Meet The Team

Karen Murphy

Chief Executive Officer

Karen Murphy is the inaugural CEO of the Human Responsibility Accelerator and the Chief Learning Officer for the High Resolves Group. She is the former Director of International Strategy for Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational and professional development organization. Karen has developed and managed partnerships and educational programs in countries around the world, including in Colombia, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and France as well as with international and country-based civil society organizations. Karen holds a PhD in American Studies, has researched and written about adolescent civic development in divided societies, including the US, has extensive experience training educators, educational and civil society leaders and is an expert on the role of education in transitional justice processes.

Chief Executive Officer

Jacqueline Ewens

PROJECT MANAGER

Jacqueline holds an MS in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California, and a BA from Chapman University in Sociology and Socially Responsive Organizations. Upon joining High Resolves in 2019, Jacqueline was an integral part of the launch of their first edtech product, Composer, in early 2020, supporting marketing, user engagement, and product development. At the Human Responsibility Accelerator, Jacqueline manages a number of projects across the global High Resolves Group, including operations, communications, data analysis, and product development. She is extremely passionate about social change, interdisciplinary approaches to impact, and the catalytic power of education to change the world.

General Operations Manager

Carrie Silver

Growing up in one of Canada’s largest and most diverse cities, Carrie developed a great curiosity about the cultures that surrounded her. This encouraged her to make the brave leap to move to Australia in her late teens where she studied world religions, modern history and population geography, leading to a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching from the University of New England. She has taught history, geography and social and community studies in Australian classrooms. Outside of the classroom Carrie has worked with students, teachers and communities to create impactful learning opportunities to create positive change in the world.

Director of Regional Networks

Matt Owens is the [Insert Title TBD] at the Human Responsibility Accelerator. Matt began his career in education as a Fulbright grantee in Spain, where he taught English, social sciences and global citizenship. In 2017 he graduated with an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School in Education where he studied education policy, with a focus on citizenship and peace education. He joined High Resolves where has worked on a variety of curriculum and edtech projects, first as a curriculum developer, then as Head of Curriculum and Content for Composer. Matt holds a B.A. in History and Spanish from the University of Arkansas and is particularly passionate in the role of history education in the renewal of strong civic societies.

Matt Owens

Director of Symphony Ecosystem

Cassie Cooke

Associate Director of Videos for Change

Cassie has dedicated the last decade to driving the design and facilitation of citizenship and leadership programs as a part of the suite of learning experiences powered by the High Resolves Group. She has supported thousands of young people across the world to develop critical 21-st century competencies and their confidence as agents of social change. For the past five years, she has led the curriculum design, educator professional development, and youth engagement for Videos for Change. This role has bridged her passion for storytelling and creative arts with her diverse experience as a primary and secondary school teacher. Cassie believes in the power of partnerships to provide opportunities for young people everywhere to contribute to building better communities and a brighter future for the world they are inheriting. Cassie studied English Literature & History at Macquarie University and has a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts and a Bachelor of Teaching from the University of Tasmania

Director of Regional Networks

Director of Symphony

Liz Vogel

Director of Videos for Change

Liz Vogel brings more than 20 years’ experience in civic education and philanthropy to her role as Director, Videos for Change at the Human Responsibility Accelerator. Liz is the former Los Angeles Executive Director for Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational and professional development organization. Liz believes in the power of storytelling to effect change, and has developed partnerships with media companies including 21st Century Fox, A24, DreamWorks, Lionsgate, Netflix, and Participant Media to support youth programming. Liz hails from the Jersey Shore (New Jersey, USA) but claims fierce allegiance to her Southern California lifestyle.

Sean Pettis

Director of Strategic Alliances

Sean has over 20 years’ experience in design, delivery, evaluation and research of active citizenship programmes, across Northern Ireland and globally, as both a trainer of educators and a youth work practitioner. Sean has previously worked on the promotion of Integrated Education and led Facing History and Ourselves programmes across Northern Ireland in partnership with the Corrymeela Community. Sean is deeply committed to building fairer societies where cultures of citizenship support people to live well with and for each other. He holds a BA Joint Hons in Modern History & Politics and an MSc in Community Youth Work. He lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland and is married to Sharon, with 2 children, Jonah and Niamh, and a dog, Luna. In his minimal spare time, he is a committed, but highly amateur soccer player and musician.

Dylan has been working in the field of citizenship education for over 20 years, developing international programmes and resources for educators and students. He is the former Executive Director of Shikaya - a South African non-profit that he co-founded to support the role of teachers in creating active, democratic and compassionate global citizens. He has authored numerous text books, teacher guides and multimedia classroom resources. He has contributed chapters in a number of leading citizenship publications and is the co-author of A School Where I Belong - Creating Transformed and Inclusive South African Schools. Dylan has worked in partnership with leading citizenship organizations across the globe including UNESCO, APCEIU, ICTJ and Facing History and Ourselves to train and support educators, create and facilitate online learning programmes and develop multimedia teaching and learning resources for the classroom.

Dylan Wray

Director of Center for Learning

For over two decades, John has worked in online learning and curriculum development. He is immensely grateful to have been able to devote his career in education to creating high quality learning experiences that level the playing field, having reached tens of thousands of students across the world, providing them with opportunities to learn, grow and reach their full potential. John has developed dozens of online courses, workshops and lessons for both students and educators. He passionately believes in the potential of online learning to transform lives and can think of no more important area for growth and transformation in our youth than Civic Learning. Through the Accelerator, John and our team are proud to help students develop the skills needed to become more compassionate, effective and active participants locally and globally. John lives in the greater Boston area, and in addition to his educational work, is a singer, songwriter, poet, and writer.

Associate Director of Learning

& Instructional Design

Project & Operations Manager

Denetria Shirley

Instructional Designer

Denetria has spent 9 years in education, working in public charter schools, at the middle and high school level both serving students in the classroom and outside in various leadership roles. She is passionate about education as a connector and the chance to connect with students all over the world through the Human Responsibility Accelerator. Her experiences have given her a front row seat to student preferences, engagement, and learning styles, which she draws from wholeheartedly as Instructional Designer. She firmly believes that educators are guests in the arena of a student’s learning - there to guide, not take the lead - and the most effective lessons allow students to take control of their learning, and allow the educator to create experiences with high engagement. Denetria holds a BA in Sociology and African American Students with a minor in English Pre Law, and an M.Ed in Education Administration. She is a proud Memphian, and in her free time can be found with friends and family making memories, or recharging on quiet getaways.

Seana Massey

PROJECT MANAGER

After graduating from McGill University with Honors BA in Film and Communications, Seana pursued a career in communications, media, and event planning. It wasn’t long before her growing passion for the non-profit sector collided with a lifelong desire for adventure, taking Seana to Kenya in 1995 where she applied her skills volunteering for AMREF Africa, subsequently becoming Executive Director of AMREF Canada. A four-year sojourn in Italy followed, after which Seana sat on numerous non-profit boards before joining the George Hull Centre for Children and Families as Director of Philanthropy, a role which she greatly enjoyed for 10 years. Seana joins the Accelerator team at 40% capacity, while also serving as Chief Development Officer for High Resolves Canada. Seana is passionate about the work of the Human Responsibility Accelerator because she sees how the issues in today’s world are quietly impacting her children; how concerns and questions about the future are starting to blur their sense of hope and anticipation. The Human Responsibility Accelerator dissipates that veil by igniting a spark of engagement, possibility, and purpose. By guiding youth to deeply consider the issues before them and helping them to cultivate critical global competencies, the Accelerator enables today’s youth to be part of the problem solving, to use their voice, and to play an active role in creating the world they want for themselves, and their own children.

Chief Development Officer

Tom Prins

PROJECT MANAGER

Tom is a senior executive and leader in the for-purpose sector for more than 15 years. He has volunteered in numerous organizations and mentored many upcoming leaders. Earlier in his career, Tom established and led an international Information Technology services company that provided outstanding service to many Fortune 1000 firms across North America. He has an MBA from the University of Toronto and a BA in Public Policy and Administration from York University. Tom joins the Accelerator team at 40% capacity, while also the CEO of High Resolves Canada. Tom is passionate about the Human Responsibility Accelerator because we urgently need people committed to making a positive difference in the world. Our young people align with this vision, and as their leadership skills grow, they make conscious choices not to solely act in their own self-interest, but in the longer-term interest of a broader collective of people that in turn changes our world. We can no longer talk about change. We need to make it happen.

Chief Operations Officer

Director of Strategic Alliances

Meet The Board

John Englander

Dina Buchbinder

Dina Buchbinder is a social entrepreneur passionate about constantly reimagining education. When she was 24 years old, in 2007, she founded Education for Sharing (E4S), an innovative, action-oriented organization that helps shape better global citizens using the power of play ... Read More

Dina Buchbinder is a social entrepreneur passionate about constantly reimagining education. In 2007, she founded Education for Sharing (E4S), an innovative, action-oriented organization that helps shape better global citizens using the power of play. E4S uses rigorously evaluated social and emotional learning techniques to teach civic values, fair play, empathy, teamwork, gender and racial equity and the importance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Since E4S’s inception and until before the pandemic, 1.3 million children, their caregivers and teachers, have benefited from E4S’s programs in eight countries. Since COVID-19, E4S turned their efforts digital and have reached an additional 5 million people.

Dina has been recognized as an Ashoka Fellow, a member of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders, an Edmund Hillary Fellow, a Schusterman Fellow, a Vital Voices Lead Fellow and a WEF Global Shaper. She is also a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in Urban Planning at MIT and holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. Dina received the 2018 Emerging Global Leader Award from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Dina currently is Chair of the Board of the United Nations Youth Association Mexico, and serves on the Mission 4.7 Education Task Force, founded by UN SDSN, in partnership with the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, UNESCO, and the CSD at Columbia University.

Anthony Mackay

Anthony Mackay is CEO and Board Co Chair of the Washington DC based National Center on Education and the Economy. He was Inaugural Chair Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), Inaugural Deputy Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), and immediate past Chair, Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Anthony is Deputy Chancellor, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia, Honorary Senior Fellow of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne and visiting Professor to the International Centre for Educational Enhancement, University of Bolton UK.

Anthony is cofounder of the Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP), and Foundation Board Chair of the Innovation Unit Ltd, England.

He is an Expert Advisor to OECD/CERI, Consultant Advisor to Asia Society’s Global Cities Education Network and Senior Fellow IBE/ UNESCO.

Anthony is the Moderator of the Annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession and Moderator of Ministerial Sessions and Key Debates at the Annual World Innovation Summit on Education (WISE).

Ken Lane

Ken Lane has been with the Economist Group for 12 years and is based in Washington, D.C. He is currently a Director at Economist Impact, its policy insights and thought-leadership division, where he oversees the Group’s largest partnerships. As a commercial leader for the Group he expanded regional operations, opened new business channels and grew its public policy practice.

Prior to the Economist Group, Ken co-founded private companies focused on affordable housing and the commercial development of renewable and clean technologies. He lived and worked in Asia and Latin America for more than two decades.

He is a graduate of Florida State University and has a master’s degree from Thunderbird Global School of Management.

Rajiv Vinnakota

Rajiv Vinnakota is the seventh president of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation). Prior to joining C&S in July 2019, Raj served as the EVP of the Youth Camp Engagement division at the Aspen Institute. For 18 years, Raj was the co-founded and CEO of The SEED Foundation, the nation’s first network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools for underserved children. Raj’s work has earned him recognition in the form of fellowships from Echoing Green, The Ashoka Foundation and the Aspen Institute, as well as awards such as Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Award, Harvard University’s Innovation in American Government Award, and Oprah Winfrey’s Use You Life award. Raj is a board director for two public companies: Enovis Corporation and ESAB. In addition to being a former trustee and executive committee member for Princeton University, Raj is the former national chair of its annual giving committee. Raj majored in molecular biology and also earned a certificate of studies from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs in Public Policy.

Bror Saxberg

Bror Saxberg is the VP of Learning Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where he works on how to bring more evidence-based practices into the learning ecosystem as a whole.

Bror Saxberg is the VP of Learning Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where he works on how to bring more evidence-based practices into the learning ecosystem as a whole. He previously served as the Chief Learning Officer at Kaplan, Inc, where he worked to convert Kaplan into a “learning engineering” organization. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at K12, Inc., where he helped build evidence-based learning for practical use at scale across K-12. Prior to this, he had assignments at Knowledge Universe, Dorling Kindersley, and McKinsey. Saxberg holds a B.A. in Mathematics and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, both received in 1980. He received an M.A. in Mathematics from Oxford University, and also received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 1989 and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1990.

Jean-Claude Brizard

Jean-Claude Brizard is President and CEO of Digital Promise, a global, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on accelerating innovation in education. He is the former Senior Advisor and Deputy Director of the U.S. Programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he focused on PK-16 education across five communities in four states. He also led several strategies to help close the racial and economic achievement gaps in Washington State’s educational system, as well as to support the growth and sustainability of the state’s public charter school sector.

Jean-Claude is the former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools. Prior to his appointment in Chicago, he was Superintendent of Schools for the Rochester City School District in New York. Under his leadership, both the Chicago Public Schools and the Rochester City School District saw substantial improvements in student performance. Jean-Claude’s experience also includes a 21-year career as an educator and administrator with the New York City Department of Education. He served as a Regional Superintendent, supervising more than 100 schools in the Borough of Brooklyn, and serving as the system’s Executive Director for its 400 secondary schools. He is a Fellow of the Broad Center, a Fellow of the Pahara-Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Institute Global Leadership Network.

Gisele C. Shorter

Gisele C. Shorter is the Director of Education at the Raikes Foundation, which she joined as an education strategy program officer in 2018. She leads the national School and System Redesign Portfolio and supports K-12 policy efforts. The heartbeat of her K-12 portfolio is the Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Network. Collectively the BELE membership leverages their resources to develop an education system that ensures the intellectual, social, emotional, and cultural growth and wellbeing of all young people and results in social-cultural markets having zero negative predictive power on outcomes.

Over the past 15 years, Gisele has led large-scale and community-based programmatic, research and policy initiatives to advance justice and equity, close health disparities, and ensure access and opportunities for BIPOC youth to excel. Her work is rooted in a deep belief that an equitable society starts with an equitable education system.

Dr. Shorter earned her Ed.D. in health education from Columbia University Teachers College. She holds an M.P.A from Long Island University and a B.A. from Amherst College. She is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

Dena Trujillo

Dena Trujillo, CEO of Crisis Text Line, has led the organization through transformation and prepared it for growth. She has worked to bring services to new technology platforms, launch Crisis Text Line in Spanish, diversity the organization, and build systems to foster ongoing innovation and collaboration.

Dena has 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of nonprofit and for profit organizations and tech systems, including as Director of Human Capital and Investments at Omidyar Network and on the board for FUSE Corps. Dena’s passion is for discovering, advising and amplifying models that maximize social impact and leverage technology and innovative business models to scale. Dena earned a BS in Business Management and Organizational Analysis from Santa Clara University.

Eduardo Wurzmann

Eduardo is an angel investor in several edtech startups. He is a co-founder of Grupo Ibmec Educational, where he served as CEO for 11 year. Ibmec is one of the leading post-secondary schools in Brazil and was sold in 2015 to DeVry.

Eduardo is an angel investor in several edtech startups. He is a co-founder of Grupo Ibmec Educacional, where he served as CEO for 11 year. Ibmec is one of the leading post-secondary schools in Brazil and was sold in 2015 to DeVry. Eduardo started his career in Sao Paulo working for Credit Agricole Indosuez Securities (CAI), where he was responsible for their equity business. From there he moved to Moscow to head CAIs Russian office in Moscow, overseeing nearly $600 million in client investments. Eduardo currently serves on the board of governors of Tel Aviv University, The Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo and in other publicly-traded companies in Brazil.. He received a bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Sao Paulo in 1987 and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 1991. Eduardo is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows and the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Roya Baghai

Roya is co-founder of High Resolves and serves as the Chief Creative Officer for the High ResolvesGroup. Roya has a graduate degree in architecture and has also worked in many other experiential design fields. Throughout all her work, she has been passionate about creating transformative experiences that have personal or social impact. Her commitment to creating positive social change and empowering young people to do the same was the inspiration and driving force behind the co-creation of HighResolves in 2005 and her deep involvement since. She is also the Founder of Videos for Change: a powerful global platform that is enabling and amplifying the voice of young people to creatively engage with social issues and catalyze positive change in the world. Roya is passionate about contributing ins one small way to the creation of a world with unity in diversity, and where justice and equality of opportunity is upheld and experienced by all.

Tina Sharkey

Tina Sharkey is a consumer brand builder, global operating executive, entrepreneur, and public andprivate board member. She has created and scaled global brands and businesses in digital media,consumer health, and CPG industries that have transformed the way we communicate, shop, and share.Tina currently serves on the national board of directors at the Public Broadcasting Network (PBS),Heyday; a platform pioneering a marketplace-native approach to eCommerce, and Havenly; the world’sleading interior designer platform. She currently serves on the Growth and Innovation board at GAP Inc.,and as a strategic advisor to BFA Industries; the largest beauty community in the world. Sharkey alsoserved on the Board of Directors of HomeAway, through its sale to Expedia. Recognized as one of the top100 People Transforming Business by Business Insider, named by Fast Company as one of the TopWomen in Technology, Tina is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. She also teaches a course atthe Iovine and Young Academy at the University of Southern California she created called TheCommunity Playbook for Brands and Businesses. Tina is a successful entrepreneur having co-foundediVillage and Brandless. She also held leadership roles at Johnson &Johnson’s BabyCenter, AOL, andSesame Street Digital Group

Gabriela Lopez

Gabriela Lopez serves as Director of Research to Practice Measures at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,which is focused on the development of measures and evidence gathering grounded in racial equity andjustice, as well as the science of learning and human development. Prior to joining the Education team atCZI, Gabriela served as Director of Early Childhood Program Quality Assessment and EquityImplementation in theCenter for Child and Family Studies at WestEd. Prior she was a Senior ResearchAssociate at the Office of Education and Community Initiatives, an off campus research office at theUniversity of California, Riverside. Gabriela is bilingual Spanish and has26 years of experience withdiverse communities and schools