Education
- Ph.D. Educational Communications and Technology – University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- MEd Special Education – The American University, Washington, DC
- BS Health and Physical Education – Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA
Community Involvement
- Abia D/A Basic School, Ghana. Greater Accra Region – Literacy Volunteer
- Coastal Association of Neighborhoods of Ghana (CAN) – Member
- Girls Against Plastic Pollution (GAPP) program – Abia/Prampram, Ghana, Greater Accra Region
- International Association for Blended Learning (IABL) – Founding Director, Past President, and Chair of the Membership & Marketing Committee
- Fulbright Association – former Board Member
Dr. Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh has decades of experience in K – 16 education as a special education teacher and university professor. Her experience conducting research in the social and behavioral sciences, and training and technical assistance background, as well as her experience reviewing grant applications for the Department of Education (DOE) and the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) were critical in her ability to assist local school districts nationwide implementing multimillion-dollar and multiyear government-funded grants. She has staffed proposal writing teams, worked with federal project officers to ensure grant compliance, participated in project evaluation teams, served as Deputy Director for federally funded initiatives, and has presented dozens of workshops regionally, nationally, and internationally in the live and virtual spaces. Dr. Willis-Darpoh has also had consultancies for several non-profit and for-profit organizations.
Her current focus is the plastic pollution overwhelming coastal communities in lower-income (LIC) countries like Ghana. She is researching to develop an awareness and sustainable eradication strategy explicitly targeting girls and women to educate them about plastic pollution’s health consequences and their role in combatting this issue.
