Expertise

Educational policy and planning; community participation; research and evaluation; international development; girls and women's education; program management

Profile

Shirley Burchfield has more than 25 years of experience in international education, with a strong focus on Africa. She is currently Vice President at World Education, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Boston. Dr. Burchfield provides guidance and technical assistance to governments and community-based organizations in developing countries and applies her extensive experience building the capacity of key education stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, parent-teacher associations and school management committees. Dr. Burchfield also served as Research Manager and Senior Advisor for the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Research Associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development, and Program Director at the State University of New York at Albany. Additionally she worked as a resident advisor/education project director for ministries of education in Somalia, Botswana, and Lesotho and a technical advisor to USAID. Burchfield’s research and capacity-building work spans 18 African countries, as well as Bolivia, Honduras, Jamaica, Jordan, Nepal, Peru, and the US. Over a ten-year period, she taught a variety of courses at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). She has also taught statistics and quasi-experimental research design at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Somalia She is currently a Member of Board of Directors for the Basic Education Coalition (a consortium of international development organizations).