AISL Director Selection Announcement - 20 August 2020

Dear AISL Community: The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of our next school Director! Dr. Oli Tooher-Hancock has accepted the position and will be joining the AISL community in July 2021. We are beyond thrilled to welcome Oli and her husband Mike to Lusaka, where we know they will thrive!

Thank you to all the students, parents, teachers, and school leadership and administration teams for your important role in the Director selection process. The Board very much valued your participation in the interviews with candidates and the feedback you provided to help inform our decision. The Director Search Committee, consisting of the Board Governance Committee, Board Administrator, and PTA President has worked closely with a consultant from Search Associates in the recruitment process since June. We received over 50 applications, and worked closely to narrow down to 8 semi-finalists, and ultimately 3 finalists. We carefully reviewed candidate references and over 90 survey responses from the AISL community that participated in the candidate interviews. The high level of interest we received from so many highly qualified candidates is a real testament to the excellent reputation AISL has developed over the years.

Please find Oli's bio below, and please join us in extending a warm AISL welcome to our next Director in 2021! Please stay tuned for a message from Oli in the coming week.

Oli is currently the Head of the International School of Hyderabad (ISH), India. Oli is a British/Irish national with over 30 years experience in education and leadership, 28 years of which have been in IB international schools in Spain, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Peru. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University in the United States.
Oli taught IB History for many years and was an IBDP Diploma Coordinator for 10 years in the Asia Region. She has been a secondary principal and an assistant head of school in two full IB World schools. She has extensive experience leading curriculum and professional learning, whole school community service and experience with CIS, WASC, MSA, and NEASC accreditation, as well as IB authorization visits. Oli is President-Elect for the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE). She serves on two other charitable boards, in Hyderabad and Siem Reap. She is married to Mike, who is currently the Athletic Director and PE teacher at ISH, and has two grown sons, Patrick and George.

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