Global Playground Announces New Board Members
The Board of Directors of Global Playground, Inc. is thrilled to announce that it has elected Ms. Alexis Canty and Mr. Jack Ruszkowski to its Board of Directors.
Ms. Canty is a first grade English as a Second Language teacher at Baker Ripley Charter School in Houston, Texas. Her love of the teaching profession began after her journey to Jinotega, Nicaragua where she embarked on a week-long teaching experience with Outreach360, an international volunteer organization. She has worked in elementary education for over five years, and holds a wealth of knowledge from her multiple roles in various academic settings which include college admissions, non-profit organizations, learning centers, Head Start programs, and charter schools.
Ms. Canty attended William & Mary, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelors’ degree in English and a minor in Marketing. At graduation she was honored with the Ewell Award for Excellence in Leadership, and achieved Dean’s List recognition throughout her undergraduate tenure. After graduation, Ms. Canty received a Master’s of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degree from Relay Graduate School of Education, where she earned highest honors in the Early Childhood Education program as well as the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. In addition to her work as an early childhood educator, Ms. Canty serves as a part-time representative of Relay in numerous roles that include graduate teaching assistant, auditor, mentor, panel speaker, and educational representative on the Relay Texas Advisory Board. Currently, Ms. Canty is a participant in the 2020-21 Oral Language Development program within Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
Mr. Ruszkowski is a senior at William & Mary where he studies Anthropology and Innovation. He currently serves as the William & Mary representative to the Student Advisory Council of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). He is also a member of the Coordination Board for Camp Kesem at William & Mary and the co-founder of the online language teaching service French OrVert. In 2019, Mr. Ruszkowski worked with William & Mary’s Global Research Institute to evaluate LEAD Africa’s innovative approach to education in Liberia and Morocco. In 2020, he provided research for the U.S. Army on the use of traditional Chinese martial arts as an instrument of diplomacy in West Africa. Mr. Ruszkowski has pursued a better understanding of refugee crises throughout his personal studies and academic career. In 2018, he interned in Morocco at UNHCR partner organization La Fondation Orient-Occident, where he designed and taught English classes, wrote policy guidelines for teachers, and processed documentation for migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Ruszkowski worked with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to transcribe oral histories of holocaust survivors and liberators.
“Both Alexis and Jack embody the core of what Global Playground is all about – a passion for extending educational opportunity to the developing world, and commitment to thinking creatively about how to solve some of the developing world’s most complex problems,” said Doug Bunch, Chair of Global Playground’s Board of Directors. “We are thrilled to have them.”
For more information about Global Playground, visit www.globalplayground.org.
