WISE Emerging Leaders

Since its inception in 2019, the WISE Emerging Leaders program has convened over 80 young leaders in education. This fellowship was designed to support the next generation of leaders in education, embarking on a learning journey that cultivates the mindsets, skills, and techniques necessary to thrive, nurture communities, and transform education systems. At its core, WISE recognizes the importance of creating stimulating and nourishing spaces for education leaders to come together, connect meaningfully and collaborate for collective impact. 

Building upon this, WISE is taking the key strengths of their community-focused programs and incorporating this as an exclusive capacity-building opportunity for all WISE Prize finalist teams. In offering a hybrid program consisting of in-person residential sessions and access to exclusive coaches, this new offering for education innovators will directly connect teams to their solution development as part of the 2024-2025 WISE Prize for Education. 

Through an established partnership with The Weaving Lab and Recipes for Wellbeing, WEL has supported young emerging leaders across over 70 organizations, and 33 countries. 

“The WISE Emerging Leaders program has been an incredible journey of personal and professional growth for me. Not only have I gained valuable insights and tools to multiply the impact of my work, but I have also learnt perseverance from the life experiences of powerful changemakers, who are now my close friends, from 14 countries. What sets this program apart is the safe space it offers to share our impact stories, both personal and professional, our values, and even our vulnerabilities. The experience has made me value diversity, celebrate different perspectives and align with people to create a bigger lasting impact in this world.”

Rajat Bagga, Senior Manager at Pratham Education Foundation, India and German Chancellor Fellow at Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Germany (2022 fellow)

“The WISE fellowship is so unique in that it brings such a diverse group of individuals to learn from each other professionally and just as equally, personally. 

Time has never flown by so fast as it did in every webinar and residential session I spent with my WISE fellows. I learnt more about the world, about education, about learning and about the goodness of humanity. It was and still is – through every chat, message, catch up sessions – a truly life transforming and forward thinking experience!”

Christina Bwana, Chief Operations Officer and General Manager, Ubongo (2020 fellow)

Further information about the program

1. In-Person Residential Sessions

The WEL 2023 Fellows will participate in two in-person residential sessions*, which will be delivered by experienced facilitators.

  • First residential session: 31 May – 10 June 2023 near Milan, Italy.
  • Second residential session: Late November/early December in Doha, Qatar.

During these residential sessions, they will be guided through a series of experiential workshops and activities on topics such as:

  • Collaborative and weaving leadership
  • Personal sustainability and wellbeing
  • Systems change in education
  • Peer-learning and peer-coaching
  • Collaboration and co-creation
  • Project development
  • Storytelling for impact
  • Personal and group harvesting

WISE will cover the following costs for Fellows joining the residential sessions: return flights, accommodation, meals, in-country transportation, venue hire, and workshop material.

*In the event that it is not safe to host the residential sessions in person, they will be delivered online (Monday to Thursday for max. 3.5 hours each day). Exact dates & times to be confirmed based on the Fellows’ timezones.

 

 

2. Online Workshops & Masterclasses

Fellows will integrate their learning journey with 8 online interactive workshops* aimed at deepening their connections, engaging with distinguished education experts, collaborating with each other, and reflecting on their progress in the Fellowship. Workshops generally focus on topics covered during the residential sessions, but also offer the opportunity to dive deeper into global education content, depending on the Fellows’ interests. Previous masterclasses with education experts have included topics such as:

  • Education for climate action
  • Non-traditional approaches to education
  • Remote learning during COVID-19 times
  • Ecoversities and alternative universities
  • Wellbeing for educators and wellbeing in education
  • Education policy implementation
  • Girls’ education and gender equality in education
  • Systems change: From theory to action

*The exact dates for the workshops will be communicated with the selected cohort of Fellows, but as a general guideline, the first 2 will take place before the first residential session and the remaining 6 after the first and before the second residential session. Each workshop will last 90 minutes.

3. Reflective Blog Posts & Vlogs

Fellows will reflect on their learning journey by submitting 4 blog posts or vlogs during the Fellowship (approximately every 2 months). They will receive comprehensive guidelines and reflection prompts and some of the blog posts will be published on the WISE website. Examples of previous published posts by WEL alumni include:

4. Practical Projects

Fellows will apply what they are learning during the Fellowship through the design, development, and implementation of a project in their organizational context.

  • Fellows will identify a potential project with their organization at the moment of applying for the fellowship but may change it during the residential session.
  • Fellows will have the opportunity to start the design and development of their project during the residential session through a series of dedicated activities and tools.
  • Fellows will receive support through tailored mentoring. Please note that WISE does not dispense any funds to projects or individuals. 
  • Fellows will be asked to submit regular updates in the form of blog posts (see previous section) about their project development, including a final project update at the end of the fellowship.
  • Fellows will work with their organization to pilot and/or implement the selected project during the Fellowship.

5. Tailored Mentoring

Fellows will be offered support in the development of their projects through tailored mentoring. WISE will match Fellows with their respective mentors after the first residential session and after having received an updated project description along with clear mentoring needs.

Important note: It is the Fellows’ responsibility to be proactive in their relationship with their mentor and make the most of this. WISE will provide useful tips during one of the online workshops on the mentor and protegé relationship.

6. Post-fellowship engagements

On a voluntary basis, WISE offers regular post-fellowship engagements, which are co-organized with the fellows to connect with alumni from the program. Those engagements include:

  • Alumni WhatsApp group for asynchronous updates & support
  • Check-in calls to reconnect, foster wellbeing, and exploring educational topics
  • Masterclasses with external experts on education 
  • Sharing engagement opportunities and participation in events 

WISE invites representatives of institutions, organizations, programs and networks to nominate engaged candidates with outstanding academic/professional and/or personal experiences in the field of education from your organization. Nominees can be part of your extended organization or branches across the world. The nominator must have a project idea while nominating a candidate for the nomination to be eligible.

  • WISE is looking for 15–20 outstanding young professionals identified by their organizations to join the cohort.
  • Nominees must be between the ages of 25 and 33, with demonstrated engagement in the field of education and potential for growth.
  • Nominating organizations must identify a potential project for the nominee to undertake during the year and support the nominee in developing the project during the program.
  • Upon selection of the fellow, their host organization and WISE will finalize the project brief.
  • Application deadline: Completed forms in English should be submitted through the online portal by 13:00 GMT on 1 March, 2023.
  • Interview round: 19-30 March, 2023.
  • Application outcome: All applicants will be notified of their application outcome by early April, 2023.
  1. Candidates must be between the ages of 25 and 33.
  2. Candidates must hold a valid travel document and be willing to travel abroad for the residential session.
  3. Candidates should be proficient in spoken and written English and should be comfortable presenting and speaking in public.
  4. Candidates should demonstrate a degree of resilience that enables them to contribute fully to the program while also meeting other organizational and personal commitments.
  5. Candidates should be curious, open-minded, flexible, and comfortable in multicultural environments.
  6. Candidates have a strong profile showing a steady record of accomplishments in the field of education (academic, professional and/or personal). They have also been involved in education and/or development projects for at least 3 years.
  7. Candidates clearly demonstrate engagement in social issues and how they have sought to overcome them through innovative ideas, and initiatives.
  8. Candidates must demonstrate potential for growth within the nominating organization.
  1. Candidates must be able to travel and must commit to participating in all WISE Emerging Leaders program components.

     

  2. Candidates must be able to fully take part the residential session in May/June and last quarter of 2021 and organizations must support the fellows’ travel request for the duration, if applicable.

     

  3. Candidates must engage in online modules, project development work and deliver blog submissions in line with the program deadlines.

     

  4. Candidates can only pursue projects that are supported by their organization, and approved by WISE.

     

  5. Nominator/organization support for the fellows will be required throughout the program for the successful delivery of the project.

     

  6. All nominators agree to respect final selection decisions made by the WISE Team. No appeal or claim can be considered. Should your application be unsuccessful, you can nominate again next year.

     

  7. By submitting the nomination form, you are acknowledging the aforementioned terms and committing to them.

     

  8. WISE reserves the right to publicize the selected fellows by means of any kind of communication (internal and/or commercial advertising), through any promotional media (press, magazines, catalogues, websites, etc.) and all over the world. This communication may be in the form of pictures, recordings (audio and video) and texts supplied by each of the selected fellows. Selected fellows agree to provide photos, bio and descriptions of their projects. They also acknowledge the right of the WISE initiative to use this material.
  9. By taking part in this competition, applicants agree that their personal details will be included in a database owned by the WISE initiative, which will be the exclusive custodian of the said details for the purpose of managing the specified competition. The WISE initiative will not sell or distribute applicants’ personal data to third parties. Applicants have the right to access and modify any personal data concerning themselves. Applicants also have the right to refuse to be included in a database and may exercise these rights at any time by making the appropriate request in writing to emergingleaders@wise.org.qa.

     

  10. WISE reserves the right to amend the program timeline and components at any time. If it does so, WISE will post an update on its website and notify all candidates.

     

  11. These rules for the WISE Awards are governed by Qatari law and, in the event of a dispute regarding their interpretation or performance, such a dispute shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Doha, Qatar.

     

  12. Nominating for the 2021 WISE Emerging Leaders program implies full acceptance of and respect for these rules by the applicants. Interpretation of these rules falls within the exclusive competence of WISE.

Further information about the program

1. In-Person Residential Sessions

The WEL 2023 Fellows will participate in two in-person residential sessions*, which will be delivered by experienced facilitators.

  • First residential session: 31 May – 10 June 2023 near Milan, Italy.
  • Second residential session: Late November/early December in Doha, Qatar.

During these residential sessions, they will be guided through a series of experiential workshops and activities on topics such as:

  • Collaborative and weaving leadership
  • Personal sustainability and wellbeing
  • Systems change in education
  • Peer-learning and peer-coaching
  • Collaboration and co-creation
  • Project development
  • Storytelling for impact
  • Personal and group harvesting

WISE will cover the following costs for Fellows joining the residential sessions: return flights, accommodation, meals, in-country transportation, venue hire, and workshop material.

*In the event that it is not safe to host the residential sessions in person, they will be delivered online (Monday to Thursday for max. 3.5 hours each day). Exact dates & times to be confirmed based on the Fellows’ timezones.

 

 

2. Online Workshops & Masterclasses

Fellows will integrate their learning journey with 8 online interactive workshops* aimed at deepening their connections, engaging with distinguished education experts, collaborating with each other, and reflecting on their progress in the Fellowship. Workshops generally focus on topics covered during the residential sessions, but also offer the opportunity to dive deeper into global education content, depending on the Fellows’ interests. Previous masterclasses with education experts have included topics such as:

  • Education for climate action
  • Non-traditional approaches to education
  • Remote learning during COVID-19 times
  • Ecoversities and alternative universities
  • Wellbeing for educators and wellbeing in education
  • Education policy implementation
  • Girls’ education and gender equality in education
  • Systems change: From theory to action

*The exact dates for the workshops will be communicated with the selected cohort of Fellows, but as a general guideline, the first 2 will take place before the first residential session and the remaining 6 after the first and before the second residential session. Each workshop will last 90 minutes.

3. Reflective Blog Posts & Vlogs

Fellows will reflect on their learning journey by submitting 4 blog posts or vlogs during the Fellowship (approximately every 2 months). They will receive comprehensive guidelines and reflection prompts and some of the blog posts will be published on the WISE website. Examples of previous published posts by WEL alumni include:

4. Practical Projects

Fellows will apply what they are learning during the Fellowship through the design, development, and implementation of a project in their organizational context.

  • Fellows will identify a potential project with their organization at the moment of applying for the fellowship but may change it during the residential session.
  • Fellows will have the opportunity to start the design and development of their project during the residential session through a series of dedicated activities and tools.
  • Fellows will receive support through tailored mentoring. Please note that WISE does not dispense any funds to projects or individuals. 
  • Fellows will be asked to submit regular updates in the form of blog posts (see previous section) about their project development, including a final project update at the end of the fellowship.
  • Fellows will work with their organization to pilot and/or implement the selected project during the Fellowship.

5. Tailored Mentoring

Fellows will be offered support in the development of their projects through tailored mentoring. WISE will match Fellows with their respective mentors after the first residential session and after having received an updated project description along with clear mentoring needs.

Important note: It is the Fellows’ responsibility to be proactive in their relationship with their mentor and make the most of this. WISE will provide useful tips during one of the online workshops on the mentor and protegé relationship.

6. Post-fellowship engagements

On a voluntary basis, WISE offers regular post-fellowship engagements, which are co-organized with the fellows to connect with alumni from the program. Those engagements include:

  • Alumni WhatsApp group for asynchronous updates & support
  • Check-in calls to reconnect, foster wellbeing, and exploring educational topics
  • Masterclasses with external experts on education 
  • Sharing engagement opportunities and participation in events 

WISE invites representatives of institutions, organizations, programs and networks to nominate engaged candidates with outstanding academic/professional and/or personal experiences in the field of education from your organization. Nominees can be part of your extended organization or branches across the world. The nominator must have a project idea while nominating a candidate for the nomination to be eligible.

  • WISE is looking for 15–20 outstanding young professionals identified by their organizations to join the cohort.
  • Nominees must be between the ages of 25 and 33, with demonstrated engagement in the field of education and potential for growth.
  • Nominating organizations must identify a potential project for the nominee to undertake during the year and support the nominee in developing the project during the program.
  • Upon selection of the fellow, their host organization and WISE will finalize the project brief.
  • Application deadline: Completed forms in English should be submitted through the online portal by 13:00 GMT on 1 March, 2023.
  • Interview round: 19-30 March, 2023.
  • Application outcome: All applicants will be notified of their application outcome by early April, 2023.
  1. Candidates must be between the ages of 25 and 33.
  2. Candidates must hold a valid travel document and be willing to travel abroad for the residential session.
  3. Candidates should be proficient in spoken and written English and should be comfortable presenting and speaking in public.
  4. Candidates should demonstrate a degree of resilience that enables them to contribute fully to the program while also meeting other organizational and personal commitments.
  5. Candidates should be curious, open-minded, flexible, and comfortable in multicultural environments.
  6. Candidates have a strong profile showing a steady record of accomplishments in the field of education (academic, professional and/or personal). They have also been involved in education and/or development projects for at least 3 years.
  7. Candidates clearly demonstrate engagement in social issues and how they have sought to overcome them through innovative ideas, and initiatives.
  8. Candidates must demonstrate potential for growth within the nominating organization.
  1. Candidates must be able to travel and must commit to participating in all WISE Emerging Leaders program components.

     

  2. Candidates must be able to fully take part the residential session in May/June and last quarter of 2021 and organizations must support the fellows’ travel request for the duration, if applicable.

     

  3. Candidates must engage in online modules, project development work and deliver blog submissions in line with the program deadlines.

     

  4. Candidates can only pursue projects that are supported by their organization, and approved by WISE.

     

  5. Nominator/organization support for the fellows will be required throughout the program for the successful delivery of the project.

     

  6. All nominators agree to respect final selection decisions made by the WISE Team. No appeal or claim can be considered. Should your application be unsuccessful, you can nominate again next year.

     

  7. By submitting the nomination form, you are acknowledging the aforementioned terms and committing to them.

     

  8. WISE reserves the right to publicize the selected fellows by means of any kind of communication (internal and/or commercial advertising), through any promotional media (press, magazines, catalogues, websites, etc.) and all over the world. This communication may be in the form of pictures, recordings (audio and video) and texts supplied by each of the selected fellows. Selected fellows agree to provide photos, bio and descriptions of their projects. They also acknowledge the right of the WISE initiative to use this material.
  9. By taking part in this competition, applicants agree that their personal details will be included in a database owned by the WISE initiative, which will be the exclusive custodian of the said details for the purpose of managing the specified competition. The WISE initiative will not sell or distribute applicants’ personal data to third parties. Applicants have the right to access and modify any personal data concerning themselves. Applicants also have the right to refuse to be included in a database and may exercise these rights at any time by making the appropriate request in writing to emergingleaders@wise.org.qa.

     

  10. WISE reserves the right to amend the program timeline and components at any time. If it does so, WISE will post an update on its website and notify all candidates.

     

  11. These rules for the WISE Awards are governed by Qatari law and, in the event of a dispute regarding their interpretation or performance, such a dispute shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Doha, Qatar.

     

  12. Nominating for the 2021 WISE Emerging Leaders program implies full acceptance of and respect for these rules by the applicants. Interpretation of these rules falls within the exclusive competence of WISE.
Recipes for Wellbeing
The Weaving Lab

2023 WISE Emerging Leaders

The 2023 WISE Emerging Leaders cohort consists of 15 women and men from 12 different countries, representing diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Selected fellows include young professionals from organizations from the wider WISE community and social innovators actively engaged in delivering or designing education initiatives within their organization or networks. The WEL community is now made up of over 70 young leaders in education, with the program in its fifth consecutive year. 

Meet the Emerging Leaders

Alejandra Ycaza

Latin America

Amanda Abrom

United States of America

Zubair Junjunia

Zubair Junjunia

United Kingdom

Natalie Delille

Natalie Delille

United States of America

Olivia Fossali

Olivia Fossali

United Kingdom

2022 WISE Emerging Leaders

The 2022 WISE Emerging Leaders cohort consists of 14 women and men from 14 countries, representing diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Selected fellows include young professionals from organizations from the WISE community and social innovators actively engaged in delivering or designing education initiatives within their organization or networks.

Meet the Emerging Leaders

Alina-Lipcan

Alina Lipcan

United Kingdom

Deirdre Conde

Deirdre Conde

Philippines

Edcel Artificio

Edcel Artificio

Philippines

Joyce Kim

Joyce Kim

United States of America

2021 WISE Emerging Leaders

The 2021 WISE Emerging Leaders cohort consists of 23 women and men from 12 countries, representing diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Selected fellows include young professionals from organizations from the WISE community and social innovators actively engaged in delivering or designing education initiatives within their organization or networks.

Selected fellows, aged 24-33, will participate in a series of collaborative and interactive modules on topics ranging from ethical leadership to social innovation delivered by WISE and Recipes for Wellbeing to increase the impact of their work and collaborate on pressing challenges.

Meet the Emerging Leaders

Karla Cruz Godoy

United States of America

Deborah Marie Rodriguez Garcia

United States of America

Sandra Godina

United States of America

Capri LaRocca

United States of America

Max McCabe

United Kingdom

Alyssa Owens

Australia

Niveen Reza

Bangladesh

Priyanka Varma

United States of America

Phanith Yon

Cambodia

rita zhang

United States of America

Joanna Zimmerman

United States of America

2020 WISE Emerging Leaders

The 2020 WISE Emerging Leaders cohort consists of nineteen young men and women from 17 countries, representing diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Selected fellows include young professionals from organizations from the WISE community and social innovators actively engaged in delivering or designing education initiatives within their organization or networks. 

Selected fellows, aged 28-33, will participate in a series of collaborative and interactive modules on topics ranging from ethical leadership to social innovation delivered by WISE and Weaving Lab to increase the impact of their work and collaborate on pressing challenges. Through the fellowship, WISE aims to support and elevate the work of promising initiatives in education by developing young talent within such organizations.

Meet the Emerging Leaders

Marcos Roca

Marcos Roca

Argentina

Yussuf A. Sané Guinea-Bissau

Yussuf A. Sané

Guinea-Bissau

Teresa Wolverton

Teresa Wolverton

United States of America

2019 WISE Emerging Leaders

The 2019 Emerging Leaders cohort consists of 17 outstanding fellows from 13 countries, rigorously selected from a diverse pool of nominations received from the WISE community. The selected cohort comprises of fellows from organizations such as Camfed, Minerva Project, and HundrEd among others who have strongly demonstrated their commitment to the field of education.

The fellows embarked on a global education journey, which have included a series of expert-led webinars and master classes, and in person residential sessions in Germany and Doha and a project that they have developed and implemented with support from their organizations and WISE.

Meet the Emerging Leaders

Samantha Butters

Samantha Butters

United Kingdom

Sarah Grant

Sarah Grant

United Kingdom

Neagheen Homaifar

Neagheen Homaifar

United States of America

Danielle Kercher

Danielle Kercher

United States of America

Muneeb Khan

Muneeb Khan

Pakistan

Tamara Steen

Tamara Steen

The Netherlands

Amy Tran-Calhoun

Amy Tran-Calhoun

United States of America

Our community

Faculty and Experts

Ms Greta Rossi

Co-founder, Recipes for Wellbeing

Greta Ross is the lead facilitator for the WEL Residential Session. She is a changemaker involved in multiple not-for-profit initiatives. She is the co-founder of Recipes for Wellbeing, Akasha Innovation, and Pitch Your Failure. She also works for Ashoka as the Regional Coordinator of ChangemakerXchange in Europe and lead facilitator for the 2020 WISE Emerging Leaders Program. Greta holds a BA (Hons) in International Relations and is a qualified coach, facilitator, and fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Mr. Ross Hall

Mr. Ross Hall

Co-founder, Weaving Lab

Ross is co-founder of The Weaving Lab – a global community of people who are advancing the practice and profession of weaving learning ecosystems in which everyone is learning to thrive together.

Ross incubated The Weaving Lab while leading Ashoka’s education strategy. Before joining Ashoka, he designed the Learner Guide & Better World Programmes with Camfed, empowering young people across Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Ghana to be well and do good. This extended the Effective Education for Employment project that he led with Pearson, where he used it to evaluate the effectiveness of education systems and institutions internationally. Before joining Pearson, Ross spent 15 years designing and launching 20 businesses on five continents.

Dennis C. Roberts

Dennis C. Roberts, Ph.D.

Independent Consultant, Speaker, and Author

Dennis C. Roberts is an independent consultant, speaker, and author. He last served as Assistant Vice President of Education for Qatar Foundation. During his seven years with QF he worked with Qatari and expatriate colleagues to create the student development and support services for its branch universities at Education City in Doha, Qatar. Prior to working abroad, he was Associate Vice President of Student Affairs at Miami University. He is past president of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), and has been a member and presenter at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the International Leadership Association throughout his career. He has authored 6 books and over 50 book chapters and other articles on student affairs, student learning, and leadership.

2021 WISE Emerging Leaders mentors

2020 WISE Emerging Leaders mentors

  • Jennifer Adams, Founder and CEO of Educating Leaders Consulting
  • Gilad Babchuk, Co-Founder and CEO, Compass
  • Jo Besford, Director, Green Shoots, South Africa
  • Vicky Colbert, Founder and Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva, Colombia
  • Shelby Cosner, Professor and Director of the Center for Urban Educational Leadership, University of Illinois, USA
  • Mike Feerick, Founder and CEO, Alison, Ireland
  • Robert A. Filback, Professor of Clinical Education at Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, USA
  • Ross Hall, Co-Founder, Weaving Lab, UK
  • Deborah Kimathi, Executive Director, Dignitas Project, Kenya
  • Edward Keller, Co-founder and CEO, Smart Science® Education, USA
  • Nikita Khosla, Senior Director of Programs, Luminos Fund
  • Peter Mousaferiadis, Founder and CEO, Cultural Infusion, Australia
  • Bhagya Rangachar, CEO, CLT India, India
  • Borna Scognamiglio, CEO and Co-Founder, Pixis, Italy
  • Kristof Vanheusden, Founder and CEO of Innovation Wall, Belgium
  • Chelsea Waite, Research Fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute, USA
  • Lydia Wilbard, National Director, Camfed Tanzania, Tanzania
  • Mary Young, Senior Advisor, Harvard University, USA

2019 WISE Emerging Leaders mentors

  • Bhagya Rangachar, CEO, CLT India, India
  • Safeena Husain, CEO, Educate Girls, India
  • Kate Wang, VP of Partnerships, MyCos, USA
  • Larry Rosenstock, Founder, High Tech High, USA
  • Stine Philipsen, Director, Global Scribes, Netherlands
  • Steve Cumming, Associate Director of Secondary Education and TVET, MasterCard Foundation, Canada
  • Tarek Chehidi, Sr Director, Teach for All, USA
  • Nayla Fahed, CEO, Lebanese Alternative Learning, Lebanon
  • Amber Oliver, Director, RobinHood, USA
  • Grace Atkinson, Executive Director, Jusoor, France
  • Anna Molero, Chief Government Officer, Teach for All, USA
  • ClearyVaughn-Lee, Founder, Global Oneness Project, USA
  • Mary Young, Senior Advisor, Harvard University, USA
  • Gwyn Wansbrough, Managing Director, PYE Global, UK