An experienced education director with outstanding leadership, strategic planning, and
design and implementation skills, Ms. Karl has designed and implemented
educational programs for thousands of students and educators during her
career. An accomplished leader of high profile education initiatives
for both USAID and NASA, she has led multi-cultural and
multi-disciplinary teams, working with key stakeholders including local
governing institutions,non-profits, corporate
partners, and school administrations. With the ability to adapt quickly
to new challenges and situations, she has a proven record of designing
and implementing successful complex large-scale multi-million dollar
donor-based programs with regional, national and international staff.
With two decades of experience as an educator and program director and
a Masters Degree in instructional technology, Ms. Karl served for six years as the Director of
Education at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Prior
to this position, she served as Director
and Senior Education Advisor of the multi-million dollar USAID/Egypt
program, Educational Technology in
Schools, promoting inquiry-based technology-enhanced educational
reform. The program trained 2,500 educators and administrators, impacting over 25,000
children. Under her co-leadership USAID awarded the program the highest
possible score of “outstanding” and “found the program to be the best
in USAID” in 2004.
Committed to working with organizations that are dedicated to
strengthening society and creating sustainable reform programs, Ms. Karl has
managed projects that have targeted gender equity, equitable access and
improved policies, including training and upgrading of facilities.
Previous positions include Director of the NASA Discovery Science
Museum at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas; Project Manager for
educational programs and publications at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute and Education Manager of the Texas Aerospace Scholars program
at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas (with Universities
Space Research Association, USRA).
Qualifications include:
• Senior-level strategic planning, implementation and
evaluation
• Hiring, supervision and evaluation of staff
• Fund-raising, public relations, marketing
and fiscal management
• Development of public and
private sector partnerships
• Design and development of training and education curricula
• Implementation of monitoring, evaluation and
quality assurances
• Design of museum exhibits, interpretive
galleries and publications
• Comprehensive knowledge of best practices in
education
• Presentations and publications for leading
international conferences
As Director of Education at Challenger Center for Space Science
Education, a non-profit formed by the families of the
astronauts lost in the Challenger tragedy. Challenger Center serves a diverse audience in four countries, reaching 400,000 students and 40,000 teachers each year. As Education Director, Ms. Karl supervised, designed
and implemented high-profile formal and informal education and outreach
programs for an international network of 48 Challenger Learning Centers
and their professional staff. She worked closely with key stakeholders
to identify funding sources and develop partnerships with
organizations in development of
new educational initiatives. From 2010-2012 she was a primary fund-raiser for the organization and through her proposal writing was selected as Principal Investigator of four NASA research awards and cooperative agreements totaling $3.1 million dollars. Ms. Karl led the recent Challenger Center Global Climate Change Education initiative, designing professional development workshops, classroom curricula and an online climate interactive reaching over 10,000 students. Challenger Center and its network serve a
diverse audience in four countries, including 400,000 students and
25,000 educators annually, program administrators, museum staff, and
parents.
As Director of the USAID program, Educational
Technology in Schools, introducing inquiry-based educational
methods and technology to administrators, educators and students across Egypt, Ms.
Karl supervised over 50 technical, educational and administrative
staff. She designed and led the bilingual K12 training program and supervised the technical
implementation plan for the installation of 7,500 computers in
classrooms, administration and libraries at 14 schools and four
libraries in seven governorates. Her responsibilities
included the design and delivery of professional development workshops,
and the design of an on-line educational portal (in Arabic and English)
providing communication tools and digital resources to 2,500 educators
and administrators and hosting over 6,000 educator-developed resources
mapped to the national Egyptian curriculum.
Ms. Karl's leadership position was charged with the design and
implementation of monitoring and evaluation procedures, developing
programmatic quality assurance processes, and building community
awareness, acceptance, and expertise in student-centered
technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Working closely with the
Ministry of Education, Ministry of International Cooperation, and
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and USAID, she
supervised the development, implementation and evaluation of training
programs for 2,500 educators and administrators in change
management, strategic and financial planning, building community
involvement, the integration of technology in student-centered learning
environments, assessment and program sustainability. In
concert with USAID and Ministry officials, she worked to help focus
efforts on community participation in policy reform activities,
including the creation and implementation of school and community
improvement and sustainability plans, and the development of
educational public outreach programs.
As Director of the NASA Discovery Museum at Moody Gardens, Ms. Karl
developed and authored over 60 unique interactive hands-on science and
technology exhibits in a major renovation of the museum, handling all
construction and fabrication, and managing all contracts and
contractors. Supervising educational and volunteer staff, she
designed the museum’s educational outreach program, and managed the
IMAX theatre, concessions and gift shop. As Education Manager of
programs and publications with USRA at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute and the NASA Johnson Space Center, she designed a broad
variety of interactive educational activities, professional development
materials and museum exhibits with scientists, educational and
technology teams, collaborating with partnership organizations to
provide funding for educational outreach initiatives.
With extensive experience in grant compliance and program management,
including the development of work plans, staff recruitment and
supervision, program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, grant
acquisition and compliance, and fiscal management, Ms. Karl has
successfully led multi-cultural technical, education, and
administrative management teams including contractors and consultants.
Ms. Karl has maintained successful working relationships with government
representatives, funding agencies, and partners in the private sector.
Creating multiple partnerships with donor organizations, she has
successfully marketed programs to state legislatures, foreign
ambassadors and their delegations, leaders of corporations, senior
officials of government organizations (both U.S. and foreign), the
media and the foreign press. Balancing her management experience, she
has been a teacher, reporter, filmmaker, motivational lecturer and
presenter at many national and international conferences.
Linked In Profile
Phone:
(703) 317-7250 – E-mail: ritakkarl@gmail.com
|