Avery Gonzales

Project Manager • Translator • Researcher

I am a project manager, translator, and researcher whose work bridges education, development, and social systems in the Southwest Asia & North Africa (SWANA) region. My fluency in Arabic, MSc in Comparative & International Education, and recent experience driving large-scale government programs have shaped my interest in how global and local forces shape education development.

I am applying to Sociology PhD programs to research the institutional and colonial dimensions of education systems reconstruction in post-conflict contexts such as Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Sudan. My focus extends beyond formal schooling to the sociological processes through which international aid, decolonial discourse, and transnational identities influence how societies imagine and rebuild their futures.

Education

Qasid Arabic Institute

CASA Fellowship

Amman, Jordan • 2022

Fully-funded intensive advanced Arabic language fellowship, focusing on Modern Standard Arabic and Levantine dialect. Achieved ACTFL Arabic Advanced-Superior ratings for speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

  • Presentation and Workshop: Qualitative Research at Al Ahaliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan
  • Internship: WADI Sustainable Ecosystems Development, ecological restoration nonprofit

University of Oxford

MSc Education (Comparative & International Education)

Oxford, United Kingdom • 2021

Dissertation: Trauma and Education in Lebanon: A Decolonial Perspective — awarded Merit

  • Developed methodology and conducted semi-structured virtual interviews with K-12 teachers, school administrators, and school psychologists in Lebanon
  • Obtained the highest level of institutional ethical review for research with vulnerable subjects
  • Compiled literature review about the history of trauma-informed practices and trauma theory
  • Analyzed qualitative interview data using NVIVO coding software and presented findings
  • Article based on dissertation research selected for presentation at Comparative & International Education Society (CIES) Conference 2026, Education in Emergencies Special Interest Group
Abstract: This dissertation explores the experiences of Lebanese educators between October 2019 and June 2021, a period of sustained disruption and hardship. Academic and professional literature about trauma in educational spaces originated in Western contexts, limiting its applicability in Lebanon, which suffers from volatile political, economic, health, and security conditions. Through a series of 17 semi-structured interviews conducted in May and June 2021, educators in Lebanon recounted their personal and professional experiences during a period of political unrest, economic collapse, the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the explosion of the Beirut port. Findings illuminate the tensions between Western and Lebanese assumptions about trauma and its treatment. Through a decolonial lens, the ways in which Lebanese educators manage stress and trauma in their students are discussed, illuminating the importance of locally-embedded knowledge, such as shared experiences and communal resilience. This study demonstrates that local discussions of trauma in education evade dominant discourses of clinical trauma psychology, including Trauma Informed Education (TIE). Educators draw on locally embedded knowledge to generate their own framework for managing trauma in their classrooms. This study's empirical and methodological advancements are transferrable to other contexts of education during periods of prolonged disruption.

Relevant Coursework: Foundations of Comparative & International Education; Education Systems Analysis; Quantitative Analysis for Social Science; International Comparative Policy on Childhood Care; Learning, Technology and Society

Yale University

B.A. Modern Middle Eastern Studies

New Haven, CT • 2020

Arabic Language Certificate (awarded Distinction)
Thesis: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: How Public and Private Education Failed Lebanon

  • Conducted semi-structured interviews with Lebanese parents, students, teachers, and school administrators
  • Analyzed interview data to draw conclusions about school choice and underlying societal motivators for private education in a post-colonial, unstable context
Comments by Prof. Jonathan Wyrtzen: "In his senior essay on private and public education choices in Lebanon, Avery relied on oral interviews and analysis of print sources. Avery conducted extensive interviews, in the native language, to see what really motivated the paradoxical educational choices he observed. This is an exemplary example of oral history. The essay writing was clear, direct, comprehensible, and thoughtfully organized. In particular, while maintaining scholarly distance, does not hesitate to speak in a personal manner when appropriate, which improves the essay! Overall, this essay is an original and detailed consideration of the ways parents in Lebanon have chosen to educate their children in more expensive ways than necessary—cuts against the grain of many studies of education, and does so with original examples, many gained personally by the author himself. This is excellent work and would have achieved an A if letter grades were assigned this semester."

Experience

World Class Scholars

Education Partnerships Manager

Washington, DC (remote, volunteer) • 2025–Present

Building partnerships and product strategy for large-scale EdTech solutions that help rebuild education systems in conflict-affected zones, including Gaza, Ukraine, and Afghanistan.

U.S. Presidential Management Fellowship

Acquisitions Program Manager, GPS Ground Systems

El Segundo, California • 2023–2025

  • Participated in an intensive leadership development program, completing over 160 hours of training alongside regular duties with the GPS enterprise
  • Program Integration Lead for a $600M mission software platform delivering satellite command and control (C2) infrastructure for the U.S. GPS constellation. Led full program lifecycle from planning and system integration
  • Managed iterative software development across a 40+ person cross-functional team (software engineers, cybersecurity, systems, integration, and DevOps) with defense contractors, military, and civilian leadership
  • Developed scalable team collaboration infrastructure, automating internal workflows and centralizing program knowledge via SharePoint, Power Automate, and MS Teams. Fully transitioned team from asynchronous to synchronous collaboration on time-sensitive deliverables

The Getty Research Institute

Research Assistant

Los Angeles, California • 2022–2023

  • Performed late-stage chapter revisions and advised on Arabic translations and transliterations for Dr. David Brafman's Art of Alchemy (Lannoo Publishers, 2023)
  • Managed digital assets and copyright data in an automated Airtable database
  • Interfaced with Lannoo Publishers to coordinate high-fidelity image and version control
  • Provided 3 rounds of copy editing and revision at a late stage in the peer review process for Dal Zovo et al.'s "Mapping human mobility and analyzing spatial memory" in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (2023)
  • Worked extensively with the Getty Research Institute's rare books and manuscripts collections, including handling, workshop preparation, and acquisitions research. Directly assisted Rare Books Curator, Dr. David Brafman
  • Coordinated gallery opening for Heaven, an LA-based multimedia artist, attended by 200+ community members
  • Provided library services, copy editing, and other research services to Visiting Scholars, including Nasser Rabat (MIT), Baltazar Brito Guadarrama (Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City), and Audrey Hudson (previously Art Gallery of Ontario)

Barjeel Art Foundation

Freelance Translator

Sharjah, UAE (remote) • 2022

Co-translated the Memoir of Inji Efflatoun, a prominent 20th century Egyptian political activist and artist, from Arabic to English. The Memoir comprises the first half of The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun (Al Qassemi, Sultan Sooud, and Suheyla Takesh, eds., Skira Editore, 2025).

Home of Hope Lebanon

Teaching Intern, Residential Coordinator

Kahale, Lebanon • Summer 2019

  • Designed and implemented an English and Arabic literacy program for 40+ trauma-affected children
  • Contributed to team strategy using evidence-based trauma-informed education practices
  • Organized and supervised daily recreation and activities, including a financial literacy program

College of Southern Idaho Refugee Programs

English Instructor, Case Manager

Twin Falls, Idaho • 2018–2021

  • Conducted Arabic-English interpretation and translation in domestic, medical, and work settings
  • Instructed intensive English as a second language classes for 100+ adult refugees from East and Central Africa
  • Facilitated refugee-led conversational Arabic classes for 25 community members in partnership with CBOs

Publications & Presentations

The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun

Co-translator | Skira Editore, 2025

Al Qassemi, Sultan Sooud, and Suheyla Takesh, eds. The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun. Skira Editore, 2025. https://a.co/d/fpeNikH

  • Reviewed in The National by Razmig Bedirian
  • Featured on BULAQ | بولاق Podcast, October 2025
  • Excerpt published in Arablit, October 2025

Art of Alchemy

Research Assistant | Lannoo Publishers, 2023

Brafman, D. (2023). Art of Alchemy. Lannoo Publishers. https://a.co/d/1tfAJLJ

Performed late-stage chapter revisions and advised on Arabic translations and transliterations

Mapping human mobility and analyzing spatial memory: Palimpsest landscapes of movement in the Gobi-Altai Mountains, Mongolia

Copy Editor | Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2023

Dal Zovo, C., Parcero-Oubiña, C., César González-García, A., & Güimil-Fariña, A. (2023). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 71, 101516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101516

Trauma and Education in Lebanon: A Decolonial Perspective

Conference Presentation | CIES 2026 (forthcoming)

Article based on Oxford MSc dissertation selected for presentation at Comparative & International Education Society (CIES) Conference 2026, Education in Emergencies Special Interest Group

Skills & Certifications

Certifications

  • Project Management Professional (PMI-PMP)

Programming

  • Java, Python, R
  • HTML, SQL, MongoDB
  • GitHub, Claude Code

Software & Platforms

  • Microsoft Suite (SharePoint, Power Automate)
  • Confluence, Google Suite
  • SPSS, NVIVO
  • Adobe Lightroom
  • Ableton Live, ProTools
  • Salesforce, Airtable, Slack, Miro, Softr, Hubspot CRM, Notion

Languages

  • English (native)
  • Modern Standard Arabic (fluent)
  • Levantine Arabic (fluent)
  • Spanish (intermediate)
  • American Sign Language (intermediate)
  • Hindi (beginner)
  • French (beginner)