About
Our Mission
ELNOR’s mission is to provide online English language education and professional development support to adults seeking asylum across North America and Europe.
Our Vision
ELNOR’s vision is to provide people seeking asylum with educational tools to improve social inclusion, employability, and well-being while creating a network of support to advocate for the rights of displaced people.
Refugees and asylum seekers face political and economic barriers that prevent them from accessing formal modes of education. Our goal is to break down these barriers by utilizing technology to deliver accessible education. In collaboration with our students, we work with psychologists, educators, and student advisors to design a holistic and effective education program.
Our Story
ELNOR, pronounced as “el-noor” (النور), means “the light” in Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew. We consider this word as a guiding principle of our program as we seek to offer hope, support new beginnings, and promote long-term change for people experiencing forced displacement. During the fall of 2020, several recent graduates from the London School of Economics with backgrounds in education and public policy came together to discuss the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic was presenting in education in already under-served contexts. Considering the largest gaps in access to education, they began researching educational needs in refugee camps and how to provide an innovative English education solution to adults seeking asylum. After countless hours of collaboration and research, ELNOR was born, and launched its classes in February 2021.
Meet the Team
We are a multinational group of English teachers, former UN assistants, and graduate students from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) who are dedicated to serving refugee students. We have witnessed how education and dialogue among people of different lived experiences can have a positive ripple effect on lives. Based on field research with volunteers at refugee camps across Europe, we found a need to bring these life changing educational services to those looking to learn English.
Victoria Jones
Cofounder, CEO, and Co-CFO
Victoria oversees program implementation and budgeting. She is a former teacher who has worked with students worldwide. Through a SITE fellowship and a Fulbright, she taught students, many from immigrant or refugee backgrounds, in Italy and Colombia from 2017-2019. She also served twice as an assistant at the United Nations FAO for the Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic, and has written about issues of statelessness of Dominicans of Haitian descent. Victoria graduated from Harvard in 2017 with a degree in Government, completed her master’s in International Social and Public Policy at the LSE in 2020, and began a PhD at Columbia University in 2022. She is passionate about the power of education and how it can be used to create a more just and equitable world.
Isabela Secanechia
Cofounder, COO, and Co-CFO
Isabela directs the operation of lessons, collaborates on the curriculum design, and manages administrative tasks and staff coordination. She has always been drawn to exploring the ways in which education, migration, and culture impact socioeconomic mobility. She has six years of teaching experience, and through the SITE fellowship and TAPIF, she taught English in underserved communities in both Italy and France. Her insight about international development and education grew through her experiences at the US Department of State and the French Embassy in Washington, DC. Isabela holds a BA in Italian and International Studies from Arcadia University and a MPA from the LSE. She is also completing her MA in French from the Middlebury Language Schools.
Layana Abu Touq
Cofounder and CPO
As Chief Policy Officer, Layana manages and responds to the research needs across the spectrum of development, talent, grant proposals, and policy, and works with different stakeholders to bring resources and evidence-based solutions to education access in refugee camps. Prior to ELNOR, Layana has worked for the New York Public Interest Research Group where she managed six projects to deploy social justice advocacy ranging from higher education access to civic engagement, healthcare, and combating poverty. Layana holds a B.A. in Psychology from The City College of New York, CUNY, and an MSc in International Social and Public Policy from the LSE. She is passionate about education policy as it interplays with equity, social justice, and the global distribution of resources.
Suzanna Varrichione
Cofounder
Suzanna Varrichione is one of the original founders of ELNOR, helping to design and implement the first iteration of the organization in 2020. She first met the other founders of ELNOR at the London School Economics while completing a Masters degree in International Social and Public Policy. Suzanna stepped down from a full-time founding role at ELNOR in 2021, and subsequently transitioned to a Board of Advisors role. She currently works in the international development sector as a Programme Management and Risk Specialist for Chemonics UK, based in London. She is passionate about advocating for the importance of universal access to education and to protecting the rights of the most vulnerable populations.
Amanda Fraine
Education Program Manager
Amanda runs the daily operations of the education program, working with our students, tutors, and partners to continuously improve our curriculum and students’ experiences. She began working with ELNOR as a volunteer curriculum consultant in early 2021, creating engaging lessons based on the CLIL model and following CEFR guidelines. Amanda has long-term experience teaching English as a second language full-time in the United States and abroad, in both Hechuan, China and in Reims, France through the TAPIF Program. Amanda reads and speaks French, Italian, and Chinese, and has been continuing her language studies through online Korean classes.
Dariush Kianizade
Partnership Coordinator
Dariush coordinates ELNOR’s partnership with BetterDays, teaching English exam preparation courses to young adult students, and supports the Education Department on a variety of projects. Dariush began working with ELNOR in February 2025 and has helped shape the exam preparation courses to open up professional and academic opportunities for students. Dariush has vast experience working with NGOs across Iran and Greece, including Yoga and Sport with Refugees in Athens and Refugym in Malakasa refugee camp. He has taught a variety of language courses for people seeking asylum, and employs his language skills in Farsi, Greek, and English to connect with students and colleagues. Dariush holds an undergraduate degree and masters degree in Psychology.
Ndayisaba Alphonse
Student Advisor
Ndayisaba Alphonse is a humanitarian, cultural mediator, and social anthropologist with extensive experience working with migrants and refugees across Africa and Europe. Fluent in Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Swahili, French, and English, he has delivered critical interpretation, cultural mediation, and health promotion services in challenging environments such as the Moria and Mahama refugee camps. As the founder of @the_humans_of_moria, he elevates refugee narratives to foster global awareness and empathy. Alphonse is deeply committed to community resilience and collective action, guided by his motto, “we do it together.” His work spans conflict resolution, advocacy, and leadership, with a focus on empowering displaced individuals. In June 2024, he graduated with a Master’s in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Central European University, blending lived experience with academic rigor. Alphonse is now actively seeking a PhD opportunity to further his research on how vulnerability is conceptualized and legally addressed in refugee settings and asylum claims, aiming to contribute to more inclusive and equitable policies for displaced populations.
Batol Gholami
Student Advisor
Originally from Afghanistan, Batol is currently in Madrid, Spain as a refugee. She holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from Comsats University Islamabad, Lahore campus. Batol is the Founder & CEO of the Afghanistan Youth Leaders Assembly (AYLA) and is actively involved as a social and women activist. The mission of establishing AYLA with a volunteer team in 2019 was to implement sustainable development projects, especially Quality of Education and Gender Equality, and continue programs to provide knowledge, development, and awareness opportunities to youths in remote areas, especially girls. After the collapse of Afghanistan in August 2021, Batol and her team started providing online schooling to girls to pave the way for further educational opportunities, especially abroad. AYLA now has alumni in different universities around the world. Besides empowering girls through education, Batol has been an advocate on different national and international stages to make communities aware of Gender Apartheid and the Taliban’s restriction in Afghanistan. With her diverse skill set and passion for empowering youth and women, Batol strives to make a meaningful impact in her community and beyond.
Masume Husseini
Student Advisor
Meet Masume, an Afghan woman migrant living in Greece. Her journey has always been driven by a deep commitment to education — both her own and that of others. From the early days in a refugee camp, she began teaching English to children, and since then, she has continued to support others through learning. Along the way, she has gained many valuable experiences and insights that she is passionate about sharing with those who need them most. Masume works closely with the ELNOR team to create meaningful Pre-A1 lessons for students just beginning to learn English and tutoring. In addition to her work with the education department, she also helps our research through translating and interpreting, as well as providing guidance from her firsthand experiences for our Professional Development Program.
Megan Hart
Volunteer Coordinator
Megan has volunteered with ELNOR as an IELTS tutor since September 2022, and is now a dedicated part of the team. Her passion for more equitable borders and humanitarian visa policies stem from her time as an activist in immigrant communities working to secure Sanctuary Cities in 2016. She greatly admires the work ELNOR is doing and enjoys learning more about her students throughout her tutoring sessions. They continue to inspire and drive her work. She has a B.A. in Political Science, History & Communications from the University of Delaware and an MSc in International Social and Public Policy the from LSE.
Lidia Klain
Research Coordinator
Lidia is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Baruch College. She has been volunteering as a tutor with ELNOR since 2023 and has recently taken on a role in the research department. Her passion for human rights, diversity, equality, and inclusion drives her work. With experience in education and a deep understanding of the human psyche, she aspires to continue being an active agent of change in the world.
Rohann Moresky-Madhavan
Intern
Rohann is currently a high school senior. He has been passionate about immigration rights because of his first hand experience of inequities in New York City and his familial immigration experience. He has been working with ELNOR this past spring on marketing and research, and is looking forward to continuing his internship this summer.
Board of Advisors
Yousef Aleghfeli
Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli is the Research Fellow in Data Science and Migration at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration program, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where they manage various research projects on international migration and mobility. Prior to TMU, Yousef worked extensively in research, policy, and data analytics for various NGOs, governments, and UN agencies internationally, leading them to work in several countries across five continents. Aside from migration data analytics, Yousef is an academic expert on refugee education issues with several academic publications on the subject. Yousef completed their DPhil in Education at the University of Oxford, where they wrote on the educational resilience of unaccompanied and separated children. Yousef also holds a Master of Education from Harvard University, a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the American University of Sharjah in the UAE. They continue to hold research affiliations with the University of Oxford and the University of Nottingham in the UK.
Stanton Geyer
Stanton Geyer is a sustainable urban solutions professional living in London, UK. Geyer holds a BA in global politics with minors in Middle East studies (Arabic language focus) and in philosophy from Washington and Lee University, and he earned an MS in urbanisation and development from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has served as Research Program Manager for ELNOR, leading research projects in Greece and France. Geyer now acts as a member of ELNOR’s Board of Advisors. He continues to provide support as a language tutor, offering support and continuing to improve his language skills in Portuguese, Arabic, Farsi, and French. His research and work have led him to Brazil, Egypt, France, Greece, Lebanon, and now the UK.
James F. Hollifield
James F. Hollifield is Ora Nixon Arnold Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Tower Center at SMU. He is also a member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. Hollifield is a scholar of international and comparative political economy, and he has written widely on issues of political and economic development, with a focus on migration. Among his major works are Immigrants, Markets and States (Harvard UP 1992), L’Immigration et l’Etat Nation (L’Harmattan 1997), Pathways to Democracy (Routledge, 2000), Herausforderung Migration— Perspektiven der vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft (Lit Verlag 2006). Hollifield has served as an advisor for governments around the world and for many international organizations on matters of migration and human and economic development. In 2016, Hollifield received a Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association; in 2021-22 he was named as a Fellow of the French Institute for Advanced Studies in Paris; and in 2023 he received a Career Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association.
Marcella Jimenez
Marcella Jimenez is a Middle School Spanish teacher at The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Marcella grew up in a bilingual and bicultural home in Dallas, Texas and learned first hand how language shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world. Through proficiency oriented instruction, she aims to teach students how to develop intercultural awareness, communicate ideas, and use language to connect with others. She holds a BA from Bowdoin College in Teaching and Hispanic Studies and an MA from Middlebury College in Spanish Teaching and Pedagogy.
Danie Meyer-Parlapanis
Danie has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Konstanz in Germany. Since 2016, she has directed Cologne Counseling, a co-counseling community offering pro bono trauma interventions for LGBTIA* individuals seeking asylum in Germany. Danie is a specialist consultant for experiences of lesbophobia and is a member of the Eurocentral Asian Lesbian* Community. Danie co-founded NETCollect, which offers trauma-focused continuing education to mental health professionals under the American Psychological Association (APA). In collaboration with RUSH University Medical Center, the University of Illinois Chicago and Indiana University, Danie’s current research focuses on perinatal, racialized and systemic trauma and violence in underserved black, brown and indigenous communities in both rural and urban settings. From 2013-2020, she served as the Project Coordinator for the European Research Council (ERC) funded Advanced Grant Project “MemoTV- Memories of Traumatic Stress and Violence,” and its Proof of Concept Project: “POPP- Putting Offense Prevention into Practice.”
Noelle Smith
Noelle Smith is a Skadden Fellow at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project (IRP) based in San Francisco. She is a graduate of Davidson College and Stanford Law School. Before joining IRP, she clerked for the Honorable Jill N. Parrish of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and the Honorable Jacqueline H. Nguyen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Kaylia Taylor
As an advisor for ELNOR, Kaylia will connect the organization with legal NGOs and provide insight into global asylum and migration trends to help ELNOR develop effective strategies to achieve its goals. Before joining ELNOR, she gained valuable experience in immigration law as a legal intern, where she assisted with family-based petitions, and reviewed asylum and residency applications. Kaylia earned her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Florida International University in 2018, followed by an M.Sc. in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics in 2020. She is currently pursuing her Juris Doctor degree at Howard University School of Law, expecting to graduate in 2025. Kaylia is passionate about immigration law and its intersection with equity and social justice for marginalized communities.