Koli Banik is a Senior Education Advisor at USAID's Bureau for Africa. She previously worked at the Global Partnership for Education as an Education Specialist. Her areas of expertise are in girls’ education, gender equity, out of school children, teacher issues, as well as knowledge management. Before joining the Secretariat, Koli worked for the Population Council, World Bank, American Friends Service Committee, and local NGOs in India. She has extensive field experience working with rural communities in India and Vietnam on gender, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. She has a Ph.D. in International Education from the University of Maryland, and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.