Board of Directors
Maria A. Beebe, Ph.D.
Dr. Maria A. Beebe has made it her personal goal to link higher education with global sustainable development; to balance social and environmental considerations with economic development; and to use information and communication technologies for global engagement. Maria has over 20 years of experience in international development experience, working with higher education on knowledge exchanges, learning partnerships, and capacity building in telecommunications. She led Knowledge Exchanges & Learning Partnerships (KELP) in South Africa (1995), Nettel@Africa in Africa (1996-2005), and Afghan eQuality Alliances in Afghanistan (2006-2009) as a faculty member at Washington State University, Center to Bridge the Digital Divide. Maria led workshops on teaching and learning with the Internet at higher education institutions in Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Makerere, Malawi, and Nigeria. She co-edited AfricaDotEdu and edited three books about the leadership of global Filipina women: DISRUPT1.0. Filipina Women: Proud. Loud. Leading without a Doubt (2014); DISRUPT2.0. Filipina Women; Daring to Lead (2016) ; and DISRUPT 3.0. Filipina Women: Rising (2018). Maria has a current Department of Anthropology affiliate appointment at Portland State University. Maria sits on the board of Techwomen.Asia, Global Networks, and Kaisipan. Her most read paper is about e_learning in Afghanistan.
Emmanuel C. Lallana, Ph.D.
Dr. Emmanuel C. Lallana is Chief Executive of Ideacorp – an independent, non-profit organization focused on Digital Development (ICT for Development) in governance and education, in business and the economy, and in transforming society. His work is focused on ICT policy development, Human Capital Development (ICT in Education and Training) and Democratic e-Governance, with focus on m-Governance.
He is also author of APCICT Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders modules on ICT for Development (ICTD) Policy, Process and Governance (M2) and Social Media and Development (M11). Dr. Lallana has worked with academic/research institutions, civil society organizations, and international organizations. He served the Philippine government as Deputy Director General, Foreign Service Institute, Department of Foreign Affairs, (1993-1996) and Commissioner, Commission on Information and Communications Technology, Office of the President (2004-2007). He was also consultant at the National Privacy Commission and the Department of Education. Dr. Lallana has served as the Project Leader of the Pan Asia Network on Democratic eGovernance (PANeGOV), Consultant of the UN Asia Pacific Training Center for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN APCICT), Incheon, Korea, Regional Training Coordinator, Pan Asia Network Localization (PAN L10n) and conducted trainings for government officials in India (Hyderabad), Korea (Incheon) and Afghanistan (Kabul) on ICT Policy making. Dr. Lallana is a member of the Board of Directors of Orbicom – Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications.
Lilia R. Juele, Ph.D.
Dr. Lilia R. Juele has extensive experience as a distance/online learning administrator, industry professional, and business professor of strategic planning, marketing and management, research and ethics. Lilia is the Director of eLearning and Academic Technology, Rockland Community College (State University of New York). A solid background in business and academia has lent Lilia a keen eye in linking theory and practice resulting to the success in setting up online programs from the ground up and moving them into successful online enterprise. Her expertise in instructional design, faculty training, and assessments led to unprecedented growth in online course design, faculty training, and online course offerings. Lilia's teaching and research focus on authentic, problem based, experiential, and values-based education. She has been awarded The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence by the State University of NY (SUNY). She was also a recipient of the Banaag Award "Glimmer of Light Award" for her advocacy and volunteer work in the field of education. Lilia serves as a Board Adviser to the Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America, Inc. (AFTA), a recipient of the Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (Linkapil) Award (Service to Fellowmen).
Antonette Torres
Antonette “Toni” Tirona Torres is an experienced project manager who managed three flagship projects: National Government Portal (NGP), Integrated Government Philippines (iGovPhil), and iSchools Project during her stint with the Philippine government. She started her career with the national carrier, Philippine Airlines, before joining the Development Academy of the Philippines, a government think-tank and management consulting institution. It was there where she started to hone her project management skills. As project manager, Toni handles entire project life cycles – from project initiation, planning and designing, implementation and control, to facilitating project closeouts and turnover to operations team. She strategizes how projects are implemented, taking into consideration resources, timeline, risks, quality, integration and relationships of people. She is responsible in drafting project organizational charts, in defining policies to ease implementation, in managing critical tasks to ensure timely delivery of outputs, and in managing sponsors, beneficiaries, and vendors. New Paragraph
Maria Victoria Lualhati, Ph.D.
Dr. Maria Victoria "Marivic" Lualhati is owner, president and CEO of Beyond Medical Hub, Inc. and corporate secretary of MD Link Diagnostic Center. She is presently the CEO of Tarlac Medical Center and board treasurer of Kaisipan Foundation incorporated in Florida. Marivic’s management style focuses on ensuring operational efficiency and ensuring financial viability in addition to instituting organizational development and change management culture. Among her noteworthy accomplishments are authoring scientific papers in quality improvement and customer Relations. She has won twice in the TQM contest in the Philippine Society for Quality Assurance. A speaker in international conventions and fora. She carries with her more than two decades of HR and training expertise. She is an accredited trainer of Krish Dhanam programs and in-house trainer of Inspire Leadership consultancy Inc. An alumna of the College of the Holy Spirit where she finished her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Marivic also completed her Masters in Business Administration and further graduate studies in Doctor of Philosophy majoring in Educational Management and graduating with research and academic excellence awards at the University of Rizal System.
Audrey Codera-Mills
Highly experienced Program Manager with over 13 years of cross-sector leadership leveraging strategic partnerships, launching high-impact programs, and building resourceful organizational systems applied locally and internationally, working with government, the international development community, grassroots societies, and individuals. Expert in balancing innovation and pragmatism for sustainable results. Research focused on policy change in information technology, business development, and sustainable programs and models. Highly interactive trainer and coach for measurable impact and high participant engagement. Master of Arts in Business Administration practitioner, who has consistently applied business acumen in developing, executing, and evaluating socially sustainable programs. Core competencies include: Program Design and Development, Policy Research and Analysis, Strategic Planning, Negotiation and Advocacy, Program Evaluation, External Relations, and Regulatory Writing Expert. Organizations that Audrey have impacted: Philippines’ National Youth Commission; Philippine Local Governments’ youth and women; US Marine Corps; Department of the Army. Audrey served as Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Youth Employment Network, a youth-led nonprofit which seeks to alleviate poverty through promoting employment and employability among youth.
Sevilla Belen Castillo
An active community leader, Sevilla Belen Castillo is the past President and founding member of the Alliance for Cultural and Educational Services (ACES) and the Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America (AFTA). She has been the Recording Secretary of PAFCOM (Philippine American Friendship Day Committee in 2011. She was the 2007 and 2009 Treasurer and Secretary of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) and was a member of the Board of Directors. Belen epitomizes the leader who can turn social challenges into positive advancements. She is equipped with the experience that will serve as tools to productivity, and she has the ideas that can be used to promote development. Her work embraces innovative methods, explores beyond horizons, and integrates purposes and functions so that an organization can enjoy independent renewal and stay unified. She has selflessly engaged herself in the service of the community, and in the process became familiar figure who played important roles in organizational transformations, and in the campaign to promote just, significant, and sustainable Filipino-American relations, values and cultures. Belen, is a teacher by profession, a true educator. As a dedicated teacher from 1975 to present, she has instilled into the minds of many young students the importance of education, the kind of education that recognizes not only the intellectual aspects of the many facets of intelligence but also the value of unity, diversity, uniqueness, social and cultural dynamics. She received several awards, as one of the founders for AFTA, an organization for the voices of Filipino teachers in America; the NAFA Mabuhay Awards for her exemplary leadership, outstanding services, commitment and invaluable contribution to the Filipino-American community; and an Outstanding Performance Award from St. Francis Xavier School in Newark, NJ. She is also a recipient of the Distinguished Service Awards from the Association of Filipino Teachers of America, Certificate of Appreciation from the Philippine Consulate of New York and Certificate of Recognition from the International Reading Association as presenter in New York, New Jersey and the International Reading Associations World Congress in the Philippines. Her visibility maybe fascinating but her choices are simple. She is a loving mother of 5 beautiful children: Vincent, Veronica, Vir Angelo, Vanessa, and Villette and a proud grandmother of Gabby, Jack, and “Kidlat” Pablo Benj and Andres. She is a teacher, a friend, an advocate and a leader.
James Beebe, Ph.D.
Dr. James Beebe is an applied qualitative social scientist, international development anthropologist, educator, and social activist committed to using the tools of the social sciences to promote justice. James wrote the second edition of his book Rapid Qualitative Inquiry: A Field Guide to Rapid Assessment (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014) and his Peace Corps memoir Those Were the Days: A Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines in the Late ’60 (Peace Corps Writers, 2014). In 2013 he founded and now directs the Center for Rapid Qualitative Inquiry, Global Networks in Oregon. In 2015 he was appointed a Departmental Affiliate in the Anthropology department of Portland State University. His career has combined being a practitioner and a scholar. More than 20 years of his experience has been outside the United States in international development as a Peace Corps Volunteer, researcher, consultant, and Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development. He spent another 20 years in academia as a Associate Professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Professor of Anthropology at Oregon State University, Visiting Special Instructor of Public Policy at Kabul University (Afghanistan), and Professor of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, from where he retired in 2014.