Publication Date: October 20, 2021
Publication Location: WASHINGTON
Contact: Kate Casa   |   [email protected]

World Learning is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to its board of trustees. Joining Sarah Ingersoll, who was welcomed to the board in July, are Raimund Grube, Rajesh Misra, John Wanda, and Bisa Williams.

“It is an honor and privilege to welcome these four distinguished individuals to the board of trustees,” said World Learning CEO Carol Jenkins. “Each brings unique expertise and viewpoints across infrastructure, technology, humanitarian efforts, peacebuilding, and more. We are thrilled for their contributions to World Learning, Inc. and our mission to create a more just and peaceful society.”

Raimund Grube is an Operating Partner with Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.  He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, focused on investments in sustainable energy and water infrastructure, and related companies and technologies. Over the last 25 years he has been involved with infrastructure development and investment with responsibility for business development, acquisitions, finance, and marketing. He has served as an advisor or board member for companies and volunteered and served in various board roles for nonprofit organizations including, most recently, as chair of the board of the Oregon Zoo Foundation focused on promoting education, conservation and animal welfare globally. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies and Economics from Colgate University and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Rajesh Misra is a principal at KPMG LLP, a leading audit, tax, and advisory firm, where he focuses on operational issues for life sciences companies. For more than 20 years, he has worked at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and economics to provide timely access to high-quality, safe, and effective pharmaceutical and medical devices to patients globally. He has built his career around a goal, inspired by personal experiences, to tackle social issues by leveraging technology that promises to create a brighter and sustainable future across different communities. He lives in the greater Boston area.

Ambassador (ret) Bisa Williams is special advisor on Mali for The Carter Center and, since 2018, has served as an independent observer for implementation of a peace agreement in Mali. She is also a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where she teaches a course on peacebuilding. Her distinguished career in foreign service includes two years at the National Security Council in the White House, U.S. Ambassador to Niger, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs, and acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where she led the U.S. delegation to talks in Havana, Cuba, ending a seven-year hiatus of high-level direct discussions. Upon retirement, she co-founded Williams Strategy Advisors, LLC, while chairing boards dedicated to public health, food security, environmental sustainability, and more. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Yale and holds a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College of the National Defense University, a Master of Arts, and an ABD in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles. 

John Wanda is a principal and vice president of finance at Chapman, Cubine, Allen & Hussey Inc. in Arlington, Virginia. He and his wife Joyce are the founders of the Arlington Academy of Hope (AAH) in the United States and in Uganda, where they have built and run Arlington Junior School and two medical clinics. Each year they provide scholarships for more than 500 secondary and tertiary students. Their work has earned numerous humanitarian awards, including recognition by the Uganda Embassy in Washington, DC for Outstanding Service to the Country of Uganda during the 50th Independence Anniversary. Born and raised in Bududa, Uganda, John completed his education at Makerere University, Kampala, with a degree in accounting. He received an MBA at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He earned a CPA from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants.

Ingersoll, the granddaughter of the organization’s founder, Donald Watt, is a social entrepreneur who leverages media, technology, money, and partnerships for good. World Learning, Inc. announced her appointment on July 19.

World Learning Inc. is a thriving global organization made up of The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of intercultural exchange programs abroad and virtual for high school students; School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad, including the comparative International Honors Program, and internationally focused master’s degrees, certificate programs, and a doctorate through SIT Graduate Institute; and World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization.