Throughout 2016 the Learners were engaged in residential sessions and online and on-site activities intended to build their knowledge of current issues in education as well as their entrepreneurial, communication, and leadership skills. The first residential session was held in Doha, January 4-12, 2016, and included modules on education, communication, and leadership delivered by Prof Thomas Cassidy and the Yale World Fellows.

The second residential session was hosted by WISE partner Banco Santander (through its Santander Universities program) in Madrid, May 30-June 10, 2016. Babson College and Studio Banana delivered a series of practical workshops on social entrepreneurship, innovation, and disruptive thinking.

A core component of the Learners’ Voice Program is the development of group projects that address critical issues in education. The cohort developed five projects during the year addressing diverse education challenges including social integration, education in emergency contexts, and student motivation. Each team had the opportunity to visit a site between June and August to conduct primary research and further develop their project proposals.

After thorough evaluation, two teams of Learners were selected to present at the WISE-LIFE China Forum on Education in Beijing on November 5, 2016. The presentation session provided the Learners with a platform from which to pitch their projects, and to discuss them with an audience of experts and practitioners.

The following projects were presented at the WISE-LIFE China Forum:

• HaloHalo- a skill-sharing platform which creates opportunities for authentic in-person encounters that supports both refugees and locals in developing new skills, reconnecting with their passions, and ultimately broadening their cross cultural networking.
• Edulink- a student engagement program for public school students in Qatar intended to make education more relevant to students’ lives through guest speakers and field visits.

The Learners' biographies can be found below.

To follow their activities throughout the year you can follow the Learners’ Voice Blog or add them on Twitter (#WISELearners).

Olaoluwa Abagun, Nigeria	Sayid Abdullaev, Kyrgyzstan	Raghad Aljughaiman, Saudi Arabia	Eman Al-Kuwari, Qatar	Niloofar Arabi, Iran
Daniela Banari, Romania	Eldin Buljubašić, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Yuxuan Chen, China	Muzabel Welongo, DR Congo	Stephen Daniel, Uganda
Alisha Fredriksson, Sweden/Canada	Farahnaz Ghodsinia, Philippines	Fernando Luis Ramirez Gonzalez, Paraguay	Khadija Hamouchi, Morocco/Belgium	Jiyoung Hwang, South Korea
Abdellah Iraamane, Morocco	Afnan Isleem, Palestine	M. M. Nasif Rashad Khan, Bangladesh	David Lawless, Canada	Farah Mallah, Jordan
Tibisay Sankatsing Nava, Aruba	Zeena Ojjeh, USA/Syria	Leonardo Párraga, Colombia	Mothusi John Ramaabya, Botswana	Mahnoor Ijaz Rathore, Pakistan
Syed Mubashar Ali Shah Rizvi, Pakistan	Hassan Salatt, Qatar	Maximo Plo Seco, Spain	Vinícius Santos, Brazil	Varsha Thebo, Pakistan