I have spent more than 25 years working in education, and throughout that time I have become increasingly convinced that the best professional learning is practical, thoughtful, and grounded in the real work of schools and classrooms.
Today, my work focuses on helping IB Educators and schools make complex ideas clearer, more practical, and more human, particularly across the IB Core, Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and IB Economics.
I work with schools, teachers, coordinators, and students around the world through professional development, customized school support, online courses, and practical resources.
I have now worked with educators from more than 650+ IB schools, trained more than 1,800+ IB teachers, and supported over 33,000+ IB Economics course enrollments across more than 120 countries.
But the heart of the work remains the same - helping educators turn big ideas into clear systems, stronger teaching, and better learning experiences for students.
Brad Cartwright
Founder | Instructor & Workshop Leader
Brad Cartwright created this site in 2018. He was most likely making himself some mate on a Tuesday morning. For some odd reason, everything always seems to happen on a Tuesday in Chile. If you are wondering, mate is a South American - Andean tea, that is served in a gourd and sipped pretty much endlessly. (If you want to know more, click here)
Brad went to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where he was a highly-competitive soccer athlete and double-majored in History and Public Policy. As he traveled through Europe and Asia playing sports, his curiosity about countries, cultures, people and stories started shaping his life and his purpose.
From traveling several months through Southeast Asia, to becoming a United States Peace Corps Volunteer, where he lived and worked in the developing community of Los Marranitos in the Dominican Republic, Brad’s understanding of the importance of education became pivotal for the rest of his career in education.
“The World is Our Classroom” is the lens through which Brad sets about his work as an educator. The impact of education lies in curiosity, in diversity, in discovering, in researching, and experience. The world and other people’s realities enhance our studies from textbooks.
Brad has worked in diverse school settings: The all-girls college preparatory school in Atlanta, Georgia, The Atlanta Girls’ School, the American Nicaraguan School in Managua, Nicaragua, and The International School Nido de Águilas in Santiago, Chile. His work includes serving as High School Principal in Nicaragua, leading curriculum strategic planning in all schools mentioned above, IB Economics teacher, Theory of Knowledge teacher, and Extended Essay Coordinator.
Currently he is living in Sofia, Bulgaria—at least for now—where you might find him working on simple things like: hiking, carpentry, yoga, and planning a future road trip.
Sofía Elizalde
TOK and IB Core Workshop Leader
Sofía Elizalde was born and raised in Santiago, Chile. She is an artist, a teacher, and an actor by training.
Sofia attended university in her hometown, and was awarded a scholarship to Oxford, UK where she specialized in Shakespeare and Elizabethan theater. She obtained her Master’s in Acting in New York City in 2010. Upon her return to Chile, Sofia taught IB Theatre and Dance at the International School Nido de Aguilas, the school where she herself was an IB student.
Sofía has over 12 years of teaching experience, where she has created and taught a diverse array of IB Theatre, Theory of Knowledge, theatre-making, and dance classes at the high school level.
She has worked one-on-one with teachers, collaborating and enhancing the craft of teaching theatre and Theory of Knowledge, as well as mentoring and preparing students for competitive conservatory-based and/or university schools. She also currently serves as an IB examiner for IB Theatre, both in English and Spanish.
Apart from her teaching, Sofia has participated actively in the professional theater scene in Santiago. She has served as a Co-Director of recognized productions in the country, has developed work as a Dramaturgist, and a Literary Manager at one of the most prestigious theater establishments in Santiago. Her work includes researching, reading, translating, analyzing, and selecting plays for professional productions.
She also continues her work as a certified instructor in the Desikachar method of yoga–a lineage that focuses on individualized yoga practices/therapy for students of all ages.
She currently lives in Sofia, Bulgaria where you may find her hiking the hills in the early morning with her two beautiful dogs, reading, writing, or finishing off her yoga practice in the early evening hours.
Kurt Supplee
IB Core Workshop Leader
Kurt joined bradcartwright.com in 2021 as an IB Workshop Instructor and colleague. He brings with him over 27 years of educational experience as a teacher and IB Examiner of IB Physics and IB Math, and most significantly as the IB Diploma Coordinator at the International School Nido de Águilas for the last five years.
Kurt holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Education from the United States. His journey began at a small ski academy in Crested Butte, Colorado which set the foundation for his passion to connect with high school students both inside and outside of the classroom. After stops in California and Caracas, Venezuela, Kurt currently resides with his family in Santiago, Chile
A life-long outdoorsman, Kurt is happiest when out from under a roof, be it skiing, hiking, surfing, or just listening to the crackle of an early evening campfire.