Rebecca Martin
Senior Associate (International Partnerships)
As Senior Associate for our International Partnerships team, Rebecca supports the delivery of the MISTI Global Teaching Labs initiative and Seren’s summer programmes at Yale, Oxford and other institutions. This includes maintaining all safer recruitment procedures and coordinating with all schools & colleges, instructors and university partners. Rebecca is also involved in developing promotional and marketing content.
Rebecca is passionate about bilingualism and embedding Welsh cultural experiences in our programmes. For our recruitment team, Rebecca manages compliance & vetting of teachers and support staff.
Rebecca studied French and Spanish (through the medium of Welsh) as an undergraduate at Swansea University, where she earned a First Class degree, and went on to gain a Distinction in her MA in Translation and Interpreting.
Rebecca recently discovered a newfound love for cold water swimming, she is an expert on a Stand Up Paddle-board (SUP), and isn’t so bad at ‘Dobble’ either!
Contact Rebecca.
Lauren Cook
Senior Project Manager (STEM)
As a Senior Project Manager, Lauren works collaboratively across existing and developing projects within the HE, STEM and International Partnerships divisions at Equal.
Lauren is an experienced Creative Arts and STEM lecturer with a background teaching in further/higher, independent educational settings and within international academic summer schools in London and across South Wales.
Lauren has over 13 years teaching experience delivering community-based workshops, curriculum development at GCSE, A Level and pre-foundation level within established design and engineering departments.
Away from work, Lauren enjoys the great outdoors and is usually out exploring with her two rescue dogs and getting back into running half and full marathons after a two-year break. With 4 international marathons under her belt, sights are still on London, even after 10 unsuccessful attempts – fingers crossed for ballot attempt no.11!
Contact Lauren.
Owen Evans
Managing Director (HE, STEM & International Partnerships)
Owen is Managing Director for HE, STEM & International Partnerships at Equal. He works closely with various organisations, including the Welsh Government, universities, schools, colleges and Seren network partners, across Wales and beyond.
Owen joined Equal after two and a half years as CEO of a prominent Welsh children’s charity, where he oversaw an extensive change programme. Prior to that, he worked for a large education and training organisation in numerous leadership roles.
A qualified teacher (secondary Maths), Owen is passionate about the life changing opportunities which can be accessed through education and is particularly interested in expanding opportunities to under-represented groups.
Outside his role at Equal, Owen is a Trustee at TACT, the UK’s largest fostering charity, and sits on the Wales Advisory Committee for Barnardo’s. A proud Welsh speaker, his interests include most types of sport and enjoying live music.
Contact Owen.
Lois Williams
Senior Associate (HE Partnerships)
Lois is our Higher Education Partnerships Senior Associate at Equal Education Partners and is responsible for running programmes in partnership with the Welsh Government and academic institutions worldwide.
Lois is originally from North Wales, but since studying her BA in Modern Languages at Jesus College, she has been based in Oxford. She has also completed her MSt in Modern Languages at Trinity College, Oxford with Distinction, having focused on Early Modern French theatre. During her time at university Lois made access into Higher Education initiatives central to her experience and became the Wales Coordinator for mentoring charity Slipstream Education (formerly Project Access UK).
Lois spent a year teaching English in schools in Brittany as part of her undergraduate course, which ignited her passion for education and cultural exchange.
Outside the education sphere, Lois has a keen interest in theatre, and she especially has a soft spot for 17th century French theatre. However, not living in 17th century France makes keeping up with this hobby a little tricky. So, she also enjoys 21st century things like literature and going to gigs.
Contact Lois.
Stephen Barnes
Programme Manager, MIT-UK, MIT
Originally from the UK, Stephen moved to the US in 2011 to serve as the Programme Director for Thinking Beyond Borders, an industry-leading gap year program.
Stephen has served as a program design consultant to student travel organisations in the gap year and freshman study abroad arena, and was a member of the Gap Year Association’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access committee.
Stephen has lived and worked in Ecuador and Nicaragua, and built partnerships for student learning with NGOs and host communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Stephen is excited to focus on his native UK in his role at MIT. Stephen holds a Master’s of Science in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.
Greg Schwanbeck
Lecturer, Scheller Teacher Education Programme, MIT & Physics and Astronomy Teacher, Massachussetts
Currently, Greg works at Westwood High School (Massachusetts) as a Physics and Astronomy Teacher and as an Instructional Technology Coach, tasked with helping his colleagues capitalise on their district’s 1-to-1 Chromebook programme.
Greg is also a Lecturer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP) where he teaches Educational Theory & Practice I, II, and III.
Greg is a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellow, a MIT Levitan Teaching Award recipient, an Apple Distinguished Educator, an ISTE Certified Educator, a Google Educator, and a regional leader in providing edtech-focused professional development.
Greg’s teaching methods and thoughts on educational technology have been featured nationally in publications such as The Huffington Post, EdSurge, and the book American Teacher: Heroes in the Classroom by Katrina Fried.
Greg earned his master’s degree via the Technology, Innovation, and Education programme at Harvard University and earned his bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Mathematics at Union College.
When he is not teaching, Greg enjoys seeking out adventure with his amazing wife Keba and their two sons, Taylor and Thomas.
Daniela Ganelin
Education through AI Specialist
Daniela is a former high-school teacher with a Master's in Computer Science (AI Concentration), Bachelor's in Computer Science and Mathematics, and teaching license from MIT. Daniela is currently pursuing a PhD at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education.
After graduating from MIT, Daniela created and taught Artificial Intelligence & Society at an international school in Rome and went on to hold the position of Director of Curriculum at Inspirit AI - a leading AI education company headquartered in Silicon Valley working around the world.
Daniela’s research and industry experience has included studying economic disparities in online education, diagnosing dementia with machine learning, creating AI-generated images, and improving recommendation engines. Between research and teaching, Daniela has worked in the US, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Wales, and Taiwan - not counting Inspirit AI students worldwide!
Daniela was one of the first MIT instructors to teach through the MIT Global Teaching Labs in Wales programme when it was launched in January 2019.
Liam Rahman
Chief Executive Officer
Liam works closely with institutions including the Welsh Government and the EWC to solve challenges facing the education sector - bolstering talent attraction & retention, widening higher education access and improving STEM education.
Liam has also worked in Investment Management at BW Group & Goldman Sachs, in Singapore & Norway.
Liam is an Executive Committee member for the REC, a member of Yale's ASC and an external reader for the Fulbright. In 2019, Liam was awarded a St Davids Award for expanding access to world class education.
As an undergrad, Liam studied Politics, Philosophy & Economics (PPE) at Yale-NUS College and Yale University, graduating with a distinction. From September 2022, Liam is pursuing an MBA and an MA in Education at Stanford University.
Contact Liam.