Open Learning ExchangeUniversal Basic Education 2015

John M. Cook

Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer PRG- Schultz International, Inc.
Cook has been the primary benefactor of the Human Development Foundation of Bangkok (Thailand), which supports Mercy Centre, Bangkok’s first AIDS hospice, which focuses on children and mothers with the disease. Seeking to alleviate the suffering of children in Klong Toey, Bangkok’s largest slum community, Mercy Centre also operates an orphanage and a series of schools, helping over 5,000 children a year to qualify for public education.

Cook founded and serves as chairman of the board of the South Asia Children’s Fund, which supports innovative educational programs for disadvantaged children, primarily in Nepal and India.
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Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford is a Senior Education Specialist with the World Bank’s Education Department in the Latin America and Caribbean Vice Presidency, where he leads work on tertiary education and science, technology, and innovation (STI). Michael develops and manages investment projects and analytic studies in university reform, improvement of research and innovation capacity, access to tertiary education, quality assurance and related issues in Chile, Peru, and Brazil. He recently co-led the joint World Bank/OECD review, Tertiary Education in Chile. He previously designed and implemented the World Bank’s first loan for the promotion of science, technology, and innovation capacity in Sub Saharan Africa, the 2004 Uganda Millennium Science Initiative project, and he has developed World Bank policy for STI capacity building. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Development from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Mathematics from St.John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland.

Astrid Dufborg

Astrid Dufborg is a Swedish national with an educational background in political science. She currently is a Lead Specialist in education for the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA).  Ms Dufborg spent 30 years working with SIDA and was stationed in four African countries over a ten year period. She was as Director for the Department for Infrastructure and Economic Cooperation, and Assistant Director General and later became the Executive Director of the Global eSchools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI).  Ms Dufborg worked as an Ambassador and ICT Adviser based at the Swedish UN Mission in Geneva – where she led the Swedish work within the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Ms Dufborg has represented Sweden at the UN ICT Task Force since 2001, when she convened the Working Group on ‘Enabling Environment’ and was appointed Vice-Chair of GESCI. Astrid Dufborg became Executive Director of GeSCI on March 1, 2006 and returned to her work with SIDA, based in Stockholm, in 2008.

William F. Foote

William Foote is the president and founder of Root Capital (formerly EcoLogic Finance), a social investment fund that provides affordable credit, financial education and market access to environmentally sustainable, grassroots enterprises in the developing world. Mr. Foote has an extensive background in cross-border investment and economic development in Latin America and Africa.

Mr. Foote is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves on the Sustainability Committee of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Since 2005, Root Capital has received the Fast Company/ Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award; the International Chamber of Commerce/ UNDP/ Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum World Business Award in support of the Millennium Development Goals; and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
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Anne Margulies

Anne Margulies is the Assistant Secretary for Information Technology & Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to this, Anne served as an executive director of OpenCourseWare at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a large scale Web-based initiative that provides free, world-wide access to MIT’s course materials.

Before joining MIT, Anne was the chief operating officer at FH/GPC, a government relations, public affairs and communications consulting firm where she was responsible for the overall performance of the firm. Prior to her time at FH/GPC, Anne was the executive vice-president of McDermott O’Neill & Associates, where she restructured the senior management team and planned and managed the sale of the company to GPC International.
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Richard Rowe

Richard Rowe is a Chief Executive Officer of the Open Learning Exchange, Inc. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in clinical psychology in 1963. In the1970’s served as Associate Dean of the Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and as Director of the university’s interfaculty Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and Public Practice. He has conducted research concerning assessment of social interventions and has been an advocate for early childhood education. He has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Statewide Advisory Committee for the Office for Children, as a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education where he served both as Chair of the Selection committee for the Commissioner of Education and of the Education Reform Review Committee. He has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.

Dr. Rowe has focused on domestic and global policy issues related to education and services for children, families and strong communities as well as on public policy and technical issues concerning intellectual property.
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Kitt Sawitsky

Kitt Sawitsky is and attorney with Goulston & Storrs, Councilors at Law in Boston where he served for several years as the firms Co-Managing Director. He practices general corporate and business law and has a reputation as a deal maker. He represents entities and individuals in connection with asset and stock sales, debt and equity financings, mergers, acquisitions, entity structuring and shareholder and partnership agreements. He also has extensive workout and other general business experience, with a particular emphasis on retail and consumer businesses in their domestic and cross-border operations and strategic transactions.  Mr Sawitsky serves as OLE’s legal counsel.

Paul Smyke

Paul Symke is the Senior Advisor to the Chairman, World Economic Forum.  He has worked with the forum for 22 years and, among other responsibilities, facilitates relationships between the Forum and key leaders in North America.

Robyn Gordon, Regional Coordinator for Middle East and Africa

Robyn is a communications and capacity building expert with a focus on information, communication technology and education projects. Prior to becoming president of Linkages Consulting in the fall of 2001, Robyn was Vice President of the Software Human Resource Council. The Council is one of more than 30 supported by the Canadian Federal government in a globally acknowledged success strategy. The Councils are positioned as a link between government, education and industry and are considered an important delivery mechanism for skills and learning in Canada.

While with Linkages Consulting Robyn participated in a number of knowledge based projects in Canada and abroad and is recognized for her ability to create and implement strategic visions with concrete results.
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Jim Krzywicki, Chief Operating Officer

Jim Krzywicki brings a broad range of executive experience to OLE after thirty years of financial and operations assignments in the information and content management industries. Most recently, Jim served as President and CEO of Treeno Software, Inc. a web-based document and content management Software Company. There, he developed the strategy and helped lead the company from start-up to a content management leader in the Financial Services & Insurance Industry.

Prior to Treeno, Jim helped build large-scale organizations throughout the world at Prime Computer, Lotus/IBM, RoweCom and Parametric Technologies.

Jim started Lotus’ professional education business in 1992 and led that organization through several years of successful growth to become a two hundred million dollar division in over sixty countries before joining IBM to manage its global distance learning division.
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Joe Rappa, Chief Education Officer

Joseph Rappa became the founding executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability in September of 2001. He has over 20 years of experience as an administrator in public education. Dr. Rappa is a member of the American Society for Curriculum and Development; the American Association of School Administrators; the American Vocational Association; the Organizational Development Network; Phi Delta Kappa; the American Education Research Association; the American Society for Public Administration.
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Chris Rowe, Educational Technology Coordinator

In December of 2007 Chris received his Masters in Educational technology with a focus on the use of System Dynamics and virtual worlds to help people understand complexities related to sustainable development.

Chris worked for the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems beginning 2002 on a wide range of projects combining his skills and interest in sustainable design, computer modeling, technology strategy, learning systems design, and project management.

At Hampshire College Chris studied education, software design and sustainable business with a thesis project on the use of technology to increase community participation in community planning.

At OLE he has consulted on educational technology strategy, Fundraising, and organizational technology solutions. He is currently focusing on our toolkit development plan.

Richard Rowe, Chief Executive Officer

Richard Rowe is a Chief Executive Officer of the Open Learning Exchange, Inc. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in clinical psychology in 1963. In the1970’s served as Associate Dean of the Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and as Director of the university’s interfaculty Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and Public Practice. He has conducted research concerning assessment of social interventions and has been an advocate for early childhood education. He has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Statewide Advisory Committee for the Office for Children, as a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education where he served both as Chair of the Selection committee for the Commissioner of Education and of the Education Reform Review Committee. He has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. Dr. Rowe has focused on domestic and global policy issues related to education and services for children, families and strong communities as well as on public policy and technical issues concerning intellectual property. Read more…