Dr. Banks oversees and manages all internal and external Abako operations and strategies, allocating resources and leading and training teams and staff. In addition, she visits all in-country projects, executes new initiatives, trains teachers, designs training materials, develops and maintains collaborations with local education officials and other educational stakeholders, conducts research, and communicates with the Board.
Dr. Banks has taught at all levels of education, from preschool to university students, in third-world and developed countries. She has worked with teachers in Brazil, Chile, China, India, Mali, and Mexico. She understands the power of good teaching and how a poor education impacts generations. Her educational trajectory has shaped her belief that sound teaching offers quality opportunities for children in marginalized communities. While teaching pre-service English teachers in Chile, she had an epiphany that led her to Abako and teachers with faint voices who needed support, encouragement, and fewer barriers to do their job efficiently.
Abako has been a big undertaking–from concept and design to a living organization. Still, with her complete and robust commitment to the value of education as the best gift and worthy inheritance we could give children, she will continue to invest her time, knowledge, and skills to change the status quo for children hidden under layers of bureaucracy and chronic neglect in underserved communities. Abako’s work in the trenches of education generates results: children are learning more, and teachers are teaching better!
Dara manages the social media platforms for Abako in Mexico but also works closely with team members in India and Mali to inform our community about Abako projects in three countries. She is currently working on a B.A. degree at the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY), majoring in English Language Teaching.
Her interest in English started at a young age realizing the many opportunities a second language could give her, and she found the teaching path when she began working with kids in her church. She has experienced the power of education changing her life, so she firmly believes it is a right for everyone. She joined the Abako Foundation because of its work with children and teachers to improve access to quality education. In her corner of the world, education tends to be a privilege of the elite rather than a right for everyone; therefore, she applauds Abako’s effort to reach children in Mayan-speaking communities in the Yucatan Peninsula, whose education also matters. In addition, she appreciates Abako's vision to work with teachers who often receive little support from the government.
Dara sees her contribution to Abako as essential to support literacy and reading projects that improve children's education and encourage a passion for reading. Dara's role in Abako is not limited to creating social media content, but she hopes to encourage teachers worldwide to improve their teaching skills.
In 2023, Yerilí joined the Abako team as a Middle School Reading and Library Program facilitator. Her primary role is to develop reading strategies to build capacity with teachers working on Abako projects. Yerilí studied Foreign Languages and has been an English High School teacher since 2012.
She currently works as an English teacher and coordinates the Reading Clubs at her school. Since January 2024, Yerilí has co-edited the digital magazine Kaambesaj. Her tasks include selecting the magazine's topics, contacting the people collaborating on the edition and receiving, and reviewing and choosing the material to be used in the final draft.
Yerilí is convinced that promoting the interest and love for reading in young students will provide them with tools for academic and personal success. Therefore, participating in Abako Projects is a great learning opportunity for her and allows her to promote reading beyond her school.
Mirna, a distinguished Mayan-language specialist at Abako Foundation, is a key figure in revitalizing and empowering Mayan-speaking communities. Her role as a second-language Maya teacher at the university level is instrumental in her support for these initiatives. She firmly believes that her work in Abako's literacy project has a profound social and academic impact on basic education in Mayan villages.
Her dedication and passion mark Mirna's academic journey in language education. She holds a Bachelor's and a Master's in English Language Teaching from the Escuela Normal Superior de Yucatan (ENSY). She is a committed junior school English teacher who believes students achieve higher goals with proper guidance, motivation, and pedagogically sound activities to solidify their learning.
Mirna believes her work at Abako will significantly contribute to promoting its mission. Reading is a crucial skill for acquiring knowledge and fostering creativity in students, but most importantly, it will positively impact children's lives.
Ms. Yobana joined the Abako team as a project coach to work alongside other teachers in her district. Her primary function is to support the implementation of reading strategies with preschool children by coaching their teachers virtually and in person. Ms. Yobana is a second-grade preschool teacher with 12 years of experience. She is eager to carry out the Abako reading project's objectives alongside parents in and outside the classroom. In this way, she hopes to shift the paradigm that sees reading as a tedious and challenging task.
During the 2021 – 22 school year, along with her entire teaching district, Ms. Yobana adopted Abako Foundation's reading project. Though initially difficult for being something very new to the school community, the Reading Corner slowly became an active learning zone. Thanks to collaborative work, new strategies introducing voice modulation, new words, and text interactions, children adapted to a new routine and are now familiar with books. One of the advantages of the Abako reading project is that we have reached 85% parent participation as they take turns coming to the classroom and reading to the children.
As an Abako team member, Ms. Yobana wishes to accompany other teachers in her district to learn how to do as they implement the reading project so that Mayan children learn to love reading.
Ms. Ivonne joined the Abako team as a project coach to work alongside other teachers in her district in Yucatan, Mexico. Her primary function is to support the implementation of reading strategies with preschool children by coaching their teachers virtually and in person. Ms. Ivonne is a first-grade preschool teacher with six years of experience and a bilingual Spanish-Mayan speaker. She is participating in the Abako reading project and has seen outstanding progress in her students. At the same time, this project has allowed her to develop new teaching strategies and activities related to reading.
Ms. Ivonne has a Bachelor's degree with a double major: Preschool Education and Bilingual Intercultural Preschool Education. She also has a Master's degree in Inclusive Education.Ms. Ivonne hopes this Abako project will have a lasting impact on children's learning while acquiring reading habits and a love for books. In addition, she expects this project will provide new tools for teachers to improve their practice as they teach reading skills at an early age.
Arely Ruelas Angulo joins Abako as a Reading Project Assistant. She will analyze and evaluate the impact of programs aligned with the foundation's vision of promoting education and social development. She also serves as Director of Adult Basic Education at the Instituto de Educación Básica del Estado de Morelos (IEBEM), where she fosters equitable and inclusive education, prioritizing interculturality and the development of reading and cognitive skills.
Arely holds a Bachelor's in Communication Sciences, a Master's, and a PhD in Educational Management. Her career includes leadership roles in public and private education, including marketing director in educational institutions, teaching at various levels, and coordinating outreach programs. She has been a thesis committee member and published work reflecting her commitment to improving educational processes.
In the future, Arely aims to continue growing professionally at Abako by spearheading collaborative projects and creating innovative spaces that integrate technology, promote creativity, and build a strong reading culture. Her goal is to reduce inequality in access to quality
education and enhance students' reading skills.
As project leader for ABAKO in Mali, Sadio is in charge of planning, training, administrating, and allocating resources for implementing emergency and long-term projects. In addition, at Abako headquarters in Koutiala, he holds team meetings and writes minutes and reports for the leadership in the United States.
Sadio is an educator at the Teachers’ Training School (IFM) in Koutiala. He is studying for a Master’s in English Language Teaching at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENsup) of Bamako. He will graduate in July 2023.
Sadio taught primary and middle school before pursuing studies at university to become a secondary school teacher. He has experienced the positive change that Education can bring when he compares his life to those who did not get a chance to go to school and had to stay in the village. He joined ABAKO because he has witnessed how empowering teachers to fight against ignorance can improve children’s learning conditions.
Sadio is thankful to ABAKO for the opportunity to be part of its remarkable achievements in Koutiala in the field of Education. He talks to people about ABAKO’s vision of a world free of ignorance through a quality education where teachers and students are the central pillars.
Dadougou has overseen every project and program logistics for Abako Foundation in Mali since 2016. He works closely with local community leaders, education officials, and school management committees to refine the collaboration between the Abako Mali Team and the Education actors in Koutiala. Dadougou seeks a fruitful, new, and relevant Education System for Mali.
To sustain Abako'sprojects, he meets with Schools management committees to discuss a far-reaching vision of resource allocation to support children's education. In addition, he approaches teachers and invites them to apply transparent teaching methodologies in their daily work.
In high school, Dadougou was fascinated by English documents because of their diversity of areas and deep data. He realized thatEnglish was the world's most spoken language, so he chose to study English as a Foreign Language in addition to French. Also, he loved reading American missionaries' documents and the English Bible. Through World Vision Child Sponsorship Department, he translated letters from New Zealand for and on behalf of children. He was in charge of Literacy classes for World Vision, where non-school-attending children could read,write, and do arithmetic in five months. In addition, he was an interpreter for African English speakers during outreaches through YWAM. Finally, he attended a language program at a public university in San Diego, California, for four months to better his English.
He is committed to working hard with ABAKO because of its vision. He sees good education as the only way to launch his country's development and fight ignorance. He believes reading can turn children's minds away from technology slavery.
Rangel manages Abako's information systems by optimizing administrative and educational processes through collecting, organizing, and visualizing data to allow stakeholders to make informed decisions. He also works as a librarian at a Middle School in Pustunich, Yucatan, where he facilitates book and audiovisual material loans, writes library reports, and organizes all multimedia materials. Rangel is also part of the School Evaluation and Planning Committee, where he works closely with other subject teachers to develop strategies that strengthen the school community within the New National Mexican School Framework.
Rangel has tutored and advised students in selecting literary works using the TICMAS platform. With his technical abilities, he has also worked in the hospitality industry, managing payroll, surveying employees to improve the working environment, and reporting findings to stakeholders.
His work in the library has inspired him to create an automated system to improve users' access to all library resources. He aims to generate a system where tools are more efficient and respond to accurate and current educational needs. By working in Abako, he will align technological innovation and administrative efficiency to allow libraries to keep up with 21st-century demands.
Bikash is the Program Director of the Literacy and Library Program-LLP in Gaya, India. He manages the team and oversees the implementation of the LLP in 13 schools, working alongside 26 teachers and 3000 students. He also trains teachers and team members on time management, smart goal setting, language teaching, and a children's library concept. He researches the impact of children's libraries and the storytelling capacity of teachers on reading skills and habits. He allocates funds for project implementation in conjunction with Abako’s Executive Director. Additionally, he is a liaison between Abako Foundation and the local Department of Education to promote a working relationship that will eventually benefit all the 3200 schools in Gaya.
With a master's degree in engineering, he worked for an elementary school block in the Padna District of Bihar. There, he realized a learning crisis among students and a severely low teaching quality among teachers. To alleviate the situation, he founded an NGO to effect change in language teaching and activity-based learning while introducing the concept of a children's library and relevant pedagogy to ensure quality education for students. In 2021, he fused his vision, time, and talent with Abako Foundation. Thus, the Abako-Karunodaya team was born. Together, they have designed the Literacy & Library Program and implemented it in 13 public elementary schools in Gaya, India.
After working on the Literacy and Library Program for a year and seeing palpable changes in teachers’ pedagogy and progress in children’s reading abilities, Bikash and Abako Foundation would like to expand this program to more schools. He is focused on building a robust local team of teacher trainers to improve reading and teaching quality in Gaya. At the same time, he is documenting the impact of children’s literature on early language development. He will continue to advance Abako Foundation’s mission and goals, including empowering teachers, enhancing pedagogy, and providing quality education for underprivileged children. He is working under Dr. Lety Banks, CEO of the Abako Foundation, to develop his skills in effective communication, team management, and organizational leadership.
Saurav's primary responsibility is writing the Literacy and Library Program's-LLP monthly, quarterly, and annual reports and sending them directly to Abako Foundation's CEO. He also supports the LLP by working with ten teachers in five schools weekly, demonstrating library activities such as Read Aloud, Book Talk, and Wall Magazine.
Saurav has worked in the education sector for the last four years, facilitating teachers' skills in literacy and improving processes to increase student attendance in rural schools in Bihar, India. In addition, he has worked with two other nonprofit organizations on school routines such as morning assembly and library time. His interest in creating Children's Libraries grew after he joined the Abako-Karunodaya team in early 2022.
Saurav's goals include expanding this literacy and library program throughout Bihar and other states in India while documenting the effects that Children's libraries have on the students and teachers so other educational organizations may partner up and learn from this work.
Amit oversees the internal logistics of the literacy and library initiative in Gaya, India. He ensures that all 13 schools comply with the weekly library period during school to implement library routines and activities. Library routines include filling out library lending cards by students and writing library lesson plans and teacher diaries. Library activities include Book talks, Read-Aloud, Roleplay, Balgeet, and Wall Magazine. He also gathers data on all library-related activities in 13 schools and trains the Abako-Karunodaya team on library activities.
Amit has seven years of experience working in the non-profit education sector. First, he coordinated the early childhood and primary education programs at two Gurgaon, India, centers to bridge the learning gap. In addition, Amit taught remedial classes to students and trained teachers in lesson planning. He joined the Abako-Karunodaya team in 2022 because he supports the vision and mission of providing quality education to children through teachers in Gaya, India. He believes that skilled teachers can change students' lives if they only have the resources students need to succeed in academic work.
Amit sees his contribution to the Abako-Karunodaya team as strengthening the teacher's skills in library activities. He dreams of accomplishing this goal in his state of Bihar and throughout India. Amit believes in and supports Abako's efforts to provide quality education for marginalized children and wants to be part of it. He is presently learning Canva to create an E-magazine about the LLP.
Prakash manages all expense accounts for Abako-Karunodaya programs in Gaya, India, and ensures all funding complies with US and India's regulations. His focus is on simplifying the accounting processes to complete projects on time. He also provides logistics support for the Literacy and Library Program: teacher training, student events, and school visits to support all participating teachers. Lastly, he participates in all training in-house training with the team.
Prakash has been an accountant for three years and has two years of experience as a private school teacher. He has taken courses on children's language learning and education foundations and recently completed the e-Library Educator Course by Parag & Tata Institute of Social Studies in India. Prakash also worked for an Indian NGO for three years developing math content, teaching children and parents, and facilitating teacher training. His vision was to work with government schools to help marginalized students, and as a member of the Abako-Karunodaya family, he is finally achieving his goal.
He wants to learn different software and updates on accounting rules by the Indian Government to increase his accounting work's efficiency, which will benefit the foundation's work. He wants to work with the Abako Foundation to support schools as he better understands children's literature and library activities. Finally, he wants to work with Dr. Lety Banks to improve his English, Canva, and communication skills.
This energetic team in Gaya, India, is responsible for setting up libraries in government schools, aligning library activities with school routines, promoting a mentoring culture, capacitating teachers, and handling program planning and updates. They conduct weekly visits to schools where the Literacy and Library Program operates, follow up on library tasks with teachers, including lesson planning, and conduct library activities with students and teachers. They all have other organizational duties and work on different initiatives in Gaya.