Dr. John Muchira holds a Ph.D in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a specialization in Sociocultural and International Development Education Studies from Florida State University (FSU), a graduate certificate in Program Evaluation from the same institution, a Master of Arts in Modern Languages from the University of Mississippi, and a Bachelor of Education (Arts) from the University of Nairobi. He is an accomplished and results-driven professional with over 10 years of experience in project management, research, strategic policy engagement, policy analysis, system thinking, international education and training, and capacity building. John’s career started as a High school teacher in Kenya spanning to universities in the US where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses and engaged in research.
Previously, he worked at the African Population and Health Research Center as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist. John has also served as a consultant for the Education Development Trust, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Zizi Afrique Foundation, Population Council among other organizations. He has worked closely with the government and education stakeholders in various national level projects as a technical expert such as the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms. He has acquired strong leadership skills and experience in research and managing professionals on collaborative projects while demonstrating the ability to utilize emerging evidence, critical thinking processes, and instituting strategies to meet the needs of economically- disadvantaged youth and children. He is keen on holistic youth development, gender and development, access, equity, and inclusion and capacity development to build top-performing teams committed to supporting underserved and marginalized populations through innovation, evidence-based decision making processes and system thinking. John’s research interests are mainly in language pedagogy, curricula reforms, policy planning and development, gender and development, exploring the need for technical training, digital and creative economy, transition from education to the world of work, and equitable access to quality education. John has authored various articles in peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, evidence briefs, and a US Department of Education funded book that is in press. He has demonstrated success in monitoring and evaluating projects, leading continuous improvement initiatives, scaling educational programs, and designing programming to address changing populations. John co-founded the Swahili Program at the University of Mississippi and has won various awards including the Fulbright fellowship at New York University, Matasa fellowship through MasterCard Foundation and Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and the Gagné Research Prize for Best Graduate research paper in the College of Education at Florida State University.