About Mission and Capacity Partnerships Staff Bios

David Sprague, Executive Director

dsprague@aed.org
David has spent nearly his entire professional career working in the field of education. After teaching for five years in both public and private schools in the U.S., he returned to graduate school and received his Ph.D. in Education from Florida State University. He joined USAID in 1972. From 1979 to 1988 he was the Director of the Office of Education in AID/Washington's technical bureau. After converting to the Foreign Service, he spent the next 12 years in Pakistan, Ukraine and Bangladesh. After retiring from USAID in 2000, he lived and worked as an education consultant in Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan.

Annababette Wils, Research Director

bwils@aed.org
Babette contributes to the conceptualization of the data system and the graphical data presentation. She is developing the EPDC's series of projection models and projections, and has authored many of the EPDC's reports. From 1987-1994, Babette was a researcher in population and development issues at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria. Before joining the EPDC she managed the internet-based Population and Environment Research Network sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and worked on simulation modeling at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology with the System Dynamics Group. Dr. Wils holds an M.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in demography from the University of Vienna, Austria, and lives in Boston with her husband and two daughters.

Ania Chaluda, Research Associate

achaluda@aed.org
Ania works on various research projects involving education data analysis, projection tool design, and report writing. In addition, she oversees the integrity and quality of the EPDC statistical database. Her previous work experience includes working as a Research Assistant at the Center for Inspired Teaching, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.; working as an assistant in special education programs at the Walker Home & School outside of Boston; and tutoring children from families with abuse problems in Poland. Ania holds a B.A./M.A. degree in Sociology from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and an M.P.P. with a concentration in Program Evaluation from George Washington University.

HyeJin Kim, Research Associate

hkim@aed.org
HyeJin contributes to a range of tasks involved in education research and policy analysis—collecting data, conducting statistical analysis, writing research reports, creating education profiles, and developing projection tools—to address various educational issues at stake. HyeJin also oversees the publicity of the EPDC for the better use and application of data and tools. Prior to joining EPDC, HyeJin engaged in research on domestic and international education issues around teachers and unions at the American Federation of Teachers. HyeJin holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Notre Dame and an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Ben Sylla, Research Associate

bsylla@aed.org
Ben oversees EPDC’s work with household datasets and ensures that the education indicators EPDC calculates from these sources are accurate and reliable. He also works on data collection, analysis, and presentation. Ben grew up outside of the United States, living in Kenya, Hungary, Bolivia, Mali, and Pakistan, before settling in the Washington, D.C. area. Ben holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.P.P. with a concentration on Education and International Development from George Washington University.

Rauf Prasodjo, Research Associate

rprasodjo@aed.org
Rauf assists the EPDC in collecting statistical data. He has volunteered at NGOs in Indonesia, rebuilding schools in natural disaster areas such as in Aceh and Yogyakarta. Rauf has lived in the United States, Indonesia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Besides working part-time for the EPDC team, he is also an international broadcaster for a news agency based in Washington D.C. Rauf holds a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from Kenyon College in Ohio.

Fei Liu, Research Associate

fliu@aed.org
Fei contributes to the ongoing expansion and updating of the EPDC database, working with household surveys to extract indicators using Stata programs prepared by the EPDC and formatting data from global websites as identified by EPDC staff. Before coming to the US, Fei attained a B.S in Mathematics from China Agriculture University. Fei's previous work experience involves assisting a consulting firm to collect and analyze survey data in China and tutoring undergraduates in statistics at George Washington University. Besides working part-time for the EPDC team, Fei currently is pursuing her Masters degree in Statistics at George Washington University.