Staff

Portia Williams is the Associate Provost for International Affairs and an Assistant Professor (Coterminous) in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. As the College's chief international officer, Dr. Williams guides policy and practice for institutional partnerships and collaborations, oversees the Office of International Students and Scholars, serves as the Campus Administrator for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, and facilitates a range of programming initiatives involving faculty, students, and international stakeholders. Dr. Williams was the founding Director of the Office of International Affairs in 2008, and has led the continued expansion of the College's internationalization efforts.

With more than 25 years of experience in education and development, Dr. Williams has directed, advised, or collaborated on policy and program endeavors in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, East and Southern Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States. Additionally, as an ESL professional, Dr. Williams has held faculty appointments at Georgetown, American, and George Washington Universities, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and the University of Shkodra in Albania.

Dr. Williams holds a doctorate in International Educational Development and Policy Studies and an Ed.M in International Family and Community Education from Teachers College Columbia University. She also holds an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Dr. Williams is a former Spencer Research Fellow, David L. Boren Fellow, and Peace Corps Volunteer. 

Blessing is the Senior Manager of Operations & Administration for the Office of International Affairs (OIA) and the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS). She has a BS in clinical psychology and a BA in Japanese from Tufts University. She also has a Post Baccalaureate in pre-medical Sciences from Columbia University and an MA in clinical psychology from Teachers College. She is an avid reader and filmgoer. To schedule a 1-on-1, please click here.

Barbara is the International Projects and Partnership Manager of the Office of International Affairs. Before joining TC, she worked for a German political foundation in Lebanon and New York as a Program Manager, focusing on projects that encourage political pluralism and work in the peace and security field. Barbara has also worked in a fundraising capacity in a local NGO in the Rule of Law/Good Governance field in Palestine. She has a B.A. in politics and international relations from the University of Portsmouth and an M.A. in international relations of the Middle East from Durham University.

Katrina is a Doctoral Research Fellow for OIA and a Ph.D. student in the International & Comparative Education Program at Teachers College. Before joining the TC community, she developed academic enrichment programs for youth in Rwanda and has worked with the private sector, nonprofits, and multi-stakeholder partnerships to improve educational outcomes for the marginalized. She is interested in the role of multi-national corporations in funding and supporting global education, particularly within education public-private partnerships. She has a B.A. in international relations from Brown University and an M.A. in international educational development from Teachers College.

Haley is a master’s student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at Teachers College. She also works as a research assistant in Dr. Cate Crowley’s LEADERS Project Lab at TC. She has a B.A. in speech-language pathology and audiology from St. John’s University. 

Carolina Rivas-Herrera holds a B.S. in economics from the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE). She specialized in multidimensional poverty at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in economics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University (TC).

Before joining TC, Carolina worked as a research assistant. Her peer-reviewed papers on skin tone discrimination, maternity penalties in the labor market, and social protection systems have been published in international journals. She also worked as a policy consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and led the Skills Strategy for Mexico in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

We are hiring for AY22-23. Please reach out (internationalaffairs@tc.columbia.edu) for more information.