Advisory Council
Valentina Adjoa Quansah
Valentina Adjoa Quansah serves as the Principal Administration Officer at Ghana Education Service (GES), where she began her career in 2004. She is passionate about developing youth and serving her community and has been involved in various community service and voluntary work for NGOs in Ghana. She has worked with Olinga Foundation for Human Development, where she worked closely with people from rural areas, especially in the Western and Eastern Regions, to empower them with the skills and knowledge to gain small capital to start small business, such as in gari-production and snail farming. Valentina has also worked with the Philip Foundation, where she organized awareness workshops focused on adolescent health, for youth in and after school. At that time, she also served as a liaison with GES on School Health Education Programs. Born in the Greater Accra Region, she received her BS degree in Human Resources from the Central University College and received her Master’s degree from the University of Cape Coast.
Caesar William Sowah
Technology Director at the Ghana Education Service (GES)
Rob van Nood
Rob van Nood has been working in the field of education since 1994. In 2001 he became a founding teacher of Trillium Charter School in Portland Oregon, a k-12 democratic school. There he became an expert in student-led constructivist education and digital portfolios to document, reflect upon and share student learning. He began working with EDUCOA in 2012, specifically by helping to envision the use of digital portfolio tools. In 2013 he became the Educational Technology Coordinator at Catlin Gable School encouraging the use of technologies of all kinds throughout the school and curriculum. Rob has always been passionate about finding ways to support student centered learning and believes deeply in the power of education to enable social change. In 2009 Rob founded Tinker Camp, a non-profit organization that promotes hands-on, STEAM*-based learning experiences for children and educators. Rob lives with his family in Portland Oregon
Berna Oztekin
Berna Oztekin is a professional passionate about international development work and has extensive experience in program management and proposal writing in organizations in the US and Turkey. She worked for the Sabanci Foundation at Sabanci University located in the Governorship of Antalya in Turkey, where she prepared proposals to secure funding from the European Union and the United Nations. She also conducted research on women, youth, and people with disabilities in Turkey. Programs she has worked on include Mapping Higher Education Models in Europe Project with partners from Sweden, Italy, and Britain, and a program, which told the stories of social entrepreneurs making a difference in their communities that was broadcasted on CNN-Turk in Turkey. Currently, she works in International City/Country Management Association (ICMA) as a Research Associate. She has a special interest in program monitoring and evaluation, as well as preparing and conducting surveys. Berna holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, and two master’s degrees—one in political science from Sabanci University in Istanbul and another one in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University. She speaks English, Turkish and French. She has been advising the EDUCOA program team since 2013.
Elizabeth Rodriguez
Liz Rodriguez, MOL, CQIA has over 10 years of experience in education including designing and facilitating curriculum and course materials for digital and in-person corporate training programs and college courses. She is a certified Quality Improvement Associate, has a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from St. Ambrose University in Iowa and a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Averett University in Virginia. Her professional experience most recently includes tutoring veterans and undergraduate business students, providing coaching sessions to small business owners, planning and completing successful projects for the Army, managing training projects at various local higher-education institutions, public speaking, designing marketing campaigns for local non-profits, leading college classroom instruction and participating in various volunteer efforts in the community. Her passion for quality education and specialization in student-centered learning makes her a value member and contributor to our team.
