Romana Shaikh (She/Her) Email and Phone Number

Public education needs a breakthrough - a deeper purpose of education and an honest and full response to the inequities in the system. We believe breakthrough school models are contextual to the needs of children, they respond to the whole child and create change in the whole school system. Kizazi is a global not for profit that supports local teams to design, implement & codify breakthrough school models in public education systems.

Creating collaborative journeys of pausing, sensing, connecting with our inner lives and with life as it flows. We believe in unleashing the creative potential of each human being with love, laughter and a supportive community!

I coach and consult with teams to- Deepen and clarify a shared purpose and values- Design, Implement & Evaluate Programs that are responsive to adversity and trauma, relevant to local culture and context, empowering of our inner wisdom and wholesome identities- Develop tools and systems that enable a culture of learning and collaboration2019 partners include - TFAll: A global network across 50+ countries running the Teach For Fellowship program. As a part of the Participant & Alumni Impact team, I developed a set of diagnostic tools and designs to support the partner networks build clarity, alignment and cohesiveness with their theory of change. 2018 partners include:TFIx: A Fellowship Program designed for Entrepreuners specifically looking to launch a Fellowship of their own in semi-urban and rural India. I developed the tools and trained and Fellows across 3 cohorts to develop robust theory of change, M&E frameworks for improvement and build aligned program models for their Fellowships.Seeds of Awareness: an NGO focused on providing Comprehensive Sexual Education to adolescents in school. They recently launched a certification program for Facilitators of this course in collaboration with TISS.

A fabulous team dedicated to making Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) accessible and enabling for young people - Seeds of Awareness http://seedsofawareness.in/ (SoA) has launched a facilitator training program with TISS CLL. As the program anchor for the 2nd cohort, I worked to enhance the overall curriculum CSE for facilitators, built a comprehensive assessment framework including coursework, reflection and evaluation of classroom facilitation. I co-facilitated the modules on gender & power, understanding needs of children and child development, creating safe learning environments and deep communication.

As the Director of Training & Impact at Teach for India, my team and I spearheaded the program design and delivery for 1100 Fellows across 7 cities in India impacting 35,000 children. A team of 5 to 12 across the years, we set standards for the program, designed tools and methods and facilitated learning and development for Students, Fellows (Teachers) and Program Staff.Key responsibilities and achievements during this tenure - - Leading the development of the theory of learning and leadership development for children and culminated in the design of Leadership Development Journey in 2014. A philosophy and framework that guides the implementation and evaluation of the 2 year Fellowship program.- The assessments framework for evaluation and impact of student academic achievement in TFI classrooms and tools for evaluation of holistic development of students and Fellows.- The preservice training – Summer Institute – that provides foundational competencies and strategies to be a beginning teacher and develop reflective practice capabilities. - Developed tools and methods for on-going monitoring and learning on program priorities, progress to outcomes and effectiveness of interventions which enabled strategic support and resource allocation for both regional leaders as well as the Senior Leadership.

During this tenure, developed tools, methods and programs that enabled Teach For India to systematically improve English outcomes across classrooms by 2x more than a control group as established by a Longitudinal Study done by Columbia University- Designed the English Literacy Framework of outcomes and learning standards for Reading Fluency, Comprehension & Writing used till date at Teach For India- Designed the blueprints and assessments for evaluation of reading growth aligned to expectations of the National Curriculum Framework of India- Led a team of 12 Literacy Specialists to establish the principles of Structured Immersion Pedagogy for English Language Learners and designed an aligned training program for Literacy Teachers

Working with a lively and curious group for 2 years i taught a community of 60 children through their 2nd Grade & 30 children in the 3rd Grade in an Affordable Private School (Peoples Education Society, Dadar). We ended our 2 years together by designing and hosting a day at our 'Thinking Scholars Museum' that showcased everything we had learned from Story Writing & Telling, to Enacting the journey though the Stone Ages, Science experiments and a Game of Scholars!In 2011, the children had grown by 2 reading levels on average with 25% of the class making 3 levels of growth. All of them spoke confidently in English, interacted with people from diverse backgrounds and learned to ask even more questions than previously!

Managing a diverse portfolio of clients across hospitality, fashion, bollywood and music, as a Public Relations Consultant, I worked to develop strong and unique brand identities for my clients. By creating opportunities for my clients to share opinions as thought leaders in their own industry, highlighting their achievements, and building their visibility. Given the diversity of clients, a diversity of audiences, media formats and events were explored, leveraged and networked.