Ms. Shiba Bagale is a Lamjung-based trainer, researcher, and GESI specialist with an MPhil in Development Studies and an MEd in Environment Education and Sustainable Development from Kathmandu University, and an ongoing PhD in Gender Studies at Tribhuvan University. Since 2014 she has served as Trainer at Nepal's Training Institute for Technical Instruction (TITI) under CTEVT, designing and delivering Training of Trainers, GESI training, and educational counselor programs, and has led evaluations as Expert and Team Leader for clients including Islamic Relief Worldwide (Resilient, Integrated and Inclusive Development Project, 2022), WOREC Nepal (GBV survivor social-justice mechanism, 2023), We World Onlus (child-friendly community schools, 2017), and Aawaj Abhiyan Nepal (commercial sexual exploitation of children, 2019). Her broader research portfolio covers tracer studies and socioeconomic surveys for the Madesh and Gandaki Province governments, CTEVT/Swiss Contact, and the Ministry of Social Development Bagmati Province, with a published track record on equity, dalit education, GESI in TVET, and climate change in Nepal's education sector. Delivery in fluent English and native Nepali.

Mr. Atma Ram Bhattarai is a Surkhet-based education systems specialist and PhD scholar at Tribhuvan University with 19+ years across Nepal's federalized education sector, advising MoSD/CEHRD and provincial and local governments on ECD strategies, local education policies, TPD frameworks, and GEDSI-responsive sector planning across all three tiers of government. His Save the Children portfolio (2013–2024) included leadership of inclusive education programming for the NORAD-funded integrated education project across 427 schools, piloting of an EMIS-integrated online system to track and enroll out-of-school children, and scaling of alternative learning models such as "School at Home" for children with disabilities. Earlier roles with Plan International Nepal and SAC Nepal anchored Education in Emergencies, foundational learning, and compulsory-education advocacy, including the national replication of his early VDC-level OOSC enrollment model adopted as Department of Education guidance. Delivery in fluent English and native Nepali.

Dr. Iva Boneva is a Sofia-based inclusive education researcher and policy expert with 20+ years across Eastern Europe and Eurasia, currently Chief Assistant Professor at Trakia University and Executive Director of the Association for Shared Learning (since 2007), with a 2019 PhD in Social Pedagogy from Sofia University and a 2002 MA in Social Policy and Development from the University of Manchester. She contributed to Bulgaria's national standards for inclusive education as a member of multiple Bulgarian Ministry of Education working groups (2004–2016) and currently serves as key researcher on the MoE-commissioned national survey "Increasing the effectiveness of inclusive education management as an element of the quality of school education in Bulgaria." Earlier senior leadership includes Country Director and Deputy Country Director for Save the Children UK in Bulgaria (2004–2007) with regional oversight across Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, plus a 2021–2022 Fulbright Visiting Scholar appointment at Arizona State University and recognition with Bulgaria's Presidential Honorary Sign for child-rights work. Delivery in native Bulgarian and fluent English and Russian.

Dr. Simona D'Alessio is a Rome-based scholar-practitioner of inclusive education with a 2008 PhD from the UCL Institute of Education and a research and policy portfolio spanning the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (2006–2013, working across European member-state ministries), KHDA Dubai (lead author of the 2017 Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework, co-developed with Gordon Porter), and ongoing university appointments at Roma Tre and Turin. She is Global Chair of the International Forum of Inclusion Practitioners' policy think tank, a 2024 IFIP Distinguished Fellow, and co-founder of the Italian Disability Studies Research Group (GRIDS), with a sustained UNESCO engagement on inclusive education policy across Europe. Her methodological strengths cover Disability Studies in Education, inclusive policy analysis, school-level inclusion audits, and benchmarking literature reviews. Delivery in native Italian and fluent English (UK-trained), plus working Spanish and French.

Dr. Mohammed Elmeski is an education policy, leadership, and international development specialist with more than 20 years of experience advancing educational reform, teacher development, research, and systems strengthening across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. He serves as Assistant Professor at Mohammed V University and has held senior academic, research, and advisory roles supporting education improvement at national and international levels.

His expertise includes educational leadership and governance, teacher professional learning, curriculum reform, monitoring and evaluation, social-emotional learning, and institutional capacity development. He has advised governments, universities, and international development organizations on education policy, reform, and evidence-informed decision-making in countries including Morocco, Ethiopia, Haiti, Zambia, Nepal, Tunisia, Yemen, Uganda, Mali, Egypt, Lebanon, Micronesia, and the United States.

Previously, Dr. Elmeski held senior leadership positions with the American Institutes for Research and served as Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Higher Education Partnership–Morocco at Arizona State University. Fluent in English, Arabic, and French, he works across academic, governmental, and development sectors to strengthen education systems and promote sustainable educational change.

Dr. Kate Lapham is a technical advisor, policy analyst, and researcher with experience supporting governments, international project teams, universities, schools, and NGOs to make education more inclusive. She has led international education development projects, like the USAID All Children Succeeding Activity in Uzbekistan; developed grant portfolios focused on philanthropy for inclusive education, early childhood education, and accountability with the Open Society Foundations; and has taught in the EdD in Leadership for Organizations at the University of Dayton. She has edited a book and authored several chapters and articles on inclusion of children with disabilities, social policy, and education systems reform. Dr. Lapham has worked in a wide range of countries, specializing in Eastern Europe (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan).

Ms. Chelsea Peters is a Mexico-based foundational learning and systems strengthening specialist with an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction (literacy specialization), complemented by a professional certification in TESOL and almost 20 years of experience supporting governments, multilateral organizations, and implementing partners to strengthen institutional capacity and build sustainable education systems for preschool, primary, and secondary levels. Her technical expertise spans curriculum design, teaching and learning materials development, teacher professional development, and evidence-based policy reform. She is highly skilled at translating international best practices into context-specific, government-owned systems, with a proven track record leading co-creation processes with national technical working groups and Ministries of Education across Central Asia, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa.

Dr. Tara Nath Poudel is a Kathmandu-based MEL and research specialist with a 2017 PhD in Educational Leadership and Management from Kathmandu University and a decade of senior evaluation roles for USAID, the World Bank, EU, UNDP, USDA, FCDO, and UN agencies across Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, and Turkey. He is currently team lead on a multi-country impact evaluation of WASH, education, and school-construction investments across 13 countries (2014–2024), and has served as Director of MERL on USAID Nepal Early Grade Learning ($40M; Chemonics), Senior Evaluation and Research Lead on USAID Learning for Development ($14M; Itad), and Senior M&E Specialist on USAID's $53M Early Grade Reading Program (RTI). His methodological depth covers RCT, quasi-experimental and propensity-score designs, EGRA/EGMA, outcome harvesting, results-based management, and applied political economy analysis, with delivery in fluent English and native Nepali.

Rachel Fowkes is an early childhood education and curriculum specialist with over a decade of experience supporting schools, museums, universities, and international education networks to strengthen teaching and learning through curriculum design, standards alignment, and instructional leadership. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, her work focuses on improving the quality and coherence of early childhood and early-grade education, with particular expertise in translating pedagogical best practice into practical, classroom-level learning experiences.

Rachel has led curriculum design, standards alignment, and professional development initiatives across early childhood and primary education settings, including a country-wide pre-primary curriculum and pedagogical model for a USAID-funded programme, degree-level curriculum alignment reviews, and STEAM and instructional frameworks for schools and education networks. Her areas of expertise include early childhood curriculum design, standards alignment, instructional coaching, data-driven instruction, and project management.

She has worked across South Africa, Malawi, Tajikistan, India, and the United States, and has trained and coached hundreds of educators throughout her career.