Meet Our Team

Project Team - Lebanon

Wael Zaraket, DBA

Project Manager

Wael is responsible for in-country project management and administrative over-site of project activities. Additionally, Wael is a Senior Organizational Development Specialist responsible for the design, implementation, and quality assurance of HEI capacity building activities. Wael holds a DBA in Human Resources and Leadership from Switzerland and an MBA in Strategic Management from the U.S.

Lubna Souheil, Ph.D.

Senior Higher Education Specialist

Lubna is a Senior Higher Education Specialist responsible for the design, implementation, and quality assurance of HEI capacity building activities. Lubna holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, an M.A in Counseling, a Teaching Diploma, and a Bachelors in Health Sciences.

Youssef El Morr

Finance & Admin Coordinator

Youssef coordinates the financial activities of the project including data entry, financial reporting, and other admin & HR tasks performed under the Finance and Administration department. Youssef holds a BA in Business and a Masters Degree in Finance and Banking.

Sana Tarabay

Communications  & Outreach Coordinator 

Sana assists project leadership to guide internal and external communication protocols and coordinates the development of reports and communication products to document and promote project activities. Sana has more than 8 years of experience in nonprofit communications, marketing and content creation.

Kassem Al Kassem

Information Management Officer

Kassem assists in the design and development of the project databases and project reporting under the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning department. Kassem holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and has an experience working with international NGOs.

Ghiwa Khoury Hanna

MEL Officer

Ghiwa assists in analyzing and managing data and applying data visualization techniques to produce high-quality reports that highlight key findings, trends, and recommendations for program enhancement. Ghiwa holds an MSc in Data Science for Risk Analysis & has 4 years of experience working in local and international nonprofit organizations.

Rim Mahdi

Finance Assistant

Rim supports the Finance & Admin Coordinator with the day-to-day finance operations and maintains accurate data entry and records keeping. Rim holds a degree in Accounting and Auditing and has more than 2 years of experience in accounting and finance.

Bilal Abdel Khalek

Logistics Assistant & Driver

Bilal is the HECD driver and assists with project administrative and logistical tasks, under the Finance and Administration department. Bilal has 10 years of experience working with international NGOs.

Project Team - USA

Bill Potter

Senior Project Director

Bill is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the HECD program, working in close consultation with USAID. Bill has over 30 years of international experience managing education and youth development projects worldwide.

Jordan Detwiler-Michelson

Associate Project Director 

Jordan assists Bill with HECD project management and support responsibilities at the EDC home office. Jordan has worked in over two dozen countries to administer and support ICT solutions and has served as production manager for over 20 USAID-funded online seminars. 

International Technical Team

Education Development Center

Nancy Chervin

International Technical Advisor

Nancy provides technical assistance to HECD from the EDC home office focused on job readiness skills training and work-based learning.  Nancy leads the training design and delivery of EDC's Work Ready Now (WRN) course for HEI instructor professional development. Her instructional design experience includes employability skills and learner-centred teaching approaches such as project-based learning. 

Chris Murray

Senior International Technical Advisor

Chris provides technical assistance to HECD focused on the design and delivery of EDC’s activity-based Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) entrepreneurship training workshop. Since 2007, Mr. Murray has been an EDC workforce development expert who provides technical expertise to EDC’s education and youth projects in the Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Tania Tzelnic

Associate Project Director

Tania leads the development of HECD's Design Thinking training activity which empowers students across all majors to apply systematic approaches to thinking creatively about “real world” problems. Ms. Tzelnic leads and advances initiatives to prepare youth for the rapidly changing digital economy. 

Elizabeth Miller Pittman

Senior International Technical Advisor

Beth contributes curriculum development and training program design expertise to HECD's Work Ready Now (WRN) course. Beth has applied her participatory training program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation skills in formal and non-formal education settings around the world.

Susan Bruckner

Senior International Technical Advisor

Susan coordinates the HECD Universal Design for Learning (UDL) component which guides the development of flexible learning environments that accommodate individuals with learning differences. Susan also provides support to EDC programs around the globe on early-grade reading and math, community engagement, social and emotional learning, and inclusive education.

Heidi Kar, Ph.D.

International Mental Health Expert

Heidi brings expertise in designing, training, and evaluating HECD's mental health in the workplace component. Heidi leads EDC’s violence and trauma team and evidence-based interventions focused on the prevention and/or treatment of trauma disorders, violent behavior, substance use disorders, and suicide. 

Florida State University

Jeffrey Milligan, Ph.D.

Senior International Advisor

Jeff manages the FSU team of experts which contribute a range of technical expertise  to HECD's HEI capacity building program. Jeff is the Director of the Learning Systems Institute and a Professor of philosophy of education and international and comparative education in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University.

Jeff Garis, Ph.D.

Career Center Enhancement Expert 

Jeff provides expertise for HECD's HEI Career Center enhancement component. Jeff served as Director of the Florida State University Career Center and previously served as the Senior Director for Career Services at Penn State University.

Stephen W. Dunnivant, Ph.D.

Employer Engagement Expert

Stephen provides expertise to HECD's Employer Engagement component. He has over 30 years of experience in public and higher education, workforce, economic development, and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems. He currently teaches leadership development and technology integration courses for Arizona State University, Mary Baldwin University, Tiffin University, and Campbellsville University.

Jay Pfeiffer

Institutional Data Integration Expert

Jay leads HECD's Institutional Data Integration for Informed Decision-Making training component. Jay served as the Policy Research Director at the Florida Department of Labor and also served as the Deputy Commissioner at the Florida Department of Education focused on statewide unified education data systems.

Rabieh Razzouk

Grant Writing Systems Expert

Rabieh leads the HECD Grant Writing Systems training component. Rabieh is the Associate Director of the Learning Systems Institute at FSU. In his role, he established a grant support system for one of the largest and most successful research institutes in Florida. 

Ken Baldauf

Design Thinking Expert

Ken is the lead trainer and content expert for FSU’s Design Thinking training for HEI instructors. Ken is the Director of FSU’s Innovation Hub, and has been an FSU faculty member for over 25 years.

Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ)

Piti "Golf" Kanjanapongpaisal, Ph.D.

Activity Manager

Golf serves as the lead designer and manager for FSCJ’s virtual instructional design workshop series for HEI instructors.  Golf is the Director for FSCJ’s Center for e-Learning with over 20 years of instructional design experience, especially in Higher Education and Corporate settings.

Dr. Ujjwal Chakraborty

Course Facilitator and Content Expert

Ujjwal provides expertise as a facilitator and content expert for HECD’s online instructional design workshops. Ujjwal serves as the Academic Dean of Online Education at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He has been a Hiigher Ed Administrator since 2017 and an educator since 2011.

Inez Whipple, MAEd PMP CPACC

e-Learning Expert

Inez Whipple serves as a trainer for online course design and development frameworks as part of FSCJ’s virtual workshop series for HEI instructors. Inez has served as eLearning instructional designer at Florida State College at Jacksonville since 2012. She has worked in higher education for over 20 years as both a faculty and staff member.

This webpage is made possible with the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The content is the sole responsibility of the HECD program and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.