PROWIBO
About Us
Professors Without Borders Online
Is a platform aimed to fill the knowledge gap and create a global network of academics.
This exciting new initiative, started by Prowibo CEO, Dr. Caroline Varin, and Dr. George Richards from Edinboro University, is a free platform designed to connect professors and institutions for online guest lectures on any topic. This programme was developed as a result of the rapid shift of higher education moving online as a consequence of COVID-19. Prowibo Online fills a local knowledge gap and assists professors as the world moves to remote learning.
We are building a database of academics, professionals and experts that will be available for your organisation to book. You choose the topic, they deliver the expertise online. We have a growing partnership with experts in the fields of Business & Entrepreneurship, Engineering & Science, Politics, Medicine and Law.
Our Team
Dr. Caroline Varin
Co-Founder & CEO
Caroline Varin holds a PhD in International Relations and an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics, an LLM in International Law from the Universita di Bologna, Italy, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
She has worked as a lecturer, a mentor and a tutor in Europe and the UK, the United States and in Central America. Caroline is passionate about education and finding new ways to stimulate and encourage students.
Caroline has experience managing projects, organizing conferences and developing communication strategies for a variety of clients and sectors in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She has also written a wide variety of articles on international security issues, has three books in print and regularly consults with governments and academic institutions. Caroline has lectured at Regent’s University London, Richmond University, and the London School of Economics among others.
Dr. George Richards
Project Lead
George E. Richards is in his 17th year of service to the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Criminal Justice, Anthropology and Forensic Sciences. He has been teaching at the university level for 26 years. Prior to his tenure at Edinboro University, he taught at the University of Akron, in the Indiana University system and the University of Lousville.
Dr. Richards maintains an active research agenda that focuses on the criminal victimization of refugees and mental illness among first responders. He has regularly published in peer-reviewed and popular publications and frequently presents at regional, national and international conferences on criminal justice-related topics. He was a Fulbright Senior Specialist in the Department of Criminology at Raksha Shakti University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India during the Spring 2019 semester. During the Summer of 2019 term, Dr. Richards serviced with Professors Without Borders as a lecturer at the University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
In 2017, Richards was named the ‘Advisor of the Year’ by Edinboro University. He won a similar honour in 2010 when he was selected as Edinboro University’s ‘Educator of the Year.’ Dr. Richards is also a Distinguished Lecturer of Social equity at Edinboro University. He earned board certification in security management with the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation from the American Society for Industrial Security. Richards was the President of the Ohio Council of Criminal Justice Education for two terms and was a member of the Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association. He is currently a member of the President’s Diversity Council at Edinboro University. He, his wife and son reside in Cleveland, Ohio USA. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, golf and camping.
Samantha Stortz
People & Project Manager
Samantha holds an MA in International Development from Richmond University, London and a BA in Politics and International Relations from Kingston University, London. In 2017, she interned for Professors Without Borders and fell in love with the mission of the organisation. Since then, Samantha has worked for multiple national and international NGOs focused on vulnerable populations. Recently, Samantha moved back to the US after living and working in Cartagena, Colombia as a History and Social Studies teacher.
In the past, Samantha has lived and worked in multiple countries including Ireland, where she worked for an MP in the Irish Parliament and Peru where she led a project in women’s empowerment for an NGO called Otra Cosa Network. According to Samantha, her most meaningful work experience was at Bethany Christian Service’s Transitional Foster Care Program where she worked with unaccompanied minors from Central and South America who were apprehended at the US-Mexico border. She worked there during the time of the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance policy and worked on the front lines to advocate for the well-being and reunification of the children and their parents.
Currently, when she’s not organising lectures and recruiting professors for Prowibo Online, Samantha is back in her home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan where she is working as a Bilingual Self-Sufficiency Advisor for a local non-profit. Samantha works with Spanish-speaking families in the local area and assists them with finding resources in the community to help with essential needs.
