Facilitators

• Debbie Downes
  International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC)
  Director of Global School Initiatives
  

  In August 2022, Debbie Downes joined the International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children as the Director of Global School Initiatives. In this role, she develops and provides child protection training, support, and resources to schools around the world. She has been supporting ICMEC’s work as a regional trainer since July 2020.

  Debbie has worked in international education for 18 years, first as an elementary teacher, then as school principal, and then as Accreditation and Child Protection Lead for Quality Schools International. She developed and revised handbooks, policies, and resources to support child protection efforts at a group of 36 international schools. She also supported schools with on-site and virtual professional development.

  Debbie’s background in child protection includes an MSW from the University of California at Berkeley and several years of experience working in the court unit of Children and Family Services in Contra Costa County, California. Debbie’s overseas career began with 3 years as a health education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kolda, Senegal. She has since lived with her husband, 2 children, and 2 rescue dogs in Thailand, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, and her current location of Tbilisi, Georgia.

• Chanel Worsteling
  Association of International Schools in Africa
  Child Protection & Wellbeing Programme Coordinator
  Website
  

  Chanel has worked internationally supporting child protection and wellbeing projects for over 20 years. As the Wellbeing for All Programme Manager for AISA, Chanel plays a strategic role in leading programming for child protection, wellbeing and DEIJ producing resources, facilitating trainings & webinars, and leading an online practice group for school child protection leads. Chanel has a particular interest in developing evidence-informed approaches to child protection and wellbeing that meet the real needs of educators and students alike.

  Prior to AISA, Chanel worked in the international aid and development sector holding various senior leadership roles in local and international organizations working to promote the safety and wellbeing of at risk and vulnerable children.  These roles led her overseas where she lived in Cambodia, New Zealand and the Pacific and Kenya.

  Chanel is also a registered psychotherapist, working in private practice with couples and individuals in Brisbane, Australia. She holds a Master of Counselling from the University of Queensland and a Master of International & Community Development from Deakin University.