Explore Our Global Partnerships

Blase Scarnati, Ph.D., is an international education leader and music historian who serves as Director of Global Learning in the Center for International Education and Professor of Music History at Northern Arizona University, while also leading virtual university programs for Global Brigades. His work focuses on community-based experiential learning, student engagement, and the internationalization of higher education curricula. He co-created Northern Arizona University’s Global Learning Initiative—an institution-wide program integrating global perspectives across all undergraduate majors—which helped the university receive the 2012 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. Scarnati has also built one of the nation’s largest first-year civic engagement programs, connecting hundreds of students annually with community partners to address social justice, sustainability, and community empowerment. A frequent author and speaker on international education and engaged learning, he has published widely and presented at major higher education conferences.

Dr. Harvey Charles currently serves as Professor of International Education at the University at Albany, SUNY after having served the institution as Dean and Vice Provost for International Education. Prior to joining the University at Albany, Charles served as Senior International Officer at a number of institutions around the US, including Georgia Institute of Technology, Northern Arizona University, and San Francisco State University. Charles has made important contributions to the field of international education, including serving as President of the Association of International Education Administrators, the world’s only organization focused on serving Chief International Officers at colleges and universities. Apart from his deep administrative experience, Charles has published on issues including leadership in international higher education, internationalizing the curriculum and comprehensive internationalization. He regularly trains and mentors new professionals in the field, serves on a number of advisory boards, frequently consults and gives addresses on international education issues in the US and around the world.

Darla K. Deardorff is Executive Director of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA). In addition, she is a research scholar at Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute and holds faculty positions at universities in several countries, including as a research associate at Nelson Mandela University (S. Africa), Meiji University (Japan), Shanghai International Studies University (China) and adjunct faculty at North Carolina State University. She is on the faculty of Harvard University’s Global Education Think Tank and has served as faculty for Harvard’s Future of Learning Institute as well as the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication in Portland, OR. With over 20 years of experience in international education, she has also held national leadership positions with NAFSA and with Forum on Education Abroad. She is the author/editor of 11 books and over 60 book chapters and articles. Her most recent publication is an open access book entitled Manual for Developing Intercultural Competencies: Story Circles (Routledge/UNESCO, 2020) available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian at https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000370336. She regularly gives invited talks, trainings and workshops around the world on intercultural competence, international education assessment, and global leadership and serves as a consultant and trainer on these topics, including with UNESCO and OECD.

Dr. JY Zhou is the Director of Global Engagement and Senior International Officer at Stockton University. Her work and research are on internationalization of higher education, global learning, and assessment and teaches courses on global learning and pedagogy. She keeps an active research agenda and has published a series of articles on introducing a new theoretical framework to define and assess comprehensive internationalization. She designs curricular and co-curricular projects to integrate and enhance the roles of technology, languages and cultures, community engagement, and collaborative teaching in global learning initiatives. AAC&U has recognized her work at Stockton as a campus model for global learning. She is frequently invited to consult on a variety of campuses and to share her ideas at prominent conferences. As the Interim Chair of the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) Consortium, she coordinates across more than thirty higher education institutions dedicated to integrating CLAC approaches to transforming the curriculum to better prepare global citizenship.

Having recently retired from 17 years in academia, Adlai is partnering with impact leaders, innovative philanthropists, and investors, to develop and improve sustainable social outcomes. During his 25 years of social impact work, he has met and worked with hundreds of non-profit and for-profit social enterprises from around the globe. He has also had the privilege of coaching many current and aspiring changemakers.

Adlai is a frequent speaker on the topics of social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, non-profit management and governance. He earned his BA in Economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Caryn M. Stanley is an Assistant Professor of Business at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville and a human resources professional specializing in organizational change, leadership, and management. She teaches courses in areas such as human resource management, strategic thinking, quality management, and the social dynamics of organizations, both on campus and online. A certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and SHRM-Certified Professional, she brings extensive industry experience from corporate recruiting and management roles within a Fortune 500 retail organization, where she led hiring, training, and development across a multi-state region. In addition to her academic work, Stanley consults and presents on topics including generational differences in the workplace, stakeholder engagement, and strategies for improving organizational change and employee loyalty.

Debbie is passionate about exploring opportunities in higher education. She has gained a unique and dynamic skill set through her extensive experience in higher education. The skills and experiences she has obtained reflect a rare combination of training and innovation.

Ann Garton, DNP, RN, CNE, serves as a Professor of Nursing and the Director of the Institute for Person-Centered Care at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. She holds the Certified Nurse Educator credential from the National League for Nursing. Dr. Garton has been instrumental in advancing person-centered practices across the university and the broader community, earning recognition from her peers through the St. Ambrose University Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Impact Award.

She has collaborated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP to develop and disseminate the IPCC Podcast, supporting continuing education in person-centered care competencies. In the classroom, she partners with Global Brigades, enabling her nursing students to learn from communities in Honduras and to provide health promotion education to Community Health Workers throughout the country.

Dr. Garton is a member of the European Transcultural Nursing Association and the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators, where she is actively involved in the Policy Committee. Her professional contributions have earned her recognition as one of the 100 Great Iowa Nurses and selection as a Fellow in Person-Centered Care by Planetree International®.