Our managing director is Bhaskar Pant.
 Bhaskar
Pant
Bhaskar Pant joined World Learning for Business as managing director
in October 2001. He brings with him over 20 years' experience as an international
manager and training executive, having lived and worked in Africa, Europe,
Asia, and the United States.
Prior
to joining World Learning, he served for four years as president and CEO
of Turner Broadcasting South Asia, based in New Delhi, India, and for
five years as vice president at Sony Corporation of America, based in
New Jersey. Most recently, he served as founder, CEO, and principal trainer
of New Millennium Consultants Private Limited, a leading Indian firm specializing
in global effectiveness skills training for multinational corporations.
Among his clients were Hughes Software Systems (a General Motors company),
Bechtel, GE Capital, Microsoft, Ericsson/Hewlett Packard and The World
Bank.
Pant holds a B.S. in electronics engineering from the University of Rochester
and an M.S. in broadcast communications from Indiana University.
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Our
regional managers are Cindy Barnes Ochoa, Michal Commanday,
and Jim Blake.
Cindy
Barnes Ochoa
Cindy Barnes Ochoa has over 20 years' experience in the development
and management of language training. She has taught ESL in Japan and at
the college level in the U.S. A former director of intensive English programs
in the U.S. and a past president of AAIEP (American Association of Intensive
English Programs), she has been a key manager for 10 years in the team
that created World Learning for Business.
In
addition to her work with World Learning for Business, Ms. Ochoa is a
consultant for TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication)
and a commissioner with CEA (Commission on English Language Program Accreditation),
a national accrediting agency. Ms. Ochoa speaks Spanish and travels frequently
to Venezuela, where she has family.
Ms.
Ochoa holds a B.A. in communications from the University of Arizona and
an M.A.T. in English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from SIT (School
for International Training).
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Michal Commanday
Founder of SPEAK UP™ English for Business, a San Francisco Bay Area
training company now an essential component of World Learning, Ms. Commanday
directs the organization's performance-based communications programs in
California.
Ms.
Commanday has consulted and trained for multinational companies in a range
of industries since 1984. As principal of BLC Intercultural Business Consultants,
a training company focusing on U.S.-Asia relationships, she designed and
delivered intercultural communications training programs for companies
including Levi Strauss, Applied Materials, and National Semiconductor.
After
working with non-native English speaking professionals for 12 years, Ms.
Commanday founded SPEAK UP™ with partner Sue Gibbons to address the
special training needs of the highly diverse California workforce. At
SPEAK UP™, she has consulted with client companies in biotechnology,
finance, IT, and manufacturing to create competency-targeted language
courses for hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area technical professionals.
From 1990-95, Ms. Commanday also served on the faculty of the English
for Professional Development program at the University of California,
Berkeley Extension Program.
Ms.
Commanday holds the B.A. in Oriental Languages and an English as second
language (ESL) teaching certificate from the University of California,
Berkeley.
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Jim Blake
Director of immersion English training for business professionals at World
Learning's Vermont site for the last eight years, Jim Blake has four decades
of experience in education and training, serving variously as teacher,
consultant, program manager, and developer and author of educational materials.
The major portion of his career has been devoted to English education
for native speakers and English as a Second Language (ESL) training in
the US and the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent. He is co-author of The
Great Perpetual Learning Machine (Little, Brown & Co. 1976).
As a member of the core World Learning for Business management team since
its inception, Mr. Blake has participated in the strategic development
of the unit.
Mr. Blake holds a B.A. in English from Bowdoin College and an M.A. in
English language and literature from the University of Oregon.
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Among our performance consultants is Dan Clapper.
Dan Clapper
As senior consultant for World Learning for Business, Dan Clapper serves
as a performance consultant, primarily to human resource directors of
multinational firms, on learning architectures for languages, intercultural
communication, and leadership. His career began in Silicon Valley, where
he won San Jose State's Gunderson Prize for his work applying systems
thinking to the design of language programs for specific purposes. He
has since designed programs for at-risk youth, line managers, production
workers, senior executives, and immigrants not literate in their first
language.
Mr. Clapper worked in Tokyo for three years, primarily with joint ventures
between the private sector and universities. His recent projects are blended
e-learning environments for clients in Europe and developing countries
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Mr. Clapper holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University, an M.Ed.
in TESOL from Temple University Japan, an M.S. in cybernetic systems from
San Jose State University, and an M.A. in English from Cal State University,
Hayward.
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Among our intercultural consultants is Kinya Sakamoto.
Kinya Sakamoto
A native of Japan, Mr. Sakamoto worked in Japan for six years in human
resource development for multinational corporations. A member of the World
Learning for Business staff since 1999, he currently designs and delivers
intercultural communications training to executives and high-potential
employees working in global business settings.
Mr.
Sakamoto holds a B.A in economics from Kansai University in Osaka, Japan,
and an M.A. in intercultural and international management from SIT (School
for International Training). His specialty is intercultural communication
and management training for business executives.
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Among
our training managers is Cheryl Hoffman Herzog.
 Cheryl
Hoffman Herzog
Cheryl Hoffman Herzog joined World Learning for Business in September
2001 as a training designer specializing in the development of professional
writing and grammar courses for clients in the Bay Area. In June 2002,
she became training manager for the Western Region. In this position,
she works closely with general managers to deliver training; manages professional
training programs including assessment, curriculum development, trainer
support, and trainer development; and manages contracts for one-on-one
training at client sites.
Before
joining World Learning, Ms. Herzog served on the adjunct ESL faculty of
San Francisco State University, George Mason University, and the University
of California-Santa Barbara. In addition to her academic work, Ms. Herzog
developed and managed an on-site business communication training program
for international broadcasters at Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C.
She has also worked with the Binational Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia,
where she focused on reforming their EFL program, and has trained EFL
teachers in Germany and Bolivia in corporate and academic settings.
Ms.
Herzog holds a B.A.
in Germanic languages and literature from the University of Michigan,
and an M.A.T. in English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) from SIT
(School for International Training). She spent one year of her bachelor's
program studying at the Albrecht Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany.
She has also studied Swedish, Spanish, and French.
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Among
our language training supervisors are Fiona Cook, Julie Datres,
and Elizabeth Edwards.
 Fiona
Cook
Fiona Cook joined the World Learning for Business team as a training
designer in October 2000, having served as atrainer in English to speakers
of other languages (ESOL) with the department in the early 1990s and as
a graduate admissions counselor for SIT (School for International Training).
A native of Britain, Ms. Cook has lived and worked in France, Brunei,
Algeria, Mexico, and Kuwait, as well as in California and Vermont. Her
many years in the classroom have given her hands-on experience in a range
of academic and educational settings as well as the pleasure of getting
to know people from other language backgrounds and cultures.
As a language training supervisor, Ms. Cook oversees World Learning for
Business' on-site ESOL training programs. She works with corporate language
trainers at a number of U.S. sites, offering academic support and advising
on curriculum and teaching methodology. She also provides language assessment,
distance coaching, and guidance in the Self-Directed Learning (SDL) Program
for trainees.
Ms.
Cook is a graduate of Cambridge University's College of Education and
she holds an M.A.T. in English to Sspeakers of other languages (ESOL)
from SIT (School for International Training).
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Julie
Datres
Julie Datres joined World Learning for Business in August of 2000 as an
ESOL trainer in the Immersion program. She assumed her current position
as language training supervisor
in October 2001. Before coming to World Learning, Ms. Datres was an instructor
of ESOL and German, training learners in both academic and corporate contexts.
In
her current position, Ms. Datres coordinates on-site ESOL and foreign
language training programs for corporate clients in different locations
throughout the U.S. In addition to working with trainers to design curriculum
and provide academic support, she conducts assessments for prospective
clients, researches and reviews ESOL and foreign language materials, and
works with trainees directly to provide SDL (Self-Directed Learning) coaching.
Ms.
Datres holds a B.A. from Duquesne University, and an M.A. in Germanic
languages and literature from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
She spent one year of her master's program studying at the Albrecht Ludwig
University in Freiburg, Germany. She has also studied Russian, French,
Danish, and Italian and is currently learning Spanish.
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Elizabeth
Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards left a career in public utility law to pursue teaching.
When she joined World Learning for Business in 1997, she had worked for
15 years in the ESOL field in Italy, Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Morocco,
Finland, and Egypt. She also served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal and
as a USAID English Teaching Fellow in Alexandria, Egypt, before accepting
positions at the American University in Cairo and Northeastern University
in Boston.
A
core trainer and training designer in World Learning's English Immersion
program in Vermont until 2002, Ms. Edwards is now part of a team of language
training supervisors who oversee training courses in multiple languages
and provide academic support to local trainers at company sites in the
U.S.
Ms.
Edwards holds a B.A. from Ohio State University, an M.A. in legal studies
from Lone Mountain College in San Francisco, an M.A.T. in English to speakers
of other languages (ESOL) from SIT (School for International Training),
and a certificate in distance learning from the State University of West
Georgia.
Our
lead trainer in Coral Gables, Florida is Francisco Pinto-Torres.
Francisco
Pinto-Torres
A native of Colombia, Paco Pinto-Torres has taught English at the USIA
Binational Center in Medellin, Colombia, and at Miami-Dade Community College.
He has taught Spanish at the University of Michigan and at Middlebury
College, and has also taught anthropology and humanities at the college
level. Mr. Pinto-Torres practiced law in Coral Gables, Florida, until
1997, specializing in aviation law and international transactions. In
addition to Spanish and English, he speaks French, Portuguese, and Catalan.
Mr.
Pinto-Torres joined World Learning for Business as a trainer in 2000,
and has served as lead trainer in Coral Gables since October 2001. In
his current position, he is responsible for staffing, trainer supervision
and support, and client relations, in addition to teaching English and
Spanish.
Mr.
Pinto-Torres holds a B.A. from Oberlin College, an M.A. from the University
of Michigan, and a J.D. from Wayne Law School.
Among
our senior training specialists are Joe Bennett, Rachel Yee
Quill, Kathleen O'Dea, and Eric Strickland.
Joe
Bennett
Joe Bennett began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English
in a secondary school in French-speaking Gabon. He has also taught in
Burundi, Iran, and Pakistan. His overseas experience led him to World
Learning's intensive English program in Belmont, California, where he
was a core trainer for several years. A member of World Learning for Business
since its inception, Joe has trained business executives and other professionals
in English language skills for the past ten years.
In
his current position as senior training specialist, he delivers immersion
and on-site training and assesses the skill-levels and needs of new trainees
who are awaiting placement in World Learning's Speak-Up courses.
In
his free time he enjoys running, mountain-biking, photography and exploring
the hiking trails of scenic Marin County, California, where he lives.
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 Rachel
Yee Quill
Rachel Yee Quill joined World Learning for Business as a senior training
specialist in May 2000. She has 10 years of experience in curriculum design
and teaching. Since completing a teaching fellowship in China in 1989,
she has taught ESL in workplace and academic settings in mainland China,
Italy, and California. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Italian,
and loves the process of language learning. She also served as the director
of curriculum development for a small educational publisher, developing
and editing secondary world history curriculum based on multiple intelligence
and groupwork learning theories.
As
Senior Training Specialist for World Learning for Business' Western Region,
Ms. Quill designs and delivers ESL training to professional and production-level
employees in the high-tech industry. She also conducts assessments for
prospective clients and serves as project manager for World Learning for
Business' manufacturing programs.
Ms.
Quill holds a B.A. in Chinese language and literature from Oberlin College,
an M.A. in international development education from Stanford University,
and a certificate in teaching English as second language from the University
of California, Santa Cruz.
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Kathleen
Starzinski O'Dea
Kathleen Starzinski O'Dea has worked in the field of education and
training for over 25 years. Beginning her international career as a teacher
and administrator in Turkey, she moved into the field of nonformal education,
and finally to training and syllabus design. She has worked with English
language learners of all ages and nationalities, in public and private
schools, multicultural centers, universities, and most recently, with
native and nonnative speakers of English in the workplace, primarily in
the field of biotechnology.
For
World Learning, she designs and implements language, communications, and
cross-cultural trainings. She also chairs the Novato (California) Multicultural
Commission.
Ms.
O'Dea holds a B.A. with teaching credentials from Bethany College and
an M.A. in international management and training from SIT (School for
International Training). She is fluent in Turkish and has studied Arabic,
Japanese, and Spanish.
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 Eric
Strickland
Eric Strickland became involved in cross-cultural issues when he emigrated
to the U.S. from Korea to join his multi-ethnic, adoptive family. With
an academic background in sociology, he began teaching English to speakers
of other languages in 1982. He taught English in Korea for fifteen years
before coming on board at World Learning for Business. A student of five
languages, he is well acquainted with the pitfalls and successful methods
of learning foreign languages.
Mr.
Strickland earned his M.A.T in English to speakers of other languages
(ESOL) from SIT (School for International Training).
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