Our Governing Board

The Board of Directors:

Noble Kelly, BEd (President):

Noble Kelly has been a High School Educator since 1991. Mr. Kelly has a Post Baccalaureate in Educational Technology. He has worked as a teacher mentor and trainer for the Simon Fraser University Educational Technology Post Baccalaureate program and facilitated workshops to teachers as part of his role as a member of the Peace and Global Education action group for the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation. He has done development work in South Africa, Ethiopia, Guyana, Tanzania and Kenya, mainly with education reform and teacher professional development. Mr. Kelly founded Education Beyond Borders in 2007 and is presently devoting his time to its continued growth and developing and implementing systemic strategies to foster quality education globally.

Dexter Horton, MAEd (Vice President):

Mr. Horton was a High School Science Educator for 19 years and is now Vice Principal of an Abbotsford middle school. He has his Masters in Administration & Leadership and a Post Baccalaureate in Educational Technology. He worked for two years as a Secondary Curriculum Helping Teacher looking after the development of curriculum, instruction and assessment. Mr. Horton’s experience in administration, leadership and curriculum development will be an asset to Education Beyond Borders.

Irving (Lee) Rother, PhD:

Dr. Rother is a multi-award winning educator with 32 years of experience teaching, consulting and designing curriculum at the school, school board, university and provincial levels. Currently, Dr. Rother is program developer and head teacher of the Alternative Career Education Program in Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, where he teaches ICT, literacy, English Language Arts, and Media Education. Dr. Rother was also a consultant at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board where his dossiers included English Language Arts, Co-operative Education, Social Studies and school climate analysis. Dr. Rother is co-founder and President of the Association for Media Education in Quebec and co-founder and Board member of the Canadian Association of Media Education Organisations. Dr. Rother was a member of the Canadian curriculum framework and learning outcomes team that worked with the Ministry of Education in Amman, Jordan from July to September, 2003.

Marijka Stadnyk, BA, BEd:

Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Ms. Stadnyk received her teaching degree from the University of Toronto. She has been a secondary educator in the GTA for almost 20 years, serving diverse school communities. Extensive experience in the areas of ELL and Alternative Education (“at-risk”) programs includes designing, delivering and monitoring programs for students who require a differentiated and/or non-traditional approach to learning. Marijka's passion for teaching and learning coupled with a keen awareness of social justice issues, particularly in developing countries, has led to international experiences. She has served as an International Election Observer and has been a participant in teacher capacity building projects in Ukraine and Mongolia.

Vanessa Formoso, B.A., L.L.B. (Secretary):

Ms. Formoso was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from McGill University, she studied Law at the Université de Montréal. She currently practices civil law and litigation in Montreal. Since becoming a member of the Quebec Bar, she has become involved in initiatives dedicated to enhancing diversity. She is also a member of the Equality Committee of the Canadian Bar Association (Quebec Division). Her personal interests include human rights, international relations, issues of diversity and representativeness and American football.

Kin Lo, PhD, CA (Treasurer):

 Mr. Lo is an Associate Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.  He holds the CA Professorship in Accounting established by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia (ICABC).  After receiving a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary, he articled at PricewaterhouseCoopers and subsequently earned his doctorate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago in 1999.  His research has been published in journals such as Journal of Accounting Research and Journal of Accounting and Economics, and he has served as an Associate Editor at the latter journal since 2003.  Aside from research and teaching, Kin is also active in the professional accounting community serving on provincial and national committees and contributing as a columnist to the ICABC’s magazine Beyond Numbers.  Professor Lo is currently a member of the Board of Evaluators for the Chartered Accountants’ national Uniform Final Evaluation (UFE) and a member of the Academic Advisory Council for the Accounting Standards Board of Canada.

Tim Eckenfels, B.A., M.A.:

Since September 1986, Mr. Eckenfels has been involved in the international education industry, having first studied and lived with local families in both Spain and Germany. Beginning in 1992, Tim resided in Japan to teach English as a Second Language with the AEON Corporation. In 1994, he began his career in education marketing and sales with ASPECT, Inc.  Since that time, Mr. Eckenfels has worked with the international education leaders of International House and Study Group Pty Ltd. in positions of senior management.  In 2008, he became CEO and part owner of Ability Education in Sydney, Australia.  After significant growth and expansion, the company was sold in October 2009.  Tim currently resides in Vancouver, Canada, where he is Managing Director and owner of Information Planet North America, a network of education advising agencies.