Maya Soetoro-Ng

Maya Soetoro-Ng was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and later moved with her family to Honolulu, Hawai’i. She was awarded a Masters degree in Secondary Education from NYU’s College of Education and a PhD in Multicultural Education from the University of Hawai’i. From 1996 to 2000 she taught and developed curriculum for The Learning Project, an alternative public middle school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. After moving back to Hawai’I in 2000, Maya taught World Cultures, US History and the Constitution, and Peace Education in both public and private settings. She also worked as an Education Specialist at the East West Center promoting international educational exchange between Asia and the United States.

Maya is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii’s College of Education where she teaches Multicultural Education, Social Studies Methods, and Peace Education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. She has two daughters and sits on the advisory boards of several educational nonprofits. She has written a picture book entitled “Ladder to the Moon” and is currently under contract to write a book on Peace Education as well as a young adult novel entitled “Yellow Wood”. Maya has also contributed to several publications on the topics of mixed identity and has spoken widely about education for empathy and global competence.