Isabel Wolfer

Background

About Isabel Wolfer

I'm a teacher at Perkins School for the Blind and a recent EdM graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I previously served as a Fulbright grantee in Laos and held positions at Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind. I was initially introduced to the visual impairment field through deafblind education services at Perkins, and I have working proficiency in American Sign Language. My undergraduate degree focused on post-conflict studies. I most recently was a Program Manager at a nonprofit that promotes reconciliation in Northern Ireland and Ireland, and I previously served as a Junior Resident Fellow at the Center for Khmer Studies in Cambodia. I have also interned with the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section at the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Aspen Institute, Darfur Women Action Group, and Galicia Jewish Museum in Poland. I transitioned to special education through family experience, undergraduate coursework in American Sign Language, and extracurricular involvement in DC's Deaf community. After working in the field full-time for two years after college, I began graduate studies to become a Teacher of the Visually Impaired through an online Masters program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This coursework was funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education. I began my second Masters at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in July of 2023. My Fulbright grant in Laos provided an opportunity to merge my interests in special education and conflict studies. I am especially interested in conflict-related vision loss and the provision of education services to impacted populations.