Kirsten Bruun

Co Chair

Member since 2007

Kirsten Bruun has recently retired from her position as an after-school teacher on the Gobal line at Flakkebjeg Efterskole on Zealand in Denmark. The focus was here on teaching global citizenship and cultural meetings in many different ways. Kirsten Bruun now works as a volunteer in connection with cultural and social work. She is also on the board of the organization Crossing Borders, which works across countries to educate young people for active global citizenship. Kirsten Bruun now lives in Svendborg on Funen in Denmark.

Reghu Rama Das

Co-Chair

Member since 2004

Reghu is the Principal of the People College at Mitraniketan (South India) which is inspired by Danish Folk High schools. He also serves as the Joint Director of Mitraniketan since 2014. He is leading various projects in the field of education and sustainable development. Reghu lives in Trivandrum (Kerala), India.

Monk Owen

Myanmar. Member since 2019.

Monk Owen is a Buddhist monk whofounding Director, Mahasala Parahita School (for poor and underprivileged children), and Director of Crossing Borders Myanmar, Mandalay. He is involved in a wide range of activities across Myanmar through education and through educational, spiritual and economic development.

Shadi Ghobrial

Egypt. Member since 2016.

Shadi is a practicing attorney in Cairo (Egypt). He is actively involved in education initiatives in his community and he is one of the founding members of the Egyptian Chapter of the Association for World Education.

Noël Bonam

Global President

Member since 2008

Noël has been the Global President of the organization since 2013 and is currently serving his third term. He is the State Director of AARP Maine. He is the Founder and former Head of The Global Institute, a public benefit organization, specializing in social equity, leadership development and organizational sustainability. He is a Director of the Global NGO Executive Committee (affiliated to the United Nations). He is also a visual and performing artists. He lives in Portland (Maine), United States.

Ana Maria Barros Pinto

Vice President

Member since 2007

Ana Maria is a Tribal Ally Activist in Brazil who works closely with various Brazillian Tribes to assert their rights. She is former journalist and is now actively involved with community radio in her local community. She takes the greatest pride in being a grandma. She lives in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Alla Nazarova

Vice President

Russia. Member since 2013

Alla is a lifelong learner and educator at heart. She leads international projects in education, ecology, social development, pedagogy, She specializes in international communications and is engaged in the study/dissemination of the experience of Danish Folk Schools and the heritage of Grundtvig. She lives in Moscow, Russian Federation.

Asmaa Ahmed Sleem

Vice President

Member since 2013

Asmaa is an educator, facilitator and community leader. She has organized and facilitated workshops in education, development, peace building, conflict transformation, inner development and Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) internationally. She lives in Cairo, Egypt.

Roberto ‘Boi’ Nicolasora

Vice President

Member since 2010

Boi has been a formal and non-formal Trainer-Educator for 38 years with Non-Government Organizations. He has been an avid art enthusiast, a theatre director, songwriter in religious/popular music (in his native language) and is a Calbayog City Awardee for Music, Theatre and Culture. He lives in Calbayog City (Samar), Philippines.

Sujit Kumar Paul

Vice President

Member since 2007

Sujit is the Vice-Principal/Deputy Dean of the Institute of Rural Reconstruction at the Visva Bharati, a Central Universityat Santiniketan, West Bengal. Sujit has researched and written extensively about rural education and sustainability . He is very passionate about the arts. He lives in West Bengal, India.

Igor Folvarochnyi

Vice President

Igor Folvarochnyi is from Ukraine. He is a Doctor of Education (Dr.hab) at the National University of Ukraine on physical education and sport. His interests are in the history and theory of world education. As an activist, he encourages his students to build a democratic society, develop the skills and attitudes of active citizenship, and cooperate with the government and non-government educational and scientific institutions.

Rex O. Schade

Vice-President

Denmark.

Rex has been member of AWE since 1995. He is also the Chair of UN-Committee in AWE. He has been a lifelong educator, taught at Ryslinge Højskole, Denmark for 35 years, 1974-2009, in Pedagogic/Education and Politics. International manager of World Class NGO and EU-Projects. Member of the Association for Folke Højskoler, FFD in Denmark since 1974.

Doraci Engel

Porto Alegre, Brazil

Member since 2018

After 25 years working as a journalist and communication adviser for several organizations, Doraci decided to engage in a new background in philosophy. He has just completed his PhD with a dissertation on epistemic agency, a topic at the intersection of epistemology, theory of action, and ethics. At present, he is locating his intellectual interests in what contemporary philosophy and anthropology describe as the indigenous thought. More specifically, he is trying to come up with some theorization about the epistemological and political implications of the notion of practical knowledge that has been used in these descriptions. Doraci is also  co-founder and former president of Ipanema Comunitária 87.9 FM, a community radio station based in his neighborhood and broadcasted to the southern suburbs of Porto Alegre.