Team | Association for International Educators and Leaders of Color

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Kevin Simpson

Founder, AIELOC

Kevin Simpson is a native of Flint, Michigan. He owns and operates KDSL Global, an international education consulting company which launched in 2016 in the USA and in the United Arab Emirates. He and his team have served thousands of schools, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 60 countries. The majority of his work in education has centered on American curriculum schools overseas.

Since 2008, he has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner with investors on school start-up projects. Simpson is founder of the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color, Co-Founder of the UAE Learning Network, leads the GCC ASCD Connected Community, and is Co-Founder of Resourceya. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University (USA).

Reem Labib, M.Ed.

Leadership Team, AIELOC

Reem is the Founder of EDspired Leadership Coaching and Consulting. Founded in 2010, EDspired partners with mission-driven leaders and organizations to inspire transformation and unleash potential.

Prior to launching EDspired, Reem served as head of schools for a multi-campus charter school organization, principal of an inclusive elementary school, and as deputy director of professional development for a charter school management organization. Reem started her career teaching elementary school in Washington, DC, Egypt, and Lebanon.

Reem earned a B.A., in Psychology from The George Washington University, an M.Ed. in Education from George Mason University, and received an Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership.

She is an ACC certified coach through the International Coach Federation.

Geeta Raj

Leadership Team, AIELOC

Founder and President of Global Sleepover, an initiative teaching children about world cultures and diversity, Geeta realized the importance of global citizenship first-hand while working and living in countries such as Afghanistan, South Sudan, Colombia, Serbia and Kosovo. She was further inspired to make Global Sleepover a reality after learning about the unequivocal power of education through her father. A refugee from the 1947 ethnic partition in India, he overcame economic and social adversity through earning five higher education degrees – truly transformative education.

A seasoned professional, Geeta has worked and lived in Albania, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Colombia, England, Egypt, Ireland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, South Sudan, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. She possesses 15 years of experience working in international development and humanitarian assistance. This includes over 9 years as a Senior Program Analyst with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Since launching Global Sleepover, Geeta has gained 11 years experience designing, creating and implementing social emotional learning and positive youth development education programs in 7 countries.

Geeta’s expertise ranges from: entrepreneurship, creative direction and visual design, interactive and multi-media technology, creative writing, international development project implementation and management, and cultural, global and literacy education. In addition to serving on the Leadership Team for the Association for International Leaders of Color, Geeta is also a Leadership Team Member and Global/Cultural Literacy Advisor at Chance Academy, a community-based educational program in Washington, DC focused on social, emotional learning.

Additionally, Geeta has served as the 2018 Co-Chair for the Virtual Exchange Coalition, was selected to serve on a selection committee for the UN High Level Sustainable Development Goal Meeting on Education in June 2017, and assisted in writing and eventually finalizing a $10 million Scope of Work for a Positive Youth Development program for USAID/Kosovo in 2018.

Under her leadership, Global Sleepover entered a partnership with Starbucks and Prince George’s County, MD to improve digital literacy for children from underserved communities (2019); graduated from an Accelerator program with Amazon Web Services and United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2017); was selected as an original member of the Google for Entrepreneurs Campus in London, UK (2014); was selected as a member of the National Endowment for Arts Gateway Arts District Program in Washington, DC (2016) and was a finalist in a Telefonica and UK Gov’t Social Enterprise Competition (2014).

A 2003 graduate of the Presidential Management Fellowship program in Washington, DC, Geeta is a two-time recipient of the Washington, DC Commission on the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Grant and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and basic Spanish. Geeta holds a BA in Creative Writing from University of Houston and a MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, DC.

Marla Hunter

Leadership Team, AIELOC

Marla Hunter is a creative and techie certified educator with experiences in: Early Childhood Leadership and Curriculum Coordination, teaching Early Childhood to tenth grade, Instructional Coaching, Math and ELA Intervention, Curriculum and Instructional Design, and Adult Education. She has also worked with children as an after-school tutor, swim coach, and in children’s leadership roles in religious organizations.

Marla enjoys working in the field of education because she loves to see the enthusiasm and curiosity on my students’ faces. Every classroom has their own unique community, her role as the teacher will be to assist each student in developing their own potential and learning styles. It is Marla’s goal to bring an open mind, a positive attitude, and high expectations in the classroom each day. She believes that she owes it to her students, as well as the community, to bring consistency, diligence, and warmth to my job in the hope that she can ultimately inspire and encourage such traits in the children as well. Marla is also passionate about empowering parents to support their children and enjoy designing ways for parents to share in the learning process.