Introducing the GRDI Advisory Board: Highlighting Hannah Benson

Global Respectful Disruption Initiative (GRDI) is powered by a collaboration between Compear Global Education Network, Kultural Kurators, and GoAbroad.com and the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA). This program aims to bring positive change to the global education and community development sectors. It focuses on elevating voices and ideas that are often overlooked. GRDI encourages involvement through three main actions: volunteering time to review scholarship applications, making small financial contributions to the scholarship fund, and offering words of encouragement or insightful quotes to inspire recipients. This initiative seeks support from those willing to contribute their time, money, or wisdom to foster transformative change.

Hannah Benson has been appointed as the first Chair of the Advisory Board for the Global Respectful Disruption Initiative (GRDI). Benson's background includes promoting equity in global education and challenging prevalent narratives.

Her career started with teaching English in France, focusing on both language skills and cultural exchange. At Collège Sport Nature in La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France, she taught students aged 6-14 and initiated pen-pal exchanges between French and American students to enhance cross-cultural understanding. Later, as the Assistant Director of Student Advising at Barcelona SAE, Benson led pre-departure orientations and launched several initiatives aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), such as creating gender-inclusive housing and supporting underrepresented students.

Currently, as a Global Education Advisor at Georgetown University since August 2023, Benson manages undergraduate programs in Asia, Oceania, and Barcelona, focusing on ensuring these programs are integrated into Georgetown's curriculum and accessible to all students.

In her role at GRDI, Benson plans to focus on three main areas: promoting rest as a form of resistance, creating a global community through a decolonial perspective, and broadening the definition of education to include non-traditional learning. These efforts are aimed at making the field more inclusive and dismantling unequal systems.

Under her leadership, GRDI aims to become more inclusive and equitable, valuing diverse perspectives and challenging the status quo to better reflect the diverse global community.

If you're interested in supporting, you can learn more here: https://globalrdsummit.com/grdi/