Always up for an adventure, Lisa Wittner will use a Fulbright grant to share
social-emotional learning insights with educators in Nepal. Here she is shown performing with
Batalá New York, a premier all-women, Black-led percussion ensemble.

Congratulations Lisa Wittner, Fulbright Awardee: Sharing SEL Expertise in Nepal

Congratulations to Lisa Wittner, who received a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Short-Term Program. This grant will enable D-E’s Director of Social and Emotional Learning to travel to Nepal this summer and work with a local school and NGO, sharing knowledge about social-emotional learning (SEL) and fostering meaningful connections across communities in the US and Nepal. Out of hundreds of applicants to the grant program, Wittner was one of only 20 award recipients.

“I’m very excited for the program, and it’s already been such a wonderful correspondence with the local organization that is specifically designed for students who wouldn’t have access to an excellent education,” she said. “I’ll be collaborating with them to create social-emotional programming. The students there partake in very intense exams, and it’s very high stakes emotionally, as students feel like if they don’t pass, they won’t be able to get their families out of poverty. It’s a lot of pressure. So I’m excited to learn and support the school in the ways that I can, and I’m excited to be the first Fulbrighter in Nepal!”

Fulbrighters expand their professional networks, often continuing collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between schools and institutions. Upon returning to their classrooms in the US, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad. Fulbright alumni include 62 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and 41 who have served as a head of state or government.