Student Council 2021-2022

Sharad Sagar

Sharad Sagar
Executive Chair

Sharad Vivek Sagar, the Executive Chair of the Student Council, is a Master’s Degree candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an internationally awarded social entrepreneur enlisted on Forbes 30 under 30. Raised in small towns and villages of India, Sagar first went to school at the age of 12 and founded Dexterity Global, an internationally awarded non-profit, at the age of 16. Sagar’s focus on building grassroots leadership in India through educational opportunities and training has received global recognition, including invitations to the Obama White House and the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. Sagar received a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Tufts University where he studied on a full scholarship and was chosen the Senior Commencement Speaker. At Tufts, Sagar was the first freshman to win the $100,000 Entrepreneurship Challenge and the only student to win the competition twice. For his work in the field of education, Sagar became the youngest recipient of the university's Paul and Elizabeth Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement. As a graduating senior at Tufts, Sagar received the Senior Award for academic achievement, the Presidential Award for public service and the Wendell Phillips Award for oratory and leadership. Within one year of his graduation, Sagar was awarded the university's Alumni Achievement Award, making him the youngest recipient in university history. Sagar’s organization reaches over 6.5 million students across remote towns and villages of India, connecting young people with educational opportunities and building local role models for communities. Dexterity alumni have won major national and international awards, started their own initiatives and received over 720 million INR in scholarships from top colleges across the world. With Dexterity’s pioneering financial aid model, more than 85% of these children come from low-income families. The Telegraph observed Dexterity is “building the future of India” while Forbes noted it is “equipping young people with the mentality to solve 21st century problems.

Flora Choi

Flora Choi
Vice Chair

Flora Choi is currently an M.Ed candidate in the School Leadership Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Originally from Hong Kong, Flora has also lived in Singapore, Canada, Japan, and the United States. She speaks 4 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and English. Prior to Harvard, Flora was a classroom teacher and curriculum designer at international and local schools throughout Asia and America. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Childhood and Special Education at New York University. Outside of school, she loves to travel, explore new cafes and restaurants, and watch K-dramas. Flora is a full-time mother of 3 young children (2 boys and 1 girl). She is honored to be part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education community. Flora looks forward to getting to know you and serving you! You may connect with Flora via the following platforms: Email: florachoi@gse.harvard.edu LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/harvardflora

Parisa Loftis Hamm

Parisa Loftis Hamm
Harvard Graduate Council (HGC) Voting Representative

Parisa (she/her/hers) is an Ed.M. candidate in the Education Policy and Analysis program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to the masters program, she was a teacher and she briefly worked in the film industry. She completed a teacher preparation program at CSU Northridge and earned her BA in Theatre Arts with a minor in Studio Arts from Loyola Marymount University. She is passionate about representing the teacher voice in the education policy sector. Some of her professional interests in the US K-12 education policy sector include teacher preparation and retention, teacher diversity, education equity advocacy, and educational support for military families. Parisa is grateful for her position on the HGSE Student Council as the Harvard Graduate Council Voting Representative. She looks forward to the opportunity to represent HGSE on the Harvard Graduate Council and to amplify student voices.

Dessiree Cuevas

Dessiree Cuevas
Student Council Administrator

Dessiree Cuevas is originally from Southern California and is 22 years old. She attended California State University East Bay (Class of 2021) and received her bachelor's in psychology with a minor in human development and sociology. Dessiree was involved in student government at CSUEB, and during her senior year, she served as the Executive Vice-President/Chief of Staff. During her time at CSUEB, she wrote resolutions for her campus, organized university-wide events, and worked closely with the university president, and vice-presidents. She is very passionate about advocating for students. She is looking forward to representing every HGSE student. In her free time, you can find her reading books, baking, or editing/creating videos on TikTok. Feel free to follow her on Instagram: dessiree_cuevas

Angie Estevez Prada

Angie Estevez Prada
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

Angie Estevez Prada (she/her) is an Master's Degree Candidate in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship. Originally from Colombia, she grew up in a small town in North Carolina. Before HGSE, she worked as a College Access Manager and Manager of Scholar Recruitment in the Community Based Organization, Thrive Scholars. She started her career has an Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth College on the Access team. Throughout her career she has created welcoming communities and resources for low income first generation students of color. She is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations where she minored in Law & Society, Latina/o Studies, and Inequality Studies.

Betsy Fawcett

Betsy Fawcett
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Chair

Betsy Fawcett is originally from Wisconsin and attended undergrad at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. After graduating with a degree in political science and psychology, she accepted a position as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Ukraine. She spent two years teaching and living in Ukraine learning Russian, exploring the country and becoming a better teacher. In 2019, Betsy returned to the United States to teach at Briya Public Charter School in Washington, DC, a two-generation that supports immigrant families in achieving their goals. There, she was an adult education teacher teaching ESL, workforce development, digital literacy, and family literacy. Now, as a student in the EPA program, Betsy is very interested in civic engagement and parent’s role in the education processes of their children (but those interests shift every day). Betsy looks forward to serving the HGSE community through the issues and advocacy committee.

Erica HyoWon Jang

Erica HyoWon Jang
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

Erica HyoWon Jang is an Ed.M Candidate for Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Specialized Studies Program pursuing diverse areas such as entrepreneurship, technology, cognitive neuroscience and psychology in education, and educational policy to implement creative and inclusive learning designs. She is a CEO of a nonprofit organization [OneUs International] for providing opportunities to experience cultural education for children in marginalized areas. Currently, she is working in the musical instrument business in France as an international consultant and an artist in residence. Born in Korea and lived in the UK, USA, France, Belgium, and Norway, Erica is deeply interested in engaging in peace and conflict resolution through cultural diplomacy. She has completed non-degree programs from the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin, Leiden University in the Netherlands, and the University of Geneva in Switzerland regarding global governance and International relations. She recently published a collaboration book, "Nomads: Adventurous Businesswomen who are Changing the World while Traveling,” which ranked as a number one bestseller in Business Travel Reference and Job hunting. Erica is also a professional violinist who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London with the First Class Honours and completed postgraduate degrees at Indiana University Bloomington and Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris as a merit scholarship recipient. She won numerous international awards and served as a concertmaster in orchestras in Europe, America, and Asia, and constantly performed in major concert halls. Erica contributed to music education as a former adjunct professor at Czech Brno Conservatory Seoul Branch. Apart from violin, she conducts, edits recordings, and plays viola, piano, flute, harpsichord, and erhu.

Jasmine Stecker

Jasmine Stecker
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

Jasmine is a leader and scholar with a background in administration and teaching. She is driven to shape educational and research programs through interpersonal connection, collaborative problem solving, and personalized, data-informed, results-driven, and innovative techniques. She is committed to advancing equitable representation of and support for people with diverse backgrounds at all levels of education. Jasmine received a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance with Honors from Michigan State University. At MSU, Jasmine researched the reproducibility of Suzuki-method learning outcomes for adult instrumentalists. Jasmine received the Honors College National Endowed Scholar and Irene H. and Dr. Lloyd M. Williams Endowed Scholar awards during her time at Michigan State University. Jasmine received a Master of Music in Music Performance from Boston Conservatory. During her master’s degree, Jasmine focused on collaborative music making and career outcomes for musicians. At Boston Conservatory, Jasmine was awarded the Conservatory Merit Scholarship. Currently, Jasmine is an administrator at Harvard Medical School and a Master’s degree candidate at Harvard Graduate School of Education. At the medical school, Jasmine works within the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, focusing her efforts on leading a visiting student program for underrepresented in medicine MD and DO students and organizing a lecture series focused on issues of equity and social justice. Jasmine’s academic passions include education policy, organizational behavior, philosophy, and power dynamics. Jasmine’s professional passions include process creativity and innovation, program efficiency, diversity development and inclusion, and health and education equity. Jasmine enjoys all creativity-based pass-times. Her most recent work is a large (and very time consuming) dip-dyed macramé cording art piece. Jasmine also invests a significant amount of time tending to her indoor garden, cultivating propagations to share with her close friends and family.

Max Tang

Max Tang
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

Max Tang is a Master's degree candidate in Education Leadership, Organization, and Entrepreneurship at HGSE. He is an honor graduate at UCLA, where he studied History and Entrepreneurship. As a first-generation college student, Max comprehended the extensive set of challenges involved in pursuing higher education through the culmination of personal life experiences. To help students with similar backgrounds, Max has been devoted to contributing to the LGBTQ and first-generation community through mentoring students, serving leadership roles at student organizations, and founding ProDream Education which aims to improve access to higher education for community college students. His specific interests include education entrepreneurship, community college education, and education law and justice. At Harvard, he is very engaged in extracurricular activities. Besides taking courses across HGSE, HBS, and Harvard Law School, he is working at Harvard Innovation Lab to build the next Edu tech unicorn and organize a student organization that connects and fosters the growth of education entrepreneurs at Harvard University. Intending to promote the healthy development of students at HGSE, Max is very happy to talk more with fellow students about opinions and concerns on academic, social matters, and community issues, and as an advocate, bringing them to administrators and faculty.

Ines Bescos Vera

Ines Bescos Vera
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

Ines is an attorney and MBA with 10 years of experience in higher education management in Latin America and Europe. Over the past 2 years, she has worked as an associate director of undergraduate programs at a business school in Spain and additionally has co-founded Ayuda CyT, a service that helps professors and researchers in Argentina with the administrative work of their research projects. For more information, please review https://www.linkedin.com/in/inesbescosvera/ Contact information: ines_bescosvera@gse.harvard.edu / WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram: +34661052419.

Sitong Zhao

Sitong Zhao
Student Advocacy and Issues Committee Member

My name is Sitong Zhao and I'm currently a graduate student at Human Development and Education Program. I was born and raised in Beijing, China. Prior to Harvard, I was a wellness coach and hotline volunteer at my undergraduate university. From these positions, I found the role as an active helper and counselor deeply attracts me and thus decide to dedicate my future career in the field of education. During my spare time, I enjoy hanging out with friends to do all sorts of activities and experience new adventures together. And as a cat lover, spending time with my cat Zeuss is another crucial part of my life. Looking forward to seeing all of you in person for the following academic year!

Carson Quillinan

Carson Quillinan
Programming and Events Committee Chair

Carson Quillinan is delighted to be serving on the Programming and Events Committee on HGSE's Student Council. In addition to her involvement with Student Council, Carson is pursuing an Ed. M. in the Education Policy and Analysis program. She also serves as a public policy intern on the education team at the National Disability Rights Network. Carson's passion for education and accessibility began at a young age, thus leading her to study and receive a B.A. in special education at Clemson University. Consequently, Carson began her teaching career teaching students with disabilities of various ages and in various settings. She aspires to pursue a career in public policy that can aid in the creation of a more equitable and accessible educational environment for all students, but with a particular focus on students with disabilities. Carson hopes to use her passions and background to bring the HGSE community together through programming and events that are inclusive, accessible, and meaningful.

Lisha Bornilla

Lisha Bornilla
Programming and Events Committee Member

Lisha Bornilla is an experienced graduate student from the Philippines under the Learning Desing, Innovation, and Technology Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she is currently researching how technology can be leveraged to facilitate organizational socialization, and hopes to impact the immediate HGSE community by leading and executing student activities under the Programming and Events Committee of the Student Council. Prior to attending Harvard she was previously with Ateneo de Manila University’s Quantitative Methods and Information Technology (QMIT) Department, teaching undergraduate Management subjects Creative Thinking and Innovation Management, Fundamentals of eCommerce, and User Experience Design. Under Globe Telecom's Content Business Group, Lisha led revenue growth and channel development for Content partners in the Philippines, ideating and executing new revenue-generating partnerships with companies like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, and YouTube, among others, driving both consumer and business adoption of Video, Music, and eCommerce products and solutions. She has also worked as a Business Development Consultant for various e-commerce and tech startups in the Philippines, holding key management positions that aid and develop scale for customer acquisition strategies to achieve sustainable growth. Most notably she has worked as Business Development Manager for Rakuten and Softbank-backed cash rebates company Shopback, and award-winning social enterprise Virtualahan Philippines. Lisha specialized in aggressively transforming customer acquisition channels by structuring and negotiating partnership deals with ROI and profitability-driven efficiency with the ZALORA Group, developing end-to-end business development models that touch all stages of its customer acquisition lifecycle. She has eight years of experience in various client delivery and partner-facing roles, ranging from local startups to global Fortune 500 companies, including two years in Accenture's pilot Management Consulting team in the Philippines, where I handled Big Data, Analytics, Systems Integration, Interaction Design, and Change Management projects working with clients in India, Italy, USA, UK, and Australia.

Abbie Chen

Yudan (Abbie) Chen
Programming and Events Committee Member

Yudan (Abbie) Chen is a part-time remote student and is currently pursuing an Ed.M. degree in Learning and Teaching (Instructional Leadership: Science) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was born and raised in Guangzhou, China, and then received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from Imperial College London, UK. Following her studies, she worked as a chemistry teacher for five years, teaching IGCSE, A-level, SAT II, and AP chemistry at bilingual international schools and educational companies in Guangdong, China. Her strengths lie in building loving relationships with students and teachers, as well as in facilitating creative ways of learning and teaching. She is passionate about supporting young people to explore their identities and true purposes in life, to foster their love of self, of others, and of learning, and to empower them to advance positive changes in their communities. She is committed to helping organize meaningful activities to benefit the HGSE community, through connecting people to learn from one another and to co-create a transformative learning experience together. During her free time, she loves singing, dancing, reading, writing, watching movies, going to church, and traveling around the world.

Kanan Dubal

Kanan Dubal
Programming and Events Committee Member

Kanan Dubal is part of the Programming & Events Committee. A sociologist and lawyer by training, Kanan strives to understand how government policy and legislative frameworks can work better towards supporting development outcomes. She comes with 7 years of experience across India, Eswatini, and Ghana in law, legislation, and policy across different sectors. She started off her career as a corporate lawyer working on mergers and acquisitions, before pivoting to a career in public policy consulting in India. Before joining Education Policy Analysis program at HGSE, Kanan was an Oxford Policy Fellow in the Ministry of Education in Ghana for 2.5 years, providing embedded technical support to the Minister on the execution of his legislative agenda and in connecting law to policy design and execution. She looks forward to bringing these learnings on ‘real-world’ government stakeholder consultations and providing a platform that consults with and encourages students to share their opinions and inspirational stories. Kanan hopes to use her time at HGSE to build on her technical knowledge in the field of education policy and undertake projects where she can apply them in different country contexts. As your student body representative, Kanan hopes to facilitate interactions among students of different programs to promote interdisciplinary learning and collaboration. She aspires to be that friendly face who will help bring the HGSE community closer through ideas and action. Kanan enjoys photography, being outdoors, and painting (albeit infrequently).Outside spending hours in the Gutman library, you will find her taking a walk around Cambridge as she catches up with people, eating pizza at Pinocchio, and listening to Bollywood music. You can ask her for a good Bollywood movie recommendation, but make sure to mention your genre!

Natasha Esteves

Natasha Esteves
Programming and Events Committee Member

Before starting her journey in the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology program, Natasha Esteves was a school teacher and educator in both formal and informal settings for over a decade. When she is not working on her HGSE courses, she is working as a graduate research assistant for the MIT Teaching Systems Lab and as a writer for Boston Public School's Teacher Pipeline program. She also dances and trains in circus arts! Natasha is originally from Miami and of Brazilian heritage. Her passion, among other things, includes a desire is to see all young learners have equitable access to enriching, high-quality arts education. She lives with an invisible disability and hopes to advocate for a society more adapted to those with disabilities.

Hannah Morris

Hannah Morris
Programming and Events Committee Member

Hannah is originally from Sydney, Australia. She is currently in the Education Leadership, Organizations and Entrepreneurship program at HGSE, and a graduate intern at HGSE's Making Caring Common Project. Hannah holds a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Sydney, where she served as a Board Director and President of the University of Sydney Union. She is an alumnus of the Teach For Australia program, where she taught English and Humanities at a low socioeconomic school in Darwin, Australia, whilst completing a Master of Teaching from Deakin University. Hannah is also admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and has interned as a youth lawyer with the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency. Before coming to HGSE Hannah worked for High Resolves, an education nonprofit which designed and delivered global citizenship education curriculum to high school and university students across Australia.

Wonderly Peralta

Wonderly Peralta
Programming and Events Committee Member

Wonderly Peralta (she/her/hers) serves as senator in the Programming and Events Committee. A native of Orosi, California, Wonderly attended Saint Mary's College of California. After graduating from Saint Mary's College of California, her teaching service as a middle school math teacher for almost two decades began in a rural community spanning to an urban community. During her time as a teacher, her service included being a student leadership/student activities teacher to middle school students and as an induction teacher mentor to first-year and second-year teachers. In the Fall of 2021, she began her journey as an Ed.M student in the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She enjoys yoga, traveling, hiking, and spending time with family and friends. Wonderly looks forward to serving the HGSE community and plans to make the HGSE community special and for all to enjoy their time at HGSE.

Valentina Tovar

Valentina Tovar
Programming and Events Committee Member

Valentina Tovar is an Ed.M. candidate in Education Policy and Analysis program graduating in 2022. She is originally from Colombia and migrated to the United States at a young age. Her passion for educational equity unraveled through her personal experiences in the public education systems when growing up in Austin, Texas. She is currently a member of the Student Advisory Board for her program and also a Public Policy Fellow for the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement. Prior to attending HGSE, Valentina taught ninth grade social studies in Dallas and has had different opportunities to intern for the state government in the Texas 85th Legislature and at the federal level in the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Texas A&M University and a teaching certification from Southern Methodist University. She loves to try new coffee shops, read a great book, listen to Taylor Swift and enjoy the outdoors.