Randall Fielding, AIA
Chairman, Fielding Nair International, LLC
Randall Fielding, AIA, is the Chairman and Founding Partner of Fielding Nair International, LLC (FNI), an award-winning school planning and design firm with offices in Minneapolis, Tampa, Madison and Melbourne, Australia. The firm has consultations in 23 states around the U.S. and 26 countries. Randy oversees FNI’s primary mission to improve learning by serving as a world leader in the creation of new and renovated educational campuses that are in consonance with best practice and research.

Randy’s achievements have earned him more than a dozen design awards from the American Institute of Architects, The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), the American Association of School Administrators, and School Planning and Management Magazine. He is internationally recognized as an authority on innovative school design and received the CEFPI Planner of the Year Award in 2007 — the most prestigious honor of any individual in the field of educational design. He has been selected to serve as an architect, consultant, presenter and/or keynote speaker in Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Finland, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, The Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

One of Randy’s “signatures” is his ability to come down off of the podium, sharing ideas with heads of state, educators, and children with equal passion. This spirit of sharing extends to two million people each year, through DesignShare.com, an online forum for innovative learning environments that Randy founded in 1998. He continues to serve as DesignShare’s editorial director, but the focus of his work is to lead communities in the design of environmentally responsive campuses that foster personalized learning and strong connections to the community.

Randy’s design work leverages more than 500 case studies from 30 countries — the largest library of innovative school designs in the world. The interactive planning and design process pioneered by FNI is also grounded in a seminal book that Randy co-authored with Prakash Nair, entitled The Language of School Design. The book establishes key learning modalities for success in the post-information society, and provides a series of design patterns to support these modalities. Randy uses the design patterns as a tool in evaluating existing and proposed facilities, and as a launching point for developing customized solutions for each individual community, campus, school or district that he works with.

In addition to serving as a lead design architect, teamwork underpins all of Randy’s work, which takes him around the world to collaborate with public and private institutions, educators, developers, and local architects. Whether it’s a high school near ground zero in New York City, a series of vocational schools for the tsunami-damaged areas of Sri Lanka, a school for at-risk students in Minneapolis, a K-12 campus in Indonesia, or a college preparatory school in Switzerland, he finds more commonalties in each community than differences.

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A more detailed bio for Randall Fielding

Prakash Nair, REFP
Partner, Fielding Nair International
Prakash Nair is a futurist, a visionary planner and architect with Fielding Nair International, one of the world’s leading change agents in school design. He is also the Managing Editor of DesignShare.com which attracts over one million visitors each year. He is the recipient of several international awards including the prestigious CEFPI MacConnell Award, the top honor worldwide for school design.

He has written extensively in leading international journals about school design and educational technology and their connection to established educational research. He is also the author of two guidebooks on school planning including the landmark 2005 publication, The Language of School Design which he co-authored with his partner Randall Fielding.

Prior to co-founding Fielding Nair International, Prakash worked for 10 years as Director of Operations for a multi-billion dollar school construction program for New York City.

In 2003, Prakash completed a project with the University of Wisconsin on a Rockefeller Foundation-funded grant to develop international best practice standards for tomorrow’s schools. He also led the effort to develop a new research-based tool to evaluate the educational effectiveness of schools. This tool, now being tested by schools and governments in the United States, Australia and Singapore will revolutionize the way we look at how school buildings and campuses actually work to support teaching and learning.

Prakash has served as the Northeast Regional President of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International and serves on the ICOPE Task Force — New York City’s Independent Commission on Public Education.

FNI has serviced projects in 26 countries on 5 continents. Prakash has served as the Managing Principal, school planning and design consultant, presenter and/or keynote speaker for clients in Australia (five states), Canada, Finland, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, Spain, U.A.E., U.K. and the United States.

By staying current with the research as well as national and international social, economic and cultural trends, Prakash is always able to bring best practice thinking from many disciplines and fields to bear on education-related problems and projects. This approach has helped education clients save millions of dollars while still achieving or exceeding their schedule and quality expectations.

Prakash’s signature talent lies in his ability to communicate his passion for a new approach to education across the globe. He has consistently built strong partnerships with local firms, helped client communities visualize their future, built consensus for uniquely tailored solutions, and helped execute them successfully.

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Jay J. Litman, AIA

Jay J. Litman, AIA has a deep understanding and appreciation of the educational challenges facing both children and adults within the learning environment. His 30-years of professional experience as a licensed architect has focused primarily on the planning and design of educational facilities for children, university facilities, public libraries, institutional projects and the reuse and rehabilitation of historic structures. His project background also extends to urban and campus planning.

He is deeply involved in the emerging theories of project-based, collaborative learning that is reshaping the language of school design. His evolution towards a project-based, collaborative educational model grew from his personal interest in the education of hearing impaired children using an “inclusion” model. The emerging theories of the time mandated fundamental changes in the design of the classroom environment such as; learning in smaller groups, working collaboratively on project based assignments, creating multiple modes of learning within one classroom as well as paying attention to acoustics and lighting. It became immediately apparent that the current 100-year old factory model for public education was highly resistant to change at the most fundamental levels.

Jay focused first on changing the model through design intervention by studying and improving acoustics, lighting and adjustments to the configuration of the classroom. In the design of new schools he utilized the “House Plan” model that created small learning communities of 100-students around a cluster of classrooms and labs. He is a founding member of the Rhode Island Chapter of the A. G. Bell Association for the Hearing Impaired and was involved on the RI Department of Education’s “Oral Education Task Force” in development of the “Rhode Island Strategic Plan for Children who are deaf or Hard of Hearing”

As Senior Planning Consultant and Architect with FNI, Jay advocates a workshop driven approach for the design of new schools and community campuses both in the United States and internationally. Jay is known for his “roll up the sleeves” approach in working directly with client and stakeholder groups in an interactive manner through drawings and discussions to conceive and develop design concepts right in front of the group.

Jay is presently working on a public school Master Plan for Middletown, Rhode Island where the FNI team has recommended consolidation of their current aged facilities into a lower school and an upper school campus through the radical rehabilitation of older school structures combined with new construction. In Serpong, Indonesia Jay is involved in the design of a new 1,400 student campus for a private academy (K-12), coordinating the FNI team on the design of nine distinct buildings including six Small Learning Communities a Global Learning Center, Design Arts Technology facility and a Health and Fitness Complex.

Jay also has a unique specialization in the planning and design of public and academic libraries. In his career he has designed over sixteen public and university library projects. His design for the Warwick Public Library represented a radical departure from the accepted design template for a large public library. The Library is anchored around a linear spine or promenade that links a private cafe, public meeting spaces, an outdoor garden and various library departments, much like an open mall. The high level of public acceptance and use (over 500,000 visits per year and increasing), out of town use, and visits from other library planning groups is a testament to the library’s success. Jay has presented papers on Library design at various conferences over the years including the “The Beauty Thing” and “Renovating the Small Public Library” at annual meetings of the New England Library Association. He has been a featured speaker at the Art Librarians Association of New England and he is a long standing member of the State Library Board of Rhode Island.

The approach to collaborative, project based learning and best practices of modern library design have recently come together in an FNI pilot project for Middletown, RI with a radical redesign of the Gaudet Middle School Library. The new design will expand the library’s ability to support many modalities of learning in a project based, collaborative atmosphere. Even the design of the book stacks is uniquely configured to accommodate cave type spaces for small group interaction. The new Library will offer multiple environments for classroom groups as well as a quiet refuge for individuals. Since furniture for this type of collaborative interaction does not exist, Jay developed prototypical designs to accommodate the expanded educational requirements. The new Gaudet Middle School Library will enable the teachers to fulfill the 21^st century mission of a school library, which is to teach children how to search for and recognize reliable, quality information from available global databases and to teach students how to collaborate effectively.

Prior to joining FNI Jay owned and managed a small 10-person practice that focused on Historic Preservation, Libraries and Schools. In 1995 Jay merged his firm with a large, regional multi-disciplined A/E practice where he served as Associate Director of Architecture. Jay secured and designed projects for many educational and institutional clients such as the University of Rhode Island, Brown University and the Acela program for Amtrak as well as several multiple school public school and public library projects. Notable projects included the Coastal Policy Institute at URI, the Warwick Public Library, and several middle and elementary schools. In late 1998 Jay left the A/E firm to help open and grow the Providence office of another Architecture practice from a staff of three to twenty-one professionals. As Senior Associate he marketed, secured, designed and managed a wide variety of institutional and academic clients. Key projects at this firm included the new Jesse M. Smith Library, the redesign of the Newport Public Library, Club Acela for Amtrak, and the award winning Hotel Providence and Temple Habonim.

After receiving his professional degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design Mr. Litman worked for Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in New York City, Graham Gund in Cambridge, MA and Earl Flansburgh and Graham/Meus in Boston, MA. Notable project experience included the East Campus Master Plan for MIT, The Health Services & Technology Management laboratories at MIT, the Friuli Elementray School in Aviano, Italy, and the Boston Museum School. Jay served as project architect for the Emerson College Library and their Performing Arts School.

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A more detailed bio for Jay Litman

Isaac Williams, LEED AP
Senior Designer and Planner, Fielding Nair International
Isaac Williams brings over a decade of professional experience from programming through construction administration to help FNI’s clients to locate within their program, schedule and budget opportunities for innovative architecture that supports learning. As a senior designer with FNI, Isaac has provided design leadership in FNI projects around the world, including Georgetown Primary School in the Cayman Islands, North Central Shared Facility and Douglas Park School in Regina, Canada, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.

As an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Isaac teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios, including a topical studio on the design of schools. His graduate seminar “Learning Places” explores the potential of architecture as a form of pedagogy in places of learning. In 2007, Isaac was awarded a Henry C. Welcome Fellowship and a three-year grant by the Maryland Higher Education commission to continue his research and creative work focused on the relationship between space and learning.

Isaac has lectured on school design and presented his design work nationally and internationally. He has served as juror for the American Institute of Architects Honor Awards, the National School Board Association’s “Learning by Design” awards, DesignShare’s international awards program, and served as a resource team member and panelist for the American Architectural Foundation’s Great Schools by Design program.

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Jennifer Lamar
Senior Interior Designer
As an Interior Designer and Educational Planner, Jennifer strives to create spaces that reflect the community’s values, needs, and functions. She believes that the learning environment should be a fun and enjoyable place for all and the design should support active learning with flexible furnishings that are also practical and durable.

Jennifer’s role at FNI allows her to actively participate in all phases of the design process, including: facilitating design and planning workshops, developing Discovery Workbooks and planning materials for clients, produce Interior Design Workbook Guides, space planning and programming, and create 3D renderings and hand sketches for schematic designs. With FNI, she has worked on numerous projects as a Designer and as a Educational Planner, which include: Sinarmas World Academy in Indonesia, Medford Elementary Schools, Herchmer Wascana and Arcola Community Schools in Regina, Saskatchewan, North Central Shared Facility and Regina Skills and Trade Center in Regina, Saskatchewan, LAS Almaty in Kazakhstan, LAS Leysin in Switzerland, American Community School of Abu Dhabi, and Georgetown Primary in the Cayman Islands. Most recently she served as a Project Manager for schematic designs for P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, Florida and Thomas Jefferson High School for Design and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.

She received her Master of Interior Design degree from the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Planning. Her studies cumulated in a thesis titled “Investing action research as a planning and designing approach: A post-occupancy evaluation of University of Florida College of Law’s Legal Information Center.” She strongly encourages the collaborative process of design by use of action research methodologies. Allowing the stakeholders from the community to be apart of the team-based design process ensures positive outcomes and changes for present and future generations. The ideas that emerge from involving the teachers, parents, administrators, and students lead to creating inspirational learning environments that the community is able to truly take ownership of. She has a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Theater from Skidmore College where she studied in London with the prestigious Shakespeare Programme participating in acting workshops with masters from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Previous experience includes working with Mt. Vernon Architects, a Boston-based architectural firm that focused on educational design, and with Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK) in Tampa. Jen is also a mother of two, who she hopes will someday benefit from a school that embraces 21st century learning.

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Michael A.van Hamel, BNA PhD
Senior Project Architect, Fielding Nair International
Vision, energy and a high level of design and technical expertise characterizes Michael’s 20 year career. The combination of these qualities has led to success in handling complex projects in a wide range of environments. His diverse experiences have exposed him to international approaches to educational architecture and interior architecture. Michael’s work has required him to communicate effectively within all stages of a project, serving not only as an architect but also liaison, consultant, and negotiator. Most importantly, his working partnerships lead to projects success and client satisfaction.

With an extensive educational background ranging from Universiteit v. Amsterdam to Princeton University, Michael holds advanced degrees in architecture and a PhD in environmental psychology. He is an international architect with registration in the European Union and is a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design.

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Bert Taylor
Senior Designer, Fielding Nair International
Bert Taylor brings planning concepts to life in vibrant 3-dimensional form. In contrast to the often sterile computer-generated renderings of contemporary buildings, Bert develops colorful, varied interior and exterior spaces that support and express more than 20 learning modalities. He is both a skilled spatial inventor and collaborator, bringing the ideas of educators, planners, interior designers, and architects into reality.

High-profile projects with Bert’s signature include the 1,400-student K-12 Sinarmas International School in Indonesia, Scotch Oakburn Middle School in Launceston, Australia, and the Georgetown Primary School, Cayman Islands. His work on the Einstein Studio at Western Heights Academy in Geelong Australia and Da Vinci Studios at Blair Street School in Melbourne set new standards for interdisciplinary learning environments for science and art.

Bert gradated from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Minnesota. He has more than 20 years of experience in 3-dimensional design and rendering. His role includes architectural and interior design, custom furniture and equipment design, and exterior landscape elements. He serves as FNI’s top gun in three dimensional modeling and rendering.

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Mariana Boctor, LEED AP
Senior Designer, Fielding Nair International
Mariana grew up in South America in various countries attending international schools and had the opportunity to contrast these wonderful learning spaces to California’s cells and bells 70’s public schools when she moved to a San Francisco Bay Area suburb in 1979. Mariana’s skills range from working in all phases of the design process from facilitating design charrette workshops, architectural and interior design, custom furniture and lighting design to 3d modeling and hand sketching.

Mariana graduated from the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley with a minor from the Department of Architecture in Social, Cultural and Psychological Factors in Architecture. She graduated from the Master’s Program at UCLA in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning and worked on various experimental design projects in Los Angeles for 12 years including sustainably designed schools. One of the projects she helped design was the first LAUSD school in California to meet the California High Performance School Design Guidelines (CHPS) which was also LEED certified. She became LEED certified in 2002 when she worked on the CHPS pilot project, and has since collaborated on the design of two LEED certified residential projects during their pilot program.

As an adjunct professor at Woodbury University in Burbank, and at Parsons New School for Design’s School of Constructed Environments in New York, Mariana has mentored students to help them become confident designers able to develop their concepts in a participatory design process as well as tackle technical issues of detailing by guiding them through hands on design build exercises. The site design and design workshop classes she team taught also challenged students to become innovators of the new global economy by analyzing the environmental fabric their proposed projects would exist in, and invent ways to transform space sustainably.

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Alex Suarez
Senior Designer, Fielding Nair International
Alex Suarez works to integrate FNI’s clients’ educational vision with inspired architectural responses. With over 13 years of experience, Alex’s interdisciplinary approach to design mirrors what is happening in the world of education. It evolves from critical research in exploring relevant and contemporary strategies to design problems. His education work benefits from his experience with a vast repertoire of project types.

He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Temple University in Philadelphia before earning his Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied under the architectural leadership of Thom Mayne, Daniel Libeskind, and Anthony Vidler, among other distinguished faculty. In addition to the US, he has also worked and lived in South America and Europe.

Since 2003, He has been teaching at Woodbury University as an adjunct professor. In 2005-06 he co-directed and taught CAD/CAM study abroad workshops at IAAC, Institute of Advance Architecture in Catalonia, Barcelona. In 2008, he directed and taught a similar workshop at Platform Garanti in Istanbul and he most recently co-taught a design studio at Ecole Speciale d’Architecture in Paris. For him, the intersection of academia and professional practice are reciprocal vehicles to test, explore and implement design ideas.

His work has been published and won numerous awards. In 2008, he won the NAS (Novosibirsk Architecture Society) Award for his competition entry “TransPavilion” for a temporary architecture + design summer pavilion in Novosibirsk, Russia. In 2005, he designed and exhibited ‘Ulterior Motifs’ an exhibition in Los Angeles that showcased work produced in a Barcelona CAD/CAM study abroad program. In 2004 his project for an ‘Experimental Oncology Treatment Center’ at the ‘NeoCon West Edge: Spaces of Unlimited Creativity’ competition unanimously won first place with a follow up feature in Interior Design Magazine. His most recent project was an art installation called “WHITEOUT” exhibited at The Historic Hallein Salt Factory in Austria.

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Matthew Cropper
Senior GIS and Master Planning Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Matthew Cropper is FNI’s GIS expert. He is also involved with long range Facilities Master Planning including the development of Demographic Analyses, Enrollment Projections and preparing Redistricting Studies.

Matthew Cropper has worked in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and planning industry since 1997. He has a Bachelors Degree in Geography with a Specialization in Geographic Information Systems and Analytical Cartography. He has worked with school districts of all sizes across the United States. He specializes in planning with a focused approach of using GIS mapping technology to assist in problem solving. Matthew has worked primarily with K-12 school districts, but he has provided consultation to municipal governments and private companies as well.

Matthew recently directed the largest redistricting effort that Henrico County, Virginia (surrounds Richmond) has ever undertaken. He has worked on demographic studies for districts in New York (Buffalo City, Corning Painted Post), and is currently working with West Chester Ohio, Champaign Illinois and Bloomington Illinois on demographic studies. Additionally, Matthew is also currently providing redistricting and planning consultation to Baltimore County Schools MD, Charleston County Schools SC, and Akron Public Schools OH. Matthew also serves as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

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Michael Gamson
Chief Technology Officer, Fielding Nair International
As FNI’s CTO, Michael specializes in optimizing schools to leverage the use of web 2.0 resources. By utilizing open source, crowd sourcing, and cloud based services, Michael helps schools maintain maximum return regardless of their technology budget.

After earning a degree in Special Education at The University Of South Florida, Michael began working with the unique population of special needs students at Florida’s busiest domestic violence shelter. While working with these students, many of whom were homeless and facing a 2 to 3 grade level academic deficit, Michael realized the potential for technology as a great equalizer for students with special needs.

As he and his children’s services team developed innovative therapy techniques for child witnesses to domestic violence, Michael continued to explore ways to enhance therapies and education through the use of technology.

For the past 10 years Michael has served as the IT Director at the Hillel School of Tampa. His philosophy is to discontinue the old educational technology designs where computers exist in the vacuum of a computer lab in favor of total classroom integration of technology. His design goal is for technology to be as ubiquitous and unobtrusive as a common pencil in every classroom.

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Kristina Fielding
Senior Interior Designer
Kris develops color palettes, interior finishes, and furnishing plans that epitomize the stimulus-rich environments demanded by 21^st century learning environments. Laura Porter-Jones, Director of Paideia Academy, wrote of Kris’s work: “The school is absolutely beautiful — in 15 years I have never been privileged to work in a facility half as lovely as this one. Thank you!”

Kris has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, and more than 20 years of experience in interior architecture and design. Kris’s educational designs include: Cayman Islands High Schools and Primary Schools; Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston, Tasmania; Advanced Learning Environment Solutions, Jacksonville, Florida; Community Trade & Business Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sage Academy, River Heights Charter School, Great River Montessori School, and Paideia Academy in Minnesota.

Interior design is inseparable from effective architecture, and Kris works seamlessly with both FNI and partner architects. She has a powerful ability to visualize finished spaces from preliminary design sketches, and integrates her work with structural elements, lighting, and landscape.

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Chris Hazleton
Senior Education Consultant
Chris Hazleton has been an education innovator, entrepreneur and school leader for eighteen years. He has dedicated his professional career to the improvement of the school experience for young people. Prior to joining the FNI team, Chris cut his teaching teeth while working with struggling teens in the outdoors. Outdoor therapeutic recreation and education proved to be a gateway for Chris to teaching in public schools but he struggled with the static systems and practices that continually got in the way of  great learning opportunities for students. After teaching high school and middle school social studies, Chris was moved by the opportunity to incite change in education by starting a charter school in Duluth, Minnesota. He designed and opened Harbor City International School, www.harborcityschool.org, an accredited, student centered and inquiry-based public charter school recognized for quality and innovation. As Executive Director, Chris led Harbor City High through its first 9 years by creating learning, teaching and administrative programs that married the best practices of a student centered, inquiry-based learning programs with effective traditional methodologies and programs. Recognizing that a student’s success is dependent on competent, passionate, “teacher entrepreneurs,” Chris created and refined a consensus driven, distributed leadership and professional development model. Despite Harbor City’s high level of economically and academically disadvantaged student population, the school’s academic performance and attendance results as well as exceptional staff retention rate illustrate that this educational model works. It was in this capacity that he first began collaborating with FNI, who served as the design architect for Harbor City International School.

Chris believes that the fundamental underpinnings of effective education are dependent on teacher and student ownership of the learning process and experience. Teachers and students thrive when they are challenged with relevant learning experiences tied to their own interests in an environment that fosters critical thinking. He brings both a teacher’s and administrator’s mindset to  the school design and transformation process. His broad background and understanding of best practices and top innovations equip him to  offer FNI’s clients support in value-based curriculum design and mapping, effective and creative scheduling, stakeholder buy-in, teacher development, strategic planning, governance development and leadership support. Chris also has experience in managing four extensive facility expansion and enhancement projects and understands the natural relationship between a school facility and the curriculum it supports. He currently serves as Senior Educational Consultant with FNI in developing a new curriculum for “Learning Across Community” in an integrated facility in Regina, Saskatchewan.

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Frank M. Locker, Ph.D., AIA, REFP
Senior Planning Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Dr. Locker was recognized as the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) Planner of the Year in 1999, the highest honor in the educational planning industry. Frank’s innovative work in education, planning and architectural design over 25 years strengthens his role as a team leader on FNI projects.

Frank is Senior Planning Consultant at FNI. He is principal of Frank Locker Educational Planning. His broad-ranging experience in large district planning and individual school design facilitates innovative solutions to projects at every scale. In earlier work he was Vice President of DeJONG, and led more than 30 projects, including visioning workshops, master plans, and the development of educational facility specifications. Before joining DeJONG, he was a partner, designer, and lead educational planner at the award-winning PDT Architects in Portland, Maine. Frank’s unique background interrelates conceptual planning and architectural design — a perfect match for FNI’s integrated planning and design process.

His innovative work is continually recharged through keynote presentations and teaching. Recently he has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education program; earlier at Kansas State University; University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Boston Architectural College. Recent keynote presentations include: Linking Student Success to School Facilities, New England School Development Council, Massachusetts; School of the Future, BuildBoston Convention, Boston; and Goldfish and Water, Council of Educational Facilities Planners International, Australia Chapter Conference, Brisbane.

Frank’s article Flexible Facilities, published by DesignShare in 2003 and also in the CEFPI Educational Facility Planner, made a key contribution to the field. In a world characterized by constant educational reform and curriculum change, Frank’s seminal work on flexible, adaptable school facilities remains a landmark on the subject.
http://www.designshare.com/index.php/articles/flexible-school-facilities

Frank has collaborated with FNI colleagues Randy Fielding, Prakash Nair, Jeff Lackney and Susan Wolff as a review team member for the DeignShare awards program since the program’s inception in 2000. Together, the team has redefined the guidelines for effective learning environments on a global scale.

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Walther Hetzer, PhD
Senior Education Consultant
A graduate of the University of Vienna with over thirty years experience in international education, Walther has recently set up a new international boarding school in Austria. Over the years, he has been highly involved in architecture and innovative school design. He likes the German word “Lernlandschaften” (learning landscapes does not quite do it justice), and the founding of the St. Gilgen International School has provided opportunities to create unique synergies between the school, the host community, and the surrounding region. Recently, Walther has joined the FNI team on the Campus Development Project of the International School of Brussels.

During his career, Walther has taught at the University of Ottawa and the New School for Social Research in New York. Within international schools, he has taught International Baccalaureate History, Philosophy and Theory of Knowledge. He has served at various times as Examiner, Teacher, Head of Humanities, High School Head, and Director of leading international schools such as the United Nations School in New York, the United World College of the Adriatic, the Vienna International School, the International School of Brussels and the American International School of Abu Dhabi.

Schools engaged in the Self Study for Accreditation and schools assessing the effectiveness of their learning spaces travel many common paths. Walther is an experienced Accreditation Advisor for the Council of International Schools and has chaired numerous Visiting Teams. Walther has served terms on the Boards of the European Council of International Schools, the International Schools Association and the Emirates College for Higher Education and has given numerous workshops and presentations around the word.

Walther has always been influenced by the educational philosophy of Kurt Hahn (founder of Gordonstoun and mentor of the United World College Movement), who combined the striving for academic excellence with an emphasis on sharing outward-bound and social service activities with all students.

Experienced as a journalist and exhibiting photographer, Walther is bilingual in German and English, fluent in Italian and French, with adequate Spanish, some Modern Greek, and very beginning Arabic. Interested in all forms of communication between people and schools, Walther is on the Board of The Alliance for International Education, which endeavours to establish new links in furthering international education.

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Jane Morelli Johnson
Senior Education Consultant
Jane Johnson has served as the Middle School Director at Duke School, in Durham, NC, for three years. During this time, she has seen Fielding Nair’s award-winning design at Duke School go from paper to the successful implementation of the completed new learning spaces. “We moved the entire Middle School in three days over a long weekend! Now the challenge is working with teachers and students to optimize the use of these spaces and communicate their purpose to families.” Jane’s on the ground knowledge of building new educational environments that support different ways of learning makes her uniquely suited to help others doing this work. Prior to her current position, Jane was the Elementary Principal at The Samuel Scheck Hillel Community Day School in North Miami Beach Florida where she worked with teachers to redesign their learning environments to be more student centered and collaboration focused. She has served on NAIS accreditation committees and consults in school design, teacher leadership, differentiated instruction, and creating interdisciplinary learning. Jane has spent thirty years in the independent school world of progressive education and has taught every grade K-12.

Jane’s career includes an Assistant Headship at the Town Hill School in Lakeville, CT where she helped design student centered progressive learning environments. Jane has also taught middle school and high school in Hawaii and Colorado. She was trained in the International Baccalaureate in Brussels, Belgium, and taught in the IB programme at the American Overseas School of Rome, Italy.

One of Jane’s unique gifts is her ability to “talk constructivist learning” in a down to earth way to parents, students, and school administrators and faculty. Her school design workshops are practical and support schools in transition from conventional to progressive learning models. The focus of Jane’s work with students, parents, and teachers continues to be the implementation of solid school design that reinforces constructivist learning pedagogy. The challenge is working with all constituents to understand and use progressive learning environments, communicate the educational Best Practice of such environments, and provide training in space use and curriculum development for such unique learning spaces.

Ms. Johnson is a member of the American Association of University Women, the National Association of Independent Schools, and the National Council of Teachers of English. She has been named in “Who’s Who of Outstanding American Educators”.

Contact Jane Morelli Johnson

Professor Stephen Heppell
Senior Education/ICT Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Prof. Stephen Heppell is a Senior Consultant with FNI advising clients on a wide range of education and ICT issues. Stephen’s work extends into multiple, but overlapping, domains:

“Professor Stephen Heppell: the UK’s leading on-line education guru” Channel 4 TV 1999

Stephen pioneered collaborative virtual learning spaces. Past projects range from the Guinness Book of Record’s largest internet learning project in the world last century, through a community of 20,000 headteachers to the worldwide Think.com. A string of very-large-scale projects showed and still show just how seductive online learning communities could be and he started these in the pre-web days of the 1980s.

“The father of ICT, Stephen Hepell” think:lab blog 2007

In Architecture and Design his pioneering research work for CABE and RIBA redefined the scope of learning spaces, largely informed by the emerging pedagogies in his virtual spaces. He is involved in the building, or redevelopment, of a mass of learning spaces worldwide, from community and corporate, through to Higher Education and of course a good number of radical, effective and seductive schools.

“when I finally spotted him, Stephen Heppell didn’t look at all like I imagined. This geek of geeks, this net-head of all times, this revolutionary who is yanking the British education system out of its Victorian slumber and shaping it for the digital information age, surely it couldn’t be this genial fellow before me with his whitening Father Christmas beard and Hush Puppy fashion sense” Design Magazine

In 2008 Stephen still does “geeky“. Pioneering projects have consistently reached out for the early adoption of people-power technologies, like Hypercard, into learning. Pioneering CD ROM projects in the 80s led onwards onwards to hand held projects – like the radical eVIVA project with QCA using mobile phones to capture learner narrative in a formal viva.

“Europe’s leading online education expert” Microsoft 2006

(Almost) finally, at the centre of all this, Stephen carries a significant policy portfolio supporting a range of front running nations worldwide. His work ranges from horizon scanning for the DfES/DCSF through to what can only be described as a full policy revolution in the Caribbean. As well as his own policy consultancy heppell.net ltd he sits on a small number of corporate boards and is chair of trustees for the charity “Inclusion Trust” with its remarkable Notschool.net project.

“The most influential academic of recent years in the field of technology and education” Department for Education and Skills (DfES), UK, 2006

But everyone who knows Stephen well, will also know his passion for sailboat racing – from coaching the UK Mirror Class Squad to a World Championship win in Kingston, Canada to his annual campaign around the UK’s Solent and East Coast in his rather high tech (!) yacht Cracker with partner, friends and family. “Sailing” says Stephen, “is what I do – the rest is a hobby”.

In this Mobile Learning Institute film, Heppell makes his way through London, describing his vision for schools, meeting with kids at the Be Very Afraid conference, and exploring ideas for classroom design in a technology pilot school in Teddington.

Contact Professor Stephen Heppell

Bob Pearlman
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Bob Pearlman has been a key leader in the design, development, and implementation of 21^st Century Secondary Schools. He is currently a strategy consultant for 21^st Century school development. Bob served from 2002-2009 as the Director of Strategic Planning for the New Technology Foundation in Napa, CA, a school development organization. In this role he worked with communities in 9 states to launch 50 new 21^st Century Secondary Schools based on the New Technology 21^st Century High School model. Bob consults and speaks widely in the US and the UK on 21^st Century Learning.

Bob is the author of many articles on 21^st Century Learning, including “Making 21^st Century Schools” (Educational Technology, September-October 2009), “New Skills For A New Century” (Edutopia, June 2006), “21^st Century Learning in Schools – A Case Study of New Technology High School in Napa, CA“, (New Directions for Youth Development, Summer 2006: The Case for Twenty-First Century Learning), and “Reconsidering the Design of Schools through the Lens of Project-Based Learning” – Interview, DesignShare and Education Facility Planning News, March, 2007. A new chapter, “New Learning Environments for 21^st Century Learners”, will be published Spring 2010 by Solution Tree Press in a new book on 21^st Century Learning.

Bob has had a unique career as a teacher, Co-Director of Computer Education, teacher union leader and negotiator, Foundation President, Director of Education and Workforce Development, and Director of Strategic Planning for the nation’s largest network of innovative 21^st Century Schools. Bob’s experience and expertise includes New School Development, Whole District Reform, Business-Education Partnerships and coalitions, School-to-Career and Workforce Development, Union—School District Negotiations, School Restructuring and Technology, Project-Based Learning, Professional Development, Educational Finance, and School-site Assessment and Accountability.

Bob is the former President of the Autodesk Foundation (1996-2000), the organization that revitalized Project-Based Learning in the 1990s, the former Director of Education and Workforce Development at Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and the Coordinator of Educational Reform Initiatives for the Boston Teachers Union.

Contact Bob Pearlman

Annalise Gehling
Educational Planning Consultant
Annalise Gehling is a Melbourne-based teacher, geographer and planner and serves as FNI’s Educational Planning Consultant. Annalise has worked on National School Planning Standards in Abu Dhabi, trained Government Officials on School Facilities Assessment in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, researched and authored a detailed Master Plan of the Cayman Islands’ school environments, acted as chief planner for a school library refurbishment, and played a key role in FNI’s School Planning contracts in the United States, India, Ukraine, Victoria, Malaysia, Tasmania, New Zealand, UAE and the Cayman Islands.

In addition, Annalise has had a number of speaking engagements at regional, national and international events, and has authored papers for The Anneberg Institute at Brown University, British Council for School Environments, Australian Education Union, Edutopia and the School Libraries Association of Victoria.

Annalise’s work with FNI draws upon her recent teaching experiences, big-picture educational philosophy and broad understanding of educational literature. Annalise earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2002. Her excellent results in majors of Geography, and Media and Communication showcased her talents as a spatial and linguistic thinker. After working as a graduate in the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Annalise turned to her passion for education and completed a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary and Secondary) at Deakin University.

Annalise is a member of the Australian College of Educators, and also teaches part-time at several Melbourne schools.

Contact Annalise Gehling

Tiffany Green, M.Ed
Educational Planner
Tiffany Green is a Minneapolis-based Education Consultant, Designer, and Education Policy Advocate.

Tiffany earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1998 from Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN. She received a Masters in Education and Technology from the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University in 2002. Tiffany’s natural talent for design was uncovered while working as a Flooring Consultant alongside ASID Interior Designers in Nashville. Growing up in Chicago IL also spurred Tiffany’s love of architecture.

FNI will draw on Tiffany’s diverse experiences in design, sales, community outreach, parental engagement, policy development, project management, and creating collaborative partnerships. Tiffany has a broad understanding of educational literature and high efficacy for technology. As an advocate for School Choice, Tiffany sees School Design as the next frontier…“Aesthetic variety within schools is equally as important as having ones choice of schools.”

Tiffany was formerly the Policy Aide to Minneapolis City Council Vice President, Robert Lilligren. Tiffany is a founder and co-Project Manager for the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) in Minnesota. Tiffany serves on the board of Community Action of Minneapolis and Resources for Child Caring. Tiffany is a member of BAEO, Toastmasters International and the Minnesota Citizens League.

Contact Tiffany Green

Gareth Long
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Gareth Long is an Senior Education Consultant with extensive experience in the UK and the Cayman Islands. He has operated at the highest strategic levels of education transformation, and has been very successfully in leading secondary schools in both countries.

In addition, Gareth has worked extensively with some of the world’s leading authorities to propel education into the 21^st century, including Professor Stephen Heppell, Prakash Nair, and many other leading architects specializing in school design from both the United States and Canada. He speaks at conferences and workshops and has been the subject of extensive media exposure.

In his most recent ‘visit’ to the Cayman Islands as a Strategic Development Advisor (Education), Gareth reported directly to the Minister of Education and Permanent Secretary. He was deeply involved with every aspect of the rapid holistic transformation of the entire education system, and led many effective large scale initiatives, including work on the design of ‘cutting edge’ new secondary and primary learning environments. He also led the very successful transformation of a large secondary school into four smaller schools on one campus. The whole Cayman Islands ‘story’ of education transformation has attracted the attention of Ministers of Education and senior officers from around the world.

Gareth’s services are in very high demand among many clients, including a multi-national company deeply involved in the UK ‘Building Schools of the Future’ initiative. He holds a master’s degree in Education Management, as well as the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers qualification (LPSH).

Alongside all of his qualifications and attention that comes his way, Gareth remains passionate about ensuring that we provide students with the very best educational opportunities that we can make available to them. He even continues to write a regular blog that is widely read around the world, which covers all sorts of things that catch his eye. Finally, while he loves his work, and has declared that some of his recent jobs have been the ‘best in the education world’, he also strongly believes in the importance of a life outside of work, especially with his young family.

Contact Gareth Long

Susan J. Wolff, Ed. D.
Senior Planning Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Dr. Wolff is a Senior Planning Consultant with Fielding Nair International. She serves currently as the Dean of Instruction at Columbia Gorge Community College, located in The Dalles, Oregon. Prior to this position, Susan directed the Professional Development System at Oregon State University and coordinated the national research project, New Designs for Career and Technical Education at the Secondary and Postsecondary Levels. The latter project was included in the original scope of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, a five-university consortium funded through the U. S. Department of Education. Wolff has been a community college or university instructional administrator for over 25 years. Dr. Wolff is well known for her coalition building among education, business, industry, and community leaders. Other areas of specialty include training, workforce and economic development; distance learning and instructional technology; faculty development; continuing education; and program development.

The focus of her doctoral research was in the design features of the physical learning environment that support collaborative, project-based learning, http://www.designshare.com/Research/Wolff/Project_Learning.htm and led to the formation of her own business, Wolff Designs. Dr. Wolff has worked with school districts, community colleges, and four-year institutions of higher education across the country in educational and facilities planning including master facility planning, pre-design, design, and renovation projects. Her work in this area and in career and technical education has resulted in several publications and invitations to present and chair conferences, both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Wolff is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges, National Council of Instructional Administrators, Association of Career and Technical Education, National Council of Workforce Education, and the Council of Educational Facility Planners, International. Susan has been invited by the American Institute of Architects to be a juror for the 2005 School Design Awards, was a juror for the Washington State Council of Educational Facility Planners school design awards in 2004, has been a reviewer for the Design Share/School Construction News design awards the last three years, http://www.designshare.com/articles/article.asp?article=103, and co-chaired the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education national conference in 2004. Two of the projects Susan has participated in, the Canby High School Applied Technology Center and Cy-Fair Community College, have received several national and international awards.

Contact Susan J. Wolff

Bruce Dixon
Senior Technology Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Bruce Dixon is a Senior Technology Consultant with Fielding Nair International. As a teacher, Principal, educational software developer and college lecturer, Bruce’s focus over the past three decades, has been on driving reform initiatives that significantly improve the opportunities for learning through the use of technology.

Following his teaching career, he was an educational software developer, and in the late 80’s co-founded what became the largest educational technology services company in the Southern Hemisphere, which oversaw the rapid expansion of technology use in Australian schools as well as the development of 1 to 1 (student to computer ratio) programs across Australia and New Zealand. He then took the concept to North America, Canada and the UK, before establishing a learning, technology and strategic consulting practice, Prestondixon. He has continued his pro-bono work through the establishment of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation.

He consults to schools, School Districts, Education Departments, Ministries of Education and corporations in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, UK and New Zealand, has been invited to speak at events across Asia, Europe and North America, and continues to work on a diverse range of exciting projects making learning a more compelling experience for kids.

Contact Bruce Dixon

Michelle Swanson
Senior Professional Development Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Michelle began her career in education following a decade of work as a professional theatre director and organizer of the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and West Coast Playwrights Workshop and Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area.

During her 22 years in the classroom, Michelle co-founded the Ensemble Theatre Company of Marin, a sequential arts education model where students ran a repertory theatre at three high school sites. She served as Project Designer/Director of the Drake Integrated Studies Curricula at Sir Francis Drake High School, named a “New American High School” by the US Department of Education. She was also a founder of Drake’s highly acclaimed Communications Academy. During her time at Drake, she was also named the Marin County Teacher of the Year and the Marin Arts Council Outstanding Contributor to Arts Education.

On the national level, Michelle served as lead curriculum consultant on Jobs For The Future’s Benchmark Communities Initiative and designed professional development practices for the Collaborative Learning Communities, and was a Teaching Fellow for the AutoDesk Foundation for nearly a decade.

Michelle currently provides sustained professional services to districts throughout the US, focusing on school design, instructional design and delivery, project-based learning, standards-based assessment, and whole-school reform processes.

Michelle holds a BA from Washington State University in Speech Communications and an M.A. in Theatre Arts/Directing from San Francisco State University. Michelle and her husband Larry live in Eugene, Oregon.

Contact Michelle Swanson

Theron Cosgrave
Senior Professional Development Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Theron worked at Sir Francis Drake High School in California’s Marin County for 10 years – the first nine as a social studies teacher, and his last year as Assistant Principal. His teaching background includes helping to found Drake’s Communications Academy, a project-based program for 11th and 12th grade students that integrates Social Studies, English, Advanced Drama, and Advanced Video Productions. He also taught A.P. U.S. History, Psychology, Government, and Economics, served as Staff Development Coordinator, led two successful accreditation reviews, and presented at numerous conferences on project-based learning. Theron was named Drake’s “Teacher of the Year” in 2000.

As Assistant Principal, Theron managed Drake’s testing, technology, facilities, and athletics programs in addition to sharing teacher evaluation and student discipline duties.

In his consulting work Theron designs curriculum and teacher training materials and works with educators on a wide range of instructional issues, including project-based learning, school and small learning community design, assessment, leadership development, asset mapping, strategic planning documents, and whole-school reform coaching. He has also facilitated the development of strategic plans for school districts and youth development organizations.

Theron holds a B.A. in Political Science and M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and a M.A. in Education Administration from San Francisco State University. Theron and his wife Jill live in Davis, California with their two young boys.

Contact Theron Cosgrave

Eeva Reeder
Senior Project Based Learning (PBL) and Math Instructional Coach, Fielding Nair International

Eeva provides professional development to secondary-level educators in the form of workshops or long-term “embedded coaching” at their school. Her areas of specialization include:

• designing problem-, inquiry-, and performance-driven courses, units, and assessment tasks;
• improving student work via feedback from subject-matter experts and instructional rubrics;
• best-practice math instruction with a focus on teaching big ideas and balancing the teaching of skills, concepts, and applications.

Prior to coaching teachers, Eeva was a high school math teacher. An example of her project-based classroom work as well as two articles she wrote about PBL (Measuring What Counts and Designing Worthwhile High School Projects) are on the Edutopia website.

During her 15 years as a teacher, she collaborated with a local community college to pilot a College-in-the-High-School calculus course, worked as district K-12 Math Content Lead, provided teacher training in PBL for a consortium of districts joined by SchoolWork Initiative, represented academic teachers on a State Taskforce on Workplace Learning, and served on her school’s steering team for Small Learning Community reform.

Eeva holds a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from Arizona State University and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Washington. She and her husband Kevin live in Seattle, Washington.

Contact Eeva Reeder

John Sole
Senior Professional Development Specialist, Fielding Nair International
John Sole, is a Service Learning Master Teacher, educational consultant, and videographer. He was an educator in the School District of Philadelphia for 20 years. In 1998, John left the classroom to become the Service Learning Specialist for the District. In that capacity, he assisted in the development and implementation of District-wide Project Based Service Learning and worked diligently to integrate technology into all projects as a 21^st century teaching and learning tool. In his position as SL Specialist, he helped individual teachers, students and schools conceive, plan and implement hands-on-projects in the classroom. As the Service Learning Specialist, John created District-wide, student-directed projects such as “Designing the School of the Future”, the “Student Paper Recycling Initiative”, “Seeds to Trees”, and the “Children’s Water Monitoring Network”. All projects are designed for students to develop leadership and citizenship skills and to achieve mastery of grade appropriate curriculum and state mandated standards across the disciplines. Community Partnerships are integral to all projects in which John has been involved.

He has trained thousands of teachers from throughout the United States as well as from Canada, Japan, Serbia, the Ukraine and Russia about Service Learning and its implementation and has been directly responsible for involving tens of thousands of students in hands-on projects on the front lines in their classrooms.

Since 1999, John has created dozens tightly edited videos of real students conducting real projects, in and out of real classrooms.

In 2001, John co-founded Green Woods Charter School. Until June, 2004, he served as the Projects Specialist there. Green Wood’s pedagogical focus is environmental and project-based.

Beginning in 2004, John Sole has devoted himself full time to his educational consulting organizations. Sole Productions, is his video technology studio for visually documenting compelling student projects. Guerilla Educators (www.guerillaeducators.typepad.com) works to address the critical global need of providing the tools necessary for educators to practice world-class, hands-on Project Based Learning in their classrooms, schools, and Districts.

As a consultant, John also works closely with school architects, designers, and planners to powerfully connect the design process of school construction directly to students and curriculum via Project Based Learning.

Currently, John is in the process of developing another school, the Elementary School for Sustainable Design.

• “Sparking School Design Via Project Based Learning”. Q&A with John Sole, Project-based Service Learning Master Teacher and Founder of Guerilla Educators November, 2006
• Getting REAL, Part One — Q&A with John Sole, Project-based Service Learning Master Teacher
• Getting REAL, Part Two: The Philadelphia Story — Q&A with John Sole, Project-based Service Learning Master Teacher

Contact John Sole

Melvin Freestone, B.A. (Mod), M.A., H.Dip.Ed., M.Sc.
Senior Professional Development Specialist, Fielding Nair International
Melvin Freestone is a Senior Professional Development Specialist with Fielding Nair International and brings to the group vast experience in teaching as well as in school and curriculum development in primary and secondary schools. He has held Senior Teaching positions in Ireland and Tasmania. Until recently he was Principal of Montagu Bay Primary School in Tasmania.

In addition to his teaching role, Melvin has led and advised numerous State and National Primary and Secondary curriculum development projects, specifically relating to science, technology and personal development.

Melvin’s experience extends beyond Australia’s borders: he has carried out a review of Technology Education in Pacific Rim countries for the OECD’s Pacific Circle Consortium. He has conducted residential programs for primary and secondary teachers in Thailand in association with the University of Tasmania. He has worked extensively over many years in providing both pre-service and in-service courses and programs for teachers and senior staff. He is currently working with teachers in Nepal.

Melvin focuses on empowerment of the people whom he works. He works collaboratively – ‘at the shoulder’ – with educational leaders, senior staff, teachers, parents and members of school communities.

Melvin’s educational experience and expertise enhance dialogue and action.

Melvin is a molecular biologist as well as an experienced educator, and has carried out research into the hospital pathogen Staphylococcus aureus.

Contact Melvin Freestone

Jody Sampson
Vice President, Fielding Nair International
Jody has worked to promote the missions of non-profit and public organizations for almost 20 years, doing advocacy, fundraising, public relations and marketing. Jody earned an MBA in Strategic Management and Marketing at Columbia University with an interest in applying private-sector methodologies to public-sector ventures. After graduate school, Jody joined the New York City School Construction Authority where she worked for 10 years as a member of an internal management consulting team. She worked on a broad range of projects, from an in-depth competitiveness study to overhaul the design department to establishing a quality management program for the agency.

Jody is an advisor to a project at Columbia Journalism School, the establishment of an institute to encourage journalists to work with high-risk urban high-school students. She has been advising on fundraising, marketing and strategic planning, as well as helping to write the business plan.

Jody is also a founding member of Urban Educational Facilities for the 21^st Century, a non-profit that advocates for good school design for urban children. She is an editor and contributing writer for its Schoolhouse Journal. At Fielding Nair, Jody has many responsibilities including operations, administration, writing, interviewing, in-depth plan analysis and marketing.

Contact Jody Sampson

Gayle Johnson
Associate Planner, Fielding Nair International
As FNI’s Associate Planner, Gayle is responsible for recruiting, professional development and marketing. Her other responsibilities involve organizing FNI’s Worldwide Discovery and Community Workshops and serving as DesignShare’s Communications Director.

Gayle brings many personal strengths to the FNI team including her organizational and communication skills as well as a deep commitment to FNI’s cause – which is to improve the future for all children. Her interest in a new way to educate children is born from a conviction that no two individuals are alike, and that the diversity in their natural talents, passions and learning styles must be matched by an educational model that best suits each student and helps him or her to achieve his or her full potential. As someone whose own talent was suppressed as a ward of the “cells and bells” school system, she is able to see how a child influenced by schools developed under the FNI vision will not only thrive in this creative age but also be part of a larger movement to expand opportunities for children worldwide.

Gayle is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a graduate of Branell Women’s College. She spent several years as the Manager of Member Services for F.A.B., Inc., an international foodservice co-op that just celebrated their 50th anniversary. In this capacity, Gayle was responsible for planning and implementation of international sales, marketing, procurement and organizing stockholder conferences. She was also the key liaison between the upper echelons of member companies and F.A.B. officers. Gayle reports directly to FNI President Prakash Nair and also provides day-to-day assistance as Administrative Manager on the various projects that the firm is involved in.

Contact Gayle Johnson

Bipin Bhadran
Management Consultant
Bipin is a Management Consultant with Fielding Nair International. In this capacity he directs many of the Company’s administrative, management and business development initiatives. He brings with him significant experience in managing business enterprises from diverse industries. FNI benefits from Bipin’s expertise in commercial operations, business development & international marketing.

Prior to joining FNI, Bipin provided end to end human resource solutions acting as a representative in India for the Ministry of Education, Rep. of Maldives. He was responsible for recruitment, selection and providing curriculum awareness to secondary school teachers. He was also associated with the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, serving as India Events Manager for all education promotion and marketing activities conducted by several private and public Malaysian universities. He organized road shows and exhibition events in various cities across India. He also undertook a market research project in India to analyze student behavior in considering overseas higher education. This project provided a platform for assessing the effectiveness of a marketing scheme adopted by Malaysian universities for the Indian marketplace. He continues to render consulting services to a number of organizations in South East Asia, The Middle-East and UK.

After being based in UK for a while, he currently heads the Indian affiliate of FNI, Education Design Architects (EDA) spread across six locations in India. Bipin holds his first degree in Computer Science & Engineering from and also an MBA from the Leeds University Business School, UK.

Contact Bipin Bhadran

Deepti Nair
Associate Planner
Deepti has been working and studying film and communications for over 5 years, and brings a multimedia perspective to FNI. Having lived in NYC, Reykjavik (Iceland), Berlin, and India she understands the global uses of technology and communication and is able to relate it to education. She has done work for True Entertainment, the Style Network and Fuse Music Television, all in television production, and is an asset when it comes to media related work. As an associate planner for FNI she helps with writing, editing, research and layout work.

Having recently graduated from Hampshire College, a highly selective liberal arts school in Amherst, MA known for its innovative approach to education, Deepti brings personal experience and a young, fresh viewpoint to school design.

Deepti was a co-keynote presenter in Tasmania, Australia in 2004, where she spoke to senior educators including the education minister at an international conference on school design. Currently, Deepti is involved as a key FNI client representative on the Educational Facilities Effectiveness Instrument (EFEI), supporting the company website, providing graphic design services, assisting with community workshops and report writing.

Contact Deepti Nair