SPARC is happy to introduce our new Education Conference Manager, Dana Alserjani. She is responsible for coordinating the logistics of the annual Open Education Conference as well as supporting its board of directors and community. Dana started the position on August 21.
The Open Education Conference is designed for sharing and learning about open educational resources, open pedagogy, and open education initiatives. Led by a community-elected board of directors, the Open Education Conference’s operations are currently housed within SPARC. This year the event will be held November 7-9 virtually, with plans for a hybrid conference in 2024.
“I really appreciate the structure and alignment that this movement has built across communities that are passionate about this particular issue,” Dana said. “My role is really to help bring to life the vision of the board and the open education community.”
Dana comes to the job with experience in education, community organizing and nonprofits. She worked as a classroom teacher with Teach for America in Detroit from 2016-18. Dana has been a Palestinian community organizer and was a summer school instructor for the I Know I Can Summer Academy in Ramallah, Palestine, in 2017.
Dana also worked in Baltimore and was a fellow with Leadership with Educational Equity. Later, as a program director with The Baltimore Intersection, she designed community organizing programs, equipping youth with strategies to harness the collective power of their peers and communities for change. Dana then transitioned to nonprofit fiscal sponsorship, where she enjoyed coordinating operations.
She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Arizona State University.
