Staff
Core Team
Alison Ascher Webber
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Alison Ascher Webber develops innovative projects for the EdTech Center that advance digital equity and leverage technology to increase the reach and impact of education and workforce programs. Alison co-leads Digital US, a national initiative to close digital skills gaps by 2030. She advises online learning and ICT4D initiatives including for the National Immigration Forum, UNESCO, and the Employment Technology Fund @ JFF. Previous roles include Education Director at mLearning company Cell-Ed and Associate Director at Avasant Foundation. Alison served as first Executive Director of the Leadership Training & Education Fund for janitors across California and helped form award-winning Building Skills Partnership. Alison holds a Master’s in Education.
Victoria Neff
Assistant Director of the EdTech Center
Victoria Neff is the Assistant Director of the EdTech Center and supports global edtech partnerships, e/mLearning projects and innovative engagements in North America, Africa and Asia. Victoria joins the EdTech Center from World Education’s Asia & Special Projects division, where she managed ICT4D and educational technology initiatives, from using mobile technology to optimize data collection for early grade literacy assessments under the TEST project to advising the Cambodian government and UNESCO to design and pilot the first online equivalency program for out of school youth under the Basic Education Equivalency Project (BEEP). Victoria has spent the last decade working in the education and global development and is passionate about catalyzing innovative partnerships and harnessing mLearning to accelerate learning and life outcomes.
Jen Vanek, PhD
Director of Digital Learning and Research
Jen Vanek directs the IDEAL Consortium at the EdTech Center and implements the field testing of technologies invested in by the Employment Technology Fund. She received her PhD in Curriculum & Instruction/Second Language Education at the University of Minnesota. She’s been working in the field of adult literacy since receiving her MA in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1995. Her recent work centers on creating online content for Adult Basic Education (ABE) learners and supporting the professional development of ESL and ABE teachers in the area of digital literacy, distance learning, and adult career pathways.
Priyanka Sharma
English Now! Project Director
Priyanka Sharma is Coordinator of the National College Transition Network (NCTN) at World Education, Inc. Her areas of expertise include transition to postsecondary education and training for nontraditional students, professional development for educators and E-Learning. Priyanka facilitates online courses and works on online course development.
Ebony Vandross
E-Learning and Communications Associate
Ebony Vandross supports the EdTech Center, as well as other initiatives for the World Education U.S. division.