About Jana Kiser.
Jana Kiser is a social entrepreneur and Harvard-trained educator who has more than twenty years of experience partnering with youth, adults, and communities in pursuit of social justice, equity, and peace. A Puerto Rican woman of mixed heritage, Jana’s personal history has infused her professional path with empathy, passion for social impact, and a powerful capacity for bridge-building and change. She is a purpose-driven leader, inspiring trainer, cultivator of talent, and proven strategist.
Nonprofit Pioneer: Global Learning.
In 1997, Jana founded Global Learning (GL), an international nonprofit organization dedicated to using education for peace and justice. She led Global Learning for eighteen years (thirteen years as the Executive Director and another five years as the President of the Board of Directors), during which time the organization became a standout leader in educational innovation and diversity, equity, and inclusion. GL’s community-driven programming gave 20,000 children from underserved communities in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the United States access to hands-on learning opportunities that addressed severe educational inequity. Seventy percent of GL’s 600 volunteers and staff identify as people of color, more than half are from countries in the developing world, and most were the first in their families to attend college.
Within international development, a field dominated by geopolitical power imbalances and the legacy of colonial oppression, Jana set a replicable template for collaborative, empowering, and skillful program facilitation that enabled diverse individuals to come together as peers, overcome divisive differences, and co-create an organizational ethos extraordinary in its ability to motivate, welcome, and include people from all walks of life.
International Best Practices.
In 2009, supported by a Stevens Fellowship, Jana traveled solo around the world to learn from other pioneering leaders and organizations in the Global South. She started her research by minimalist camping on a month-long kayaking trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School, during which she focused on environmental stewardship and leadership in Mexico. Other highlights included learning from educators using empowering pedagogy to address poverty in Peru, Congolese refugee leaders organizing for equity and inclusion in Uganda, nuns working across faith lines in Tanzania, and women organizing for fair trade on the border of Thailand and Myanmar.
Leadership in the U.S.A.
Jana’s broad range of professional experience includes substantial work in the United States. Aiming to diversify outdoor education and create more welcoming environments in national parks, Jana served as a Bilingual Science Educator at the Headlands Institute (now called Nature Bridge) in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She worked to bring equity to family engagement and forge ties between families, schools, and community partners as a Community School Coordinator at Hoover Community School in Redwood City. She served as a consultant to multiple foundations and nonprofits striving to bridge research and practice in youth and community development. From 2013 to 2019, Jana served as the Executive Director of Redwood City 2020, a collective impact organization that addresses the effects of poverty through health and wellness programming, community schools, family engagement, youth development, immigrant services, and anti-racism efforts.
Post-hurricane resiliency.
Since 2018, Jana has been co-leading a collaborative volunteer project called Bajacu’ Boricua. Dedicated to trauma relief in Puerto Rico, the project is rooted in meditation, mindful movement, and music.
With service projects in San Juan, Ponce, Aguadilla, Caguas, and online, Bajacu’ Boricua brings together teachers, activists, and healers from the island and the international community. Collaborators include world renowned author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzburg, Leslie Booker of the Urban Sangha Project, leaders of the Holistic Life Foundation, musician and healer Maria Jose Montijo, and Puerto Rican community leader and digital designer Juan Lopez Berrios.
Education.
Jana’s academic training supports her abilities to contribute to individuals, organizations, and communities in their pursuit of social justice and equity. She has a bachelor's degree in Peace and Justice Studies from Wellesley College, a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Limerick (Ireland), and a master's degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University. Jana is currently continuing her education in a two-year program for teaching mindfulness and compassion-based practices through the Awareness Training Institute and the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center.