Chrystina Russell is the Vice President for Global Engagement at Southern New Hampshire University, where she spearheads innovative initiatives to bring tertiary education to students outside of the United States. One of the projects she's most passionate about is building university programs in refugee camps where students who normally would not access higher education use on-line and in-person learning to earn a degree from Southern New Hampshire University. Prior, she was the Chief Academic Officer of Kepler, a blended learning university program based in Rwanda. The organization has two campuses launched by Chrystina—one in the capitol city of Kigali and the other in Kiziba refugee camp.

Previously, she was the founding principal of Global Tech Prep, a high-performing, innovative public school in East Harlem, New York City and was faculty at the City College of New York. Chrystina began her career as a bilingual special education teacher for four years in the Bronx, where she became addicted to understanding educational challenges and using innovation and technology to find creative solutions in vulnerable communities. Chrystina graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Organization & Minority Communities, and a Master’s of Science in Bilingual Special Education. Chrystina recently defended her Ph.D. dissertation at the City University of New York Graduate Center in Urban Education Policy, and will graduate with her Doctorate degree in June 2022.


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