Board of Directors

BOARD OFFICERS

Ivan Galindo, Mexico
President/Finance Committee

Patrick Makokoro, Canada
Vice President/Finance Committee

Robert Manning, United States
Treasurer/Finance Committee

Anne Sivanathan, Malaysia
Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Karma Gayleg, Bhutan

Carmen Hernaez, Argentina

Ex Officio – Tara Schroder, United States

Ex Officio – Mark Elliott, United States

Ex Officio – Bonnie Neugebauer, United States

Ex Officio – Roger Neugebauer, United States

BOARD ADVISORS

May Ajram, Lebanon

Ebenezer Lartey, Ghana

Colani Magongo, Eswatini

Ana Marcilio, Brazil

Manjusree Mitra, Bangladesh

Rokhaya Diawara, France

Kim Nall, United States

Haleinta Traore, Senegal

Analesi Tuicaumia, Fiji

Kirsten Haugen, United States

PRESIDENT
Ivan Galindo, Mexico

I studied Physics for a few semesters before going to study Psychology. Then I studied an MBA and completed all the courses in a Master in Social Psychology. I also was trained in the High/Scope Institute as a teacher trainer. I like teaching and I have done it for 35 years. I am the owner and principal of the Colegio Erik Erikson and Infantes y Crayones for the las 25 years. We work with children from 18 months to 15 years. According to national evaluations and the evaluations of the most important private university in the country, our school has obtained the best results in the State for the last 9 years. We care a lot about social and emotional development, we create an atmosphere that helps our students to become considerate and generous. We listen to children and have good conversations with them. We work with the whole child. For a few years, I was the Director of the High Scope Intitute of Mexico. Since 2001 I have been involved with the World Forum. I am a Global Leader from the first generation and also a member of the board and national representative. I enjoy working with the WoFo community to improve the opportunities for children around the world. I love the hospitality and good will of the WoFo community. I have a daughter and a son and they have worked a lot try to make of me a good father.

Patrick Makokoro, Canada

Patrick Makokoro is a social entrepreneur, an early childhood development practitioner, and educational researcher with extensive experience working in community and international development. The work he has carried out includes early childhood development program implementation, national ECD network establishment in Africa and providing extensive consulting support to international non-profits working in Africa.

Among other social entrepreneurship initiatives, he founded the Nhaka Foundation, a charitable organization that provides early childhood development, education, meals, health care, psycho-social support, and other essential services to children in Southern Africa. He is a co-founder of the Africa Early Childhood Network, founder of the Zimbabwe Network for Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA) and convenor of the recently launched Southern Africa Network for Early Childhood Development (SANECD). He is a key member of the ECDinAfrica initiative led by the UNESCO Tri-Chairs in Early Childhood Development (Africa focused), has several publications on early childhood development in Africa and continues to write in this area.

TREASURER
Robert Manning, United States

Every year I live, I come to understand more deeply the importance of institutions that bind human beings together in a world where there are so many forces that tend to push us apart.  More than any other organization I have ever known, the World Forum does just that.  At every World Forum, I meet people whose stories and whose character and resolve to help all children, especially those who are born into difficult circumstances, move me to my core and I know the same is true for countless others.  Bill Bowen, the late President of Princeton University, once said “Institutions exist to magnify the efforts of individuals in great causes”.  The World Forum magnifies the efforts of so many heroic individuals in the great cause of the children of the world.

SECRETARY
Anne Sivanathan, Malaysia

Anne Sivanathan has been an advocate, manager and programme director of inclusion for the past 25 years. She is currently the CEO of the Inclusive outdoor Classroom(IOC ) and continuously advances programmes and policies to enrich the lives of families who have children with disabilities. Anne is a consummate speaker on the international stage and is frequently asked by colleagues to provide assistance in training. She is a board Board member of the National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), National Early Childhood Care and Education Malaysia (NAECCEM) and a Working Group Leader for World Forum’s Inclusion group.

Karma Gayleg, Bhutan

Karma Gayleg works for the Ministry of Education in Bhutan as senior programme coordinator for Early Childhood Care and Development programmes. As the first Programme Leader for Early Childhood Programmes in the country, he has pioneered and contributed to developing and leading it since 2007.  He spearheaded the drafting of policies, standards, guidelines and curricula, and was equally instrumental in advocacy for early childhood and mobilizing communities and families through community based initiatives.

He has been a Global Leader for the Asia Pacific Region in the 2011-12 cohort and still serves as national representative in Bhutan. He is also actively involved with the Asia Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood as a steering committee member. He is an executive council member of the newly formed South Asia Forum of Early Childhood Development Professionals.

Carmen Hernáez, Argentina

Carmen Hernáez holds a Graduate Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. In 2016 she attended a Postgraduate Program on ECD at the Argentina Society of Early Childhood. She is currently attending Postgraduate courses on Communication, Identities and Gender at Buenos Aires University (UBA), and an International Seminar on Infants and Youth at CLACSO (Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales). She has also studied audiovisual communication, children´s illustration and visual identity by means of specialization seminars delivered by Norberto Chaves and Yves Zimermman, from the University of Barcelona. On her professional practice as a consultant she integrates her knowledge on education, social and visual communication fields.

Carmen is Co-Director at EDUPAS. EDUPAS -an institution devoted to Educational Communication. Its projects and programs deal with care education. She has been part of the organization since 1992, designing and leading programs for companies, governmental, international and civil society organizations. As consultant, she has carried out communication and training programs at governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as international organizations as PNUD, UNICEF and UNESCO. She has thorough experience in working with civil society organizations and companies, specifically through the promotion of different rights (children and woman rights, health and sexual rights, environment rights, public dialogues, advocacy process, etc.).

Ex Officio – Tara Schroder, United States

Tara Schroder is World Forum Foundation’s Executive Director. Prior to taking on this role in February 2024, she served as the Operations Director. She has been involved in the World Forum since 2010. Tara is also the Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Dimensions Educational Research Foundation whose mission is to inspire joy and wonder in children, educators, and communities with a heart-centered approach to early education. Dimensions serves as one of the administrative partners of the World Forum Foundation.

Ex Officio – Mark Elliott, United States

Mark Elliott serves as World Forum Foundation’s International Partnership Director. He served as Executive Director from 2020-2024 and before that, he served as the Program Director for the World Forum’s Global Leaders for Young Children program. Mark also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Community Development Institute, one of the World Forum’s administrative partners. Mark has worked with early childhood programs for more than 20 years at the local, national and international levels.

Ex Officio – Bonnie Neugebauer, United States

Bonnie Neugebauer serves as a Global Impact Engineer for the World Forum Foundation and hosts Bonnie’s Global Café on the World Forum website. Bonnie, and her husband Roger, are Co-Founders of the World Forum Foundation. Bonnie is also Founding Editor of  Exchange, the Early Childhood Leaders’ magazine since 1978. These initiatives have been developed in partnership with her husband Roger. Their work continues to focus on professional development and building leadership by bringing people together in community, focusing on the values of children, spirit, differences, relationships, and change.

Ex Officio – Roger Neugebauer, United States

Roger Neugebauer serves as a Global Impact Engineer for the World Forum Foundation. In 1978, Roger and his wife Bonnie, launched Exchange Magazine addressing the diverse needs of leaders in early childhood programs. By 2016 Exchange magazine had over 100,000 subscribers, in print and online, around the world. In 1998, Roger and Bonnie became Co-Founders of the World Forum Foundation to promote the sharing of ideas and perspectives among early childhood professionals around the world. Roger and Bonnie have four children and 4 grandchildren.

May Abou Ajram, Lebanon

May Abou Ajram has been working in the field of early childhood development & education for the better part of two decades.

Having started her Career as an Educator, eventually becoming a Head teacher of a preschool in Saudi Arabia; in 2004, she worked as a Health Educator for the International Labour Organization in Lebanon, where she was responsible for developing & implementing a health education program for the children of the “Sanjak refugee camp” in Beirut.

In 2006, she assumed the Role of the ECCD Projects’ Coordinator at the regional non-governmental organization The Arab Resource Collective.

Most recently, she has held the post as the Project Coordinator for Basic Education and Adult learning at the UNESCO regional office in Beirut. Working with various entities in the private & public sector, she was the lead on developing Accelerated Learning Programs, and creating the Arab Community of Practice for Education.  She has also planned and executed several program conferences on the topics of Non-Formal Education, ECCE, Volunteerism & Psychosocial Support.

May holds a BS in Environmental Health, and a teaching diploma, and a MS in Environmental Sciences from the American University of Beirut.

Ebenezer Lartey, Ghana

Ebenezer Lartey, ICRI Africa Region Director, Global Leader, National Representative, Board Mentee. Ebenezer holds B.Sc. (Hons) Degree in Tourism from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and also an Executive Mastery Certificate in Child Development and Early Childhood Education from Carayol College. He exhibits a good knowledge in a variety of disciplines. He is an expert in ICT Marketing, Corporate Project Planning and Management.

Ebenezer has trained in Early Childhood Education and has developed a considerable skill, knowledge and experience in handling children. In his child education delivery, Ebenezer allows the children to lead the curriculum.  His role in the delivery process is to nurture, support and guide.  Ebenezer incorporates the child’s interest into his learning delivery.

Ebenezer is a World Forum Foundation Board Mentee, National Representative and Global Leader for Young Children. He was selected based on his leadership and dedication to this work.

Ebenezer has facilitated several training programs on Early Childhood Education and has led a team of experts, consultants and academicians to enter into various education collaborations in Early Childhood Education. He is leading a team of professionals to collaborate with the University of Education Winneba to establish an Early Childhood Education Graduate Studies Program and to construct and equip the University with a state of the art Child Care/Resource Centre at Winneba.

Ebenezer is an excellent communicator and a skilled presenter, effective at the customer interface. He takes his delight in problem-solving and creative resource management. Ebenezer is highly proactive, visionary and a strategic thinker, with a strong bottom line focus. He focuses on organizational development. Ebenezer has the intrinsic desire to serve humanity, for this reason he participates in volunteer programs in any community, both locally and internationally. He is hard working and persists until he puts the smiles on the faces of his customers and clients. Through hard work and dedication to duty, Ebenezer has developed a very critical and objective mindset and he is well-versed in current affairs, research management and intellectual publications.

Colani Magongo, Swaziland

Mr Colani Sibusiso Magongo (39) is the founding chairperson of the Swaziland Network for Early Childhood Development. He works for Church Forum on HIV and AIDS as the Early Childhood Development Officer.  Mr Magongo is a global leader for young children representing the Africa Region.  He has 13 years of experience in programming for young children in the context of emergencies including HIV and AIDS. His experience include establishing a national network for early childhood development in Swaziland, facilitating workshops, conferences and seminars on a range of issues affecting young children in Swaziland and managing an ECD programme reaching 5000 children countrywide.

Ana Oliva Marcilio de Souza, Brazil

Master in Education and Social Justice from the Institute of Education / University College of London (UCL) Psychologist from the Federal University of Bahia and specializes in Social Psychology from Pichón Rivière / Coordination of Operational Groups. Recognized leadership in human rights advocacy, I was a Fellow of the LASPAU Leadership Training Program for Latin America and the Caribbean and a fellow at the Harvard Graduate School Leadership Training Course. Today I coordinate the Campaign Where’s Our Doll? In addition to leading Avante’s strategy sector, coordinating the National Childhood and Adolescent National Child Rights Working Group, the Children’s Right Working Group of the World Forum Foundation. In 2003 I got involved in Avante, where I had different experience: I carried out training projects for educators for early childhood education; social formation of young people and adolescents; coordinated psychosocial care projects, advocacy campaigns and actions aimed at strengthening the rights of children and adolescents, especially in childhood and early childhood.

Manjusree Mitra, Bangladesh

Senior Program Manager Education from February 2010 till to date, Manjusree is esponsible for three individual projects those are implementing by 5 Partner NGOs in North-West parts of Bangladesh. NETZ education programme consists of non-formal primary schools and Anandalok Community Schools, Government Primary school improvement programme, Library programme, Pre Primary and Early Literacy, Lead and develop project proposal for raising fund, ensure funds for the partner organizations and implement new projects with partner NGOs. Monitor programs and Conduct evaluation of projects of partner NGO and conduct national advocacy initiatives, quality assessment of education programs. Playing a vital role as member of Senior Management Team SMT, President of Country Procurement Committee, and Chairman of Staff Development Initiatives of Country Office.

Manjusree was awarded Exchange Exceptional Master Leader of ECD in 2015.  She has also been Executive Board Member of Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN) since 2017. The role is to support Early Years Education in country, region and to support globally. Another role is to work as mentor of new education global leaders anywhere in the world through e-communication network.