Julia Middleton is passionate about helping people from all backgrounds to develop as leaders and make an active and tangible contribution to their communities and to wider society. Julia is the author of two bestselling books: Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World and Cultural Intelligence: The Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Boundaries. In the autumn of 1989, Julia founded Common Purpose, which has grown to be one of the biggest leadership development organizations in the world. Julia stepped down from the position of Chief Executive in 2019. In 2015, Julia gave a very well-received talk at TEDxEastEnd on Cultural Intelligence: The Competitive Edge for Leaders.

Jessica Cavallaro⁠ is an innovative educator and curriculum designer who brings ⁠the agile mindset into the classroom⁠. She is a champion of project based learning and creating purposeful educational experiences both in and out of the classroom. Jessica has delved into applying Agile and Scrum to keep students connected, collaborating and creating while teaching in a hybrid setting. She is passionate about developing better systems that put students first in education.

Kiran Bir Sethi⁠ is a designer who became a teacher, a principal who grew into an education reformer and subsequently morphed into a social entrepreneur. A trained graphic designer from the National Institute of Design, she comfortably uses the language of design – iteration, prototype, design specs – to develop not only curriculum innovation, but also community-based social programmes.

Kiran founded the award winning ⁠Riverside School⁠ in Ahmedabad, India, in 2001. Riverside, is viewed as a laboratory to prototype design processes that uses a systems approach to build a culture of empowerment, graduating young citizen leaders with an ‘I CAN Mindset’ – using their agency for the greater good.

Estelle Baroung Hughes⁠ is the Founding President of ⁠Africa Learning International⁠, focused on SDG 4 (Quality Education for All) in Africa. As a Cameroonian citizen, Estelle is passionate about the cultural wealth of her 250 languages country. The focus of her NGO is to honour the diversity of African nations by supporting culturally responsive education on the continent. ALI provides teacher professional development, Master Teacher programs, shares educational resources and opportunities and organizes conferences and teacher exchanges.

Aug 7

Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A., president of CBK Associates, and ABCD Books, travels throughout the United States and globally providing professional development programs, conference keynotes, in-depth institutes, and exceptional education and learning resources on service learning, 21st century competencies, social and emotional realms, climate and culture, youth engagement, effective teacher strategies, and environmental sustainability.

Raya Bidshahri⁠ is a serial education entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and award-winning educator.

Raya is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the ⁠School of Humanity⁠, a revolutionary online high school with a progressive model and skill-based curriculum.

Raya is also the Founder of ⁠Awecademy⁠, an award-winning organization offering future-focussed & wisdom-based education. She has served on the founding teams of multiple organizations including ⁠SciFest Dubai⁠, and ⁠SheWorks⁠.

Raya serves as an advisory board member to multiple EdTech companies and is a member of the Bett Future Education Council. She was named one of the ⁠BBC's 100 Women⁠ for 2019.

Dave Snowden⁠ is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ⁠Cognitive Edge⁠. His work is in the area of naturalising ⁠sense-making⁠, seeking to base social science research and practice in the natural sciences. He is generally considered to be a pioneer in the application of complex adaptive systems theory to a range of social issues, and in the development of narrative as a research method. His work extends across government and industry in a variety of fields including knowledge management, strategic planning, conflict resolution, counter terrorism, decision support and organisational development. 

Professor John Hattie⁠ is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly 30 years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His influential 2008 book ⁠Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement⁠ is believed to be the world’s largest evidence-based study into the factors that improve student learning. Hailed by the Times Education Supplement as ⁠“teaching’s Holy Grail”⁠, this ground-breaking study involved more than 80 million students from around the world and brought together 50,000 smaller studies.

Conrad Hughes (MA, PhD, EdD)⁠ is Campus and Secondary Principal at the ⁠International School of Geneva, La Grande Boissière⁠, the oldest international school in the world. He has been School Principal, Director of Education, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher in schools in Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands.

Conrad, who is also a member of the advisory board for the ⁠University of the People⁠, senior fellow of⁠ UNESCO's International Bureau of Education⁠ and research assistant at the University of Geneva's department of psychology and education, teaches philosophy.

Valerie Hannon⁠ co-founded ⁠Innovation Unit⁠ and leads Innovation Unit’s international education work. She has supported education change programmes in numerous systems, including the UK, Europe, USA, Australia and Africa, and is a founding member and Co-Chair of the ⁠Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP)⁠.

Valerie Hannon’s career spans leadership of education systems, research, teaching, and capacity building. In the UK, she was Director of Education for Derbyshire and an advisor on creativity in the Department for Education.

George Couros⁠ is an Innovative Teaching, Learning, & Leadership Consultant and ⁠speaker⁠ and the author of ⁠The Innovator’s Mindset⁠ and ⁠Innovate Inside the Box⁠, co-authored with ⁠Katie Novak⁠ - and co-owner of ⁠IMPress Books.⁠ He has worked at all school levels, from K-12 as a teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. 

George is the father of two wonderful children, Kallea and Georgia, and is driven to ensure that they and every student have amazing experience in their K-12 schooling. He is not focused solely on preparing students for the “real world” but wants them to make the real world better.

Girish Menon⁠ joined ⁠STiR Education⁠ as CEO in January 2021 after five years as Chief Executive at ⁠ActionAid UK⁠. He brings more than 30 years’ experience as a leader in the international development sector, having previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at ⁠Water Aid UK⁠, where he was responsible for programmes in 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

Girish was born and brought up in India, and started his career with the ⁠Aga Khan Rural Support Programme⁠. He has also worked at Action Aid, Plan International and DFID in India. Since moving to London in 2005, he has served on the boards of various non-profit organisations. He is currently on the board of ⁠Hope and Homes for Children⁠.

Dr. Abdulla Al Karam⁠, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the ⁠Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)⁠, is responsible for a wide spectrum of education in Dubai’s private sector, spanning early learning, school, and higher education and training Institutes. Dr. Abdulla has the distinction of holding key positions across the United Arab Emirates, as well as being a Board member of the ⁠National Qualifications Authority⁠, of the UAE Federal Government. He was also appointed to the Board of the Social Sector, Government of Dubai. He has recently been nominated a member of the ⁠Higher Committee for Protection of the Rights of People with Disabilities⁠ in the Emirate of Dubai. 

Brad Carter⁠ has spent 20 years exploring the role of education in society and the way we go about educating people. A former leadership development executive with Apple Inc. and head of the innovative ⁠THINK Global School⁠, his work has taken him across Europe, Australia, China, and North America. A highly creative thinker with a talent for finding clarity in complexity, he brings his global expertise to innovative curriculum building and a deep study of the learning process, whether in formal school settings, communities or enterprise. A former teacher and school administrator, Brad was Director of the ⁠Centre for Innovation at Mulgrave School⁠, Vancouver and Assistant Head of School at⁠ Island Pacific School⁠ on Bowen Island.

Andy Hargreaves⁠ is Director of ⁠Chenine (Change, Engagement and Innovation in Education)⁠ at the University of Ottawa and Research Professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. He is Past President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement, recent Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario and currently to the First Minister of Scotland, and founder of the ARC Education: a group of nations committed to broadly defined excellence, equity, wellbeing, inclusion, democracy and human rights www.atrico.org

Dr. Katie Martin⁠ is the author of Learner-Centered Innovation and Chief Impact Officer at Altitude Learning. She teaches in the graduate school of Education at High Tech High and is on the board of Real World Scholars. Dr. Martin has worked in diverse contexts to learn, research, and support deeper learning for all students. She has served as a middle school English language arts teacher, instructional coach, and led the district’s new teacher mentoring program.

At the university, district and school level, Katie Aspires to create experiences that empower all learners to develop the knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world. As a mom, she wants her kids to have learning experiences in school that build on their strengths and interests, and as an educator; she is passionate about making sure we do the same for all kids.

Matt Barnes⁠ is the co-founder of ⁠The Education Game⁠ with ⁠Dr Scott Van Beck⁠

Matt believes that “normal” is broken in traditionally structured schools and wants to make “weird” the new normal. Over 25 years, Matt has distributed $500m in philanthropy, led an education reform nonprofit, served on nine educational boards from pre-K to university, and coached thousands of parents on education system navigation. In 2020, Matt launched “The Education Game,” a platform that inspires parents to embrace a Future-Ready learning model that shamelessly deemphasizes grades and academic compliance while radically emphasizing learning, problem-solving, and student-engagement. He is the father of three teens who were educated in alternative models.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen is the Director General of the ⁠International Baccalaureate⁠.

Previously he held the position of the Director General at the ⁠Finnish National Agency of Education⁠. Mr Heinonen has been the Minister of Education and Science (1994-1999), Minister of Transport and Communication (1999-2002) and Member of the Finnish Parliament (1995-2002). He has also been the Television Director at the ⁠Finnish Public Broadcasting Company⁠ and State Secretary in five different ministries. Mr Heinonen has held various positions of trust within different sectors of society. 

Mr Heinonen is a member of the Education Advisory Group for the ⁠United Nations Technology Innovation Labs⁠. 

Liz Nilsen⁠’s passion is for creating programs that nurture the next generation of thinkers and doers, through the development and growth of innovation and STEM education ecosystems.  As the Associate Director at the University of North Alabama ⁠Agile Strategy Lab⁠, Liz shepherds the expansion of the Lab’s programming and manages the ⁠Strategic Doing Institute⁠ on behalf of that organization, including partnerships with other universities interested in deploying ⁠Strategic Doing⁠.

Liz was senior program director at the Purdue Agile Strategy Lab; she is also a former senior program officer at ⁠VentureWell⁠, where she provided leadership to the Pathways program for the National Center for Engineering ⁠Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter)⁠, an effort to engage with 50 colleges and universities to redesign undergraduate engineering education.

Dr Siva Kumari was appointed seventh Director General of the ⁠International Baccalaureate (IB)⁠ in January 2014 based in the Netherlands office, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

Dr Kumari joined the IB in April 2009 as Asia Pacific Regional Director in the Singapore office. In May the following year she was appointed first Chief Operating Officer based in the Washington office, with global responsibility for research, university recognition, school improvement and professional development and relationships with schools, governments and foundations across the three IB regions: Americas, Asia Pacific, and Africa, Europe and the Middle East.