Board of Directors

STAFF + DIRECTORS

Staff

Sam Hagen
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sam Hagen currently serves as the Executive Director for Go Global VT. Prior to this role, Sam served in numerous capacities across the private and public education sectors, working as a farm manager, an international programs coordinator, and as the afterschool programs director and development director for the Central Vermont Supervisory Union. Sam received his BS in Forestry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is currently pursuing an MS in Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont. His research takes place at the intersection of community development and education, exploring spatial equality in Vermont's education system. Sam is committed to developing partnerships and programs which contribute to breaking the global pattern of outmigration from rural communities and which support opportunities for youth agency in addressing local and global issues.

Mary Lynn Riggs Ed.D.

CHAIRPERSON

Mary Lynn Riggs currently serves as Go Global VT’s Board Chair. As an educator, curriculum specialist and program consultant, she is committed to creating opportunities for rural youth and adults to access education and opportunity. She works to facilitate international exchange and reciprocal learning opportunities to promote understanding of sustainable practices and community development for rural youth across the globe. Dr. Riggs worked in Vermont schools as a teacher, administrator, and curriculum/program director for 45 years. She earned her Ed.D. from the University of Vermont and has trained in Dialogue Education through Global Learning Partners, a program designed to promote understanding and community-based learning in international settings through dialogue and consensus building. For the past four years she has collaborated with high schools and colleges to launch several international programs for Vermont youth and has served as a project coordinator for Go Global VT’s Kenya Project. She has facilitated study in East Africa for several groups of students and adults.

Katherine Riley

SECRETARY

Katherine Riley is an experienced social studies teacher and administrator who currently serves as Secretary for Go Global VT. Presently, she is the Snelling House Director and Curriculum Coordinator at Champlain Valley Union High School, where she also serves as the administrator in charge of international travel. During her educational career, she has spent time in Peru, volunteering in rural communities as a teacher of English, and has also taught English in Bhutan where she developed curriculum encompassing the tenants of the Bhutanese policy of Gross National Happiness. She is committed to expanding an understanding of the importance of global citizenship and our interconnectedness with others in public schools.

Tim Lambert

Tim was educated at public schools in his hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts, and went on to graduate summa cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies and a secondary field in English, and later earned a certificate in Business Economics from Harvard Extension School. As an undergraduate, he traveled twice to Kenya—first with the School of International Training, and second via an independent research grant from the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs—where he conducted prize-winning original research on the relationship between government-led development projects, local anti-corruption accountability activists, and international aid. He subsequently worked at a nonprofit research company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, launched interactive social studies educational products at an ed-tech company based in Silicon Valley, and worked in research and course development at Harvard Business School. He is currently the Director of Research at the Case Method Institute for Education and Democracy, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that trains high school teachers to apply business school teaching pedagogy and case materials, some of which he co-authored, to the teaching of U.S. History, government, and civics. He lives in San Francisco, California.

Wayne Howe
TREASURER

Wayne Howe currently serves as treasurer of Go Global VT. He holds a Bachelor's from Johnson State College and a Master's from the University of Vermont. He has worked in school districts throughout northern Vermont as a Teacher, Principal and Assist Superintendent, and presently serves on the Jericho, Vermont Selectboard. Wayne was an early participant in Project Harmony's Student Art Exchange with the Soviet Union, and he has presented in China on elementary mathematics instruction. Most recently, he has traveled with Go Global VT to establish learning partnerships and teacher training initiatives in Nepal and Bhutan.

Shane Heathe

Shane Heath has been teaching physical and life sciences in Vermont for 12 years, and currently teaches chemistry and wildlife ecology at Essex High School. He holds a bachelor's degree in environmental biology from Dartmouth College and a master of science in wildlife ecology from the University of Maine. In 2016, he was selected to the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program and traveled throughout India, including teaching and learning at a school in Chhatarpur. He was selected as a National Geographic Grosvenor Fellow in 2019, traveling throughout the South Pacific to Hawaii. In 2019, he was also named Finalist for Vermont Teacher of the Year. Prior to teaching, he worked for years as a wildlife ecologist, conducting fieldwork with researchers in China, India, Nigeria, and South Africa. He believes in incorporating the tenets of climate sustainability, biodiversity conservation and global citizenship into his teaching. Shane lives in Montpelier and enjoys spending time outdoors in Vermont with his family.