In this inspiring episode of The Bridge, Cate sits down with Dr. Jennifer Williams, co-founder of Take Action Global, to explore how curiosity, connection, and compassion fuel global education. Jennifer shares her journey from classroom teacher and principal to global leader working with educators in 180 countries—helping them see how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can transform learning and belonging. She reflects on mentorship as a spiral—a continuous cycle of learning and teaching—and offers heartfelt advice for educators to start small, go deep, and build purpose-driven classrooms. Together, Cate and Jennifer celebrate the power of teachers to drive climate action, creativity, and global empathy through community and storytelling.
Jennifer is the co-founder and Co-Executive Director of Take Action Global, an international non-profit organization committed to supporting young people to take action for the planet through sustainable development and global collaboration. For more than 25 years, she has served as an education activist, instructional designer, professor, school director, literacy specialist, and classroom teacher. She is the founder of #TeachSDGs and the author of Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good (ISTE).
đź”— Jennifer on LinkedIn
Cate Tolnai (she/her): All right. Well, hello Jennifer Williams. It's nice to have you on The Bridge.
Jennifer Williams: Thanks for having me. I've been so excited for this conversation.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Aw.
Jennifer Williams: that you've created this new podcast.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Thanks. It's, it is truly my love letter to educators. I, I feel that way and I feel like I ha I just, not everybody gets an opportunity at, in, in our field to. Pause and like connect with others and like we were saying this before we got on the call, like, how lucky am I that I got to like ask for a whole hour on your calendar, even though I'm not gonna take it, but like, oh my gosh, that is like, that is not lost on me.
And it is, it's so, I'm grateful to have you with us. You are a busy, busy educator and mama and human, so.
Jennifer Williams: you are the absolute right person to, to host these stories and I'm really happy to have our little story shared today, so I appreciate
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Oh my gosh. Well, let's start with that little story. So part of why I wanted to have you on this episode, or this, this podcast was because I have,
Jennifer Williams: I
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I mean our, our journey started,
Jennifer Williams: interviews
Cate Tolnai (she/her): God, maybe like 8, 9, 10 years ago. I think our worlds kind of, we started orbiting together in ed tech and you're over on the other coast.
So I think our worlds didn't orbit as close. Back in the beginning,
Jennifer Williams: back
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I always knew of this Jennifer Williams and like I always knew you were around and you were. and it's so funny to go back in time and see you in pictures and realize we were in the same spaces and maybe didn't even pause long enough to say hi.
but what has your journey, I mean, you know, what's like, what's, what's the highlight reel of your journey that got you here, and like what do you do in education?
Jennifer Williams: Yeah. I, think you're so right on that. We've, we were like crisscrossing and all that we were doing and running in parallel, but then not ever intersecting, I think, but I feel like you and I this like intentional decision to make sure we are
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: to connect those.
So I'm so grateful. For that with our friendship and our collaborations. But yeah, you're right. I am on the other coast and I'm in Florida in the United States, but I get to work with teachers all around the world, which is just. The best. We are working now with teachers in 180 countries and every subject area, working with students of every age, which for me is amazing and I, get to represent that community and conversations like this, but it definitely didn't start there.
And it's always evolving. I'm like you, an educator. My, my whole career and started off as a classroom teacher. I was a school principal, moved to higher ed working with pre-service teachers. Got quite interested in this space around innovation and finding ways that we could use educational technology to connect people in shared experiences. And, then just started following along with. Other people who had a similar, focus and this similar kind of sense of purpose around social action and empowering learners, it could be students, but also teachers. And so we've been guided a lot by some different practices than different, Kind of roadmaps like the UN SDGs, which I'm sure we'll dive in today and every day. I'm amazed, like truly we get to, to do some fun work with some great people and some great organizations that care about the people and the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): So this is what I, this is what I think is really interesting. Like, like, and, and again, I, my, I always like to mention
Jennifer Williams: like to
Cate Tolnai (she/her): our audience and even though. You know, I'm sure other people are listening, but when I, when I, when this idea for this podcast first came to be, it was to bridge,
Jennifer Williams: Sea the expertise of educators, through stories and, to infuse this, you know, understanding and love, of education community, into all, all different levels of educators.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): And you, you clearly. Like through your story, been in the classroom, been an administrator, taught higher ed, now you're in the nonprofit space. So what, what did it look like to decide to,
Jennifer Williams: look
Cate Tolnai (she/her): to leave like
Jennifer Williams: like
Cate Tolnai (she/her): and move into higher ed? And then I'm really curious, like at what point you decided to launch into this global nonprofit to call Take Action Global, which an amazing organization.
Jennifer Williams: Thanks, Cate. I think for me it was just like being curious really. I didn't know, and I, think that for me definitely, holds true that when I entered into my profession of being a teacher, I thought there was this. One path, that's
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: knew about. was going to be a classroom teacher.
I couldn't wait to get into
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: I about bulletin boards and the arrangement of my desks. even when I was a young girl, it was me imagining taking attendance and giving tests.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): too.
Jennifer Williams: that view, all I knew, like as a student growing up. And then. What I thought it would be to be a teacher. That's what I saw and that's what I saw for my whole career. And that was great. Like I was all in on that. And then this idea, of how can learning take shape in
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: way? You talk about storytelling and bridging and so I think that curiosity of. What are other ways that school is globally? I, wanted to learn.
And so I think that's what drew me into this space of, global collaboration and social action. And then when I left K 12 and moved into higher ed, I had been doing a lot with global collaboration and virtual exchange and
Cate Tolnai (she/her): what year is this? Just to like frame the, the globe. Okay.
Jennifer Williams: 2015. I think there, there was a, you were a part of it too.
This, big movement into ed tech and it was about one-to-one and implementation and how do we outfit our, schools and our classrooms with things like
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: that was taking, I think, part of the work that we were seeing out with anything around innovation. So teachers, I don't know. If at that point they really understood where they fit into the conversation around, around global ed. But when the UN and our world came together in 2015 and we then had these global goals, this set of 17 goals that I think were developed with. Purpose, but also with a lot of hope. We started to see maybe where we as teachers and schools and communities of learners could fit into that conversation.
So anyone that doesn't know these 17 goals, they really range from. Talking about gender to talking about life on land,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: we're looking at sustainable cities. We're talking about poverty and hunger and food and water. And what I found then, and it even took a while, but starting in 2015 until now, we're 10 years in on the SDGs working toward 2030. I see teachers really understanding okay, I'm a humanities teacher. I'm in the social sciences. The global goals are me. I am a
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: teacher. I teach environmental ed, or I teach biology. The global goals are me. I'm a PE teacher. I'm outdoors every day. I'm experiencing climate change. The global goals are me.
So we started to see where teachers, I think maybe for a lot of us for the first time, felt. Acknowledged and felt like we could really contribute. So that for me was a moment where everything changed and, it, started to bring this idea of belonging that you talk about a lot. And I know you've talked about over the years where we as teachers felt like we. Maybe belong in this space. And it didn't need to be about sameness, it needed to be about this, the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: And so maybe we had one teacher in a school saying, I'm on board. This is something I'm doing. Here. She the only teacher in that school, but maybe they're connecting with another teacher in a different part of the world, and then they could connect and then move those conversations forward.
So that was a powerful
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: and we've done so much since then and we have a long way to go. But I do think that, identity building is, where it all
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: into gear.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I would agree. I can't believe that SDGs are only 10 years old, I guess. I guess I never thought. About that when they started. But, but of course the, that origin story is fascinating and I
Jennifer Williams: fascinating.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): you were in a position where you could actually like double down on it when you were seeing it and like, just, I just wrote that down, like when you were saying the global goals are me and people are starting to see, to see their passions reflected in, in frameworks and in global, in a global mission.
Right.
Jennifer Williams: global mission,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): and in a, and in a sense there's like. I
Jennifer Williams: there's
Cate Tolnai (she/her): mean, I'm transitioning over to this idea of mentorship and I'm thinking like, like I love a good set of standards, like iHeart frameworks. I really do like I I any guidance that can be provided. I like a script and then I like to break it and I like to make it my own and fit the the world that I'm in.
And I think that's why I really like the SDGs because they're so flexible. They're so all over the place. and they bring so many, Did what, what seemed to be separate concepts. Like they, they unite them in a way that makes them feel like digestible, attainable, connected. So I'm curious, who has been, or how have you been mentored?
Like, have you had in an individual or two or group, like come in and kind of take you under their wing and what was that like?
Jennifer Williams: I always get really happy when I can think about mentorship because I do believe that we in education can do this better
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: out there. this is us, right? Okay, so when we start to think about what we're specifically focused on at Take Action Global, our nonprofit, so we are all
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: education for all.
My background is literacy, so I was a literacy specialist, a speech language pathologist. I'm all about the communication side of the work, and I land in this space that we're focused on. Climate sciences, something I knew
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: about. And so I've had to look to our community of climate scientists, our community of expert educators, students who have really been leading the way.
How cool to
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Wow.
Jennifer Williams: with some of these great minds. And that was very new for me because, When we were talking about, transforming teaching and learning and saying, okay, we need to get out of the front of the classroom, or we need to be posing questions to our students that, we may not have the answers to.
That's really
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: sometimes that's artificial for our teachers to ask that of them because. they do have the answers. If
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: like, I don't know what a
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: is. so it, I think our students see right through that. But this was
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: because we don't oftentimes have the answer.
So we're able to look at our students and say, I really don't know. Or these SDGs, these sustainable development. don't necessarily understand yet how we're going to implement them, but do you want to learn alongside me? So I feel like mentorship for me personally, has. Really taken form through this work that I've been going through for the past 10 years.
but I do know that within our work with, when we think about the design of our programs, we recognize that a lot of our teachers come from a similar path in that they have not been ex explicitly. Directed in how to bring climate education into the classroom, and so they don't have that identity as a climate action educator.
They. Might think, that's someone else is doing that. Someone else is checking that box. Who am I to come in? So that's, I think the first work that we do is around
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: with our teachers, our participants. And we say to them, you are a climate action educator. If not you, then who, like now is the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Right.
Jennifer Williams: of this work, you are the ones that will lead. So it's a huge opportunity. And it's this interesting less, say. When we think about mentorship, that is very top down. I, am a mentor. I have been given that role. Someone told me that I have that role. Much like in, in our positions as teachers, you are told you are a third grade
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: are an arts teacher for seventh graders or whatever it may be. here we're able to not have it be top down. It is definitely much more of a spiral. So our teachers one year may be a mentor because they have. or expertise in something like, Reaching out to the go local government and being able to move ideas forward. But maybe the next year they're the learner, but then the next year they're able to cascade new ideas forward.
So it's this constant spiral. And I think for us it's what are we gonna learn together? And it's not this pressure, that we see in traditional mentorship. So
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: it's fascinating to watch. It's a, it's such a cool space.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Girl. I have never thought of mentorship as a spiral, but I, I'm gonna take that as my nugget because you're, you're right. In a sense like, like it's always, and I don't know if it's a spiral up or down, I don't know if that matters, but it's that idea of like, we're just going around and around and building momentum as we do it.
And that is such a beautiful metaphor, I think. Because, because there's almost like a finality to mentorship. Like you get into, especially in education, right? Like you're, you're a young teacher, you're just starting out, you're a novice teacher, not young.
Jennifer Williams: novice,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): and you're just starting out in the classroom and you're assigned your mentor
Jennifer Williams: assigned your mentor,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): then you have that mentor for a year, and then you are released from said mentor and everything's supposed to make sense.
And it doesn't, it never does. So like.
Jennifer Williams: Ever does. And it always is
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Right, and how empowering to be to take that model and say, actually no, this is an ongoing, this is an ongoing spiral of support.
Jennifer Williams: lifts occurred.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I like that it takes the spiral notion and kind of turns it into a really positive thing too.
Jennifer Williams: We're spiraling
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah,
Jennifer Williams: No, we're that, it's those in those circles within the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): yeah.
Jennifer Williams: just, they can grow with each new interaction and we all can contribute. mentee, we had. Was, we have a project that we have been working on with the, the un, it's called the goals project.
And we had a design challenge with it. It happens every January through March, and it's a fun six week global project. Classrooms can join, but we always try to incorporate a virtual exchange element to everything that we do. We want our students to be working with. Other students who may live or look differently, but talking about these same connecting pieces. And so because that project moves so quickly and we're already asking teachers to about these global topics, but then also use ed tech. For connection and sharing and documenting and reporting. There's a lot happening in that project. So then adding a virtual exchange, which in itself could
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: was something that we thought would, we just wouldn't
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: So we looked to our youth for, solution there, because we used this great tool, Padlet, and we had six weeks, we had six topics that we wanted to hit. And so we had a global youth, ambassador, really be our voice
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Wow.
Jennifer Williams: and so we had them record a message and then it was done asynchronously. But we had students then go in and they were able to listen to those recordings and then respond when it made sense for them. But the coolest thing happened, Cate. So that project has, it's almost been a year now. I get daily, still daily students going in and responding to those videos. So the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Wow.
Jennifer Williams: It's, it can be a spiral, but also it can just go on. So it's that, ripple across time, across space, across people. It's, vast. And so that's, I think that inspiration is
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: on how we can use some of these to keep the learning going. It doesn't, Right.
like you mentioned with traditional mentorship.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): kind of like that momentum of the spiral. Like
Jennifer Williams: It's
Cate Tolnai (she/her): someone is often,
Jennifer Williams: someone is often
Cate Tolnai (she/her): seen as a, a mentee and kind of put in that box. But
Jennifer Williams: that
Cate Tolnai (she/her): you look at it like as you're describing with the student stepping in, like, and then other students stepping in and who knows who the next student ambassador, they're already on that Padlet.
You know, it's like, it's like you kind of dance between your roles. And that is, I think. Especially right now in 2025 in education and for students that are, that are starting to discover passion areas and, and actually our system.
Jennifer Williams: our systems
Cate Tolnai (she/her): And we've, we've seen school systems all over the world. There are some school systems that are creating spaces for 20% time or for passion projects or problem based learning, you know, and there, those, those spaces exist in ways that they didn't exist 10 years ago when we were so worried about, At least in California. And, and that's all I can speak to, but, you know, we are still driven by the standards, but what,
Jennifer Williams: the standards,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): what about those, those
Jennifer Williams: those
Cate Tolnai (she/her): that are strengthened when kids come to it with passion and with purpose? And I just love it. I I have, I have long had a crush on the work that you do and, and I had an opportunity to, to partner with Take Action Global over this last year and, do a little bit of headway into, into figuring out the, the.
The beautiful chaos that is California education.
Jennifer Williams: education. Yes.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I thank you for that opportunity. I feel like I, I learned a ton and one of the, one of my favorite memories that I had, I don't know if I've gotten a chance to tell you this in person, but, So for those of you that don't know, take action. Global Partners with Lego Education Foundation.
Right.
Jennifer Williams: Foundation,
Cate Tolnai (she/her): and actually I'm gonna stop there. How did you guys get in with Lego Education Foundation? Can we ask? Let's, that is such an amazing partnership and it's, the project is so fun.
Jennifer Williams: We're so lucky to work with that, team, and so the Lego Group with Lego Foundation are very much committed to this idea of learning
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yes.
Jennifer Williams: As we all know, a lot of us have experiences growing up with Lego bricks and building and designing, and so they. a large part of their work is using learning through play with purpose to build the change. And so they have a commitment to some of these sustainability topics that we already are working on.
So that partnership, think we've been working with them for about the past five
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: and it started as awareness building. So we were doing a lot of webinars, but now we have dedicated programs. So we have monthly challenges that go out. Where classrooms are able to build with any resources that they have available.
It can be Lego bricks, it can be recycled materials, arts and crafts. Sometimes they're even using technology. And so those, challenges go out and it might be okay, we need to create, a structure that can be supportive for the certain species of birds, or maybe we want to reimagine. Schools to be sustainable buildings or what happens if we go at a systems level and make a whole city that's sustainable? And so we have classrooms that are building in 30
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: some are taking three weeks, and then they're able to share back those ideas. And then Lego, the Lego Group becomes a microphone really trying to amplify solutions. Students are creating. So yes, you and I had so much fun with that because I know creativity and play part of your DNA, so educators definitely, leading the way I think in that.
But we're, continuing on, that's one of our programs, but we have, some
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: that really are committed to taking care of people, taking care of the planet. Lego Group, definitely being one of those.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): I, I had an opportunity to go into my daughter's classroom and, and teach.
Jennifer Williams: That's
Cate Tolnai (she/her): that lesson and basically mentor her teacher and in this, in this space. So talk about also just being new to this and be like, you know, what's the thread that connects me to the kids that are in front of me right now?
And it was, it was playing creativity and, it was such a fun, it was such a fun way too. Connect not only with the work that, that you and your team lead, but to connect with my daughter and to connect with her,
Jennifer Williams: to
Cate Tolnai (she/her): her community, our community here in Santa Barbara and her teacher, and her teacher continued to do the project even after and was sending me pictures and had the kids present.
It was this really cool thing that, you know, I, that you should know would never have happened had we not, you know, had our path not crossed. And there's just,
Jennifer Williams: past.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): just one of
Jennifer Williams: that's just
Cate Tolnai (she/her): of stories of connection that, that you. I probably don't get to hear, but
Jennifer Williams: Yeah. I really
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: I love to hear that. And with your daughter, my daughter is older than your daughter, but she's in college right now to be a, teacher and just last week she had a presentation. She was like a little uncertain. She had to present to her peers, which was always so hard for our young college
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: I think. But, she had to present on project based learning, PBL, and I was like. Oh my gosh. Bring in Lego bricks. Everyone know you don't even have to say anything. You put them in front of people. They know exactly what the, they need to do. And so she did the Sustainable
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Did she,
Jennifer Williams: challenge and
Cate Tolnai (she/her): ah.
Jennifer Williams: it was a hit.
I was like, yay. I had, a little bags and kits ready for her. Yeah. I was like, I know how to help with that one. I can, show up there. yeah, I agree with you. I do think that. Are these are those connections that, we can help do as teachers.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah. Well, my last question for you, my friend.
Jennifer Williams: Okay. what advice would you have for educators that, that might hear this and go, I do wanna be a part of this larger conversation? Like, yes, we can put links in the show notes. So it's more like, what? What social emotional advice do you have for, for those educators that are, are hungry to still be connected to a global purpose, but might not feel like that's attainable right now?
It's, there is, there are so many things that we as teachers could. Doing a day. Like it's just, it's endless. And then when we layer on this idea of, okay, now we need to go save the world too, we're talking about a lot of pressure. And so we do have a lot of teachers in our community who we are working with every day. Who, I observe what they do and how they're able to move from again, being the only maybe
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: in their school that are bringing topics around, student action, student empowerment, global collaboration, virtual exchange. They might be the only ones. Doing it. And that can feel lonely and scary.
And you honestly, sometimes you don't know, do I have per, I the one that
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Right.
Jennifer Williams: this? Am I the right one? And watching what they're able to do and then in a short period of time. then, we do see that identity shift, but they may be in their country, the
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Right.
Jennifer Williams: then they're going from really just someone who is on the edges, I think, to someone who's
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: cool to see.
But what I do see with them is, I think. Setting and going deep with attainable goals. So what I mean by that is something as simple, like we talk about small auctions in a day, which sounds trivial, but if I were to say, okay, I'm going to do, this quarter I'm gonna focus on a tree planting. Cool. Like I could go plant a tree today. I could run to the store, get a tree, plant it, and check that box. But I think going deeper, planting one tree, but understanding its roots, understanding that impact that tree will have for years to come. Telling the story of that tree or that experience. It allows us, I think, to feel success and not focus on being overwhelmed.
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: teachers that I see are doing that really well. not taking on too much. They're starting with one or two small things. They're also finding other people to do it with and, just going from there and seeing where it
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hmm.
Jennifer Williams: not putting too much pressure, I think, on yourself. Sitting next to your students, locking arms with them moving
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Hm.
Jennifer Williams: Always the best, I think, solution in any conversation, not just when we're talking about global education and sustainability. then just go from there. And and I, you'll share, we have we have projects, we have people, we have groups.
If you wanna connect with a classroom, we have ways of doing that safely, and in an accessible way. Reach out. We're, excited to, to connect and, support in whatever journey, they're
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Well, it's so fun to one, just have time with you. And then two, also be able to.
Jennifer Williams: also be
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Once again, just share resources connected to take action global. That I think really changes lives. So it's an, it's always an honor to be in your presence, my friend. And Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your mentorship of me.
Like you've been a huge,
Jennifer Williams: Was
Cate Tolnai (she/her): just a, like whether or not you've realized it. You have been guiding me for many, many years and your work is, foundational to so many people that like were when you were, when, in 2015, when, when you were asking those questions and getting started
Jennifer Williams: and
Cate Tolnai (she/her): in, in your work. At a global level.
There was this group of Ed Techers that were getting
Jennifer Williams: that were
Cate Tolnai (she/her): in our local communities, and there, there was always, like, you were that leader that was moving ahead and kind of a beacon. And so I thank you for that and you should know that you have such an amazing, you've, you've had such an amazing impact on so many of us.
So thank you for all you do, my friend.
Jennifer Williams: That really means so
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Yeah.
Jennifer Williams: thanks for being united
Cate Tolnai (she/her): Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Williams: all that we do, and for creating the space for stories. Pleased to
Cate Tolnai (she/her): always, always. Until next time my friend.
Jennifer Williams: See you next time, Cate. Thanks for having me.