Governance

Dr. Alice Farling

Dr. Alice Farling is the Executive Director of DISES and long time member of CEC. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Vanderbilt University and was a former Director of Special Education and Related Services in Illinois. Dr. Farling spent 20+ years as an Assistant Superintendent for Special Services, first in Illinois and subsequently in the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. She has taught courses at the University of Illinois, George Mason University, the University of Virginia. She has presented at the Virginia Aspiring Special Education Leadership Academy (ASELA) for the past 15 years.

Alice has consulted with Ministries of Education around the world and has presented workshops, keynotes, and /or consulted not only across the US, but also in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Canada, Cuba, England, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jamaica, Kuwait, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestine, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Uganda, South Africa (Cape Town & Johannesburg) and Tobago, West Indies (where she lived part time).

She is an advocate for quality inclusive educational environments, and she is passionate about supporting global educators who are committed to making a positive difference in in the lives of children.

Dr. Jennifer Ward

Jennifer Ward, EdD, is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. She received her EdD in 2021 from the University of San Francisco, where she explored and documented the lived experiences of disabled refugees through the lenses of human rights, Critical Refugees Studies, and disability justice. Prior to beginning her career in higher education, Jennifer was a special education teacher of Deaf/Hard of Hearing students in the Midwest and Southwest, including the Phoenix area and Southern California. She has also lived and taught internationally.

Dr. Rebekka Jez

Dr. Rebekka J. Jez is an Assistant Professor at University of San Diego’s (USD) School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) in the Department of Learning and Teaching. She has contributed to the field of education through scholarship on culturally responsive and sustaining inclusive practices, trauma-informed approaches, healing practices, holistic assessment of learners, postsecondary transition for TK-12 learners, and collaboration for learners, families, educators, and communities both locally and globally. She has authored multiple journal articles and chapters on this work. Dr. Jez currently serves as the President of the Division for International Special Education and Services (DISES), a division of the Council for Exceptional Children. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Division of International Special Education and Services, Balang Foundation (South African Literacy Non-Profit Organisation), and Nativity Preparatory School. She serves as a co-editor of Teacher Education Quarterly. Dr. Jez represents USD as an invited member of the national Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR). Dr. Jez leads the grant funded USD’s Social Justice and Advocacy Series.

Dr. Nicci Dowd

Dr. Nicci T. Dowd is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Marymount University. Through her work with the fully online Special Education Certificate program, she focuses on creating opportunities for teachers to advance their careers and knowledge about Special Education. Additionally, she supervises the research of doctoral students. She enjoys raising awareness about community resources for students with disabilities and their families. She is committed to exploring barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and the community. Dr. Dowd is the Secretary of the Division for International Special Education and Services (DISES). Through her work as a Board member of DISES, she collaborates with stakeholders to support innovative educational programs and initiatives that positively impact students, teachers, and communities. She has worked with stakeholders in Uganda, Panama, Colombia, and Ghana to provide professional development to teachers of students with special needs. Additionally, she conducts research in Panama and Colombia to explore culturally responsive sustaining practices that promote inclusive learning environments. Dr. Dowd has served as a board member for the Autism Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) and co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee for the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities.

In her spare time, Dr. Dowd enjoys spending time with her family, grilling and relaxing on her front porch with her dog (Chuck Norris)!

Robai Werunga

Robai Werunga, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Her research focus is in early academic and behavioral interventions through multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). Werunga' s target population is students with or at-risk for Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD) and/or Learning Disabilities with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners. In addition, Werunga does research on strategies that foster and promote meaningful family and school relations as well as family engagement.

Werunga has a keen interest in cultural responsiveness in teaching and explores this topic within her teaching and scholarship. Currently, Werunga teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the School of Education. Werunga has over 20 years' experience working with individuals with disabilities; sixteen of those years were spent working directly with students with disabilities within grade school. She has taught in both separate and inclusive settings and designed instruction for students in both settings. She is a member of the council for exceptional children (CEC) with active membership on several divisions, including Division of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners (DDEL), Division of International Special Education and Service (DISES), and the Teacher Education Division (TED). In addition, Dr. Werunga is a member of the Association for Positive Behavior Supports (APBS)

Dr. Ritu Chopra

Dr. Chopra is the Executive Director of the Paraprofessional Resource and Research Center (The PAR2A Center) at the University of Colorado. Since 1996, serving as the Principal Investigator/Project Director on funded projects, Dr. Chopra has been responsible for administration, training, research, and fiscal management of grant projects (over $38 million) at the PAR2A Center on a variety of grant projects funded by the US Department of Education and State Agencies in Colorado.  Under her leadership the PAR²A Center is recognized locally, nationally and internationally as a premier source of information on paraeducators (aka paraprofessionals, teacher assistants). Her areas of expertise include, Paraeducator professional Development and Supervision, Paraeducator-to-teacher pathways, Quality preparation for degreed and non-degreed personnel who serve children/youth with disabilities, Teacher diversity, Collaborative practices among paraprofessionals, teachers, parents and Leadership in inclusive schools.

Prior to moving to the US in 1990, Dr. Chopra had worked for over 10 years in the capacity of a teacher, trainer, researcher and administrator in various educational institutions in her native country, India. As an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Dr. Chopra has served for several years on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of Division of Special Education and Services as Treasurer and the Chair of the Paraeducator Special Interest Group of CEC’s Teacher Education Division (TED). She has authored a book, several articles, book chapters and instructional materials in the U.S including multiple paraeducator related resources recently published by the CEC. She is also the recipient of the prestigious 2012 Excellence in Teacher Educator Award of the TED -CEC.

Cheryl Burke

Cheryl Burke studied special education and elementary education at Michigan State University receiving a Bachelors of Arts in 1980 and a Masters of Arts in 1981. Her specialization was deaf-blind education. Her teaching license included endorsements in the following disabilities: vision/blind, auditory/deaf, cognitive, behavior along with elementary education. Cheryl Burke’s professional career included setting up and teaching in a classroom for students with severe and multiple disabilities; serving as an itinerant teacher for students with visual disabilities (blind) and auditory disabilities (deaf); serving as an educational diagnostician for the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind; establishing and being a principal of a private school for students with special needs; and serving as an adjunct professor at James Madison University. She currently works as a consultant in the areas of special education, behavior, and early childhood. She has been traveling with FNE International to Nicaragua annually for the past 15 years and to Peru to provide professional development and coordinate activities involving students with special needs and their families and schools.

Grace Ilori

Grace has over a decade of teaching experience, including three years in early childhood in the United States. Originally from Nigeria, she earned a doctoral degree in Special Education in her home country and is currently pursuing a second Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in early childhood special education, at the University of Denver. Grace is passionate about play-based learning and its role in skill development. She is the founder and executive director of Joy to the World Special Needs Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities, particularly children in Nigeria. Beyond her professional work, she enjoys supporting the Special Olympics, watching movies, spending time outdoors, and relaxing with her family.

Cindy Perras

As a life-long educator in Canada, Cindy is passionate about improving the well-being and educational/life outcomes for individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents, through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice. She is also the parent of an adult with a developmental disability and medical issues and thus has a keen interest in parental and self-advocacy.

At the K-12 school district and provincial levels, Cindy’s professional experiences include special education teacher, consultant, co-ordinator, and system administrator for all areas of exceptionality. For over 30 years, Cindy has served CEC in many volunteer leadership capacities at the Chapter, Provincial, Division, Subdivision, and International CEC levels as a Member-at-Large, at the Board of Directors level, through the Presidential cycle, on CEC’s Program Advisory Committee, on a 2-year term as CEC’s Convention Program Co-Chair, and as a Conference Co-ordinator. 

Cindy has over 20 years of experience with event planning and conference co-ordination for Ontario CEC, the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario (LDAO), CEC International, CEC-DADD, SEPSEA, and other non-profit associations.

In addition to her professional and devoted family life, Cindy enjoys travel, growing tropical plants, adventures in cuisine, and volunteering at the local hospital.

Kathyanne Sheffield

Dr. Kathyanne Sheffield is an educator with 16 years of experience. As a K-12 practitioner, she has served as a classroom teacher, department chair, curriculum writer, and assistant principal. She is a graduate of the University of Houston, earning an Ed.D in Professional Leadership. Her professional interests include special populations, racial equity in education, and social-emotional learning. While she is currently serving as the Director of Career and Technical Education in Aldine Independent School District, she also engages in a myriad of research projects on the subject of building more inclusive learning environments for students with disabilities.

Dr. Sophia Mavropoulou

Dr Sofia Mavropoulou is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. Sofia is Leader of the Inclusion/Exclusion Research Program at the Center for Inclusive Education (C4IE), Study Area Coordinator for Inclusive Education in the Master of Education and Vice Chair of the Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice Faculty Equity Committee. Sofia serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of International Special Needs Education, Convenor for the Inclusive Education Special Interest Group in the Australian Association for Research in Education and co-Chair of IASSIDD’s Inclusive Education Special Interest Research Group. Sofia has extensive teaching experience in teacher education courses across 5 universities in Europe and Australia. Her research focuses on evidence-based tiered educational supports for autistic learners in inclusive contexts. Sofia’s publications can be accessed here

Ms. Keri Mignano

Keri Mignano, MEd is a dedicated teacher and researcher. She received her graduate degree in teaching from Marymount University. She specializes in K-12 educational practices supporting students with disabilities in inclusive settings. Ms. Mignano is an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children and is on the board of DISES, the Division of International Special Education and Services. Her research activities include student and teacher professional development support in Panama. She currently teaches high school serving students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Afia Kyei

Afia Konadu Kyei, originally from Ghana, is a dedicated child and youth worker, early childhood educator, and special education teacher. She earned her bachelor's degrees in Child and Youth Care and Early Learning and Community Development, with a Minor in French. Her commitment to special education has guided her focus towards applied behaviour analysis, where she aspires to become a behaviour analyst. Afia is a Council of Exceptional Children member, serving as a student representative in the Ontario and DISES divisions. She aims to provide student teachers and early childhood educators with a strong foundation for working with children across various spectrums. Afia integrates her passion for dance and music into her practice by fostering an inclusive therapeutic environment for children, educators and families.  

Membership Committee

Sip & Chat Committee

Virtual Event Committee

Professional Learning Committee

Family Engagement Committee

Student Engagement Committee

Awards Committee

Election Committee