A native of Iowa, Ms. Boujaber-Diederichs has spent her career as an educator, activist, researcher, and nonprofit, university and secondary school administrator. She has been an Associate Faculty member and Digital Professor at Valencia College and in the Dual Enrollment Program for over ten years. She is also an Administrative Dean at Freedom High School. Her interests are in international and experiential education, community development, poverty eradication, transnational collaboration, policy advocacy, social movements and gender/women’s issues in the U.S. and particularly in the Global South.
She has worked, studied and lived in Mexico, Europe, Northern and Southern Africa, Central Asia, New York City and Washington D.C. She was a Fulbright scholar in Namibia during 1990-91, that country’s first year of independence. She has a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education and a Bachelors degree in International Studies from The School for International Training. She also qualified for a Master's in Public and Urban Policy at The New School for Social Research as she was working toward her doctorate.
In addition to her teaching experience at the university, high school level and in language centers, she has worked for a nonprofit social investment fund for South Africa, a community development research center, and a coalition of women’s organizations advocating for sustainable development and global grassroots participation. Prior to moving to Florida, she lived in New York City for over ten years.