Advisory Board

Dr. Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH

Dr. Robin Stevens is a public health researcher committed to using media and technology to improve health outcomes among minority youth. Dr. Stevens has used her training in health communication, health disparities and behavioral science to examine the intended and unintended effects of media messages on sexual risk related behavior among African American adolescents. Dr. Stevens is currently working on projects that utilize mobile device technology to deliver HIV/STI prevention messages to at-risk adolescents. She serves as the Senior Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the Center for Health Behavior and Communication Research.

Dr. Benjamin Piper

Dr. Benjamin Piper is a Senior Research Education Analyst with RTI International. Earning his doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education, his research interests include language of instruction, teacher professional development, early reading and math skills acquisition, and education policy formation. He has experience in quantitative research, longitudinal data analysis and mixed methods research designs. He has experience working with classroom pedagogy, director/principal supervision, policy analysis, and national assessments and has worked with a variety of organizations in the international education community, including the World Bank, UNICEF, and Save the Children.

Hsu-Ming Teo

Hsu-Ming Teo is based in the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia). She is the co-editor of “Cultural History in Australia” (2003) as well as the author of a range of academic articles and book chapters. From 2003-2005 Hsu-Ming was a committee member of International PEN, Sydney Centre.She worked on the New South Wales Premier's History and Literature Committee in 2004, and was a judge of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards in 2007. She is a fellow of the Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative, and an associate fellow of Asia Society, New York. Since 2007 she has served as a member of the Man Asian Literary Prize advisory panel. Hsu-Ming is also a novelist and cultural historian. She won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award for her first novel “Love and Vertigo”(2000). Her second novel, “Behind the Moon”(2005) was shortlisted for one of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards in 2006. Both novels are studied in universities around the world.

Elizabeth Cooney

Elizabeth Cooney is an educational consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her B.A. from Wake Forest University and her Ed.M from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Elizabeth has led over 1500 educators and administrators in school-based graduate courses and workshops. In her work, Elizabeth helps schools to institutionalize the study and application of research-based strategies to improve instruction. In doing so she increases educators’ confidence and skill in analyzing their own effectiveness and collaborating with colleagues to diagnose and experiment with solutions to specific instructional challenges. Elizabeth has consulted for schools and educational organizations in the United States, El Salvador, East Asia, Kenya & South Africa.

Wei Ye Chen

Mr. Chen is committed to creating a cultural bridge between China and the world through books. In book retail in China since 2004 he has established sales networks for books in China through his domestic website: www.gardenbooks.cn and international website: www.bookzines.com. He also serves on the leadership team of Shanghai Foreign Language Bookstore and Shanghai Book Traders.

Michelle Burford

Michelle Burford is a founding Senior Editor at O: The Oprah Magazine. During her 15-year career, Burford has contributed to publications including Single-Parent Family, Essence, Latina, Weight Watchers, and Physician magazines. Her travels as an international correspondent have taken her to more than 20 countries around the world—including a month-long stay with a Moroccan family and an interview with Ariel Sharron’s son in Tel Aviv. Michelle is the co-author of “Let’s Go: Greece 2008”—an assignment that involved trekking solo through Athens and the Greek islands. She recently became a blogger for AOL’s ParentDish.com, as well as the official 2010 Toy Fair blogger-reporter. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she earned a master’s degree in educational psychology.