Sometimes organizations are blessed with having the right people on board at the right time. When Dr. Heather Farmakis joined the Texas International Education Consortium in 2018, we could not have known how much the landscape of international education would change in the six years since. Her skills and passion were essential to help TIEC not only weather, but help lead the way in, the transformations of our industry and our organization.
As she moves on from her role as TIEC’s Chief Operations Officer this month, her leadership and dedication have left an indelible mark on our organization, and we honor the legacy she leaves behind.
Sharing a Modern Approach to Learning
Heather is, at her core, a teacher dedicated to lifting up other educators. She joined TIEC with an extensive background in instructional design and online learning that she immediately employed to improve TIEC’s English language and teacher training programs. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought education systems around the globe to a halt, her expertise paved the way for TIEC to move to the frontlines to help our friends and networks get teachers online and students back to learning.
The result was two groundbreaking partnerships for TIEC with the governments of Ghana and the Philippines, supported by the U.S. State Department, to deliver flexible learning solutions to higher education institutions in both countries. Both partnerships went on to receive accolades with international educators and are just two examples among the now many large-scale programs she led during her time with TIEC. The systems and approach Heather established built up TIEC’s internal capacity and confidence to leverage the power of our Texas-based networks to serve and support our government, academic, and industry partners across sectors and locations.
Most recently, Heather’s leadership brought TIEC’s long-standing partner and first affiliate member, Prince Mohammed University’s healthcare-development efforts to life. Her efforts to shepherd six technical working groups, as well as world-renowned advisors in academic medicine, towards the development of PMU Health will improve the health and quality of countless lives in Saudi Arabia over the coming years. Her work is a testament to the immense value of establishing trusted, long-term partnerships that can make the seemingly impossible, possible.
A Problem Solver
For those of us who worked closely alongside Heather, we can see the legacy of her commitment to finding the best way to do something brought to life across all corners of TIEC. She led the way to create systems that allowed TIEC’s small but mighty team to run substantial programs in multiple countries and timezones. She brought TIEC — sometimes reluctantly but always better for it — into modern times with virtual tools for collaboration and accounting that were crucial for growth, support, and flexibility.
From her intimidating command of a spreadsheet to her willingness to literally roll up her sleeves to move furniture, our team witnessed firsthand how Heather relentlessly sought solutions and never hesitated to see a project through to the finish. From the seemingly mundane to the truly foundational, the sum of her efforts is an organization that is now modern and nimble and a team capable of sustaining TIEC as a transparent, capacity-building partner for higher education institutions worldwide.
We're certain that Heather will accomplish amazing things in her next adventure and are grateful for the time she dedicated to TIEC.
