CAE Staff
Director
Mary Mendenhall has been a full-time faculty member of the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University for the past 10 years. Her research is situated at the intersection of the fields of education in emergencies, refugee and forced migration studies, and teacher development. Her studies examine refugee education policies and practices across camp, urban, and resettlement contexts, with a particular focus on teacher development. Dr. Mary Mendenhall has conducted numerous research studies and international projects in Africa over the past 16+ years, dating back to her own dissertation research in Angola.
She led the joint International Rescue Committee-University of Nairobi effort to establish an Education in Emergencies master’s program in Kenya from 2009-2014. She co-led a multi-country (including Kenya), mixed-methods study on urban refugee education, in collaboration with Dr. S. Garnett Russell, funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in 2015-2016. Later, she developed and implemented (in collaboration with local and national partners based in Kenya) the Teachers for Teachers initiative from 2015-2018 in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement, funded by IDEO.org and the European Union (via UNICEF). During four years from 2018-2022, she served as the lead researcher of an Oxfam-led consortium on teacher and student well-being in South Sudan and Uganda, funded by the European Commission’s Building Resilience in Crises through Education. Two years ago, she co-led a study on teacher professional development for learning through play in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda to inform the LEGO Foundation’s internal refugee education funding strategy.
She is currently working on a study in collaboration with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) on teachers in refugee and displacement settings in order to inform and strengthen teacher management, professional development, and well-being practices and policies in 14 countries around the globe including several on the continent (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan).
Most recently (2022-23), Dr. Mendenhall, in close collaboration with faculty colleagues at the Mailman School of Public Health, was awarded a Columbia World Project for a new initiative – Ubumwe: Arts for Education and Public Health with Refugee Children and Youth – which aims to bolster psychosocial and educational outcomes among refugee children and youth through the integration of arts in education and community spaces.
Mary Mendenhall has been a full-time faculty member of the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University for the past 10 years. Her research is situated at the intersection of the fields of education in emergencies, refugee and forced migration studies, and teacher development. Her studies examine refugee education policies and practices across camp, urban, and resettlement contexts, with a particular focus on teacher development. Dr. Mary Mendenhall has conducted numerous research studies and international projects in Africa over the past 16+ years, dating back to her own dissertation research in Angola.
She led the joint International Rescue Committee-University of Nairobi effort to establish an Education in Emergencies master’s program in Kenya from 2009-2014. She co-led a multi-country (including Kenya), mixed-methods study on urban refugee education, in collaboration with Dr. S. Garnett Russell, funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in 2015-2016. Later, she developed and implemented (in collaboration with local and national partners based in Kenya) the Teachers for Teachers initiative from 2015-2018 in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement, funded by IDEO.org and the European Union (via UNICEF). During four years from 2018-2022, she served as the lead researcher of an Oxfam-led consortium on teacher and student well-being in South Sudan and Uganda, funded by the European Commission’s Building Resilience in Crises through Education. Two years ago, she co-led a study on teacher professional development for learning through play in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda to inform the LEGO Foundation’s internal refugee education funding strategy.
She is currently working on a study in collaboration with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) on teachers in refugee and displacement settings in order to inform and strengthen teacher management, professional development, and well-being practices and policies in 14 countries around the globe including several on the continent (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan).
Most recently (2022-23), Dr. Mendenhall, in close collaboration with faculty colleagues at the Mailman School of Public Health, was awarded a Columbia World Project for a new initiative – Ubumwe: Arts for Education and Public Health with Refugee Children and Youth – which aims to bolster psychosocial and educational outcomes among refugee children and youth through the integration of arts in education and community spaces.
Graduate Research Assistants
Mahielt Hailu is a master’s student in Counseling Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, pursuing the School Counseling track with an advanced certificate in College Advising. Her research interests include emotional regulation among first-generation Americans from the East African diaspora and the intergenerational dynamics between them and their East African immigrant parents. She earned a B.S. in Family and Human Services from Towson University, where she was deeply involved in student success initiatives and leadership.
Her fieldwork includes an internship at New Life Academy, where she provided socioemotional and academic support to diaspora elementary students, and volunteer experiences with organizations such as the Abebech Gobena Children’s Care & Development Association and the Mekedonia Home for the Elderly and Mentally Disabled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mahielt’s professional and personal commitments reflect a passion for educational equity, cultural identity development, and holistic student support. She enjoys mentoring students, traveling, and finding joy in community-building through cultural exchange. At Towson, Mahielt served as President of the Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association (EESA), leading multicultural programming, mentoring emerging student leaders, and building partnerships across the African diaspora community. She also worked as an undergraduate assistant and team lead for the Student Achieve Goals through Education (SAGE) program, mentoring first-year students of color and coordinating diversity-focused retention and professional development initiatives.
Mahielt Hailu is a master’s student in Counseling Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, pursuing the School Counseling track with an advanced certificate in College Advising. Her research interests include emotional regulation among first-generation Americans from the East African diaspora and the intergenerational dynamics between them and their East African immigrant parents. She earned a B.S. in Family and Human Services from Towson University, where she was deeply involved in student success initiatives and leadership.
Her fieldwork includes an internship at New Life Academy, where she provided socioemotional and academic support to diaspora elementary students, and volunteer experiences with organizations such as the Abebech Gobena Children’s Care & Development Association and the Mekedonia Home for the Elderly and Mentally Disabled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mahielt’s professional and personal commitments reflect a passion for educational equity, cultural identity development, and holistic student support. She enjoys mentoring students, traveling, and finding joy in community-building through cultural exchange. At Towson, Mahielt served as President of the Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association (EESA), leading multicultural programming, mentoring emerging student leaders, and building partnerships across the African diaspora community. She also worked as an undergraduate assistant and team lead for the Student Achieve Goals through Education (SAGE) program, mentoring first-year students of color and coordinating diversity-focused retention and professional development initiatives.
Amaeka Effiong is a master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include decolonizing education, bolstering Afrocentric education, and centering youth from historically marginalized communities. Amaeka received a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Human Services and Social Justice from George Washington University in 2023 where she was a research intern at the Global Women’s Institute and focused much of her studies, internships, and student organization involvement around the African continent. Upon graduating, she spent a year as a Teaching Fellow at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in London, supporting curriculum development of the core Ethics and Leadership course. This summer, Amaeka worked as a Program Assistant at Georgetown University’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development, helping to facilitate the U.S. Department of State-funded Student Leaders Program for Middle East and North African college students. Amaeka is a proud Nigerian-American who enjoys soccer, theater, and cooking.
Amaeka Effiong is a master’s student in the International and Comparative Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include decolonizing education, bolstering Afrocentric education, and centering youth from historically marginalized communities. Amaeka received a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Human Services and Social Justice from George Washington University in 2023 where she was a research intern at the Global Women’s Institute and focused much of her studies, internships, and student organization involvement around the African continent. Upon graduating, she spent a year as a Teaching Fellow at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in London, supporting curriculum development of the core Ethics and Leadership course. This summer, Amaeka worked as a Program Assistant at Georgetown University’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development, helping to facilitate the U.S. Department of State-funded Student Leaders Program for Middle East and North African college students. Amaeka is a proud Nigerian-American who enjoys soccer, theater, and cooking.