Room to Read is honored to participate in the 2026 Annual Conference of the Comparative & International Education Society (CIES). Held in San Francisco, CA from March 28 - April 1, 2026, the theme is “Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World.” Find Room to Read at CIES
CIES 2026
Meet our Presenters
In order of appearance at CIES
Room to Read's Schedule
Saturday, March 28
11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Session Title: Youth, Skills, and Social Cohesion: Learning, Media, and Peacebuilding Across Diverse Contexts
Presentation Title: The Role of Cognitive Interviews in Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Adolescent Life Skills Assessment
Presenters: Dhiraj Anand & Fernanda Gándara
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Lobby Level Plaza Room A
1:15 – 2:30 p.m.
Session Title: Youth, Dignity, and Peacebuilding: Learning, Participation, and Protection in Times of Social Conflict
Presentation Title: How Dignity Shows Up: Analyzing Design Delivery and Learner Experience in Educaiton Programming
Presenters: Dan Oliver, Japheth Ogol, Heather Simpson
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Ballroom Level Franciscan D
4:30 – 5:45 p.m.
Session Title: Driving AI-powered transformations in teaching, coaching, and learning: Experiences from LMICs
Presentation Title: Strengthening Classroom Instruction: AI-Powered Coaching Tools for Literacy Improvement
Presenters: Patrick Curry
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Sixth Floor Nob Hill 6 & 7
4:30 – 5:45 p.m.
Session Title: What Makes Literacy Work? Materials, Access, and Practice
Presentation Title: The power of children's libraries: Supporting literacy and building community
Presenters: Christabel Pinto
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Fourth Floor Union Square 25
4:30 - 5:45 p.m.
Session Title: What Makes Literacy Work? Materials, Access and Practice
Presentation Title: Supporting publishing ecosystem development for children's books
Presenters: Matthew Chilcott
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Fourth Floor Union Square 25
Sunday, March 29
9:45 – 11 a.m.
Session Title: Building FLN programs and evidence: Implementation of and impact evidence from state-wide and top-up district-level FLN interventions in India
Presentation Title: Insights and learnings from district level implementation of FLN mission in Madhya Pradesh, India
Presenters: Poornima Garg, Rishi Rajvanshi
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Sixth Floor Nob Hill 8 & 9
2:45 – 4 p.m.
Session Title: Learning for Liberation: Pathways to Empowerment and Equality
Presentation Title: Empowering Adolescent Girls through Life Skills Education in India: A System-Integrated Approach
Presenters: Kaushlendra Kumar, Poornima Garg
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Fourth Floor Union Square 5 & 6
4:30 – 5:45 p.m.
Session Title: Peace education and youth- and gender-inclusive peace
Presentation Title: Educating with Dignity: Reimagining Foundational Literacy and Girls' Education as Pathways to Peace
Presenters: Poornima Garg, Rishi Rajvanshi
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Ballroom Level Continental 9
Wednesday, April 1
8 – 9:15 a.m.
Session Title: Literacy Learning Across Contexts: Classrooms, Communities, and Innovative Evaluation Approaches
Presentation Title: Developing an observation tool to assess classroom teaching-learning practices - lessons from studies in Bangladesh, India and Nepal
Presenters: Rebecca Westbrook, Pinaki Joddar, Japheth Ogol
Location: Virtual Session Online Meeting Hub VR 105
9:45 – 11 a.m.
Session Title: Strengthening Alignment and System Coherence to Improve Foundational Learning: Insights from Jordan and Global Contexts
Presenters: Patrick Curry (Discussant)
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Ballroom Level Franciscan B
1:15 – 2:30 p.m.
Session Title: Accelerating fluent reading at scale
Presentation Title: Fluency as a construct and as a goal at scale: Lessons from India
Presenters: Saktibrata Sen
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Ballroom Level Franciscan D
2:45 – 4 p.m.
Session Title: Evidence-Based Education Interventions for Equity and Learning: Global Perspectives on Resources, Gender, and Early Development
Presentation Title: Resource Allocation and Program Outcomes: A Multi-country Study of Library Interventions
Presenters: Shari Freedman, Aniruddha Neogi, Pinaki Joddar, Sourav Banerjee, Dan Oliver, Heather Simpson
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Fourth Floor Union Square 5 & 6
2:45 – 4 p.m.
From Room to Read Issue Experts:
The power of children’s libraries: supporting literacy and building community
Christabel Pinto, Vice President, Room to Read's Literacy Portfolio
How dignity shows up
Daniel Oliver, Vice President, Room to Read's Research, Monitoring & Evaluation
A renewed sense of responsibility: Reflections from three global conferences
Heather Simpson, Room to Read Chief Program Officer
Climate change and gender equality: Why girls’ education is key to climate resilience
Reema Shrestha, Director, Room to Read's Gender Equality Portfolio, South Asia
Reading in a digital society: Promoting book use around the world
Christabel Pinto, Vice President, Room to Read's Literacy Portfolio
Why are libraries important to a community: A Room to Read expert explains
Quynh Le, Global Literacy Manager
Girls’ education in Africa: The most powerful investment we can make
Zamaradi S. Islahi, Global Director, Room to Read Gender Equality Portfolio
Literacy interventions at scale: Building systems that deliver
Saktibrata Sen, Senior Director of Programming for Room to Read in India
Room to Read's nonfiction children's book collection in Laos
Mahesh Pathirathna, Global Literacy Advisor, Room to Read’s Literacy Portfolio
Fact or Fiction? Children want their non-fiction books, adults may be their barriers
Heather Simpson, Chief Program Officer