggling learners and students with disabilities, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in school settings with few material resources. Her work also addresses pre-service and in-service teacher training for inclusive education including the development of virtual and hybrid courses, curriculum and materials development, and research and evaluation of inclusive education programming globally. Ms. Niad also has technical experience in mother-tongue based multilingual education for early grade reading in Mozambique, including production of student textbooks, teachers’ guides, school-based coaching, trainings and workshops, and monitoring and evaluation including EGRA design. This work has earned her a 30 Under 30 Award from the International Literacy Association. Hayley also worked as the Day Programs Manager for a disability service in Australia, managing the programming for adults with significant support needs. She holds a Master's Degree in Special Education and a PhD in Comparative and International Development Education, with a focus on teacher decision-making related to inclusive pedagogical approaches in Ghana.
Emily Kochetkova
Senior Technical Advisor
Emily Kochetkova has 15 years of experience across more than 20 low- and middle-income country contexts. Her work has included providing technical management and consulting for both large- and small-scale program evaluations, research studies, and system reform projects; developing and testing language and learning assessment instruments using principles of Universal Design for Assessment (UDA); leading cross-cultural training to researchers and data collection teams; managing complex field research; interpreting quantitative and qualitative data and reporting research findings; and authoring various technical guides and toolkits. Ms. Kochetkova is passionate about understanding the factors that underlie development program successes and challenges, in order to support better inclusion, equity, and educational outcomes for all, particularly those within marginalized groups. Her recent work with IDP includes evaluating and implementing programs funded by UNICEF, FCDO, Special Olympics, and USAID.
Anna Martin
Technical Expert
Anna Martin has 14 years of experience in international development and inclusive education. She obtained her Bachelors degree in International Studies with a focus on Africa from North Carolina State University. Upon graduation she joined the Peace Corps where she served in Kenya as a Deaf Education Volunteer, learning Kenyan Sign Language and teaching in a rural school in Western Kenya for 2 years. Following her Peace Corps service she moved to Nairobi, Kenya where she worked with a Deaf-led organization to start a children's outreach program, bringing adult deaf mentors to deaf students across the country. After 5 years in Kenya, she pursued her Masters in Public Policy at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. Prior to joining Inclusive Development Partners, Anna worked with the Global Campaign for Education-US, Light for the World, the World Bank's Disability Inclusive Development team, and eKitabu, bringing her passion for disability inclusion and her expertise in Deaf Education to all of her projects.
Dr. Niraj Poudyal
Senior Technical Advisor
Dr. Niraj Poudyal
Senior Technical Advisor
Dr. Poudyal is a skilled and passionate advocate for equity and inclusion in Nepal, and is a skilled trainer, writer, and presenter with a keen ability to present complex topics in simple terms that are accessible to a broad audience. Dr. Poudyal is DEIA Advisor for USAID Equity and Inclusion in Education in Nepal supporting the Plan Nepal office. He is also supporting the EMIS for USAID funded Education Sector Strengthening Activity (ESSA) in Liberia. He has years of experience in research design and sampling for surveys in countries in Asia and Africa. Before joining IDP as a Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Poudyal worked as an associate professor and lead researcher at the Disability Research Center at Kathmandu University, he has conducted several research projects related to disability issues and inclusive education in Nepal and the region, with the goal of increasing the evidence base for inclusion among donors, government, and implementers. This work includes direct support to USAID’s Multi-Country Study of Inclusive Education (MCSIE), led by Inclusive Development Partners (IDP). He has also completed multiple consultancies with UNICEF Nepal since 2015, as the Equity Index technical expert in developing a fully functional Equity Index (EI), which helps to capture the disparities in educational outcomes in Nepal across drivers such as gender, location and ethnicity, and is used by the government of Nepal to allocate resources to regions having lower educational outcomes and higher disparities. He has also developed the Resource index and resource allocation formula for local governments, conducted assessments of EMIS data to improve its accuracy, and evaluated implementation of the EI using both EMIS and census data. He has contributed to the inclusive education section of the education sector analysis (ESA) as a leading author. He has supervised doctoral students to design interventions designed to reduce the number of out of school children and dropouts and measure the impact using clustered randomized trials in Nepal. He obtained his PhD degree from the department of economics at Virginia Tech University, USA in 2012. Through years of practice, he has developed sound quantitative and qualitative research skills and made a number of paper and report publications for journals and institutions. Dr. Poudyal has working experience with institutions such as UNICEF, UNDP, Plan International, USAID, York University, UCLA, Perdue University, World Education and Humanity and Inclusion (HI).
Hidemi Ueno
Technical Consultant
Hidemi UENO has been a Program Coordinator for IDP since October 2024. She brings extensive experience in project management within the international development field, having worked in the U.S., Senegal, Switzerland, Cambodia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Japan.
Prior to joining IDP, she served as a Development Partnership Officer at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where she developed and executed partnership and program development plans in collaboration with various bilateral, multilateral, and international organizations, and financial institutions. She also worked on activities related to triangular cooperation, fostering cross-functional communications between departments and country offices to ensure alignment on key operational issues.
Hidemi previously worked as a Consultant, managing grant assistance for grassroots human security projects in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Before that, she served as a Project Officer at the Global Health Centre, a Swiss think tank at the Graduate Institute Geneva, where she managed capacity building and event organization.
Hidemi is passionate about programs that support the human rights of marginalized populations, especially persons with disabilities and refugees. She holds an M.A. in Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America.
Nicholas Hoekstra
Senior Technical Consultant
Nicholas Hoekstra is a Ph.D. candidate in Special Education at the University of Kansas. His research focuses on the implementation of inclusive education in low-income and low-resource contexts, especially through the use of strategies such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Nicholas holds a master’s degree in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an instructor’s certificate in Judo from the International Budo University in Katsuura, Japan. From 2015-16, Nick served as an adviser on inclusive education at the Coordinating Ministry for Knowledge and Human Talent of Ecuador, where he worked on the ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (The Marrakesh VIP Treaty). During this period, he conducted UDL seminars for over 25 universities from throughout Ecuador, helped establish a national network for students with disabilities, and organized international conferences on bilingual and inclusive education. From 2016-19, Nick worked as the Capacity Building Lead for the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), a initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the implementation of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty. In this position, Nick collaborated with organizations representing persons with disabilities, Ministries of Education, and Intellectual Property/Copyright Offices to establish over 20 capacity building projects in 13 developing and least-developed countries in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.
Samir Sodari
Technical Consultant
Samir Sodari
Technical Consultant
With five years of research and development experience in the area of inclusive education, Samir has gained significant quantitative and qualitative research skills. Samir worked as a junior researcher in the four-year Multi-Country Study on Inclusive Education (MCSIE), led by the collaboration of Inclusive Development Partners and Disability Research Center at the Kathmandu University School of Arts. The study included extensive field visits, teachers’ interviews, and classroom observations. He was responsible for the organization and logistics of field visits of the entire team and the consolidation of data collected into a central system. Additionally, he has showcased his sharp analytical skills through his involvement in the design phase to the report writing phase of the mid-day meal study program conducted by the ESP program of the Kathmandu University School of Arts. The study included quasi-randomized control trials to understand the linkages between the provision of mid-day meals and educational outcomes. He has a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Kathmandu University and a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW). He has made dozens of field visits to Kailali, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Parsa, Surkhet, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kaski, Rasuwa, Dhankuta, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur districts and all provinces of Nepal. The curriculum involved a significant amount of field visits and interaction with local stakeholders. In his master’s research, he did quantitative survey research to understand the impact of remittances on household expenses on health and education. His professional interest includes advocacy for equity and inclusion in education.
Reem Ahmed
Operations and Human Resource Advisor
Reem Ahmed is a dedicated and dynamic Human Resources professional with over four years of international experience. She excels in optimizing HR operations, driving strategic recruitment initiatives, and implementing effective performance management systems within diverse, multinational environments. Her expertise encompasses talent acquisition, employee performance management, process improvement, and proficient use of HRIS.
Throughout her career, Reem has effectively supported various HR initiatives. She has contributed to streamlined operations and enhanced employee satisfaction within international organizations. She improved performance management and employee engagement strategies in diverse settings. Additionally, she led DEI-focused recruitment initiatives that foster inclusive workplaces.
Fluent in both Arabic and English, she brings a passion for fostering a positive work environment and advancing organizational development.
Reem holds a Master’s degree in International Human Resource Management from the University of Reading’s Henley Business School and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Garden City. A Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resource Management and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Reem is committed to creating supportive environments where employees thrive and continuously seeks opportunities to drive positive change within organizations.
Augustine Kanyendula
Technical Consultant
Augustine Kanyendula is the Senior All Children Learning Specialist for USAID Malawi’s Next Generation Early Grade Reading Activity (NextGen) which is part of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP). Working on behalf of IDP, Augustine’s role within NextGen is to provide technical assistance to NextGen’s activities to improve learning outcomes for Standard 1 and 2 learners with disabilities in Malawi. Augustine has close to 15 years of experience providing technical support to programming focused on expanding educational opportunities for children with disabilities, almost ten years of which was focused on supporting Malawi’s National Reading Program. From 2019-2021, Augustine worked for Juarez & Associates as the Inclusive Education Specialist for the USAID-funded Reading for All Malawi (REFAM) project, followed by a year serving as the project’s Chief of Party. As part of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP), REFAM’s goal was to develop a scalable intervention that allows for the screening, identification, placement, instruction, and testing of learners with disabilities to teach them to read. Previously, Augustine Kanyendula worked for Perkins International as a Disability Inclusion Specialist under two successive USAID-funded activities: the Early Grade Reading Activity (EGRA; 2013-2016) and the Malawi Early Grade Improvement Activity (MERIT: 2016-2019). Under these roles, Augustine provided technical leadership and management oversight of all field activities to improve educational opportunities, uptake, and retention of children with disabilities and other vulnerable populations for the EGRA and MERIT.
Memory Orode
Technical Consultant
With over a decade of experience in the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector, Memory has dedicated her career to advancing HIV/AIDS awareness, gender equity, youth life skills, women's and community economic empowerment, and disability inclusion. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Management and has expertise in ensuring grant compliance with donor rules and regulations, regional administrative and financial oversight, survey design, and conducting baseline and end-of-project evaluation. She also supports auditing process and financial reporting and excels in story gathering and storytelling. Memory has worked with donors such as the U.S. Agency on International Development (USAID) for support programs for AIDS orphans, Rotary International for grassroots and community economic empowerment programs, DIGNI-NORAD for HIV Awareness and youth life skills, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) for disability inclusion, contributing to national, regional, and international projects. Memory has focus in the field of disability inclusion, communications, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and grant management, and has operated across 15 Sub-Saharan countries. Her proficiency in project management includes collaborating with regional finance and program managers, managing regional and country budgets, and coordinating operational requirements. She is passionate about giving back to the community, particularly working with vulnerable youth and women groups from informal settlements in Mathare Valley, Kenya's second largest and oldest slum.
Additional Technical Experts
Dr. Angela Affran
Technical Expert
Dr. Angela Affran
Technical Expert
Angela Affran serves as a consultant for Perkins International in the African Region, coordinating and managing projects, training teachers to serve learners with multiple disabilities and sensory loss, advocating for the rights of children with visual impairment and additional disabilities, and supporting parents to advocate for their children. Angela was previously the coordinator for Braille Literacy, Math and Science at the Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service. She has a Master’s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Education, Ghana and a Diploma in Statistics from the University of Ghana. Angela has been a recipient of the Ford Foundation Scholarship, Wolfensohn Family Foundation Scholarship and was adjourned the best teacher in Math and Science category at the Akuapem North District in 2005. Angela also works with various countries to develop policies and programs to support children and young adults with inclusive education. Angela has successfully implemented projects with USAID, UNICEF, RTI, and SIB in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa and Nigeria. Ms. Affran serves as a consultant for IDP’s work with UNICEF in Ghana, conducting formative research and providing technical guidance on identification and support to children with disabilities in the early grades.
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna
Technical Expert
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna
Technical Expert
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna, a passionate advocate for inclusive education, hails from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Currently serving as a consultant with IDP, Nazifa specializes in inclusive education. She brings her expertise to the forefront of creating accessible and equitable learning environments. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Special and Inclusive Education from the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka. Nazifa's journey in inclusive education extends beyond academia, as she has actively engaged in teaching children with disabilities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her commitment extends to her work with the Shuchona Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing social inclusion, where she played a crucial role in their SEND framework. Nazifa also served as a consultant with RTI International on USAID's Shobai Miley Shikhi Activity, demonstrating her passion for making education accessible for all. Nazifa is dedicated to breaking down barriers in education and her journey reflects a deep commitment to creating inclusive learning environments.
Patricia Carolina Andreu
Technical Expert
Patricia Carolina Andreu
Technical Expert
Patricia Carolina Andreu is an education professional with experience in the design and implementation of training processes, educational research, and initiatives aimed at strengthening public education policy in El Salvador, with a specialization in educational inclusion. She has coordinated consultancies focused on improving education system responses, including the development of territorial management strategies, the construction of teaching standards, and the updating of key tools to promote inclusive practices across diverse educational contexts.
Patricia has strong experience in qualitative research and has supported educational analysis and innovation processes to inform policy and practice. Her academic background includes a Master’s Degree in Educational Policy, along with formal studies in Special Education, which underpin her technical expertise and ability to develop proposals grounded in pedagogical, curricular, and regulatory frameworks.
Her university experience includes roles as a professor and tutor in educational research, as well as responsibilities related to continuing teacher professional development, learning assessment, and the pedagogical use of technology. Through this work, she has contributed to strengthening teaching practices and advancing innovation across multiple educational modalities.
Meritt Buyer
Technical Expert
Meritt Buyer has more than 15 years of experience advancing disability inclusion and intersectional approaches in development and humanitarian aid. She has provided technical assistance on disability-inclusive development projects in nearly 20 countries around the world. Recently she supported economic inclusion projects among displaced communities in Kenya, Colombia, and Mozambique with people with disabilities and caregivers of children with disabilities. Previously, she consulted on projects related to care reform and deinstitutionalization in Moldova and India and managed projects in Tanzania developing inclusive services for children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Meritt has designed technical and teaching tools related to disability rights, caregiver support, inclusive employment and education, and monitoring and evaluation, as well as facilitated numerous workshops on the same topics. She has contributed to and led several research studies and knowledge products, including UNHabitat’s report on the right to adequate housing for persons with disabilities, learning papers, program evaluations, and technical briefs. Meritt holds a Masters degree in History and Public Policy from the University of Cape Town and a BA from Wellesley College in Peace and Justice Studies. She is the proud sibling of a younger brother with disabilities.
Dr. Heather Aldersey
Technical Expert
Dr. Heather Aldersey
Technical Expert
Heather Aldersey, MS (Special Education), Ph.D. (Education), is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Disability-Inclusive Development at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is also the Scientific Director of the International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR). She adopts participatory approaches to identify priorities of people with disabilities and their families and develop and evaluate supports to address those priorities, with a focus on populations in low- and middle- income countries. The ultimate goal of Heather’s research is to draw upon local strengths and capabilities to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families globally. At the ICACBR, she currently directs projects with colleagues in Bangladesh, Canada, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Mozambique, the UK, and the USA. She has also previously worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Evans Burichani
Technical Expert
Evans Burichani
Technical Expert
Evans Burichani is an Inclusive Services Advisor based in Nairobi, Kenya, with over fifteen years of experience in inclusive education, disability rights advocacy, programme coordination, research, and community development. He has held diverse roles across education, humanitarian, and development contexts, including Programmes and Projects Coordination Officer for Kenya’s North Eastern Region and Disability Inclusion Advisor at The President’s Award–Kenya. His professional background also includes work as a teacher in schools for the Deaf, curriculum developer, institutional research manager, humanitarian practitioner, and Sign Linguistic Research Assistant.
Evans provides technical leadership to regional and international initiatives, serving as a Technical Consultant for the Deaf Education Development Foundation’s Sign Literacy Bridge Project and Lead Technical Consultant for the World Bank–funded Digital Dictionary of Gambian Sign Language. A long-standing leader within the Deaf community, he has co-founded multiple disability-led organizations and served as the first President of the World Congress of African Linguistics – African Sign Language Academic Research Workshop. He holds a Teaching Certificate, a Diploma in Special Needs Education, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Development Studies.
Julie de Barbeyrac
Technical Expert
Julie de Barbeyrac
Technical Expert
Julie de Barbeyrac, originally from Quebec, Canada, is presently a consultant with IDP on inclusive education and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). She is also the Program Manager of the Accessible Digital Textbooks for the Programme Group- Education at UNICEF Headquarters. She has previously worked with the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) section and the Disability section at UNICEF NYHQ where she has led the innovative “Accessible Digital Textbooks for All” initiative and the MHPSS Acceleration project, and build expertise in disability inclusion, inclusive education, mental health, and technology. Prior to this role, Julie worked as the international relations coordinator and Early Child Development (ECD) expert at the Instituto Alana, a nonprofit civil society organization working on children’s rights in São Paulo, Brazil. Julie was also a MHPSS, disability and care practices program manager at Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Haiti and Myanmar.
Prior to her career in international development, she practiced as a certified occupational therapist (O.T) in various public hospitals and clinics in Canada, working with children with disabilities and their families. She holds a Master’s in Public Health (MPH), a degree in Occupational Therapy and a minor in Psychology from the University of Montreal, Canada. She speaks four languages: French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, and is the proud mother of three children.
Gorretti Byomire
Technical Expert
Gorretti Byomire
Technical Expert
Gorretti Byomire is a dedicated disability inclusion and rights advocate, with a profound commitment to Early Childhood Development (ECD) contributing significantly to the field. Her extensive experience includes pivotal roles as an early childhood expert and disability inclusion expert, where she has been instrumental in shaping policies and practices in these domains. Gorretti holds the position of Lecturer and serves as the Director of the Disability Resource and Learning Centre at Makerere University Business School (MUBS). She conducts research and consultancies in Disability and Gender, leveraging her expertise to lead various projects. Her contributions include work on the TESTS project in Liberia, the African Leadership Academy in South Africa, and a World Bank study on the employment of mothers with children with disabilities, among others. In addition to her roles, Gorretti plays a pivotal role as a disability inclusion expert with Inclusive Development Partners and serves as a valuable member of the Disability-Inclusive Education Advisory Group. She further contributes her expertise to Tropical Health, acting as a disability inclusion expert in the evaluation of the Sightsavers inclusive eye health program in Uganda and Malawi. Beyond her professional roles, Gorretti is the CEO and founder of Byomire Inclusive Development Foundation (BIDF). BIDF envisions creating an empowered, resilient, and inclusive society, with a particular focus on key populations, including women and girls, youth, Persons with Disabilities, the elderly, refugees, and single fathers. Gorretti is the President of Lion's Club, Kampala New Century, where she is actively engaged in serving underserved communities. Committed to her own educational journey, she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Information Systems with the University of South Africa. Her Ph.D. study focuses on the information needs, sources, and seeking behavior of persons with visual impairments, hearing impairments, intellectual, and developmental disabilities during disasters and emergencies.
Stuart Chauluka
Technical Expert
Stuart Chauluka
Technical Expert
Stuart Chauluka is a distinguished inclusive education specialist with over 15 years of experience advancing accessibility and equity in Malawi. Guided by his lived experience as a person with a visual impairment, he has dedicated his career to empowering learners with disabilities and strengthening inclusive education systems. Stuart holds a Master’s Degree in Arts and Community Development.
He currently serves as Project Manager at the Malawi Union of the Blind (MUB), where he leads national advocacy and capacity-building initiatives to promote the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Previously, Stuart worked as Universal Access Specialist for the USAID-funded NextGen project under Malawi’s National Reading Program, collaborating closely with the Ministry of Education to integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into national curriculum and assessment frameworks.
A recognized expert in the development of accessible learning materials, Stuart provides strategic leadership for school-based inclusion planning at both local and national levels. His work also includes community outreach and behavior change initiatives that equip parents, educators, and local leaders with practical strategies to foster inclusive and supportive learning environments across Malawi.
Suleiman Mamman
Technical Expert
Suleiman Mamman
Technical Expert
Suleiman Mamman is a humanitarian and development professional recognized for advancing child rights and strengthening equitable systems that ensure every child has a safe, healthy, and fair start in life. He brings over a decade of experience in Early Childhood Development (ECD), child protection, inclusive education, and Gender Equity & Social Inclusion (GESI), with extensive work in conflict and post-conflict settings across Nigeria.
His work focuses on removing structural and social barriers—including harmful norms and inaccessible learning environments—that prevent vulnerable children, particularly girls and children with disabilities, from accessing quality care and education. Among his key achievements are training over 20,000 project staff and stakeholders on gender-responsive and inclusive programming; conducting accessibility audits; advocating for inclusive policies at state and national levels; and leading the development of technical guidance on child protection, inclusive education, gender equity, disability inclusion, safeguarding, and psychosocial support.
Suleiman partners closely with communities, governments, and organizations to design and implement programmes that protect children from violence, expand access to inclusive learning opportunities, and address the root causes of inequality. He is deeply passionate about translating policy into practice and building sustainable systems that enable all children—regardless of gender, ability, or background—to reach their full potential.
Dr. Brent Elder
Technical Expert
Dr. Brent Elder
Technical Expert
Dr. Elder’s research focuses on the development of sustainable, inclusive education practices in under-resourced schools and low- and middle-income countries around the world. Specifically, his work utilizes a critical disability studies lens to examine the intersections of disability, poverty, and education. During the 2015-16 academic year, he conducted his doctoral research in Kenya as a Fulbright scholar. Aside from his extensive public school and higher education teaching experiences in the United States, Dr. Elder has collaborated with the US Embassy in Manama, Bahrain, the Ministry of Education in Kenya as an inclusive education consultant, and with the UK government, the Deaf community and stakeholders in the justice system in Northern Ireland. His international work has centered on developing sustainable inclusive practices that are in alignment with Articles 13 and 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Most recently, he collaborated with USAID, UNICEF, and the World Bank on disability inclusive education development in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Elder has published in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Disability & Society, International Journal of Whole Schooling, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, School-University Partnerships, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Disability and the Global South, Disability Studies Quarterly, Societies without Borders, and the Journal of International Special Needs Education.
Dr. Hasheem Mannan
Technical Expert
Dr. Hasheem Mannan
Technical Expert
Dr. Hasheem Mannan is presently an Associate Professor in Health Systems at University College Dublin and formerly a Marie Curie Fellow (2007-09), British Chevening Scholar (1996-97), and United States J1 Research Scholar at the University of Kansas (2000-2005). While at the University of Kansas, he was awarded the Grace M. Phinney Scholarship, the Phi Beta Delta International Student Award for Excellence in International Education, the David M. Dahlke Memorial Scholarship, the School of Education, and the International Student Scholarship. He has furthered his academic work in addressing equity and inclusion in access to healthcare by leading the development of EquiFrame and Every Policy is Connected (EPIC) frameworks. EquiFrame allows for benchmarking of health and social care policies to ascertain the extent to which they incorporate core concepts of human rights that enable equitable access to public goods and services. This framework has been used to benchmark a range of health and social care policies and has guided the development/analysis of policies in a range of low- and middle-income countries through a range of partnership projects with governments and a range of United Nations Agencies. EPIC reviews policy documents with respect to their coherence with a set of agreed principles and intended beneficiaries or target groups. EPIC produces a diverse set of outputs, including indicators needed for the current policies, data gaps for monitoring agreed policies, new agreements on policy priorities, and inputs to future work to fill the current policy void. This framework has been adopted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of the Asia and Pacific. It is used to support the work on Sustainable Development Goals that focus on equity and diversity. The focus of his research and teaching has always been on equitable access to public goods and services pertinent to specific population groups: early intervention for children with disabilities (USA), intellectual disability services (Ireland), care of the frail and elderly (Ireland), access to maternal and child health (global), disability and rehabilitation (global), and access to assistive technology and devices (global). I have carried out a range of commissioned research, including knowledge management projects focusing on equity and human rights for various United Nations agencies, including the World Health Organization, United Nations, United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNESCAP.
Dr. Lincoln Hlatywayo
Technical Expert
Dr. Lincoln Hlatywayo
Technical Expert
Professor Lincoln Hlatywayo is a disability inclusion and inclusive education specialist with over twenty-five years of experience as a consultant, educator, and researcher across Africa and the Pacific. He holds a PhD in Inclusive Education from the University of South Africa, an MSc in Special Education from the Zimbabwe Open University, and a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the Midlands State University. He has served as Disability Inclusion and Inclusive Education Lecturer Specialist at the National University of Vanuatu, where he contributed to establishing the Department of Inclusive Education and the Inclusive Education Resource Centre, strengthening national teacher training systems, and supporting inclusive education policy reform. Professor Hlatywayo has also worked as Country Disability Inclusion Advisor for CBM Global in Zimbabwe, leading disability-inclusive advisory services, policy engagement, and safeguarding-compliant programming. Previously, he was Dean of Applied Social Sciences at the Zimbabwe Open University, overseeing postgraduate training in disability studies, psychology, counselling, and development. His technical leadership has supported national disability situation analyses, CRPD implementation frameworks, and inclusive education, justice, and social sector reforms in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, and UN Women. In 2021–2022, he served as Technical Team Lead for the evaluation of the UNPRPD Round 3 project in Zimbabwe and led the development of the Round 4 national proposal. Dr. Hlatywayo joined IDP as a consultant in 2025 working on the UNICEF situational analysis in the Pacific.
Dr. Millicent Musyoka
Technical Expert
Dr. Millicent Musyoka
Technical Expert
Dr. Millicent Musyoka, an associate professor at the Department of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education at Lamar University, is deeply committed to the issues of language and literacy development of Deaf children. She holds a Master's and Ph.D. in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University and has been a critical figure in deaf education in Kenya. Her leadership roles include serving as the lead curriculum specialist in Deaf education at the former Kenya Institute of Education, Curriculum and Research Center, now KICD. Before her tenure at KICD, she taught Deaf students in the school system in Kenya. Currently, she is training Deaf educators in the master's and doctoral programs in Deaf education at Lamar University. Her research interests include the early language and literacy development of Deaf children, bi/multilingualism in education, and Deaf with multiple disabilities. Dr. Musyoka has authored numerous journal articles, books, and book chapters in Deaf/special education. Her recent journal publications include "Writing Skills of Deaf Learners in K-6th Grade" and "Translanguaging Pedagogy in Deaf Teacher Education." She has also released three edited books: "Deaf Education and Challenges for Bilingual/Multilingual Students (2022)," "Meaningful and Active Family Engagement: IEP, Transition and Technology Integration in Special Education (2023)," and "Advocating and Empowering Diverse Families of Students with Disabilities Through Meaningful Engagement (2023)." Recently, Dr. Musyoka served as a technical expert in the Receptive and Expressive Language module (RELM-2024) and the Kenya Primary Literacy Program (KPLP-2024) projects. Currently, she is working on a book featuring ethnographic case studies focusing on teaching multilingual/immigrant deaf learners in the K-12 school system.
Dr. How Kee Ling
Technical Expert
Dr. How Kee Ling
Technical Expert
Dr How Kee Ling is a social worker, educator, researcher and consultant with nearly 4 decades of experience in child protection work, women’s empowerment, disability rights and older persons rights in Malaysia. She has extensive practice as well as education and research experiences serving as a senior social worker in the Social Welfare Department in Sarawak, Malaysia from 1982 to 1994, and as an academic at a national university Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) since 1994. She was well recognized nationally and internationally as the founding director of the Centre for Disability Studies in UNIMAS. Upon her (compulsory) retirement as Associate Professor in Social Work in 2017, She was engaged as a Consultant for Programme and Partnership Development Sarawak by UNICEF (Malaysia) from July 2017 to June 2018. Dr Ling specializes in qualitative research and has collaborated with international universities and organizations such as UNICEF, SHAPE-SEA (Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN), ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) and Asian Development Bank. She is the author of 30 research articles and book chapters on inclusive research, cultural diversity and social work practice, disability, health rights of older persons, poverty and development. She is also the author of the book Indigenising Social Work: Research and practice in Sarawak and lead editor of Cross-cultural social work: Global and Local. Dr Ling holds a Ph.D in Social Work and Social Policy from The University of Queensland, Australia.
Ana Mickovska Raleva
Researcher
Ana Mickovska Raleva
Researcher
Ana Mickovska Raleva is a researcher and policy analyst with over 15 years of research experience in education, labor, social policy, human rights, and nondiscrimination. She has worked with numerous international organizations (The World Bank, UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, SDC, EC, OECD, USAID, etc.) in implementing and evaluating projects in the abovementioned fields, including in topics related to education, gender, youth activism and interethnic integration in Macedonia. This has provided Ms. Mickovska-Raleva with an in-depth understanding of the Macedonian political and economic system and the different aspects in which it can be assessed, along with well-developed networks and relationships with relevant stakeholders. Her research experience includes developing research methodology and instruments, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, data processing and analysis, and writing technical and analytical reports. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Cambridge and is fluent in the Macedonian language.
Dr. Latifa Sebti
Technical Expert
Dr. Latifa Sebti
Technical Expert
Latifa Sebti is a predoctoral fellow in special education at William Paterson University. She is a licensed early childhood teacher with a master’s degree in education from Bridgewater State University. She has teaching experience in both higher education and elementary and secondary schools in the US and in Morocco. Her research interest is focused on investigating ideological and instructional practices in inclusive education including Universal Design for Learning. She is fluent in English, French, and Arabic languages.
Dr. Ghada Swadek
Technical Expert
Ghada Swadek, PhD, is an inclusive education consultant supporting schools, NGOs, and international project teams to develop, implement, and improve programs for diverse learners. Her work also includes direct support to families of children with disabilities. Ghada is an experienced educator with expertise working with students with disabilities and struggling learners from diverse backgrounds and contexts. She is skilled in the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support to enhance learners’ academic and social-emotional development. Ghada’s engagement with education goes beyond the traditional classroom. She has worked, coordinated, and volunteered in formal and informal education contexts in the United States and North Africa such as religious and weekend education programs, post-secondary disability support services, inclusive community-based education and sports programs, and homeschool programs. Ghada’s research and publishing has focused on inclusive education policy development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), understandings of disability and inclusion in the MENA, SDG 4 implications for inclusive education, literacy development and reading disabilities in Arabic language contexts, and assessment as related to students with disabilities.
Emmanuel Tamba Johnny
Technical Expert
Emmanuel Tamba Johnny
Technical Expert
Emmanuel Tamba Johnny is a results-driven professional with over two years of experience in data collection, analysis, and community based development work in Sierra Leone. He has contributed to multiple national and international initiatives, including serving as a Research Assistant with Inclusive Development Partners (IDP) on the UNICEF supported study on the social inclusion of children with disabilities in Sierra Leone. Emmanuel has led survey teams, facilitated focus group discussions with diverse community members, and produced evidence-based reports for government and NGO stakeholders. His work at the Love of Christ Foundation strengthened disability support programs across Freetown and Makeni, while his leadership roles at Fourah Bay College and the Millennium Fellowship advanced youth engagement in sustainable development. Passionate about equity and social impact, he brings strong analytical, communication, and project management skills to every assignment
Dagnachew Wakene
Technical Expert
Dagnachew Wakene
Technical Expert
Dagnachew Wakene has been working for over sixteen years as a Disability Justice and Human Rights lawyer, consultant, educator, and researcher. He holds an LLB degree from the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil), majoring in Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Dagnachew served as Regional Director for the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) where he had direct contributions in, among other duties, the validation, adoption, promotion, and ratification of the new Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, also known as the Africa Disability Protocol (ADP). Prior to joining ADA, he was Regional Coordinator for Africa – based in Addis Ababa – at the Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI), a multi-year global project led by the Critical Disability Studies Department of York University in Toronto, Canada, which subsequently developed comprehensive, participatory monitoring tools and indicators unpacking disability-based rights violations on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). DRPI’s major outcomes whereby Dagnachew had a notable role in co-producing includes the Evidence-Based Indicators’ Report “Measuring Progressive Realization of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. In 2015, Dagnachew was a recipient of the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship award - a flagship initiative of former U.S. President Barack H. Obama to empower emerging leaders in Africa. During this Fellowship Program, Dagnachew was enrolled for an in-person Civic Leadership Training at the University of Virginia (UVA), followed by a six-week Professional Development Experience (PDE) exchange at the World Institute on Disability (WID) in Berkeley, California. A polio-survivor himself, with lifelong experience and commitment to the cause of Disability Inclusion, Dagnachew has also been serving on a volunteer basis as a board member and co-founder of several non-profit organizations. He is currently a doctoral researcher with a research topic “The State’s Duty to Respect and Protect: Violence against Persons with Disabilities in Africa – A Case Study of Ethiopia”.
Dekor Wesseh Toe
Technical Expert
Dekor Wesseh Toe
Technical Expert
Dekor is an education and development professional with over 12 years of experience supporting USAID-funded and internationally supported programs in Liberia. She has worked at national, county, and community levels, providing technical support to international organizations, government institutions, and implementing partners to strengthen program quality, inclusion, and accountability. Her expertise includes training and facilitation, school monitoring and teacher support, capacity building, data collection and quality assurance, gender equity and disability inclusion, monitoring and evaluation support, youth development, and stakeholder engagement. She has led Training-of-Trainers initiatives, facilitated large- and small-scale trainings, conducted supervision and spot checks, and contributed to national EMIS annual school census tool revisions in 2024 to strengthen data systems and promote accurate, ethical, and evidence-based decision-making.
Kidus Yosef
Technical Expert
Kidus Yosef
Technical Expert
Kidus Yosef is a PhD candidate in Population Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Applied Statistics from Addis Ababa University, providing a strong foundation in data analysis and statistical methods.
With five years of research experience at the Africa Leadership Excellence Academy, Kidus has conducted studies in socioeconomic, political, and leadership-related areas. This has honed his analytical skills and ability to synthesize complex information effectively.
Prior to his time at the Academy, Kidus served as a Lecturer and Researcher at Wolkite University and Debre Markos University, Ethiopia for over six years. His research focused on public health issues in Ethiopia. Notably, he led a survey on cervical cancer screening barriers among women, providing valuable insights. He also supervised a baseline study on HIV awareness among people with disabilities, contributing to improved understanding and support for this marginalized group.
Kidus has a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in Ethiopia and a passion for improving health outcomes. His expertise in quantitative analysis, coupled with his dedication to healthcare research, positions him to make a meaningful impact on the project by driving positive change and enhancing healthcare practices.
Raana Zafar
Technical Expert
Raana Zafar
Technical Expert
Ms. Raana Zafar is a seasoned social development professional with over 15 years of experience designing, managing, and advising large-scale donor-funded programs, with a strong focus on inclusive education, systems strengthening, and capacity development. She has held senior technical and leadership roles across multiple USAID-funded initiatives, most recently serving as Technical Advisor – Inclusive Education on the USAID School Sab ke Liye project. In this role, she led research, system-level assessments, and capacity-building interventions to improve sustained access to quality education for marginalized children, particularly children with disabilities, in disaster- and conflict-affected contexts. Raana holds a Master’s degree in International Development Studies from UNSW Sydney as an Australia Awards scholar and is an alumna of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). During her scholarship tenure, she worked with the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute and UNHCR-affiliated initiatives, contributing to research, co-production of knowledge, and advocacy focused on disability inclusion, refugee protection, and equity-driven policy responses. Earlier, she served in senior management roles on the USAID Training for Pakistan project, including Acting Chief of Party, supporting national capacity development, policy dialogue, and institutional strengthening across education, resilience, and social protection sectors.