Joyce Rafla

Joyce is passionate about early childhood education in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. Her commitment to improving learning experiences for children in Egypt led her to a broader journey to serve children in various low- and middle-income countries.

She is currently leading a two-year partnership with the Quality Instruction Towards Access and Basic Education Improvement (QITABI) 2 consortium in Lebanon. QITABI 2’s overall goal is to build the Lebanese national education system’s institutional capacity for sustainability and self-reliance. The project specifically seeks to improve the provision of educational services in reading and writing, math, and SEL skills of girls and boys in grades 1-6, both in private and public Lebanese schools.  Prior to joining QITABI, Joyce was part of the Ahlan Simsim project. Within the Ahlan Simsim project, she led a study to assess the impact of a phone-delivered parenting program for Syrian and Jordanian caregivers in Jordan. She is specifically interested in religious socialization of children.

Prior to joining TIES, Joyce worked in different fields within education where she gained experience in education policy and practice within the MENA region. Rafla holds a Master of Education (Ed.M.) in Language & Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) with a focus on early childhood education and assessment; a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Human Development from Teachers College (TC), Columbia University; and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the American University in Cairo (AUC).