Reform and Policymaking in the Education Sector:

From the US to Colombia

Boston International is proud to announce a panel of educational practitioners: former Minister of Education of Colombia, Cecilia Maria Velez; Dr. Lisa Famularo, Research Director at the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy; and Dr. James Samels, Founder and CEO of Education Alliance.

This program is presented with the support of the Consulate of Colombia in Boston, which works to serve the Colombia population and celebrate Colombian culture with the larger Boston community.

The Speakers:

Cecilia Maria Velez was the Minister of Education of Colombia from 2002 to 2010. Before this she spent 4 years as Bogota’s Secretary of Education and another 4 years in the Department of National Planning. Cecilia received her Masters in Economic Sciences from Loyain University in Belgium and a degree in Urban and Regional Development from MIT. She is currently teaching as a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.   

Ms. Velez will be discussing her experiences over the past decade making changes at the levels of local and the central government in order to improve enrolment and quality in education on the country in. In doing so, she will address primary, secondary, and higher level education as a system.

Dr. Lisa Famularo is the Research Director at the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, a non-profit organization with the mission to develop a public agenda that promotes significant improvement of public education in Massachusetts. They seek to foster thoughtful public discourse and informed policy making through non-partisan, independent research, civic engagement, and effective action. Dr. Famularo received her Ph.D. in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation from Boston College.

Dr. Famularo will be discussing findings from a recent report, highlighting a new era (both in Massachusetts and at the national level) in which educational reform focuses on ensuring that all of the Commonwealth’s students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills that make them college- and career–ready.

Dr. James E Samels is the Founder and CEO of The Education Alliance, a full-service higher education consulting firm with experience in the international realm. He has served on the faculties of the University of Massachusetts and Bentley College, and as a guest lecturer at Boston University and Harvard University. Dr. Samels holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a Master’s degree in Public Administration, a Juris Doctor degree and a Doctor of Education degree.

Dr. Samels will be discussing education reform and higher education from a futurist point of view. He will draw on his decades of experience both in the US and internationally.

About The Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment (MOITI)

The Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment (MOITI) works to expand the Massachusetts economy by marketing the state’s business internationally, through focused export promotion, attracting foreign companies to invest in Massachusetts and handling protocol as it relates to trade and investment.