The Global Education Committee - EIL Intercultural Learning

Development Education at EIL is delivered by a devoted group of returned EIL volunteers who are supported by EIL Staff and the Global Citizen Award Coordinator. EIL’s Development Education programme works towards creating a platform for EIL network members to explore themes of global justice and continue to educate their peers in their own communities, families and networks. Development Education works to tackle the root causes of injustice and inequality, globally and locally. The world we live in is unequal, rapidly changing and often unjust. Our everyday lives are affected by global forces. Development Education is about understanding those forces and how to change them to create a more just and sustainable future for everyone.

The Global Education Committee members share and develop their skills in facilitation, management and global awareness throughout the year. The members meet on several occasions to organise events, support causes and create global awareness!

The EIL Global Education Committee perform a wide range of tasks but are best known for delivering development education workshops at Network Weekends. These workshops are a great fun and interactive way for EIL Network Members to share knowledge about global justice issues and to learn together. In addition to this the Committee also ….

Mentor new volunteers
Speak at workshops
Manage the EIL Seed Fund Grant Applications
Support Global Citizen Award participants

Read the Terms of Reference file to get a great understanding of what we do.

Want to be a member of the Global Education Committee? Check out the application form.

Jorge Ruiz Villasante - Chair

Jorge has been a part of the Global Education Committee (GEC) over the last few years! His skills in photography alone have allowed us to share the work of the GEC with people all over the world through videos, social media and exhibitions. Jorge is a photographer and educator with a passion for Development and Global Issues. His passion for sharing his knowledge with other is a great attribute to the Committee. Jorge has extensive volunteer experience with EIL, being on volunteer placements in India and South Africa. He piloted the Gold International Volunteer Award and his since been awarded the Gold Global Citizen Award three times!

Rachel Maher - Vice Chair

Rachel hails from Galway and has been involved with EIL since 2014 when she travelled to Chiang Mai, Thailand to volunteer with different social groups using creative mediums such as art, drama, music and dance! She has been involved with the GEC since Jan 2016, acted in a consulting role with the GEC for 2019 due to being abroad, and came back with a Wham! to join us for 2020.

Rachel has a background in Social Care, and has been working and volunteering in the Youth Work Sector since 2015. She is also extremely passionate about many different social aspects and is an advocate for mental health and the LGBTQ+ community.

In her spare time, Rachel loves to travel, play music, do some photography and try to have new experiences when possible!

Though very difficult to choose just one, her favourite SDG is goal number 10, Reduced Inequalities because this goal incorporates so many different aspects and can apply to many of the other goals!

Committee Members

Helena Coogan

Helena is our newest GEC member, joining in January 2020. Helena was an EIL Explore award winner in 2019 which allowed her to travel to Guatemala and work with an indenginious community in a self-sustaining environmental project.

She is studying Music and Geography in DCU. She believes that geography is one of the most important sciences that anyone could study. She is particularly interested in geopolitics and how the world’s political affairs are ultimately affected by landscape, cultural geography with particular interest in colonisation, and climate change; how it started and where we will end up because of it.

Helena is an advocate for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and has a keen interest in social justice and global affairs and believes in equal opportunities for all.

Professionally, Helena works with international students that spend part of their year in Ireland on their own intercultural experiences. She is also a barista and likes a tasty coffee most mornings. She enjoys reading, keeping active, meeting friends, and travelling whenever possible.

Though she believes all off the goals are almost as equally important as the next, she really resonates with Goal 12: ‘Responsible production and consumption’, as she believes it would lead the world to less inequalities and thus being part of a possible solution to more than just one problem that we as humans are facing.

Jason Nolan

Jason is an Occupational Therapy student studying in Trinity College Dublin. He has an interest in human rights, leadership and social justice. Jason is passionate about volunteering in a variety of forms. Jason has a huge interest in community development and has taken a leadership role in service projects on topics such as poverty, mental health and well-being and equality.

His experience with EIL Explore began in 2017 when he travelled to the Governor’s Institute of Vermont (GIV) to attend a youth activism and current issues course. This experience allowed him to greatly improve his knowledge on global citizenship.

His favourite SDG is Quality Health and Well Being. In many parts of the world there are issues with safe and accessible healthcare which impacts on quality of life and health status. This SDG is important as it works towards a world where people from diverse backgrounds can live a healthier and happier life with the right resources and supports.