Michele Dal Trozzo is currently in charge of the Montessori department of ⁠GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori⁠.

⁠GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori⁠ is an Italian company based in Gonzaga, Mantua. GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori is well known worldwide for its unique history in the manufacturing and marketing of Montessori materials and furniture. Its origins in the early twentieth century are strongly connected to the presence of Maria Montessori in Gonzaga, as a friend of Maria Maraini Guerrieri Gonzaga, who started one of the first Casa dei Bambini. Nowadays GAM designs, manufactures and markets furniture for nurseries, schools, libraries and cultural centers.

Professor Deborah Eyre is a global educational leader, academic researcher, writer helping good schools become world class through a focus on student performance. Using her 25 years researching into how gifted students think and learn and then creating frameworks to help schools and enrichment providers to enhance provision for these students, she created ⁠High Performance Learning⁠ with the aim of enabling all students to reach that same advanced performance. 

As well as being a widely published author, Deborah's career has included a variety of senior education roles both globally and in UK and she has advised governments and educational foundations in UK, Hong Kong, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, USA and Singapore.

Todd Shy has taught for more than twenty-five years in Cary, North Carolina, San Francisco, California, and New York City. He is currently Head of Upper Division at ⁠Avenues The World School⁠ in New York. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Raleigh News and Observer, where he was a regular contributor, the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Salmagundi, and numerous other publications. In 2008 he was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. His recent book ⁠Teaching Life: Life Lessons for Aspiring (and Inspiring) Teachers⁠ was described by the founder of the ⁠Academy for Teachers⁠ as a “an eloquent love letter to teaching and to life.”

This is the second conversation that I have had with ⁠Prof. Gert Biesta⁠, and it is a special episode reflecting on the current crisis in Ukraine and the wider context of this - that some call the meta-crisis. Our first conversation earlier this year, on World-Centred Education, can be found here: https://anchor.fm/futurelearningdesign/episodes/On-World-Centred-Education---A-Conversation-with-Prof--Gert-Biesta-e1cqcj5. 

Teddy Pahagbia is the founder and Chief Executive Druid of BLVCK PiXEL, a design-led strategy firm that bridges the gap between technology & business, merging the realms of virtual and real worlds. As an expert in emerging technologies like AR/VR, Blockchain, AI and advanced data management, he designs new disruptive experiences based on the way we interact with technology. Teddy has been identified as one of the Top 30 most influential people in the metaverse. Known by many as Mr Metaverse, he is one of the "leading voices helping to evangelize, educate, advise, develop and create the successor to today’s mobile internet."

Bas van den Berg is the educational coordinator of the ⁠Centre of Expertise Mission Zero⁠ at the Hague University of Applied Sciences where he leads large scale educational innovation projects such as ⁠The Challenge⁠, co Regenerative Education - A Conversation with Bas van den Berg ordinates the Mission Impact minor and lectures in courses related to sustainability, circular economy, ethics and regenerative futuring. Bas is also the host of ⁠The Regenerative Education Podcast⁠ (available on all major platforms). Bas was awarded the accolade of Sustainable Higher Educator of the year 2021 in the Netherlands and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts since 2021.

Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan is the Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. She specialises in research on assessment, recognition, micro-credentialing and warranting of hard-to-assess capabilities and is a lead on the New Metrics for Success: Transforming what we value in schools research project. Sandra is also the Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Sandra convened the Melbourne University MOOC targeting professional learning for teachers in the area of assessment and teaching of 21C skills, which has to date enrolled over 30,000 teachers worldwide.

Gert Biesta is Professor of Public Education in the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy, Maynooth University, Ireland, and Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK. He holds Visiting Professorships at the University of Agder, Norway, and Uniarts, the University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland. Gert is a prolific author and has written many books on the theory of education and educational and social research, and his work has appeared in 20 different languages. He has particular interests in national and global education policy, curriculum, teaching and teacher education, democracy and citizenship education, religious education and arts education.

Dr Kevin House is Education Futures Architect at ⁠Education in Motion⁠, a growing family of premier education brands, including ⁠Dulwich College International⁠ and ⁠Green School⁠, with more than 11,000 students. As part of this work, Kevin is leading the development of a new and innovative high school concept called ⁠SE21⁠. You can find out more about SE21 ⁠here⁠. 

Kevin is also Associate Professor in Practice in the Education faculty at Durham University.

Prior to this, Kevin led quality assurance processes for the International Baccalaureate Organisation as the Head of IB World Schools. 

AJ Juliani is the Founder/CEO of Adaptable Learning and serves as Faculty for the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (PLN). Prior to his current role, AJ served as Head of Learning & Growth at NextLesson, Director of Learning and Innovation for Centennial School District, and Education and Technology Innovation Specialist for Upper Perkiomen School District. Previously AJ worked as a K-12 Staff Developer (Instructional Coach) in the Wissahickon School District where he also taught middle school and high school English/LA. Juliani's latest book is ⁠Adaptable: How to Create an Adaptable Curriculum and Flexible Learning Experiences That Work in Any Environment⁠. Previously he authored EMPOWER, an education best-seller and the award-winning LAUNCH on bringing design thinking into K-12 classrooms.

Sir Michael Barber⁠ is a world leading expert on government delivery, education systems, systemic innovation and education reform.

Sir Michael led the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit for the Blair administration in the UK from 2001-2005. Since then, he has worked on ⁠delivery and system-wide reforms⁠ in more than 50 countries. He personally leads high-stakes engagements with political leaders, such as quarterly cabinet retreats in Canada with PM Justin Trudeau, to help them adopt the delivery approach.

Professor Daniel T. Willingham⁠ earned his B.A. from Duke University in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University in 1990. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until about 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-16 education. Daniel writes the ⁠“Ask the Cognitive Scientist”⁠ column for American Educator magazine, in which he has translated relevant cognitive science research for educators since 2003. He is also a prolific author whose writing on education has appeared in seventeen languages.

Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang⁠ studies the psychological and neurobiological bases of social emotion, self-awareness and culture and their implications for learning, development and schools. She is a Professor of Education at the ⁠USC Rossier School of Education⁠, a Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute, a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program Faculty at the University of Southern California, and Director of the USC ⁠Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE)⁠.

Joshua Freedman⁠ is a leading expert on applying emotional intelligence (EQ) to optimize performance. He is the CEO of ⁠Six Seconds⁠, the world’s most extensive EQ organization, now with offices and representatives in 25 countries. 

Josh teaches people how to increase EQ to be happier, stronger, and more effective professionally and personally. He works with leaders and teams around the world helping them use emotional intelligence to get better results.  His clients include FedEx, Microsoft, INTEL, Amazon, all branches of the US armed forces, and the United Nations.

Jonathan James⁠ is a teacher, education consultant and doctoral candidate at the UCL Institute of Education.

Jonathan's own doctoral research investigates how policies developed in response to the threat of terrorism are being implemented in schools in England and France in light of the two countries’ policy traditions, and educators’ pre-existing values and practices.

Jonathan has written extensively on ⁠the role of schools in anti-terrorism policy⁠ and is an expert on ⁠values education⁠ and countering radicalisation. His book, co-authored with Dr Jan Germen Janmaat, ⁠Civil Disorder, Domestic Terrorism and Education Policy: The Context in England and France⁠ was published in 2019.

Sharath Jeevan⁠ is one of the world’s leading experts on reigniting our inner drive (intrinsic motivation). He founded and led ⁠STiR Education⁠ – arguably the world’s largest intrinsic motivation initiative. STiR has re-ignited the motivation of 200,000 teachers, 35,000 schools and 7 million children in emerging countries. 

Sharath is currently the Executive Chairman of ⁠Intrinsic Labs⁠, which supports organizations all around the world to solve deep motivational challenges, from governments to leading UK universities and high-profile corporations. He was elected an ⁠Ashoka Fellow⁠ in 2014 and was recognised as one of the UK’s ten leading social entrepreneurs in 2019.

Andreia Mitrea⁠ is the CEO of ⁠Colina Learning Center⁠ - a new educational project seeking to change the way people think about learning. As part of the ⁠Colina Nouă⁠ residential development in Romania, Colina Learning Center is developing a new educational concept in response to the question: “How might we use school to serve the learning of both children AND adults?" As the residential development and school grow, Andreia is leading the development of an innovative "integrated adult-child curriculum". Andreia believes that “It doesn’t take a village, it takes a GREAT village to raise a child.”

Dr. Samah Karaki is a neuroscientist, and the founding director of the ⁠Social Brain Institute⁠. SBI is an NGO based in Geneva and operating in Europe and the Middle East where it implements research-based strategies to support individual and organisational change.

Samah's research focuses on the neuronal basis of stress affecting emotional and social behaviours. She is also interested in the neural basis of memory and unconscious processes, empathy, behavioural change and creativity. Combining scientific outreach and consultancy experience with neuroscience insights, Samah has delivered tailored seminars to over 2000 academics, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, scientific institutes as well as universities, teenagers at schools and consulted on change management programs for leaders in various organisations.

As Dean of the African Leadership Academy, Hatim Eltayeb leads the Diploma Program, enabling the rich community of colleagues bringing the leadership learning program to life.

Hatim is a life-long educator with pan-African and south-south tendencies. Sudanese by spirit and nationality; born in Kuwait; reared in Oman; raised in Cairo and flourishing in Johannesburg. 

Alongside a committed team, Hatim works to translate ALA’s mission into the daily work of building, learning, innovating and leading school community. He has represented ALA’s work at conferences and convenings across the continent as well as in Singapore, Japan, the US and at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Mart Laidmets⁠ is the General Director of Education and Youth Board of the Republic of Estonia. Previously, from January 2019 until August 2021, he held the position of the Secretary General of the ⁠Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia⁠, responsible for directing the work of deputy secretary generals and departments of the Ministry as well as co-ordinating the work of state institutions and government bodies under the Ministry’s sphere of administration.