About Us - International Directors

Asia

Mr. Dhir Jhingran
Regional Director, Asia

With over 15 years of professional experience in primary education, Dhir most recently served as Director of Elementary Education for the Ministry of Human Resource Development, responsible for guiding the Education For All (EFA) program, a national campaign to universalize elementary education in India. Dhir also held positions as Mission Director for EFA in the State of Assam, National Program Manager for the United Nation's International Primary Education Program, and Director of Primary Education for the Indian Ministry. Dhir is a skilled manager of significant organizational and strategic operations, has supervised programs in reading comprehension, computer education, classroom construction and language development, and is the author of two books that focus on educational access for disadvantaged children. Dhir holds an M.A. in Economics, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Mr. Zaki Hasan
Country Director, Bangladesh

Zaki joined Room to Read on October 1, 2008 as the first Bangladesh Country Director. Zaki comes to Room to Read with extensive experience in the fields of Early Childhood Development, Basic Education, Adult Education, and E-learning. Prior to Room to Read, Zaki worked as Program Manager at Save the Children USA, Save the Children UK, and ActionAid. He has managed large-scale projects through direct implementation as well as through partner NGOs. He has been involved in various program innovations in areas including disabilities, ICT, community mobilization, and network building. Zaki has coordinated/conducted various research works and organized many trainings and shared-learning events on topics such as literacy, communication, women's rights, and empowerment. Zaki's writings on education, diversity, and poverty have appeared in a variety of publications. Zaki holds Masters degrees in Development Studies and in Social Science (Anthropology) from the University of Dhaka, and he is currently doing his third Masters in Business Administration in IBA at the same university.

Mr. Min Sor
Country Director, Cambodia

With over 20 years of experience working with international NGOs primarily in the development field, Min Sor joined Room to Read from Habitat for Humanity International as the Cambodia Country Director. Min was responsible for leading, managing and developing national strategic and operational development. Previously, Min held a 12-year tenure at World Vision Cambodia in multiple posts as Project Manager, Sponsor Relations Department Manager, and Operations Manager. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from Eastern University in Pennsylvania with a focus on Leadership Development for Non-Profit Organizations. He also studied medicine at the United Nations Medical Institute in Thailand and holds a Bachelors degree from Norton University in Cambodia.

Mr. Uddalak Datta
Country Director, India

Uddalak joined Room to Read India in April 2006 as the Program Director and has managed Reading Room and Local Language Publishing programs. He has a long history of working with District Primary Education Program and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) in India, both at national and provincial levels. His focus has been predominantly on quality of education with emphasis on issues regarding disadvantaged communities, particularly the tribal, linguistically marginalized and urban deprived groups through strategic planning, capacity building and research initiatives. He has developed supplementary reading material and environment education, along with working with grassroots NGOs in the north eastern region of India. Prior to 1996, Uddalak was working with the Institute of Research for Tribal and Scheduled Castes and with the government as a Civil Administrator in his home state of Assam in North East India. Before joining Room to Read, he was employed with Plan International as a Zonal Program Officer for Education in Lucknow and subsequently as the Coordinator for Development Education at national level in New Delhi. He holds a Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology from Gauhati University.

Ms. Somphet Phongphachanh
Country Director, Laos

Somphet launched Room to Read into Laos in 2005 after spending seven years as the Coordinator of the Association for Sending Picture Books to Laos Children (ASPB, a Japanese NGO). She is committed to increasing educational opportunities for the children in her country and in 1997 decided to leave a career as an Anesthesiologist at the Mahosot Hospital in Vientiane to convert this commitment into a career. She holds a Bachelors Degree of Medicine.

Ms. Pushkar Shrestha
Country Director, Nepal

Pushkar joined Room to Read Nepal in 2006 as the Program Director. Before joining Room to Read Nepal, Pushkar worked as a Program Manager in a local NGO in Kathmandu, and supervised holistic Community Development and Value Based Education programs in different communities of Nepal. Along with that he also had an opportunity to manage numerous trainings for teachers and students in different parts of the country. As the Program Director of Room to Read Nepal, Pushkar was involved in bringing new dimensions to Room to Read's programs, as well as contouring programs for effective outcomes. After working as the Program Director for nearly 3 years, Pushkar was promoted to Country Director in mid 2008. As the Country Director, Pushkar manages 3 Field Offices along with Country Office in Kathmandu. Pushkar is a graduate of Montana State University and holds a degree in a Bio Resources Engineering.

Glenfrey De Mel
Country Director, Sri Lanka

Glen has over 20 years of experience in the development field, primarily with international organizations. He held various posts at Save the Children Sri Lanka, most recently as Manager of Advocacy, Information and Communication. In his previous position as Senior Programme Officer for Child Rights, he conceptualized and promoted the Child Rights Programming for Sri Lanka and other countries in South and Central Asia. As a Regional Research Officer for South and Central Asia in Kathmandu, he conducted a regional study on 'Children and Citizenship' in South Asia. Glen is a passionate advocate for children's rights and is specifically committed to their right to participation in decision making. He studied law at the University of Colombo and later studied education at the Department of Education at the University of Manchester.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Bac
Country Director, Vietnam

Prior to Room to Read, Bac worked for the Regional Library Development Initiative, a project of SIDA and the Royal National Library of Sweden as a Project Director. Prior to SIDA, she was employed in government service, most recently with the General Sciences Library in Ho Chi Minh City as the Director. Along with her government service, she has also taught at the College of Culture, Library and Information Science Department; University of Ho Chi Minh City, Library and Information Department since 1997. She has also engaged in many consultancies, most notably with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the FORCE Foundation. Bac holds a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA. She also received an undergraduate degree in the same field from the State Institute of Culture, Kharkov, Ukraine, USSR. She comes to Room to Read with extensive experience in the field of education especially in the library sciences.

Africa

Mr. Wiseman Ngwata
Regional Director, Southern Africa

Wiseman comes to Room to Read with 38 years of experience in the education and development sectors across 12 African countries. Most recently, he held the position of Regional Education Advisor for Plan International, where he coordinated the development of the School Improvement Framework (SIP) used by Plan International in all of its education interventions. At Save the Children, he served in a variety of leadership roles, and he was also Executive Director to the National Language Project, a South African NGO addressing languages issues in the education and health sectors. Wiseman was awarded a Master of Education from the University of Zimbabwe, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Rhodesia (now the University of Zimbabwe), and a Certificate in Education from Gweru Teachers' College at the University of Rhodesia.

Mr. Chris Mothupi
Country Director, South Africa

Chris comes to Room to Read with more than 15 years of experience managing educational projects throughout South Africa at both the national and provincial levels. Chris has held several leadership positions with PROTEC, a national NGO specializing in math, science, and technology education, most recently as CEO. Chris also worked in the Ministerial Committee where he was the chair of the team that developed the National Curriculum Statement for Technology Education. He is a co-author of a number of Technology Education school textbooks. Previously, he served as a math and science teacher and Head of Department at Central Secondary School in Soshanguve Township, and as a teacher trainer and fieldworker at Science Education Project, an education NGO. Chris holds Bachelors degree from the University of South Africa and the University of Johannesburg, as well as a Master of Education from Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Mr. Lastone Tembo
Acting Country Director, Zambia

Before joining Room to Read, Lastone worked for the Ministry of Education as a Teacher, World Vision as a Projects Coordinator, Area Manager and Program Manager and PLAN International as a Program Area Manager. Lastone has been involved in child focused and community based development programs since 1988. He has also worked in collaborative development programs involving World Vision and USAID in areas of supporting vulnerable households and children. Lastone holds a BA degree in Education from the University of Zambia.