Preparing for Careers in Intl. Development Orgs. & NGOs

International development organizations and NGOs cover a wide variety of globally-focused education projects and work, both at the K-12 and higher education levels. Four panelists from different organizations will share their backgrounds and experience working with a variety of international development projects. Panelists will discuss how to prepare for a career in international development organizations and NGOs and will share resources to assist in a job search. Additionally, speakers will talk about how COVID has shaped the work in the international development field.

For Zoom information, contact Christine Caster (caster@msu.edu).

Panelist Bios

Martial Dembélé is a full professor in the Department of Administration and Foundations of Education at the Université de Montréal, which he joined in 2005 after co-directing for four years the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie Interuniversity Center for International Development in Education at the Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM). Prior to joining UQAM, he worked as an education specialist at the World Bank’s country office in Burkina Faso. Professor Dembélé holds an M.A. in Social and Comparative Analysis in Education from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy from Michigan State University. With special attention to development countries, his teaching, research, consultancy and service activities have been in the areas of school improvement; the comparative study of teacher education, professional development and management; international development/North-South relations in education; accountability policies and frameworks; and qualitative research methods. From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, he co-led, with Professor Jack Schwille, a team of international consultants to provide support for the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of a World Bank-funded elementary teacher development and school improvement program in Guinea. In 2004-2005, he played a key role in the Association for the Development of Education in Africa’s (ADEA) 2003 study entitled The Challenge of Learning: Improving the Quality of Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, and subsequently led a study of primary teacher education, support and management in four Francophone West African countries, also funded by the World Bank. He has been chairing, since June 2012, the Scientific Committee of the Education Research in Africa Award, on behalf of ADEA. More recently, he collaborated with Professor Amita Chudgar and Mrs. Isatou NDow (of the Gambia College) to provide scientific guidance and support for a review of the use of contract teachers in 24 Sub-Saharan African countries; a review commissioned by the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. Dembélé is the co?author, with Jack Schwille, of Global Perspectives on Teacher Learning: Improving Policy and Practice, published by UNESCO IIEP in 2007. With Jackie Kirk & Sandra Baxter, he co-edited a book published in 2013 and titled More and Better Teachers for Quality Education for All: Identity and Motivation, Systems and Support.

Mike Lindhout is a proud Spartan who graduated from the MSU Broad College of Business in 1995 with a degree in business administration. After college, he joined the Peace Corps and served as a Small Business Development Volunteer in rural Nicaragua. This experience eventually led to a career in non-profit management and international development. During his time stateside, he worked for the American Cancer Society in various executive positions, leading teams in fundraising, patient services, advocacy, and outreach. A passionate advocate for working with volunteers, Mike eventually returned to the Peace Corps as the Director of Programming and Training for Peace Corps Nicaragua, a position he held for 9 years before joining MSU. With the Peace Corps he had the opportunity to lead programs in the agriculture, health, environment, entrepreneurship, and education sectors. Mike is a skilled trainer with expertise in non-formal education techniques, community assessment, and youth engagement. He has extensive experience collaborating with government, corporate, and NGO partners. While his international experience has been primarily focused in Latin America, Mike has had numerous cross-cultural professional experiences. He served as acting director of the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, Belize, Panama, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and the Eastern Caribbean. In his current role with MSU, Mike is the Associate Director of International Corporate and Foundation Relations. He is responsible for fostering support for MSU’s international research projects, development initiatives, and scholarship through engagement with corporate and foundation partners.

Steve Sharra is a Malawian teacher, teacher educator and education policy analyst. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy from Michigan State University, a Master of Arts degree in English Education from the University of Iowa, and a primary school teaching certificate from Lilongwe Teachers College, Malawi. Steve has taught, researched and published on peace and social justice education, uMunthu (uBuntu) epistemology, decolonizing knowledge and knowledge production, and Pan-Africanism. He is a member of the Malawi Civil Society National Reference Group for the United Nations Spotlight Initiative on ending violence against women and girls. Steve is also a member of the Malawi team for the Knowledge Information Exchange (KIX) Regional Education Hub for Eastern, Southern and West Africa. He has taught at the Catholic University of Malawi, University of Botswana, University of Iowa, Michigan State University, and Baker College of Owosso (Michigan). He is based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Todd Drummond is currently the Director of Assessment and Education Services at The American Councils for International Education in Washington, D.C. He holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Michigan State University. Dr. Drummond has been studying education in Eurasia since 1994, when he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer educator in Kyrgyzstan. From 1998 to 2000 Dr. Drummond served as the Country Director for The American Councils for International Education in Bishkek. From 2002 to 2005 he was the director of the National Testing Initiative in the Kyrgyz Republic, a USAID-funded project that resulted in the creation of a new university admissions system. In August 2002, he received an award from the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Askar Akaev, for “Outstanding Contribution to the Educational Development of the Kyrgyz Republic” for his leadership of the National Testing Initiative. His recent publications have focused on university admissions reform in the Eurasian region (in Silova & Niyozov, 2020). Before returning to American Councils in 2020, Dr. Drummond served as the Acting Director of Office of International Studies in Education in the College of Education, Michigan State University in 2014. From 2015 to 2019 Dr. Drummond worked as a Principal Researcher in the International Standards and Assessment Division, American Institutes for Research (AIR). At AIR Dr. Drummond worked on the design, administration, and analysis of Early Grade Reading Assessments in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Dr. Drummond has also worked in the education sector in Zambia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Honduras, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, Russia, Moldova and all the Central
Eurasian nations.