Mona has been a teacher and school principal for the first 14 years of her career working both in the primary school and high school context in the United States and South Africa. After being awarded a Masters degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech, she has spent her time in primary school classrooms in public, private and charter schools. 

During her years as a maths teacher Mona continued to improve her practice and in 2009 achieved United States National Board Certification. This was the same year Mona was accepted to be a Teacher Fellow with Teach With Africa, a teacher exchange programme between America and South Africa. This opportunity turned out to be life-changing, literally. During the two-month placement, Mona made a decision to accept a position as Instructional Specialist and eventually Principal at LEAP Science and Maths School, her TWA placement school, in Cape Town, South Africa. Working with township youth in South Africa ignited even more of a passion in her -- that every single child in the world deserves great opportunities. After seeing first-hand the outcomes of educational disparity on high schoolers, Mona shifted her focus to primary education and moved to Johannesburg to be the founding principal of SPARK Cresta, the second school in the SPARK blended-learning network.

For the last ten years Mona has been the Regional Development Manager for the Breteau Foundation managing all of the projects in Africa and North America. The experience has given her insight into what areas of education are the most important and what she is most passionate about.