Brian is a 10 plus year veteran of teaching English to students of all ages from around the world. He has used puppets to teach 3 year olds in Shanghai, flown paper airplane in lessons with retired S. Korean generals, and created collaborative online storytelling tools for teenagers. He has led teams of ESL teachers with Kings Education, English First, and Gyeonggi English Village and is the Co-Founder of Level Up English. He has lived in five countries and knows first hand the challenges of accomplishing everyday tasks in a new language. Brian is committed to compassion and empowerment.
Debra is an educator and professor who has worked with homeless immigrants and inner-city minorities on obtaining citizenship, learning literacy and ESL. Debra has experience working with the non-profit sector educating on the topic of bullying and violence, supervising community educators, schools, and communities. Administration of community education programs to researchers, K-12 educators, guidance counselors, administrators, law enforcement, and public servants in the legal sector (e.g., District Attorney's Offices). Debra also is a trained mediator (2005), Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. She currently works in partnership with a team of educators and neuroscientists on developing best practices in education using brain science. She has put a team together that is shaping education one brain at a time.
Karen is a teacher trainer and educator currently training native English speakers online to be teachers overseas. She has an M.A. in TEFL/TESL from Colorado State University. She has taught English as a second or foreign language to children in Kansas, children and teenagers in Japan, adults in New York City, and university students in Colorado. She was inspired by her work with individuals in the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program and hopes to further help those in need through her skill set.
Maura Pfeifer is an educator whose purpose in life is to help people to transcend barriers and in doing so come to value and respect each other's shared humanity.
Among her greatest joys are working in the field of international education and knitting fabulous things with amazing yarn for those she loves. She has lived in six countries on three continents and speaks Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese with varying degrees of proficiency. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, learning, exploring, knitting, drinking fabulous tea, and winning public speaking competitions. Maura is also the founder of Knit200Together (K200Tog).
Aaron is a project lead and manager at Google, working in Cloud. He has more than three decades of experience in software engineering and management in many different industries using many different technologies. On the side, he studies and teaches two different styles of swordwork and other martial arts.
Devin is an educator whose breadth of experience in the field ranges from peer tutoring to curriculum design and teacher training. He holds an M.A. in English Literature from Baylor University and teaches Intensive English courses at Houston Community College. He has previously worked as an ESL and GED instructor at McLennan Community College in Waco and a content area leader and curriculum coordinator at Gyeonggi English Village in Paju, South Korea. He is also an experienced editor with a penchant for creative writing and gaming and a great thirst for knowledge of other cultures.
Jeremy is a senior undergraduate student at uMass Boston for Sociology. He has also taken classes at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Evergreen State College, and Berklee College of Music. Besides his passion for nonprofits, Jeremy has a love for music production and songwriting. He is a Massachusetts native, residing in Sharon.