World Learning Welcomes Five New Board Members

Publication Date: October 8, 2020
Publication Location: BRATTLEBORO, VT
Contact: Kathryn Schoenberger   |   [email protected]

World Learning is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members and one returning member to its Board of Trustees: Rye Barcott, Jack Benson, Elizabeth Clay Roy, Aicha Cooper, and Roopali Phadke. The cohort brings diverse perspectives and rich experience in their respective fields, which include nonprofit leadership, marketing, international development, social justice, and climate resilience.

“It is such a privilege to welcome these five accomplished individuals to our Board,” said World Learning CEO Carol Jenkins. “Each is a leader who embodies the mission at the heart of World Learning’s work—creating a more sustainable, just, and peaceful world. Their guidance will be invaluable as we adapt to meet the challenges of our time.”

Rye Barcott is a returning Board member who also previously served on World Learning’s Global Advisory Council. He is a social entrepreneur and investor, and the co-founder and CEO of With Honor, a movement focused on promoting and advancing principled veteran leadership to reduce political polarization. Barcott has been driven by his own service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Jack Benson is a partner at Reingold, where he guides market research, strategy, social media, and interactive and digital marketing. Benson is also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Google Public Sector Advisory Council, as well as co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Military Family Advisory Network.

Elizabeth Clay Roy, an SIT International Honors Program (IHP) alumna and current IHP Advisory Council member, is the executive director of TakeRoot Justice, which provides legal, research, and policy support to grassroots and community-based groups dismantling racial, economic and social oppression. She strives to help cities live up to their potential as places of connection, inspiration, and opportunity.

Aicha Cooper, an SIT Graduate Institute alumna and former Global Advisory Council member, is a development expert committed to improving the lives of marginalized people around the world. She currently works within the Human Resources Department of the World Bank, one of the largest international development institutions.

Roopali Phadke, an SIT IHP alumna, former IHP trustee, and current IHP Advisory Council member, is a professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Macalester College and the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation Study on Mining Futures. Her teaching and research focus on energy and climate policy, citizens science, community-based research methodologies, and sustainable development initiatives.

World Learning’s Board of Trustees represents The Experiment in International Living, School for International Training, and World Learning’s global development and exchange programs. Trustees include World Learning alumni and parents, staff, and friends of the organization.

The World Learning Inc. family includes the global development and exchange nonprofit World Learning; The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of international education through exchanges for high school students; and School for International Training (SIT), offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad, including comparative programs on multiple continents through the International Honors Program, and internationally focused master’s degrees through SIT Graduate Institute.