Our Leadership Team

Patience Ndlovu is the regional director for southern Africa at JSI. She is the former executive director of the Bantwana Initiative of World Education. For nearly 15 years she led Bantwana Initiative programs in various countries, spearheading innovations and models with a deliberate and genuine commitment to locally led development and solutions. Her efforts have strengthened national case management systems and operationalized multi-sector coordination from national to village level. She oversees JSI’s work in child protection, girls education, and economic strengthening, as well as in preventing HIV and gender-based violence, and supporting orphans and vulnerable children. Before joining World Education, she worked for various local and international organizations in different capacities. Patience has a Master’s degree in Policy Studies from the Southern Africa Regional Institute for Policy Studies and Bachelor’s degree in Rural and Urban Planning from the University of Zimbabwe.

As vice president of World Education, Priyanka Sharma oversees the organization’s Asia and U.S.-based projects and centers of expertise, including the EdTech Center, National College Transition Network, New England Literacy Resource Center, and SABES Program Support Center. Priyanka leads projects on post-secondary career readiness, technology integration, digital transformation, and digital skills development. She co-leads Digital US, a national initiative with a cross-sector approach to design a learn and work ecosystem that fosters digital resilience for all learner workers. She also directs the New England Literacy Resource Center, leading projects that emerge from collaboration among policymakers, professional developers, and practitioners. Priyanka has authored two resources (Mentoring Toolkit and English Now! Implementation Guide) that support peer mentoring and learning; contributed to Mapping the Financial Journey for adult students; and co-authored Leveraging Technology to Increase Opportunity and Economic Security for Adults. She has a degree in biology and anthropology from the State University of NY.

With more than 16 years of experience working in both US and international education sectors, Adam Turney currently serves as the Vice President of World Education’s Africa Portfolio. He provides managerial oversight and technical assistance across the portfolio while also serving as a senior technical advisor. He supports monitoring and evaluation systems, research, and new business development opportunities with a focus on initiatives in Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Jordan, and serving as an Africa Portfolio lead for the EdTech Center. Before joining World Education in 2014, Adam spent more than eight years teaching and volunteering in the US, South Korea, and Mozambique. Adam completed his BA at Michigan State University and has an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s International Education Policy program.

As Associate Director, Country Program Finance for JSI’s International Division, Nicole Dupré works to ensure effective and efficient management of JSI and World Education’s financial resources and operational systems. She serves as a senior resource to program teams for finance, operations, donor compliance, contracting, procurement, and administration issues; ensures consistent implementation of organizational policies and procedures; and provides strategic thinking and financial oversight for operations and new business development.

Nicole has extensive experience leading and supporting organizations in the US, Europe, Africa, South America, and South Asia, including developing and implementing policies and procedures, managing audits, negotiating contracts, providing support to international development project offices, and training finance and administrative staff. She has a MA in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College and a BA in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University.