SUNY COIL Fellows
SUNY COIL is pleased to announce the establishment of the SUNY COIL Fellows program, created to showcase the perspectives and highlight the accomplishments of virtual exchange professionals while supporting their efforts to work with SUNY COIL in promoting collaborative international learning. If you are interested in learning more about this program or becoming a SUNY COIL Fellow, please contact Hope Windle, Director of the SUNY COIL Center, at hope.windle@oneonta.edu.
Solomon Fache
December 2025 – Present
Learn more about Solomon Fache
I am an experienced International Education Specialist with a deep passion for fostering educational collaborations across Africa and beyond. With extensive expertise in navigating diverse educational landscapes within the continent, I excel at connecting universities, researchers, and stakeholders to create impactful partnerships, research opportunities, and cultural exchanges.
My career includes leadership roles such as Regional Manager at Learning House International and positions at the American University of Barbados. I hold a B.A. in History from the University of Ilorin and am a Doctoral Fellow of the Institute of Global Peace and Conflict Management as well as the Corporate Institute of Strategic Research. I am also a Distinguished Fellow of the Africa Institute (DFAI) and a Certified Management Professional (LBBS-UK).
Specializing in strategic collaboration, targeted outreach, and academic exchange programs, I work to ensure that both African and overseas institutions find the right synergies for growth and innovation. As a SUNY COIL Fellow, I am dedicated to promoting Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) within African universities and connecting American institutions with educators and projects in Africa.
Fellowship Focus and Impact
As a Fellow of the SUNY COIL program, Solomon, I will be actively involved in promoting Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiatives across African universities. My mission includes connecting American universities with African educators and institutions, facilitating faculty exchanges, and matching professors with impactful project opportunities in Africa. Through these efforts, I aim to strengthen international academic partnerships, enhance intercultural engagement, and contribute to the global recognition and development of higher education globally.
Brianne Hake Wolf
October 2025 – Present
Learn more about Brianne Wolf
Brianne is a multidisciplinary professional with a thousand interests that help keep work and life interesting every day! An educator, facilitator, collaborator, and program manager (12 of those 15 years in global education across the U.S., Spain, and Mexico), she is constantly connecting people and dots to advance our collective efforts at a brighter future.
Her experience ranges from working in Spanish primary schools to advertising agencies to tree-planting NGOs and most recently global partnerships/programs around food + climate + agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of her passion projects has been designing the co-curricular SDG Scholars Program which helped students collaborate across disciplines around the planet’s biggest challenges, all the while growing their professional networks with local and global changemakers. In concert with this program, she developed four of the university’s first microcredentials, allowing for more inclusive access to global learning and future-readiness for students.
She is a double alumna of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, holding a master’s degree in Natural Resource Sciences (focusing on human dimensions and global One Health), and a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Advertising.
Fellowship Focus and Impact
As a SUNY COIL Fellow, she is excited to catalyze her connection-prowess to help spread the good word about SUNY COIL to more educators and students. She will be assisting with event programming and tapping her strategic communications background to increase awareness of the great work the SUNY COIL program is doing actively with its own students but also to magnify the capacity of educators around the U.S. and world. She is also keen to explore in what ways COIL can play a role to augment professional development and expand economic opportunity for folks within and outside academic institutions, specifically in the climate, greentech, and circular economy spaces.
Dawn Harris Wooten
April 2025 – December 2025
Learn more about Dawn Harris Wooten
Dawn Harris Wooten has over 15 years of experience in international education, specializing in dialogue facilitation and program administration. She is an expert facilitator with Soliya and World Learning. Her research interests concentrate on enhancing students’ social-emotional learning, mental health, and digital well-being.
Since 2021, she has served as a facilitator and trainer for virtual exchange programs with iEARN, World Learning, Partners of the Americas, and the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. She has also held positions at NAFSA, Florida Atlantic University, and George Washington University. Additionally, for three years, she co-coordinated the Virtual Exchange/COIL Working Group at the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence. Dawn has presented at numerous educational conferences, including NAFSA, NASPA, IVEC, and Diversity Abroad’s Global Inclusion conference.
She holds a Social Innovation Executive Diploma from the University of Peace, a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management, and a Master’s/Bachelor’s degree in History.
Fellowship Focus and Impact
Dawn became a Fellow to concentrate on enhancing student engagement both before and after the COIL exchange. Her goal is to develop a set of effective practices that align with global competencies. She wants to develop resources for faculty and administrators to ensure that students feel confident during their interactions in the exchange and can effectively leverage their COIL experience for future employment by highlighting the skills that employers are seeking.
Gale Lynch
January 2025 – December 2025
Learn more about Gale Lynch
Gale has been in the field of international education for over 20 years, building global education offices from the ground up. She launched the COIL program at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY and built out Columbia University’s Global Columbia Collaboratory, a virtual not-for-credit global learning framework offering students hands-on experience collaborating with NGOs and their global peers. Her passion is creating systems and programs that help students meaningfully engage with others different from themselves.
Fellowship Focus and Impact
As a SUNY COIL Global Fellow, Gale is excited to contribute to advancing COIL by bringing fresh ideas, strategic insight, and a deep passion for global engagement. Drawing on her experience in international education and programming, she will focus on shaping the program’s strategic planning and vision, elevating its communications and marketing, and refreshing the workshop curriculum to keep it dynamic, relevant, and inspiring. She looks forward to working alongside fellow virtual exchange professionals to amplify SUNY COIL’s impact and help students and educators connect meaningfully across borders.
Frida C. Jaime Franco
November 2024 – February 2025
Learn more about Frida C. Jaime Franco
Frida C. Jaime Franco is an educator, researcher, and teacher trainer committed to interculturality and internationalization in teacher education. A graduate of a Mexican Escuela Normal, she has developed innovative virtual exchange projects linking future teachers with peers around the world. She holds a Master’s in Education and Intercultural Communication from Durham University (UK), where she is currently pursuing a PhD in Education with support from the ESRC. Her research focuses on intercultural responsibility and internationalisation in Mexican Escuelas Normales, particularly within Indigenous and general education programmes. Frida has led seminars and COIL workshops in the Americas, collaborated with SUNY COIL and global networks, and contributed to practical tools for transformative virtual exchange. Her work bridges local and global perspectives to foster equity and reflection in teacher education.
Fellowship Focus and Impact
As a SUNY COIL Fellow, I led workshops and seminar series for COIL practitioners in K–12 and higher education, focusing on interculturality and social transformation through virtual exchange. Drawing from my experience with Mexico’s Escuelas Normales (teacher training institutions), I co-developed the Action Plan Template for Transformative COIL, a tool to support intentional, context-sensitive project design. My fellowship strengthened institutional collaboration between SUNY COIL and Mexico’s General Directorate of Higher Education for the Teaching Profession (DGESuM), expanding opportunities for future educators. I remain committed to fostering global-local partnerships that make COIL a space for reflection, equity, and inclusive learning.