William Smedley
Summary
Executive director and organizational learning leader with 20+ years of experience designing, implementing, evaluating, and continuously improving educational and professional learning programs across higher education, nonprofit organizations, government institutions, and the private sector. Proven record building learning organizations, leading multidisciplinary teams, developing instructors, directing educational operations, and cultivating long-term institutional partnerships. Extensive experience delivering instruction, faculty development, executive education, and workforce development across four Palestinian universities, government ministries, international NGOs, and private-sector organizations. Georgetown University graduate, U.S. Air Force veteran, multilingual educator, and researcher recognized for strategic leadership, capability development, adult learning, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Founder / Executive Director
American Academy for Education, Languages, and Training (AAELT)
Ramallah, West Bank
01.2018 - Current
- Founded and led an independent education and professional training organization employing seven master's-level educators and an Education Programs Officer, directing academic, operational, financial, and organizational strategy.
- Built and retained a high-performing instructional team, with educators serving 5-6 years and the Education Programs Officer serving approximately 6 years.
- Directed year-round programming comprising approximately 900 annual course enrollments, serving 130-175 active students monthly and approximately 380 unique students annually.
- Recruited, hired, onboarded, coached, supervised, developed, and evaluated instructional staff while directing budgeting, payroll, scheduling, enrollment, facilities, customer relations, marketing, and strategic planning.
- Designed, implemented, monitored, evaluated, and continuously improved programs in English, academic writing, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, college preparation, leadership development, debate, research methods, and professional communication.
- Designed and delivered executive education, workforce development, and customized professional learning for government ministries, university faculty, banking professionals, engineers, attorneys, NGO leaders and staff, business professionals, scholarship recipients, and human rights organizations.
- Established long-term institutional partnerships and repeat training engagements with universities, government ministries, NGOs, and donor-funded organizations, including recurring cohorts for the Office of the President, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Economy, PEFE, Reform, and AMIDEAST.
- Led humanitarian education initiatives, scholarship programs, fundraising campaigns, and volunteer projects in partnership with Sharek Youth Forum, AMIDEAST, H-Clinic, Retno Hotel, and community organizations, mobilizing private donations and academy resources to expand educational access and humanitarian assistance throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
- Continue to provide educational consulting and free online English instruction for Gazan students affected by war and prolonged educational disruption.
Higher Education, Executive Education & Institutional Partnerships
Al-Quds Bard Honors College
01.2018 - Current
- Designed and delivered undergraduate and graduate instruction in conflict resolution, composition, academic writing, research methods, debate, humanities, and English language education.
- Designed and facilitated Train-the-Trainer (ToT) and faculty development programs for university educators and English faculty emphasizing learner-centered pedagogy, instructional technology, curriculum development, classroom management, and assessment.
- Delivered monitoring and evaluation (M&E), curriculum development, assessment design, and program support across donor-funded and institutionally funded education initiatives.
- Designed assessment instruments measuring learner achievement, participant satisfaction, instructional quality, and program effectiveness while supporting continuous improvement.
- Developed curricula, competency-based learning experiences, instructional materials, digital learning resources, and executive education programs for universities, scholarship initiatives, government institutions, NGOs, and workforce-development organizations.
- Taught SAT preparation for Nayzak while supporting scholarship, workforce-development, and educational-access initiatives through AMIDEAST, UNRWA, and institutional partners.
Policy Research
Palestinian Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)
01.2018 - Current
- Produced applied policy research and evidence-based recommendations addressing Palestinian economic development, governance, donor strategy, institutional reform, and Area C development constraints.
- Synthetized governmental, multilateral, academic, and NGO research into analytical reports and policy recommendations for institutional and policy audiences.
Graduate Research
Georgetown University
01.2018 - Current
- Conducted graduate field research with over 500 qualitative interviews in Arabic and English to explore political psychology, identity, conflict, intergroup relations, and psychosocial effects of separation barrier.
- Designed research instruments and analyzed qualitative findings, producing original scholarship on conflict resolution and qualitative methodology.
Education
M.A. - Conflict Resolution
Georgetown University
Washington, DC01-2012
Fellowship - Security Studies, Arabic Studies
National Security Education Program - Boren Fellow
Birzeit, Palestine08-2011
Advanced Modern Standard Arabic & Colloquial Palestinian Arabic - Arabic
Birzeit University
Birzeit, Palestine08-2010
B.S.S. - Arabic Language & English Literature, Cum Laude
Ohio University
Athens, OH01-2009
International Language Scholarship - Arabic
Benjamin A. GIlman International Scholarship
Cairo, Egypt01-2009
Associate of Arts - Arabic
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center & Monterey Peninsula College
Monterey01-2002
Skills
- Leadership & Strategy
- Organizational Development
- Learning & Development
- Training Strategy
- Curriculum Development
- Change Management
- Capability Development
- Performance Coaching
- Stakeholder Engagement
- EdTech analytics
- Moodle LMS
- Virtual Learning Platforms
- Digital assessment systems
- AI instructional design
- Train-the-Trainer
- Continuous Improvement
- Assessment & Evaluation
- Data Analysis Tools
- Statistical Software
- Qualitative Research
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Operational Leadership
- Learning Technologies
- Adult Learning
- Operational Leadership
- Learning Technologies
Languages
- English, Native
- Arabic, Fluent
- Spanish, Fluent
Professional Expertise
- Learning & Development
- Leadership & Strategy
- Educational Technology & Analytics
- Training Strategy
- Organizational Development
- Moodle LMS
- Adult Learning
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Bisan ERP/HCM
- Curriculum Development
- Change Management
- Virtual Learning Platforms
- Capability Development
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Digital Assessment & Feedback Systems
- Faculty Development
- Performance Coaching
- AI-Assisted Instructional Design
- Train-the-Trainer
- Continuous Improvement
- SPSS
- Stata
- Atlas.ti
- Assessment & Evaluation
- Operational Leadership
- Learning Technologies
Military Service
Arabic Cryptologic Linguist, United States Air Force
Timeline
Founder / Executive Director
American Academy for Education, Languages, and Training (AAELT)
01.2018 - Current
Higher Education, Executive Education & Institutional Partnerships
Al-Quds Bard Honors College
01.2018 - Current
Policy Research
Palestinian Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)
01.2018 - Current
Graduate Research
Georgetown University
01.2018 - Current
M.A. - Conflict Resolution
Georgetown University
Fellowship - Security Studies, Arabic Studies
National Security Education Program - Boren Fellow
Advanced Modern Standard Arabic & Colloquial Palestinian Arabic - Arabic
Birzeit University
B.S.S. - Arabic Language & English Literature, Cum Laude
Ohio University
International Language Scholarship - Arabic
Benjamin A. GIlman International Scholarship
Associate of Arts - Arabic
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center & Monterey Peninsula College