BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MARILYN MOSLEY GORDANIER, PRESIDENT

Marilyn Mosley Gordanier, speaker, author, Founder /Executive Director of Laurel Springs School, has more than thirty-five years’ experience in the field of online learning. Since its founding in 1991, Laurel Springs Distance Learning Program has become the premier provider of personalized education for over 85,000 students in grades K through 12. Under her directorship, Laurel Springs High School received the United Nations Global 500 Award and the President’s Youth Environmental Award. Ms. Mosley Gordanier was nominated for a Nobel Earth Prize and received the Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning, from the United States Distance Learning Association. Ms. Mosley-Gordanier was invited to join the Clinton Global STEM Working Group, and is a member of the board of the Captain Planet Foundations, and USA COR. Ms. Mosley-Gordanier designed the first online environmental curricula, Kids4earth and Leaders4earth, for which Laurel Springs was awarded the Global 500 Award, and Outstanding Service to Environmental Education from the North American Association of Environmental Education.

RAMAA MOSLEY, SECRETARY

Ramaa Devi Mosley is an American commercial, music video and feature and documentary film director based in Los Angeles. She is also an activist, known for raising national awareness of the victims of the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping in Nigeria by using social media to raise awareness. Mosley is credited with raising national and international awareness about the Nigerian school girls. In an interview Mosley conducted with CNN on May 7, 2014 to discuss the abduction of the Nigerian girls, Mosley raised national consciousness on the issue of the Nigerian kidnappings.[1] In a short pre-recorded interview with ABC News, Mosley also had the chance to raise awareness about the kidnappings, and how social media has helped to galvanize a movement for justice.

CASSANDRA POTIER, EDUCATION CHAIR

Cassandra Potier Watkins is a French American research engineer in cognitive science at the Neurospin Lab in Saclay, France. The main focus of her research is studying the underlying cognitive mechanisms that influence intuitions and formal learning in primary school children, with a particular focus on early math and reading.

She began her interest in working with youth when as a teenager she joined the board of the G500 Environmental Forum as youth director. Her role in helping to organize relations between the group and its youth laureates, while also mobilizing local youth environmental awareness, provided the launchpad for her commitment to education as a powerful tool for change. The underlying theme today in her research.

JANE A TORRES

Jane Torres is a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Miami and past President of Catalyst International, Inc., a consulting company specializing in human resource development.  Previously, she founded a preschool in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, for which she obtained funding, equipment, teachers, and student meals through CARE.  Jane is also the founder of the Florida Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Jane has designed and implemented training programs for corporations and governmental organizations, both overseas and in the United States. These programs focused on conflict resolution, managing diversity, team development, cross-cultural relations, stress management, and police/community relations. Jane has served as a university lecturer and has authored numerous articles in professional journals. She is cited in "Who’s Who in the South and Southeast", as well as in "Who’s Who Among Human Services Professionals" and in the "National Distinguished Service Registry". She was honored by the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, who proclaimed March 31, 1998, "Jane A. Torres Day".  She was also selected by MAMM magazine as one of the "50 Who Make a Difference".

Jane graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tufts University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  She received her graduate degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma.  She is currently a member of the board of directors of Educate Girls Now. 

ABDHUL HAKIM SHAKIM

Abdul Hakim Shakib was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. He has fifteen years of experience in fields related to IT, Graphic Design and Administration. He acquired his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Afghanistan, and he completed his Masters in MBA & IT from DBU India.

Hakim started his career with the Ministry of Public Health Afghanistan as Senior Graphic Designer, and he worked for seven years with the Health Ministry. In 2013 he joined UNDP/LOTFA, a trust fund for Afghanistan, as ICT Officer. This project was based in the Ministry of Interior Afghanistan and was designed to cooperate with the Ministry on Afghan National Police. Its purpose was to strengthen the rule of law and justice in Afghanistan, alongside human rights and gender activities.

Hakim continued his contract with UNDP/LOTFA until December 2021. From January 2022 until the present, he is serving as a volunteer with Warrior Angels Rescue, which helps vulnerable families flee from Afghanistan to a safe country. Hakim is an advisor to Educate Girls Now on best practices to meet the educational needs of girls and women in Afghanistan.

NARGIS ZADRAN

Nargis Afzali Zadran is an educational practitioner with fifteen years of experience advocating for and educating marginalized communities in Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in key leadership positions with national and international organizations in Afghanistan.  Prior to coming to the United States, Nargis served as Principal of Mezan International School, one of the leading private schools in Afghanistan. It is founded on the principle that children in Afghanistan need a quality education that is balanced with a solid foundation in traditional Islamic education, as well as Afghan history and literature. In 2019, Nargis was a member of the steering committee, chaired by the Ministry of Education, for the development of a new curriculum for Afghanistan’s education system.

Nargis started her professional career in 2005 as a reporting and communications coordinator with Afghan Women’s Educational Center. She later joined HealthNet TPO, where she served as one of the members of the management team for projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2016, she joined ASCHIANA Foundation as Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant.

After evacuating from Afghanistan, Nargis worked as a volunteer with Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy, a US Army installation. She helped in the development of the curriculum in learning centers for students as well as adults. 

Nargis has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Islamic Studies from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. She is currently working with Warrior Angels Rescue as Principal of Vida International School.

ZARGHUNA KARGAR

Zari was born in Kabul in 1982. When civil war erupted across Afghanistan, she and her family escaped to Pakistan, and it was there that Zarghuna attended a journalism course organized by the BBC. Then in 2001 her family sought asylum in the UK, and she started working for the BBC World Service Pashtu Section. She joined the team on the groundbreaking program Afghan Woman’s Hour as producer and presenter in 2004. Zarghuna works on current affairs programs for the BBC Afghan Service, served as the writer for the Afghan portion of Girl Rising. She recently wrote and filmed the BBC documentary, The War Wives of Afghanistan She lives in London.

ISOBEL MOSLEY, YOUTH DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Isobel Mosley helps with fundraising and community outreach for Educate Girls Now; she is an 18 year old activist, writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. She currently attends Bennington College in Vermont. She started her activism at 9 years old when she began hosting fundraisers for non-profits she cared about. Her first fundraiser was for Chimp Haven which raised $3,000. Since then she has helped raised tens of thousands of dollars for worthwhile organizations around the world. 

Isobel is also a talented director and photographer who began making videos at 8 years old and uses these skills to support NGOs by making content focused on female empowerment, the environment, animal care and gender equality. 

Isobel is editor in chief of www.tuellemont.com, a social, political site for youth to help them become activists and engage in key causes. 

In addition to helping found Educate Girls Now, Isobel works as a video director for global brands such as Jouer Cosmetics, Yowie, American Girl, Brandy Melville, and Bop It and enjoys making powerful content that embraces topics such as teamwork, friendship and girl empowerment. 

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