Facilitators

Catherine Y

Catherine began to serve with SIL International in 1990 and initially worked with a local language community in the southwest of the Philippines supporting education and linguistic work and has also lived and worked in Bangladesh and Thailand. She currently works as the Global Director for SIL Language and Development Services and, when possible, as a Literacy and Education consultant. Catherine is currently based in Gloucester, UK and is also involved in supporting the MA Language, Community and Development programme for SIL staff.

Craig C

Craig joined SIL International in 2006, serving in Washington DC with the International Relations Office where he advocated for language development issues with governments and within the UN system. In 2011 he moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where he helped SIL Uganda/Tanzania establish a government relations and advocacy office for language issues. In 2015 Craig received his Masters in International Development from Eastern University and joined the LEAD Asia-Pacific team, where he currently serves as coordinator for Transformational Development. As part of this role Craig co-facilitates the Transformational Development Forum, an online community of practice that brings together community development practitioners around a diverse range of relevant current issues and topics.

Clare O

Clare began serving with SIL in 1982, first in Pakistan, then in Nepal & India, then in various global leadership roles which brought her to every continent. She is currently based in the Washington DC area. Using her academic background in Sociolinguistics, Clare has taught in both formal and informal programs through workshops and training events, online and face-to-face courses, and in universities in the US and abroad. Currently she is focused on capacity-building related to pursuing resource opportunities to support NGOs and CBOs involved in language-related programs around the world.

Cornelius T

Cornelius began serving with SIL Bangladesh in 2009 as a Program Manager in partnership with Food for the Hungry, later serving as Associate Director (Community Development). He is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has been using his academic background in Development Studies and Organizational Management & Leadership to achieve the language and community development and leadership goals of SIL Bangladesh. He currently serves as Director of SIL Bangladesh and is focused on the localisation process, ensuring the ongoing resources and capacity building of the organization.

Diane D

Diane and husband Greg began working in the Philippines in 1987, where they served the Lubuagan people of the Northern Philippines. Diane was a literacy specialist and initiated a L1 based Multilingual Education program with the teachers of the Lubuagan district. In 2001, upon moving to Manila, Diane began working at the national level in advocacy and training for MTB MLE. Diane has also spent some time working in other South Asian countries on MLE issues. Currently Diane serves as both the LEAD Asia-Pacific Literacy & Education Coordinator and SIL’s International Literacy & Education Coordinator, based our of her home in California.

Dickon C

Dickon has worked in Wycliffe UK & Ireland for only two years, since 2019, and is based in the UK. He trained in agriculture and forestry, and has worked in rural development projects in Nepal and Mozambique. Prior to joining Wycliffe he worked for a British Christian NGO overseeing partnerships and project funding in Angola.

Grace G

Grace is born, raised and based in the Philippines. She started serving SIL International-Asia Area, in Manila, in 2004, in the prayer ministry and later served SIL Philippines (SILP) and LEAD Asia as Advocate for Literacy and Education and Community Development. She also served the SE Unit of SILP with a focus on translation project management and the Jesus Film. At the moment, she shares a portion of her time with SILP and LEAD Asia-Pacific serving in Advocacy roles. Grace currently is the Coordinator for a rural bankers association in south-central Mindanao and is the Executive Director of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) association of General Santos City.

Ian L

Ian has been with SIL since 2012. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Ian is responsible for participatory approach support in LEAD Asia-Pacific, and he is part of the LEAD Leadership team. Having started his involvement in participatory approach training in Indonesia, he has since trained SIL staff and partners from around the world. He enjoys learning how communities from different cultures get involved in their own development.

Jestoni B

Jestoni is the Dean of the School of Education and the Director for Research, Training and Development in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the University of San Jose- Recoletos in Cebu, Philippines. He also sits of the Board of Trustees of the Coalition for Better Education Philippines. Previously he worked as Country Program Managers in the following projects: Capacity Buidling for Community Teachers in the production of MTB- MLE Materials using Bloom Software in the Philippines funded by USAID through University Research Council in Washington and UNESCO Japan and UNESCO Bangkok's Community-based ESD Project in Asia and the Pacific. He partners with several government and non-government organizations for local and national projects for teacher education in the Philippines.

Kate S

Kate has worked with SIL since 2013, initially working in the Philippines supporting local language communities and the Department of Education in their efforts to implement mother tongue-based multilingual education. She then transitioned to working with LEAD Asia-Pacific, with a focus on building up capacity among literacy and education workers in SIL and partner organizations. She holds an MA in linguistics and an MA in literacy programme development. She is currently a doctoral student in International and Multicultural Education.

Marco v

Marco has been with SIL since 2017 and is based in Bangkok. He is part of the Asia Resource Engagement Team (ARET) among other roles in Asia. Before moving to Asia, Marco headed the WO Netherlands program department team, responsible for partnerships and fundraising. Prior to that he worked 4 years with a Dutch Christian NGO as a fundraiser /relations manager for companies and foundations. He holds an MA in Urban Planning and the first 10 years of his working life, he worked as an urban planner in The Netherlands.

Matt W

Matt has worked with SIL since 2008, initially working in Tanzania (East Africa) in literacy and education work before transitioning to Asia in 2011 to join the LEAD Asia-Pacific team. Matt is part of the LEAD Asia-Pacific Leadership team, responsible for coordinating the LEAD community of practice. Matt is currently based in the UK, from where he is also involved in supporting the UK-based MA Language, Community and Development programme for SIL staff.

Philina N

Philina has been with SIL Nepal since 2013. She is involved in the area of adult literacy and children mother tongue based multilingual education work. She enjoys supporting local partners to achieve their goals.

Phil K

Phil has worked with SIL since 1999. Up to 2015, this was primarily in Papua New Guinea, developing training to build the capacity of Papua New Guinean translators. Since then he has been based in the UK, supporting the UK-based MA Language, Community and Development programme for SIL staff. Phil also serves as SIL's International Coordinator for Translation Training and Development.

Tanya S

Tanya has worked with SIL since 2004, and currently serves as the Literacy & Education Domain Team Leader for Anglo-Lusophone Africa, as well as the Literacy & Education Coordinator for SIL South Sudan. She has been based in South Sudan since 2007, but has worked on literacy & education projects in several countries in Africa, doing everything from training teachers, developing teaching and learning materials to advocacy with government and other partner organizations.