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Raymond Ratti, Founder and President
Mr. Raymond Ratti is the Founder and President of Transformative Global Learning. Currently Mr. Ratti is a Business Development Executive for the RUBENIUS Group; a renewable energy and efficiency company located in Dubai where Ray mainly works in Latin America other countries such as Nigeria, Turkey and Serbia under the leadership of Ms. Carolyn Adams. Mr. Ratti overseas the company engagement with the United Nations, think thanks and universities. Before RUBENIUS, at the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic Mr. Ratti advised the Youth Delegates to the 3rd Committee of the United Nations in October of 2009. Mr. Ratti have extensive experience organizing Model UN conferences, study trips and the first UNDR Peace Conference between Israelis and Palestinians at the UN, among other conferences and educational activities for students and young professionals in New York and the Dominican Republic.
Besides his diplomatic experience, Mr. Ratti worked for Contractual Services of America (CSA) in Washington D.C in the areas of government procurement for CSA contractors. Recently, Raymond completed a fellowship in human rights and minorities issues in the Netherlands with Humanity in Action where he conducted a research project in Turkish and Moroccan politics in Dutch society.
In addition to his professional experience; Mr. Ratti have a solid public speaking experience at the local and international level ranging from engagements at Cornell University, Madison Square Garden, the United Nations, The City University of New York, Campus Progress 2008 National Conference in D.C and other venues.
In 2011 alone Mr. Ratti was invited by former US President Bill Clinton to attend CGI U in California for his work in Haiti and the Dominican Republic with TGL, participated in a fieldwork delegation to the People's Republic of China focused on development and economic issues, received the community service award by the Chancellor of Manchester University and recently was invited by the United Nations to address the 2011 UN- NGO conference in Bonn, Germany.
Mr. Ratti received a scholarship by the President of the Dominican Republic H.E. Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reina and obtained a M.A. in International Development from Manchester University and graduated Cun Laude form John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he majored in Humanities and Justice and obtained minors in Philosophy and History. He also attended Georgetown University with the Fund of American Studies where he focused on business and politics. Mr. Ratti is also a fellow of the world renowned Salzburg Seminar in Austria, Salzburg.
David Schwartz, Executive Director
David Schwartz was born and raised in Long Island, New York. He is currently in charge of day-to-day operations for Transformative Global Learning and lives in New York City. He has spent much of his life working for organizations at the community level, such as AmeriCorp and New York Public School Districts. He attended SUNY Albany where he received two degrees, one in political science/ international relations, and the other in world history. During the course of his education he spent a year abroad, learning about other cultures and expanding his worldviews. These experiences helped him acquire a more diverse cultural understanding, which has helped inspire his passion for the betterment of community living. David is eager to be a part of Transformative Global Learning and is ready to have a significant impact on various communities around the world.
Jake Sharfman, Deputy Director
In addition to managing the TGL day-to-day operations from New York, Jake is currently positioned as a senior associate inside Puder Public Relations, a public relations firm located in Midtown Manhattan that primarily focuses on non-profit organizations. A native of Detroit, Jake studied journalism at Oakland University and endured a history of journalistic positions around Michigan before he enrolled in a Masters program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Before moving to New York, Jake lived and traveled across the Middle East, initializing and partaking in activist and volunteer projects across the region. Jake has a passion for bridging cultural gaps and the promotion of cross-cultural learning that has led him to his studies, experience and involvement with TGL.
Arisleyda Dilone
After graduating from Comsewogue, Aris went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Italian: Language and Civilization, Minor: Political Science from Southern Connecticut State University, in New Haven, Connecticut. There, she excelled in languages and political science. She was then accepted to St. John's University for a Master's of Arts in International Relations at their Rome Campus in Italy where she traveled throughout Europe. She also served as an interpreter/translator for Courtney Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, and an Italian Marquee.
While studying for her master's degree, she traveled to the Dominican Republic to work on her master's thesis and worked with the Dominican government to help structure and write two free trade agreements: one between Dominican Republic and Taiwan and another between Dominican Republic and Mercosur. Upon her return to Rome, she interned at the Dominican embassy in Rome and then moved on to work as a consultant for the United Nations-Food and Agriculture Organization. After two and half years in Rome she realized she missed her family very much and moved back to the US to be near her nephews.
Most recently she worked as a Legislative Assistant in the New York State Assembly.
Martin Butler, PhD
Dr. Martin Butler is a psychologist in private practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. He earned his doctoral degree in educational psychology from the City University Graduate Center in 1990 and completed a postdoctoral certificate in neuropsychology in 1997. Dr. Butler is a fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners and a longstanding member of the American Psychological Association. He specializes in conducting evaluations. Clients include the Social Security Administration, the New York City Department of Education, the State Education Department, Mass Transit Authority, and various hospitals and clinics as well as private patients. Dr. Butler is also a representative at the United Nations for the International Association of Applied Psychology.
Another interest of Dr. Butler is test development. He has participated on the construction of new assessment instruments for the New York City Department of Personnel and American Telephone and Telegraph. Currently, he is producing a structured interview for paratransit services and norms for a verbal memory test. Also underway are children's books concentrating on violence de-escalation. Dr. Butler holds certificates in assessment of violence potential, cognitive remediation, Article 81 guardianship, risk management, anger management, and sexual offender assessment among many others.
He has sponsored children abroad for more than 25 years and is a member of the New York chapter of the Friends for Children International. Awards have been received from Southwest Indian Children's Fund, Running Strong for American Indian Youth, Children International, and St. Labre Indian School. Dr. Butler is a member of the Comus Club and One Hundred Black Men of greater New York. He is also a board member of Service Program for Older People.
Agustin Alejandro Batto Carol
Agustin Alejandro Batto Carol is the Executive Director of Eidos, an international student organization dedicated to promote debate, critical thinking and social engagement. Though a new "constructivist" pedagogic methodology encourage young citizen to build up the shape of their own city and encourage them as individuals to be proactive in their own societies. Also he is the Under Secretary General of INTMUN, the first international virtual simulation of the United Nations for Latin America; it was privilege with participation of students for sixteen countries. He is the representative of the Argentinean Civil Society in the American Forum of the UNESCO, working as an active member of the network that join the thirty two American counties, sharing and promoting public youth policies.
Today he is working in the department of Latin America of Ernst & Young. Making markets studies in the region, doing research of the different regional economies, cultural systems and societies. Also he is ad honorem professor in Lenguas Vivas, public high school of Buenos Aires. He teaches the different topics related to the MDG, debate techniques, consensus building and teamwork, to students from twelve to seventeen years old. In his four years in front the class he has more than 250 students that receive local, regional and international distinction, from different international NGO like UNESCO. He was selected trice for the UNESCO to represent his country, he receive a recognition from the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, for his labor in the video diffusion of the MDG and he also was sent as an special envoy of the Minister of Education of the City of Buenos Aires to Switzerland and Spain for research of technological innovation in education.
Jennifer Agmi
Jennifer Agmi is currently completing her Masters degree in Public Administration and Policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. She has seven years experience working in the non-profit field of advocacy, outreach, and therapeutic services for low-income, immigrant communities. At NYU, she specializes in Public Policy analysis and finance with a focus on immigration policy and community leadership. While working at TGL, Jennifer is a program associate for New York's Office of Health and Human Services where she is developing a community needs assessment tool to evaluate civic participation, employment and volunteerism on older adults in support of Mayor Bloomberg's City of All Ages Project. She is also interning at the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) where she is a Prevention Program intern for OCDV's New York City Healthy Relationship Traning Academy, an initiative that teaches youth about the signs of an abusive relationship. At the Healthy Relationship Training Academy, she facilitates workships, supervises peer edicators, and develops strategies to expand the program's audience to include Spanish-speaking communities. Jennifer has also worked with UNICEF where she worked on the social effects of children left behind due to migration of their caretakers and Vera Institute of Justice where she worked on supporting Governor Paterson's task force to transform the juvenile system and was the main researcher on a project to implement the use of shelter care for low-level juvenile justice system and was the main researcher on a project to implement the use of shelter care for low-level juvenile delinquents as an alternative to detention.
Rida Mawla
Rida is currently a graduate student in Operations Research at Columbia Unversity. During the 2006 war in Lebanon, and in response to a dire need for relief action, he co-founded an NGO called Mowatinun whose short-term goal was to channel aid the 1 million refugees in an efficient manner.
The organization was able to raise $180,000 in three weeks to support its operations and distribution, and succeeded in guaranteeing food and shelter to 800 families for 30 days. After the war, Muwatinun continued assisting families who lost their homes for about six months, until the government was able to continue the work.
He is a member of the Columbia University Arab Student Association and the Ivy League Council. In Earlham College, his undergraduate insitution, he founded the Committee for Justice in the Middle East, aimed at promoting mutual cultural understanding between American and Middle Eastern students. He's been interning at the Administration of Justice Taskforce in the New York City Office of Management and Budget (branch of the Mayor's Office) for 8 months now, in addition to working on a consulting project with CFX.in, a leading debt transaction services firm.
No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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