I’m Dr. Jackie Modeste, a career educator and founder of Global-Ed Immersion LLC (GEI) and its sibling organization, The Global-Ed Immersion (GEI) foundation. Together these entities develop global citizens by providing comprehensive support and special programming for international and 1st-generation students enrolled in – or intending to enroll in – US tertiary institutions. For more than 30 years, I’ve served education as a higher-ed faculty member, senior administrator, alumni Board member (Columbia University), and consultant providing discrete leadership advice, research and development, program assessment and restructuring, and professional development for corporate, nonprofit, and private clients. I’ve worked extensively with the international student community and have been actively involved in NYC public education. When my boys were young, I served as Co-PTA President and member of the Fundraising committee at a public elementary school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and as a member of the Community Education Council under the leadership of NYC Chancellor Joel Klein. I am a global wander and enjoy meeting people from around the world and participating in a variety of professional organizations such as the American Studies Association, Columbia Alumni Association, global chambers of commerce, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

I’m motivated by the good work we are doing at GEI. Our current projects include: GEI Tertiary Tours, specifically designed for international and 1st-generation students, replete with learning modules to help students adapt to US academic and cultural norms; Global Gardens, an adaptable, interdisciplinary, integrated secondary curriculum designed to complement academic rigor with cultural competencies and language proficiencies that prepare students to be global citizens; Conversations of Consequence, an engaging discussion with students about topics of global significance; and AMST 360, an American Studies Institute designed to help newcomers to the US optimize their academic social, and professional success.

I spent my undergraduate years at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst; came home to New York City where I earned an MA from Columbia University; and then journeyed South where I earned a PhD in American Studies from the College of William & Mary.