SAGE was founded in 2008 by seven returned volunteers of the WorldTeach - Guyana Program. These volunteers served as teachers in secondary schools throughout the country. They returned to the United States with a unique awareness of the many obstacles facing Guyanese students who want to pursue post-secondary education.
Four additional board members have joined the team since SAGE’s founding. Meet the current team below!
Jon Cook, President
Jon joined the WorldTeach program after graduating from the University of Richmond in 2006. While in Guyana, he taught integrated science and biology at North West Secondary School in Mabaruma (Region 1) and was also the head coach of the school’s basketball team. Jon moved to California upon returning to the U.S., where he completed his Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics at the University of California-Davis. He currently lives in Phoenix, AZ and works as a Senior Analyst at Salt River Project to support the supply of sustainable, reliable, and affordable electricity to the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.
Alyssa McClorey Timoh, Vice President
Alyssa graduated from Trinity College in 2005, and has worked in development at several nonprofits organizations including Litlife in NYC, and Youth Action International in the US and Liberia. She joined WorldTeach in Guyana from 2006-2007 and taught reading to grades 7th-9th at North West Secondary School in Mabaruma. She earned her Ed.M from Harvard University in 2009, with focuses in history education, English learner education, and urban education. She taught in in New York City public schools and Washington, D.C. Following, she served as Center Director at Higher Achievement, non-profit organization focused on out-of-school time education. She currently teaches and coordinates the English Learner Education program at Sturgis Charter School in Massachusetts.
Katie Fotofili, Treasurer
Katie is a 2010 graduate of the University of Florida. She joined WorldTeach Marshall Islands for the 2010-2011 academic year, where she taught middle school English. She remained in the Marshall Islands for an additional three years, working at the Majuro Cooperative School as a high school teacher and then later as a development officer. She currently works in admissions and financial aid at The Madeira School, an all-girls private school located just outside of Washington, D.C.
Yvonne Wang, Secretary
Yvonne currently works for the New York City Department of Education in policy development and strategic initiatives for school quality. She has experience in research, evaluation, and program management for innovative education initiatives. She also serves on the board of The Teacher Salary Project, a nonprofit designed to transform how US society values effective teachers. Yvonne joined World Teach in 2006 and taught Reading and Social Studies at Soesdyke Community High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and received her Master of Public Administration specializing in Policy Analysis from NYU Wagner.
Molly Cummings Carney
Molly graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2004 and joined the WorldTeach Guyana program for the 2006-2007 school year. She taught secondary school reading and technology at L’Aventure Secondary School in Region #3, Guyana. A former public school teacher in Boston, Molly has an EdM in Secondary Education from Harvard University and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College. Molly lives outside Boston.
Erva Cockfield
Erva is a Guyanese-American attorney with a passion for public service, social justice, and educational equity. Before becoming an attorney, she served in the National College Advising Corps as an adviser working with high school students from low-income and underrepresented families to increase the number of first-generation students who enter and complete higher education. Erva earned her Juris Doctor in 2010 from the University of Virginia School of Law where she focused on pursuing a career in public service. During that time, she worked at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor. Today, Erva is a public interest attorney and an adjunct professor of law in Washington D.C. Her legal practice focuses on prohibiting discrimination based on race, gender, and disability in federal programs and activities.
N. Rashad Jones
Rashad is a 2006 graduate of Georgetown University where he studied International Politics. After earning a Master’s Degree in Law and Diplomacy in 2008 at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, he joined the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Officer. During his previous domestic and overseas assignments, Rashad worked to strengthen the U.S. relationship with both South America and Asia through the promotion of educational and cultural initiatives.
Jason Scott
Jason (Ph.D. in Sociology, University of California-Berkeley ‘18; B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University ‘08) spent part of his childhood in Guyana. In 2007, Jason launched a summer enrichment program for youth in Georgetown, Guyana as a fellow from Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service. Jason also worked for a decade at College Track, a nonprofit headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area that expands educational opportunities for high school students from low-income backgrounds via sites across several American cities and support services for college students. Jason recently worked for Facebook, Inc (now Meta) for nearly 4 years and is currently the People Analytics and Research Lead at Instacart, a pre-IPO company focused on grocery delivery. Jason lives in Seattle.
Alicia Wilson
Alicia graduated from Georgetown University in 2006 and joined WorldTeach Guyana for the 2006-2007 academic year. She taught 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th grade biology and integrated science at Kwakwani Secondary School. In 2010, Alicia earned her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in Public Interest Law and Policy. During this time, she completed work with Ghana’s Legal Resources Centre, the Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT), and Polaris Project. With her law degree Alicia has focused on issues of sex trafficking and is currently a public interest attorney in Washington, D.C.