Alisa

Bio:

Alisa graduated from Brown University in 2015 with a BA in International Relations, after which she earned an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. Alisa is also a graduate of Yokohama International School, where she acquired an International Baccalaureate diploma, and considers herself a Third Culture Kid through and through.

Alisa has extensive teaching experience, starting in 2013 when she took a leave of absence from Brown in order to teach English in Thailand with Learning Enterprises, an NGO focused on connecting teachers to rural communities. She also has experience teaching with GABA, Japan’s leading provider of 1-to-1 English language lessons, as well as freelance teaching experience. Alisa’s teaching philosophy is that establishing mutual respect between teacher and student is key to nurturing a fruitful relationship. It is only with mutual respect that students can feel comfortable to take risks, make mistakes, and create opportunities for improvement.

As a development expert, Alisa has worked considerably in the Indian subcontinent, and in 2019, she was chosen as one of 40 young professionals (and the only international individual) to participate in the inaugural Smart Cities Fellowship with the Government of India, which focused on implementing the Smart Cities Mission. Functioning similarly to a start-up, her team’s objective was to bring the Informal Economy into the Smart City ecosystem, ultimately coalescing into a tool that gives informal food sellers access to the online market by connecting them directly to buyers.

On a more personal note, Alisa’s eclectic upbringing as a Third Culture Kid (having lived and travelled to over twenty countries before the age of eleven) makes her fluent in cultural literacy. This translates well when teaching students, as Alisa can quickly build a friendly rapport with children from a variety of backgrounds. Outside of work, Alisa can be found consuming large quantities of books (in 2020 she read more than a hundred) and playing with her nieces, who share her passion for fantasy worlds.

Curriculum Expertise

ISEE, SSAT, SAT, Essay Counseling, Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Subject Expertise

English, Humanities