Bio: Although I call the island of Barbados  “home” - I have had the privilege of living and working all over the world for most of my life. Born in England, I returned three years ago to serve in my current role as Director of Student Support Service and DSL at The American School in London. Prior to moving to London, I was the Middle School Principal at The School at Columbia University in New York. I began my teaching career in a tiny classroom in Japan while doing a study abroad semester, and continued when I returned to the USA as a high school and middle school special education teacher before moving into school administration as a special education liaison, dean of students, and then principal.

My background is in international development and social change, I have a BA and MA from Clark University and an EdM in education leadership and administration from Columbia University. I am passionate about international schools, and leverage my background and experience in my work with schools on their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, examining ways in which these practices can be embedded in a school’s mission-driven work. I believe in embedding child-centered practices in school culture, and prioritize the needs of children feeling seen and heard so they can thrive at school.

Bio: My name is Eric Crabtree, I have been fortunate to teach and travel the world with my partner Chelsea and our son Henry. I love working in international elementary schools and originally became a teacher almost straight out of college. I was drawn to work in schools because I perceived a lack of community in the corporate world. I knew on the first day of school as a student teacher, welcoming a group of enthusiastic Third Graders into their classroom, that this was the job for me; I had found the sense of community I had sought. I taught in Hawaii for 4 years and achieved my dream of teaching abroad in 2011 when I moved to Vienna, Austria. There, I met Chelsea, and we welcomed Henry into the world. Our journey continued from there to Guangzhou, China, where I took a job as an assistant principal.

Child protection is a duty that I took on and developed a passion for a number of reasons. Throughout my career I have seen significant room for improvement and better practices for ensuring our students are safe. Leaving gaps or weaknesses in a school's approach to child safeguarding is not a risk that I find acceptable. I find it heartbreaking that children in any community, wherever it might be, could be suffering harm when better practices, systems, and procedures could have been implemented to prevent such harm. I love the GSC because of the "C" in its name, and what it represents. I believe that our best chance of keeping children free from abuse is a collaborative approach where practices are freely shared, and continuously evolving for the sake of our children.

Bio: My career in PreK-12 education spans over multiple decades as a Special Education Teacher, Elementary Principal, and Central Office Leader supporting Special Education, Inclusion, English as an Additional Language, Health and Counseling Services, and Intervention Services in both International (Belgium) and US Public Schools (California & Washington). I've always been drawn to working for equity, diversity and inclusion for students (ability, race, culture, language, gender, and gender identity), teachers and systems. I earned a M.S. in Special Education at Dominican University, California, USA and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Design at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Along with my experience and expertise in special education, I bring knowledge and skills as a system-leader with a focus on teaching, learning and policy design and implementation. Currently, I am an independent consultant providing educational leadership coaching as well as consulting with schools and school systems to improve services for students. Besides the GSC, I also serve as a Board Member for the European Chapter of the Special Education Network & Inclusion Association (SENIA) and am a founding Board Member of the Technology Readiness Council (TRC). I have 3 amazing adult children who live in Washington and New Mexico so I split my time between the US and France.

Bio: I left the UK, where I was born and educated, in 1980 and spent 6 years teaching in Germany. We (my husband and I) then moved to Hong Kong where I worked as a PE teacher with ESF. My husband was with an army school and with 1997 looming, his school was closing! We adopted 2 beautiful children in Hong Kong, who are all grown up now! We then moved to Singapore, followed by Malaysia and finally back to HK in 2000. We also had a 3rd child by then, who was married this summer!



I worked as a Head of Year at CIS for 15 years and became interested in Child protection/Safeguarding as I had to deal with a student in my year who suffered every type of abuse you could imagine. I became very familiar with the social services and local courts in HK. I then became Assistant Director of Student Life and also took on the role of whole school Child Protection Officer. In that role I have set up many CP protocols, including policies etc. Tim Gerrish was a great inspiration to me when I completed my advanced training. This is my 22nd year at CIS and I love what I do!

Bio: In 1996, I transitioned from science research to science teaching, with the goal of making every one of my students into a biologist; that was my passion. Quickly, though, as I listened to students’ stories of domestic violence, drug abuse, mental illness, and unstable family conditions, I realized the potential impact of the subject I was teaching was a distant second to the potential impact my noticing them had on their health and success as a person. In the years since and positions held, I have become more and more interested in exploring ways and systems that best support student well-being, health and safety through advisory, anti-discrimination work, pastoral programmes, and, now, safeguarding.

As the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) since 2018 at an IB-world school in Angola, I have learned through experience how to support, listen, and respond to child safeguarding issues. Over the years, making connections with others and talking through how to navigate challenging situations has been my best professional learning in this area. Having attended many workshops and seminars on the subject, my greatest learnings have been the awareness of how important partnership and collaboration is in best preventing and addressing safeguarding related concerns. Fostering these connections and reducing the obstacles to getting access to the best resources out there are the reasons and the purpose behind the GSC.

Bio: I have been a medical practitioner since 1998 and have served in multiple roles within the United States and Ethiopia. My passion for safeguarding began when my husband and I were house parents for a level 3 foster care facility, where we would temporarily parent 8 – 10 kids at a time, who had very traumatic pasts. This would include caring for them by providing a therapeutic environment, collaborating with mental health providers for their treatments as well as working with the government entities and their families when reunification was the goal. It has been my passion to be an advocate for all who need support in the medical and/or safeguarding arena. I have been serving as the Chief Medical Officer and Safeguarding Officer at the International Community School of Addis Ababa since 2020. I oversee our safeguarding team, and we have developed a robust safeguarding program for all staff, students, and families in a country with inadequate resources. I love GSC and the collaboration, resources and support it provides for so many internationally.

I have been married to my husband, Mark, since 1997, and we have three sons. Our two oldest are in university and our youngest is in grade 12. We moved to Ethiopia in 2015. In addition to my role at ICS, we also serve remote villages with our not-for-profit organization, Impact Ethiopia.

Bio: My name is Marika Farrell and I am originally from Canada, but have
spent the last 23 years working in International Schools in Canada,
China, Ukraine, Tanzania, Japan, Germany and now Vietnam. Before
moving into school leadership, I was an Athletic Director and MYP
Coordinator. I am an active IB Evaluation Leader, Program Leader as
well as CIS, MSA and WASC visiting team member.

Safeguarding permeates into all areas of school life, and children are
only able to learn if they feel safe. The opportunities that exist in
this group to improve processes and collaborate across the
international school community, will benefit not only my team, but all
students and teachers. I am really proud to be part of GSC in this
role.

Bio: I’m currently the Director of Risk Management at International School Bangkok. I’m a steering committee member of the Asia School Institute for Safety and Security, a member of the International task force on Child Protection and a school safety consultant. After 20+ years in Law Enforcement and emergency services in the State of Oregon, USA, my family moved overseas to South Korea where my wife was hired as an elementary school teacher. It was there that I started adapting years of training and experience to support schools in the area of safety and risk management. From South Korea we moved to Shanghai where I worked at Shanghai American School, covering two campuses. In 2016, we adopted our daughter in China, and then moved with her and our son to Thailand. Our daughter is currently a 5th grader and son is in his first year of university in Queensland Australia.

I am passionate about supporting other schools and continually trying to improve systems to make them easier for teachers. I recently founded School Safety Spot with a specific focus on supporting schools who don’t have designated safety or risk managers.

When not in the thick of the day to day work of school safety I take advantage of all the great diving locations in Thailand.

Bio: As a policy and management professional turned community health nurse, I began working with child protection issues in the US at various health and legal non-profit organizations. Once moving overseas, I straddled the professional worlds of international schools and NGOs, working both as a school nurse and a child protection trainer/program coordinator for UNHCR, Malaysia. After five years in the augural role of Safeguarding Coordinator at The American School in Japan (ASIJ), and having recently joined Singapore American School (SAS) in the inaugural role of Senior Safeguarding Lead, I would characterize my skill base as adept at embedding safeguarding in other school systems, the development of policy and procedures, multi-tier safeguarding training, K-12 safeguarding curriculum, and reporting/response systems.

I am currently interested in the ways in which DEIJ and safeguarding overlap in schools and I am looking forward to working with the GSC to bring safeguarding expertise to international schools that aren’t in a position to create distinct roles to do the work. Every student deserves a school that does this work well!

Bio: Lila Jorge, a native New Yorker from Manhattan, brings a diverse background to her role as Assistant Head of School at the Benjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona. With a career spanning over 28 years in education, school administration, and higher education faculty roles in both Southern California and New York City, Lila's journey has taken her from the affluent neighborhoods of Chelsea, NYC, to the transformative and dynamic landscape of the South Bronx, where she successfully led a school turnaround.

Raised by Dominican parents, Lila is a mother of two bi-racial children and shares her life with a spouse from another culture, embracing the richness of global perspectives. She is deeply committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ), with a strong belief in fostering a learning environment where all students can thrive and find their voice and sense of belonging.

Lila is a passionate advocate for Safeguarding in schools, committed to learning more about creating and nurturing safe learning environments. She frequently conducts workshops and training sessions on DEIJ and Safeguarding.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Lila finds joy in the companionship of her adopted rescue dog, Juno. In addition to her work and her four-legged companion, she is currently engaged in her PhD studies. Beyond these commitments, she thrives on the excitement of rock climbing and enjoys exploring the vibrant culinary scene of her adopted city, Barcelona.

Bio: My name is Tom Woods, and I am the Deputy Principal and Designated Safeguarding Lead at Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA) in Hong Kong. I have been in this role for over a decade and have undergone extensive professional development in various areas of Safeguarding, including CIS, ICPA, and NSPCC. Additionally, I have been involved in the USDOS funded CASEL/ICMEC Safeguarding Standards Writing Group.

Before assuming my current position, I worked in curriculum development at schools in China and Hong Kong. As a member of IBEN and PYP Coordinator, I conducted workshops and site visits throughout the Asia Pacific region. From 2010 to 2014, it was my privilege to serve as the Hong Kong and Southern China PYP Coordinator's Network Chairperson.

My teaching career began in my hometown of Sydney, Australia. When I embarked on an adventure to China in 2003, little did I know that I would still be in this part of the world over 20 years later.

I am incredibly excited to be a part of the GSC Board of Directors and eagerly look forward to collaborating with the team to create systems that prioritise the safety of our students in schools.