IPED Alumni Networking Day
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Morning Alumni Session
11 AM -12 Noon EDST
Alumni Speakers:
Justin Modesto, IPED 2009Global Coalition on Teacher Professional Development (TPD) at Scale in the Global South
Justin Modesto is currently the Deputy Secretariat Director of the global coalition on Teacher Professional Development (TPD) at Scale in the Global South, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada. The Coalition works with ministries of education in the Philippines, Indonesia, Ghana, Honduras, and Uzbekistan, among others, to develop and test models of teacher professional development at the public basic and secondary education levels. Justin also co-founded and currently manages a research consultancy nonprofit organization in the Philippines, with research and technical assistance projects covering various development areas, such as gender and development, education and child protection, disaster risk reduction and environmental sustainability, and urban resilience.
Prior to his current engagements, Justin worked with Philippine Commission on Higher Education, the Development Management School of the Asian Institute of Management and the National Council on Economic Education in New York.
Oliver Hughes, IPED 2011Mercy Corps – Democratic Republic of the Congo Oliver graduated from IPED in 2011, initially working at the UNDP Equator Initiative in New York as a researcher before being accepted into Catholic Relief Services’ IDFP Fellows’ program in 2013. He spent seven years with CRS in West and Central Africa, working first in business development in Niger and DRC, and then as a Head of Programs for Eastern DRC. Last year he left CRS for Mercy Corps, taking a position as DRC Director for Program Performance and Quality (PaQ), based in Goma. Oliver and Whitney live in Gisenyi, Rwanda, with their two sons. Whitney Wilding-Hughes, IPED 2011
Viamo
Whitney also graduated from IPED in 2011 and worked at UNDP Equator Initiative before joining Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for a mission as Field Admin in South Sudan in 2013. From 2014 to 2016 she worked for CRS in the Central African Republic (CAR) as a program manager on a USAID-funded counter-LRA program. Since 2016, she has worked for Viamo (“via mobile”), a global social enterprise that uses mobile technology to improve lives. She started as the DRC Country Manager and was promoted to Deputy Regional Director in 2017 and Regional Director in 2020. In her current role, she oversees a team of 20 in Francophone West & Central Africa and is responsible for $5M in annual revenue. Last year, Viamo reached 30 million people with life-improving information. Whitney and Oliver live in Gisenyi, Rwanda, with their two sons.
Sokhana Caza, IPED 2013Bloomberg
Sokhana is an Account Manager who works with Southern African sellside Banks, Brokers and Corporates to help them leverage Bloomberg technology and data for their front office operations. He believes, if applied correctly, technology can be a positive force of change in the work environment.
He has worked at the Gauteng Treasury’s Economic research division as an intern, BP Southern Africa as a performance analyst and worked in the Bloomberg London offices in the electronic trading support team.
Evening Alumni Session
6:00 PM- 7:30 PM EDST
Alumni Speakers:
Sandra Yu, IPED 1992Local Strategies for Decent Work Specialist, International Labour Organization
Sandra Yu is a technical specialist at the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Technical Team (DWT) based in Bangkok, covering East and South-east Asia and the Pacific. She looks after issues related to local economic development and value chain promotion, rural employment and informal economy. At ILO, Sandra has also worked within the departments of Enterprise, of Employment Promotion, and of Work Conditions, in Bangkok and in Geneva.
Over the past 30 years, her work has combined research and project management, bringing her to countries in South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. She has written editorial pieces in the Philippines and her working papers had been published by ILO, IDRC, UNDESA, IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development). Sandra is originally from the Philippines.
Brendan Walsh, IPED 2004Co-founder & Principal, Markets Policy Partners
Prior to co-founding Market Policy Partners, Brendan Walsh was a Senior Analyst at Discovery Capital Management covering Global Financial Institutions and was part of the Global Macro Team focusing on macro data, rates, foreign exchange and equity indices. Brendan holds a M.A. from Fordham University in International Political Economy and Development and was an International Travel Fellow to Manila, Philippines in 2004 working on econometric forecasting models. He was also a Jesuit Volunteer Corps volunteer from 2000-2002 where he taught math and English in Pohnpei, FSM. Brendan graduated from the Honors Program at the College of the Holy Cross in 2000 with a B.A. in History.
Andra Tomsa, IPED 2012Founder & CEO, Spare Change Inc.
While at Fordham, Andra was selected as a St. Gallen Symposium Leader of Tomorrow for her submission on the equitable distribution of power and resources. Since graduating from IPED in 2012, Andra has dedicated her work to the alleviation of poverty and inequality starting with her immediate community. She founded Spare, an app that automatically rounds up your grocery, dine in & take out orders to support local food banks & awards free drinks to frequent donors. Prior to starting Spare, Andra worked as a Financial Advisor with National Life Group. Andra currently resides in Brooklyn with her 8 year old son.
Panel Discussion Moderated By:
Henry SchwalbenbergDirector, Fordham IPED
and
Donna OdraAssociate Director, Fordham IPED