Staff of World Literacy Initiative

Staff of World Literacy Initiative

World Literacy Initiative has historically maintained the smallest of organizational overheads in order to devote the very highest percentage of its funds to doing the actual work associated with its primary mission - Working to Improve Literacy and Basic Education Throughout the Developing World. A direct result of this has been to intentionally minimize the paid staff who perform the work of our organization.

In addition to volunteers who surely brighten our day, the only paid employees World Literacy Initiative has ever had were indigenous Malawians who were paid to conduct business in Malawi during the exhibition there 2003-04 and in the next three years that followed in support of the further adoption and use of evidence based methods. The day to day work of World Literacy Initiative thus has been performed since before our inception by a full-time volunteer, our Executive Director, Jan Heckler.

Alexis Scranton -
Most Valued New Executive Intern

Alexis Scranton is World Literacy Initiative's first executive intern. As such, she is working half-time for the children of Africa (and our Executive Director) while also working to complete her masters degree in Instructional Technology at Georgia Southern University.

An experienced expert in both early childhood education and instructional technology, Alexis has international teaching experience from her recent tour of duty in South Korea where she taught grades K - 6 and has taught Kindergarten and 3rd grade in Clarkston, GA where she also makes her home.

'Lexi' has already shown that she will be making many valued contributions to this cause. She is most gratefully received. Welcome aboard, Alexis!

John Luneta - Namibia
We would also like to feature the involvement of John Luneta of Rundu, Namibia. John is a free-lance international educational consultant and educator who has worked with us in the past and will we hope in the future. John's next assignment will be to review the initial chapters of the text for sharing evidence based methods of instruction. His review will focus on its ability to work effectively for the classroom teachers of Namibia. John is also an expert musician and vocalist as well as a specialist in information & communication technologies. Keep up the great work, John!

About Our Executive Director
Janice B. Heckler is a full time volunteer who receives only a small expense stipend (begun in 2004) to help off-set the many and varied costs of full-time volunteering and moving about the globe in pursuit of achieving our organization's mission goal. Along with the original board of directors, she helped to found World Literacy Initiative after being called by the Lord to service in this particular way - sharing especially effective teaching methods with the people of developing nations.

Thus, Jan has been going to Africa since August 2001 just before 911. She first went to Zimbabwe where she began learning about the struggles of the indigenous people of Africa and the story that is uniquely that continent's. Though she was later evacuated from Zimbabwe courtesy of Robert Mugabe, she later returned to spend the next two years in southern Malawi and then two more in the Caprivi strip of Namibia. Most recently she has just completed a 2 1/2 year tour of duty in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Long-time Zimbabwe teacher friend
Sisi Sylvia Ndebele & Jan
Christmas 2005

Jan received her doctoral education at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida in the United States where she was educated as a research psychologist specializing in the analysis of educational methodologies. She completed all of the requirements for Ph.D. at the University of Florida with the exception of a dissertation and currently holds Bachelors and Masters of Arts degrees in her specialty areas.

She has published experimental articles analyzing educational methods in refereed journals including her masters research, and has authored book chapters and made conference presentations on issues and topics pertinent to the topic of educational methods.

From 2002-2006, she was a teacher educator and consultant in Namibia and Malawi. From 2006-2008, she was an international advisor to the Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her most recent scholarly presentation was at the Kenton at Mpekweni Conference (2005) in the Republic of South Africa on related topics and issues. Although Jan lived and worked in Addis Ababa for the past two and a half years, she makes Atlanta her home while in the U.S. Jan has been a member of the North Decatur Presbyterian Church since October 1998 and was a co-facilitator of the Faith & Issues Sunday School class when she was called to her present mission.