Awards 

Awarded the Marcia Manville Johnson Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the 2025–2026 academic year as one of the College of Education 2025–2026 Scholarship Recipients, hosted by the University of Arizona College of Education.

Selected as one of nine inaugural recipients of the AI Summer Grant for the project Amplifying Inclusive Voices Through AI: Enhancing Accessibility, Leadership, and Opportunity in Youth Media. This project explores the role of AI in supporting Mozambican Sign Language accessibility and inclusive youth-led media.This recognition highlights the importance of advancing inclusive technologies in underrepresented contexts, bridging the gap between innovation and equity.

https://confluencenter.arizona.edu/news/meet-minds-shaping-future-ai-summer

Project Proposal Summary AI - 500 words.pdf

  2025 AERA Annual Meeting (Denver, CO)

I received a second graduate student travel award from the College of Education to present my poster at the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting (April 23–27, Denver, Colorado).
 

🎓 AERA 2024 Travel Award — College of Education

2024 AERA Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, PA)
I received a graduate student travel award from the College of Education to present my poster in a Structured Poster Session at the American Educational Research Association’s(AERA) 2024 Annual Meeting (April 11–14, Philadelphia).
📄 My poster presentation is published in the AERA i-Presentation Gallery, poster 9 , with the topic :" Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment for Children with Disabilities in early Childhood Education in Mozambique (DOI link or PDF available upon request).

Appointed as a 0.50 FTE Graduate Associate, Teaching for the academic year beginning August 18, 2025, and ending May 24, 2026. Responsibilities include teaching SERP 504: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Exceptional Learners and contributing to research activities, under the supervision of Dr. Taucia González, while pursuing doctoral studies in Special Education.

Appointed as a 0.50 FTE Graduate Associate, Teaching in the Department of Disability & Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona for the Fall and Spring semesters (August 19, 2024 – May 25, 2025).

Responsibilities include teaching SERP 404: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Exceptional Learners and analyzing data for a research project on multilingual learners with disabilities in Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), under the supervision of Dr. Adai Tefera.

Doctoral Studies in Special Education

(University of Arizona, U.S.)

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 I was awarded the Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship in 2022, to pursue doctoral studies in Special Education at the University of Arizona. This highly competitive scholarship supports my graduate program and research on advancing inclusive education in Mozambique and the Global South

🎓 Fulbright  Enrichment  Seminar  -  U.S.  Department   of  State

2023 Fulbright Enrichment Seminar (Atlanta, GA)
I was selected to participate in the 2023 Atlanta Fulbright Enrichment Seminar, held from September 14–17, 2023, at the Starling Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The seminar brought together Fulbright fellows from across the United States to engage with community leaders, exchange research and cultural perspectives, and strengthen professional development within the Fulbright network.

🎓 QQI Award - 

Galway Technical Institute, Ireland

• Further Education and Training Award (2020)
  Completed components of the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) Award at Level 5, including:

  1. Early Care and Education

  2. Early Childhood Education and Play

🎓 NUIG Employability Award 

          National University of Ireland, Galway

• Career Development Center (2020)
  Earned the NUIG Employability Award through the Career Development Center at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The award recognizes students who actively engaged in professional development, skills training, and extracurricular activities to enhance employability and leadership.

🌍 LIFT Leadership Programme Facilitator — National  University of Ireland, Galway

• 2020–2021
  Selected to serve as a facilitator in the LIFT (Leading Ireland’s Future Together) Leadership Programme, guiding roundtables to strengthen leadership skills in Irish communities.

🎓 Professional Internship Award — Civil Society Professionals Program

• 2020 | Galway, Ireland
  Sponsored by the Open Society Foundation, I completed a six-month internship at Mercy Primary School, Galway. During this internship, I observed kindergarten and preschool classes to study their inclusive practices and gain insights into how inclusion is promoted for children with disabilities in early childhood education.

🎓 Fellowship Award in Disability Rights — Open Society Foundation

• 2019
  Awarded a Disability Rights Scholarship (Disability Rights Scholarship Programme) from the Open Society Foundation to pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.)  focus on International and Comparative Disability Law Policy at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).

🎓 Fellowship Award in Disability Rights — Open Society Foundation

• 2019
  Awarded a Disability Rights Scholarship (Disability Rights Scholarship Programme) from the Open Society Foundation to pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.)  focus on International and Comparative Disability Law Policy at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).