Poonam Patnaik
Poonam Patnaik is an educator and consultant in international education. Specializing in the International Baccalaureate curriculum in the Primary Years Programme, Patnaik’s work has taken her to Austria, Cambodia, China, India, Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K.
For the past 17 years, she has focused on the prestigious International Baccalaureate curriculum as an International Baccalaureate Workshop Leader, teacher trainer, and school program assessor, making visits and conducting workshops in Europe and the Middle East.
Patnaik started her career as a journalist for one of the leading newspapers of India, the Indian Express.
The role of teacher led Patnaik to involve herself in mentoring, both students and adults associated with them. As an educator, she is keenly aware of the role of an influential mentor; she is especially well-known for her mentor relationships with girls and young women who want to become educators themselves. She regularly consults with students and teachers in one of the prestigious school in Orissa, where she was born and brought up, as she feels she wants to give back to society.
Patnaik earned a master’s degree in education from Oxford Brookes University, U.K., and a master’s degree in English Literature and Linguistics from Sambalpur University, India. She is fluent in English, Hindi, Punjabi, French, Oriya and comfortable conversing in German, Spanish, Chinese and Bengali. As the wife of Dinesh K. Patnaik, an Indian Foreign Service officer currently serving as Ambassador of India to Spain, Patnaik is enlivened by learning about other cultures. In this role, she promotes Indian handicrafts abroad to expand recognition for the artisans of India. She also works closely with the various women’s groups in the cities of her husband’s postings to ensure their voices are heard. She is the Vice- President of AIDE ( Diplomatic Association for the spouses in Spain) which is an Organization for networking and raising funds for some of the charities supported by Queen Sofia.