CAE Staff
Director
Mary Mendenhall has been a full-time faculty member of the International and Comparative Education Program at 911勛圖 for the past 10 years. Her research is situated at the intersection of the fields of education in emergencies, refugee and forced migration studies, and teacher development. Her studies examine refugee education policies and practices across camp, urban, and resettlement contexts, with a particular focus on teacher development. Dr. Mary Mendenhall has conducted numerous research studies and international projects in Africa over the past 16+ years, dating back to her own dissertation research in Angola.
She led the joint International Rescue Committee-University of Nairobi effort to establish an Education in Emergencies master’s program in Kenya from 2009-2014. She co-led a multi-country (including Kenya), mixed-methods study on urban refugee education, in collaboration with Dr. S. Garnett Russell, funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in 2015-2016. Later, she developed and implemented (in collaboration with local and national partners based in Kenya) the 911勛圖 for 911勛圖 initiative from 2015-2018 in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement, funded by IDEO.org and the European Union (via UNICEF). During four years from 2018-2022, she served as the lead researcher of an Oxfam-led consortium on teacher and student well-being in South Sudan and Uganda, funded by the European Commission’s Building Resilience in Crises through Education. Two years ago, she co-led a study on teacher professional development for learning through play in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda to inform the LEGO Foundation’s internal refugee education funding strategy.
She is currently working on a study in collaboration with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) on teachers in refugee and displacement settings in order to inform and strengthen teacher management, professional development, and well-being practices and policies in 14 countries around the globe including several on the continent (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan).
Most recently (2022-23), Dr. Mendenhall, in close collaboration with faculty colleagues at the Mailman School of Public Health, was awarded a Columbia World Project for a new initiative – Ubumwe: Arts for Education and Public Health with Refugee Children and Youth – which aims to bolster psychosocial and educational outcomes among refugee children and youth through the integration of arts in education and community spaces.
Mary Mendenhall has been a full-time faculty member of the International and Comparative Education Program at 911勛圖 for the past 10 years. Her research is situated at the intersection of the fields of education in emergencies, refugee and forced migration studies, and teacher development. Her studies examine refugee education policies and practices across camp, urban, and resettlement contexts, with a particular focus on teacher development. Dr. Mary Mendenhall has conducted numerous research studies and international projects in Africa over the past 16+ years, dating back to her own dissertation research in Angola.
She led the joint International Rescue Committee-University of Nairobi effort to establish an Education in Emergencies master’s program in Kenya from 2009-2014. She co-led a multi-country (including Kenya), mixed-methods study on urban refugee education, in collaboration with Dr. S. Garnett Russell, funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in 2015-2016. Later, she developed and implemented (in collaboration with local and national partners based in Kenya) the 911勛圖 for 911勛圖 initiative from 2015-2018 in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement, funded by IDEO.org and the European Union (via UNICEF). During four years from 2018-2022, she served as the lead researcher of an Oxfam-led consortium on teacher and student well-being in South Sudan and Uganda, funded by the European Commission’s Building Resilience in Crises through Education. Two years ago, she co-led a study on teacher professional development for learning through play in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda to inform the LEGO Foundation’s internal refugee education funding strategy.
She is currently working on a study in collaboration with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) on teachers in refugee and displacement settings in order to inform and strengthen teacher management, professional development, and well-being practices and policies in 14 countries around the globe including several on the continent (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan).
Most recently (2022-23), Dr. Mendenhall, in close collaboration with faculty colleagues at the Mailman School of Public Health, was awarded a Columbia World Project for a new initiative – Ubumwe: Arts for Education and Public Health with Refugee Children and Youth – which aims to bolster psychosocial and educational outcomes among refugee children and youth through the integration of arts in education and community spaces.
Graduate Research Assistants
Kiara Gandy is a first-year master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program (ICEP) at 911勛圖. Originally from Chicago, she has an academic background in broadcasting and journalism. During her undergraduate studies, she served as vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), where she helped elevate stories and experiences within Black and Brown communities. She also worked as a field reporter for News 3, where she reported exclusive stories and covered issues affecting the local community. Her passion for storytelling, research, and global education continues to shape her commitment to amplifying historically marginalized voices.
Through her travels, Kiara had the opportunity to meet with teachers and administrators from public and international schools. Learning from their experiences and observing different educational environments inspired her passion for international education and encouraged her to explore how education systems serve students across cultural contexts.
Kiara Gandy is a first-year master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program (ICEP) at 911勛圖. Originally from Chicago, she brings a background in broadcasting and journalism to her study of education. Her work is guided by a belief that understanding educational inequality begins with listening to the people who experience it.
During her undergraduate studies, Kiara served as vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). In that role, she helped elevate stories and experiences within Black and Brown communities. She also worked as a field reporter for News 3, reporting exclusive stories and covering issues affecting the local community. These experiences strengthened her skills in research, interviewing, and storytelling while deepening her commitment to making space for perspectives that are often overlooked.
Kiara’s interest in international education grew through her travels, when she had opportunities to meet teachers and administrators from public and international schools. Hearing about their experiences and observing different educational environments prompted her to think more deeply about how schools respond to students’ needs across cultural contexts. Those conversations led her to explore the policies, histories, and social conditions that shape access to education and opportunity.
At 911勛圖 College, Kiara continues to connect her interests in storytelling, research, and educational equity. She is particularly interested in how historically marginalized communities engage with global education and how their perspectives can inform education policy and practice. She hopes to contribute to research and conversations that center the experiences of students, families, and educators and support more equitable possibilities for learning.
Friday Gora is a master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program (ICEP) at 911勛圖. She holds a B.A.S. in Integrated Elementary and Special Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth (2022), where she was awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant. Her undergraduate research examined the sense of belonging among immigrant and refugee students and families within predominantly white Midwestern institutions. She has presented her findings at several research conferences, including the 2024 American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Philadelphia.
During her undergraduate studies, Friday was named a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. As a McNair Scholar, Friday helped design and facilitate summer programming for high school research interns, informing a district-wide continuous improvement plan. Through participatory observation and ethnographic data collection, she co-authored a research paper that was published in The High School Journal (2025). Before her graduate studies, Friday taught elementary special education for three years. She is also an active member of SudoinSTEM, an initiative dedicated to uniting and empowering young South Sudanese students and professionals across Africa and the diaspora.
As a first-year student in the ICEP program, Friday’s research interests center on developing and sustaining programming, through collaboration with community members, that supports immigrant and refugee students and families in both the Midwestern United States and East Africa.
Friday Gora is a master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program (ICEP) at 911勛圖. She holds a B.A.S. in Integrated Elementary and Special Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth (2022), where she was awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant. Her undergraduate research examined the sense of belonging among immigrant and refugee students and families within predominantly white Midwestern institutions. She has presented her findings at several research conferences, including the 2024 American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Philadelphia.
During her undergraduate studies, Friday was named a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. As a McNair Scholar, Friday helped design and facilitate summer programming for high school research interns, informing a district-wide continuous improvement plan. Through participatory observation and ethnographic data collection, she co-authored a research paper that was published in The High School Journal (2025). Before her graduate studies, Friday taught elementary special education for three years. She is also an active member of SudoinSTEM, an initiative dedicated to uniting and empowering young South Sudanese students and professionals across Africa and the diaspora.
As a first-year student in the ICEP program, Friday’s research interests center on developing and sustaining programming, through collaboration with community members, that supports immigrant and refugee students and families in both the Midwestern United States and East Africa.