Jodie Fonseca currently serves as Senior Education Advisor, providing technical assistance and managerial leadership and support to RTI’s International Education Division projects and initiatives.
Previously, Dr. Fonseca served as Chief of Party for USAID’s Early Grade Reading Program II (EGRP II ) in Nepal. EGRP II was a two-year (2020-2022) program of technical assistance to the Government of Nepal to improve children’s reading outcomes in grades 1-3 of primary school. In this role, Dr. Fonseca was responsible for overseeing all aspects of project implementation, technical quality assurance, external representation, and monitoring and evaluation. This included coordinating interventions in teacher professional development and support, local government capacity strengthening for education planning, and COVID-19 response activities in the education sector. As Chief of Party, she was responsible for managing a team of 100 staff across 38 districts in four regional offices and the central office in Kathmandu.
Dr. Fonseca has 24 years of professional experience in international development. Prior to EGRP II, she was the Chief of Party for USAID’s Nepal Early Grade Reading Program from 2019-2020. Before joining RTI, she served as Project Director for the LEARN Project–a program that tested accelerated school readiness models for marginalized ethnic minority children in Laos, implemented by Plan International. Dr. Fonseca also worked with Save the Children in the role of Africa Education Advisor, providing technical support to education, early childhood development, and orphan and vulnerable children programs across 13 countries.
Dr. Fonseca is fluent in English and proficient in Spanish and Portuguese. She has lived and worked in Ethiopia, India, Laos, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Uganda, and Vietnam.
