Speakers

We have a great lineup of leading speakers who will share their unique insights on Unlocking the Hidden Curriculum at the World Schools Summit. Take a look at their profiles below. And if you’d like to be among them, then we’d love to hear from you.

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Meet the speakers

Aangi Shah

9th-grade student, The Riverside School, India

Aashti Zaidi

Founder and CEO, Global Schools Forum, London, UK

Adhishree Parasnis

Director of Communications, Global Schools Leader, India

Adithya Narayanan

CEO, Riverside Learning Center, India

Aisha Abdulla Miran

Director General, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai, UAE

Alan Williamson

Chief Executive Officer, Taalem

Alex Gray

Leader & Founder, D.E.E.P Professional, UAE

Alex Crossman

Headmaster, London Academy of Excellence

Ana Ligia Scachetti

CEO,Nova Escola, Brazil

Andreas Schleicher

Director of Education, OECD, Germany

Asha Alexander

Principal of GEMS Legacy School, Dubai

Asheesh Advani

President and CEO, Junior Achievement Worldwide, United States

Carla Aerts

Futures of education Consultant

Danielle West

Founding Partner & CEO, Inicio Partners, UK

Dr. Osama Obeidat

CEO, Queen Rania Teacher Academy

Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy

Founder, Ekya Schools, India

Duriya Aziz

Senior Vice President (International, Education), Scholastic Inc

Farah Sarraj

Chief Corporate Officer, Al Futtaim School Management Company, Dubai, UAE

Fiona Cottam

Principal of Hartland International School, Dubai

Harry Anthony Patrinos

Senior Adviser, Education, World Bank

Jeff Hittner

Head of High Potential Leaders Fellowship, Junior Achievement Worldwide

Kavita Sanghvi

Principal, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School

Kiran Bir Sethi

Founder, Riverside School

Lasse Leponiemi

Co-Founder and Executive Director, HundrED

Maggie MacDonnell

Canadian Educator and Winner of the Global Teacher Prize

Mark Leppard MBE

Principal, The British School Al Khubairat

Mayank Dhingra

Senior Education Business Leader, HP

Mike Fisher

COO and Insights Director, T4 Education, London UK

Mosharraf Zaidi

Founder & CEO, Tabadlab, Pakistan

Naghma Mulla

CEO and Board Director, EdelGive Foundation

Nik Kafka

Founder & CEO, Teach a Man to Fish, London, UK

Nkazimulo Moyo-Zitha

Head of Primary Schools, SPARK Schools

Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Director General, International Baccalaureate Organization (IB), Finland

Palash Devra

10th grader student, The Riverside School, India

Paul Skidmore

Founder and CEO, Rising Academies

Sandra Ospina

Head of Learning & Innovation, SEK International School

Sharvaree Ballal

9th-grade student, The Riverside School, India

Shiny Wang

Vice Principal, Beijing No. High School International Campus, China

Simon Sommer

Co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation

Simon O’Connor

Director, Deira International School

Tamara Philip

Director of Networks and Programs, Global School Leaders, UK

Tania Daniel

Vice President of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas

Vijita Patel

Principal, Swiss Cottage School

William Campbell

Founding Head of School, Franklin School

Vikas Pota

Founder & CEO, T4 Education, London, UK

William Campbell

Founding Head of School, Franklin School

William Campbell is the Founding Head of a pioneering educational institution in the United States of America. He is recognized for his expertise in harmonizing the rich tapestry of historical teaching methodologies with the demands of contemporary, purpose-driven curricula.

With leadership experiences spanning multiple countries and curricula, he is adept at navigating the complexities of the educational landscape at International, National, and State levels. His leadership philosophy revolves around cultivating dynamic learning environments that nurture critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability among students and faculty alike.

Vijita Patel

Principal of Swiss Cottage School, London, UK

Vijita Patel is the Principal of Swiss Cottage School, Development and Research Centre, a large special school for 260 pupils in London. Vijita is passionate about the role of education in developing an equal society, and its fundamental purpose in reducing the marginalisation of pupils with additional needs.

Vijita is an advocate of empowering educators as leaders of learning design, and the responsibility of school leaders in creating school cultures that cultivate teacher agency. She works with school leaders, governors, and Local Authorities as a National Leader of Education. She equally enjoys training early career teachers on the neuroscience of learning. Vijita is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers, and a Trustee for Special Olympics Great Britain, Challenge Partners, and the Artists in Residence Charity.

Swiss Cottage School, DRC was designated as an Apple Distinguished School in September 2021 and has six consecutive Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ Inspection outcomes.

Tania Daniel

Vice President of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas

Tania Daniel is the Vice President of Entrepreneurship Initiatives for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas (Houston). and under her leadership the JA Company Program - a pioneering, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness program have witnessed record growth and national standing. Prior to joining JA, Tania worked in the areas of human rights advocacy, nation-building, peace and reconciliation. Tania has been celebrated by the Houston Business Journal as an Honoree of the 40 Under 40 Awards (2021) and the Women Who Mean Business Awards (2022) and was also recognized as an Outstanding Diversity Champion 2023 (Diversity in Business Awards) by them.

Simon O’Connor

Director of Deira International School, Dubai

Simon O’Connor is the Director of Deira International School – an outstanding rated all through UK/IB curriculum school based in Festival City, Dubai. Simon is also Chief of Education for the Al Futtaim Education Foundation, working across their portfolio of schools. Simon has over 25 years of experience in education and joined DIS in August of 2020. Prior to this he was Principal of Jumeirah College, an outstanding school in Dubai, since 2013.

Simon is passionate about learning and ensuring all students are challenged in lessons for them to achieve their full potential. He is also very interested in school leadership and is currently studying for Doctorate with the University of Buckingham, researching the impact of a focus on organisational culture in international schools.

Before moving to the UAE, Simon taught History and Politics for over 20 years in a variety of different school contexts. In his last role in the UK, Simon worked as a school leader in a very successful grammar school in Kent. His role there was curriculum lead and was also responsible for the management of a teaching school and working across an academy chain of schools which he helped to found.

As a student Simon studied for a BA in History and Philosophy at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff where he was a choral scholar at Llandaff Cathedral. He then studied for a PGCE at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was also a choral scholar. Simon also holds a Master’s Degree in Education Leadership, and a National Professional Qualification for Headship.

Simon Sommer

Co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation

Simon´s drive is to make the Jacobs Foundation the world's leading learning foundation by developing, selecting, and promoting the best programs and projects. And by finding and developing the best minds – inside and outside the Foundation.

Simon’s primary responsibilities at the Foundation are strategy, board governance, operational excellence, human resources, and research funding.

Before joining the Jacobs Foundation in 2006, he worked at the Volkswagen Foundation in Hannover, Germany’s largest private research funder, and as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in Berlin, Germany.

Simon holds master’s degrees in Musicology (2001) and Cultural Studies (2000) from Leuphana University, Germany, and from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he graduated with a scholarship from the Fulbright Commission.

Sandra Ospina

Head of Learning & Innovation, SEK International School, Saudi Arabia

Sandra has more than a decade of experience in education. She has taught from nursery to university level, has developed science curricula, and has held leadership roles in the past few years. Sandra's educational philosophy centers on nurturing the whole child, which in short means attending to a child's cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and ethical development while inspiring their curiosity, and creativity.

In her current role as Head of Learning and Innovation at SEK Riyadh International School, she is working closely with all the faculty to ensure that the curriculum, teaching methodologies, and resources align with the IB philosophy to provide the children at the school with an exceptional educational experience.

Sandra has a BA in Chemistry, BS in Biology, and MA in Biology education from Brooklyn College(New York), an M.ed in International Educational Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is currently completing an EMBA.

Paul Skidmore

Founder and CEO, Rising Academies

Paul is the founder and CEO of Rising Academies, one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®. Launched in 2014. Rising provided emergency home schooling to children in Sierra Leone who were kept out of school during the Ebola Crisis, opened its first school in April 2015, and now works with more than 250,000 students across Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Rwanda. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Rising’s multi-award winning distance learning solution “Rising On Air” reached children in 25 countries and was translated into 12 languages. Before launching Rising Academies, Paul was a founding team member at the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and later served as its Deputy CEO. He began his career as a think-tank researcher and government strategy advisor in the UK. He has a BA and MA from Manchester University and an MPA from Princeton University. He was named a UBS Global Visionary and a Mulago Foundation Rainer Arnhold Fellow in 2019.

Nkazimulo Moyo-Zitha

Head of Primary Schools, SPARK Schools

Nkazimulo is a dedicated education leader and Mathematics teacher with over 20 years of experience driving student achievement, shaping curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation, and fostering positive stakeholder experiences in educational communities. Nkazimulo is currently the Head of Schools at SPARK Schools, where she is responsible for the strategic direction and management of SPARK Primary Schools, as well as school leadership and teacher development. SPARK Schools is an award-winning group of independent primary and secondary schools in South Africa that serves over 16,000 students by providing high-quality education, which was previously a commodity for marginalised communities. Her responsibilities include ensuring the strategic direction and viability of current and future Primary Schools, as well as managing all aspects such as people, culture, relationships, systems, data, and budget that deliver on organisational purpose.

With a strong commitment to educational equity and innovation, Nkazimulo has led a number of initiatives aimed at improving the educational experience for students from diverse backgrounds. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her presentations, combining practical insights with research-based strategies to motivate educators and stakeholders to foster inclusive and empowering learning environments.

Join Nkazimulo at the upcoming conference as she shares her insights on unlocking the potential of the hidden curriculum to promote students' holistic development and create pathways for lifelong success.

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Naghma Mulla

CEO and Director on the Board at EdelGive Foundation

Over the last decade, Naghma has driven the vision of the EdelGive, strengthening its core principles of collaborative philanthropy; and transforming it from a grant-making foundation to a philanthropic asset management platform, today. Over the years, she has forged valuable partnerships with diverse stakeholders and has been the brainchild for innovative collaborations in Education, Migration, Women, Climate, and Capacity Building at EdelGive.

In addition to her role at EdelGive, she is also a General Board Member at Goonj, India Climate Collaborative. She also provides strategic guidance to the Migrants Resilience Collaborative, the largest migrant collective in the world.

Naghma is as well, a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Mayank Dhingra

Senior Education Business Leader, HP

Mayank Dhingra leads the Education Business Vertical for the Worldwide Commercial Organization at HP Inc. His role is to provide strategic direction and thought leadership to the Education business line and he works with National Education Ministries to support country level education policy and to evangelize HP’s education proposition.

Mayank has spearheaded the development of HP’s EdTech Solutions for blended learning, Capacity Building Programs for educators and policymakers, and Future Skilling curricula for students. He is the architect and global owner of HP’s education portfolio stack consisting of the following programs – HP IDEA, HP Cambridge EdTech Fellowship, HP Classeasy, HP Futures, HP Gaming Garage, HP Innovation Garage, HP READ, HP School Improvement Coach, World Education Medals, and HP EdTech Incubator.

He was previously with GEMS Education where he headed the Commercial line for a network of 50 Schools in MENASA region. In addition, he sat on the board of two schools.

Prior to GEMS he was with the Emirates Group for nearly 15 years in two stints and his last role was Head of Global Technology Partnerships where he led a portfolio of over 450 vendor relations and portfolio managed large scale collaboration projects with tech partners. His preceding role was Head of Customer Experience for dnata (Emirates Group) where he set up the line and managed the business technology, product, pricing, marketing, and customer service functions across the network.

Mayank is a sought-after keynote speaker, author and moderator on EdTech subjects. He has spoken at prominent international conferences, including GITEX, COP28, G7 Summit, World Youth Forum, UNHCR Global Refugee Forum etc, and his articles have appeared in leading publications. He has also been an active mentor for several talent management pools.

Mayank is a certified Yoga teacher and the founder of a non-profit entity – Yogasmriti; which combines individual and community wellbeing. All proceeds from the initiative are directed to charitable causes supporting children in need. Mayank’s philanthropic work has been recognised at regional and international forums.

Mark Leppard MBE

Principal, The British School Al Khubairat

Mark is a successful and ambitious school leader of an outstanding British international school. In 2015 Mark was awarded an MBE for his services to education and has an M.Ed in Educational Leadership. In 2023 Mark won the SchoolsCompare.com Best Principal in the UAE Award. His focus is on team building, in terms of motivation, personnel and structure, ensuring that the students benefit from these developments. He has a lifelong passion for learning and ensures that the student is at the heart of all decisions that are made. Holistic education is fundamental to Mark's philosophy and he believes that learning should not be restricted just to the formal classroom. Mark has a track record of success, having led schools through 7 'Outstanding' school inspections and accreditations. He is a lead school inspector and has inspected a variety of schools around the globe.

Maggie MacDonnell

Teacher, Feminist, Time Traveller and Winner of the $1,000,000 Global Teacher Prize.

Maggie MacDonnell, aka “The Million Dollar Teacher” stood out from a global pool of over 20,000 teachers nominated from 179 countries to win the Global Teacher Prize. Her teaching methods are literally life-saving. She was nominated for the prize by her Inuit students, who are currently engulfed in the world’s highest suicide crisis. They wrote nomination letters sharing that Maggie had actually saved their lives. To do this work, Maggie tears down traditional classroom walls and co-creates new ones – rooted in a pedagogy of community, and empowerment and woven together with strands of empathy, and love.

From palm trees to polar bears, Maggie has spent decades teaching with and learning from resilient populations across the globe – including East African refugees to Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. She unpacks these lessons with memorable real-life stories delivered in riveting keynotes to leadership and education audiences. But what Maggie loves to do most, is deliver hands-on training programs to teach educators on the actual how of building relationships both with our students and our colleagues. Relationships are the foundation of success in any domain, especially teaching. While it is often “talked about”, teachers and education leaders are rarely given tools, frameworks, practice and feedback on how to do this. Sharing this, is what Maggie does best.

Lasse Leponiemi

Executive Director and Co-Founder, HundrED.org

HundrED seeks and shares 100 inspiring innovations in education worldwide every year.
Lasse is passionate about youth future orientation and he has worked in education and career-planning since 2006. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Director at HundrED - a Finnish mission driven organisation, which seeks and shares inspiring innovations in education. HundrED selects 100 pedagogically sound education innovations from around the world annually and helps them spread throughout their wide network of educators in 100+ countries.

Kiran Bir Sethi

Founder of Riverside School, India

Kiran Bir Sethi is an Indian designer, educationist, education reformer, and social entrepreneur. With a degree in visual communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, she ran a flourishing design practice, but it was when her children started going to school that Sethi recognised her true calling -putting design thinking into education.

She founded the award winning Riverside School in Ahmedabad that focuses on empowering children with the I CAN MINDSET. She then founded aProCh ( an initiative to make cities more child friendly ) and Design for Change, which is today the largest movement of change for and by the children where children use the simple framework of Feel/ Imagine /Do/Share to design solutions for some of their greatest challenges.

Her most recent venture is the Riverside Learning Center which offers training programmes to empower schools across the world to become ‘I CAN SCHOOLS’ by using the codified processes from Riverside.

Over the years, Kiran, Riverside and Design for Change have won several accolades and Awards, and some of the most recent ones are : Riverside wins the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation, HundrEd.org selects Design for Change into the Hall of Fame, The Earth Prize, the Rockefeller Innovation Award, The Lego Remagine Award, The Lexus prize, was The Top 10 Global Teacher nominee and the Light of Freedom Award. She is an Ashoka and Yidan Fellow.

Sethi is a published author, having written a book, ‘Every Child CAN’ for HarperCollins, which chronicles the journey and offers readers a glimpse into Riverside’s unique design-led approach to empowering children.
Born in Bangalore, India, Sethi comes from a family of designers. She lives in Ahmedabad with her 2 children, Raag and Jazz and her husband, Geet. She loves life, dark chocolate and Govinda movies!

Kavita Sanghvi

Principal, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School

Kavita Sanghvi holds a Master's in Physics, Master's in Education, Master's in Philosophy of Education, and a CAEL [Certificate in Advanced Course in Educational Leadership] Diploma from Harvard University. She presently heads SVKM's CNM School, in Mumbai.

She is a National Awardee 2022 receiving an award from the President, Droupadi Murmu, Teach SDG’s Ambassador, Climate Action Ambassador, and Scientix Ambassador for India. In May 2023, she was inducted by the Ministry of India for the National Mission for Mentoring [NMM]. She is a Cambridge Trainer, British Council Trainer, and Ambassador.

She has created a STEM course, ‘’Build your STEM Competency’ available to educators across the world. She has created lesson plans for Scientix which are available in the resource section. She is a contributor to the teacher’s resource for Cambridge IGCSE Physics and the author of Cambridge IGCSE Physics Exam Preparation Practice.

Jeff Hittner

Head of High Potential Leaders Fellowship, Junior Achievement Worldwide

Jeff Hittner has 25 years of experience building better teams and people in an effort to improve the world. He designs and runs the global high potential leadership program for the Nobel Peace Prize nominated non-profit JA Worldwide. He was the Global Lead Facilitator at IVY, a community that serves more than 10,000 CEOs globally. He is an executive coach to CEOs and senior executives on three continents and to Yale MBA students in the USA. He was the MBA Professor of Leadership at Bard College, where he developed the curriculum for one of the first MBAs in Sustainability in the US. He also founded and led IBM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consulting practice globally. Recently, he launched the Ambitious Dads project, focused on supporting men and their families as they seek a deeper role in parenting and fatherhood with few historical examples of how to do so.

Harry Anthony Patrinos

Senior Adviser, Education, World Bank

Harry Anthony Patrinos is the Senior Adviser, Education, at the World Bank. He specializes in the economics of education, especially school-based management, demand-side financing, and public-private partnerships.

Previously, he worked in the Office of the Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia. He managed education teams in Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and the Global Unit. He led lending operations and analytical work programs in Latin America. He co-led the development of the Harmonized Learning Outcomes database, part of the Human Capital Index, published in Nature. He has studied and worked extensively on the socioeconomic status of Indigenous Peoples. He has many publications in the academic and policy literature, with more than 50 journal articles. He previously worked as an economist at the Economic Council of Canada. Mr. Patrinos received a doctorate from the University of Sussex.

Fiona Cottam

Principal of Hartland International School, Dubai

Joining Hartland International School in 2016 as Principal, following a successful tenure at GEMS Education and as a Headteacher in the UK, Fiona is a graduate of University College Dublin. She sits the COBIS Global Board, The Irish Business Network Dubai and the International Task Force on Child Protection.

Duriya Aziz

Senior Vice President (International, Education), Scholastic Inc

Duriya Aziz believes that education is the way to a better future for all. She considers herself fortunate to work as a learning ambassador focused on reading and math, bringing best practices and effective pedagogies to schools, educators, parents, and learners in more than 50 countries, through programs that use proven and emerging methods and technologies in ways that are culturally and contextually appropriate. She finds that there is nothing more satisfying than seeing usage, engagement, and efficacy numbers go up and up and up! She has had the privilege of introducing Singapore math around the world, including in the US, Australia, New Zealand, India, Turkey, Oman, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia and the UK. The author of several math and literacy course materials and children’s books, she regularly leads professional development in curriculum and course design, math, literacy and creative and critical thinking. Passionate about community service, she participates in programs counselling young people on their education and career and helps women entrepreneurs start and build their businesses and careers.

Osama Obeidat, Ph.D

Chief Executive Officer-Queen Rania Teacher Academy

Dr. Osama is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA). He has been leading this unique and prestigious organization since March 2019.

Before Joining QRTA, Osama worked for 6 years as the Director of the school inspection/evaluation at Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge.
Before moving to Abu Dhabi, Osama worked as an education specialist, and head of monitoring and evaluation with several NGOs, and worked as an Associate Professor of education at the Hashemite University in Jordan.

Dr. Obeidat also consulted and was a resource person for several local, regional, and international organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, EDT, Ministries of Education in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Rwanda, and Iraq.
He brings more than 25 years of experience in education quality, policy, evaluation, and reform, among other areas.

Osama received his Ph.D. in International and Development Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 and a Certificate in Evaluation Practices from George Washington University as well as an Executive Leadership Certificate from INSEAD Business School.

Carla Aerts

Futures of Education consultant

Carla has been at the international forefront of EdTech - including AIED - and the Futures of Education, straddling the Global North and the Global South. She is a thought leader and heavily involved in strategy development and innovation or the reinvention of education and learning. Her vast experience of 20 years, informed by the Science of Learning, the Learning Sciences, and extensive EdTech eco-systems’ engagement, includes forming and running an EdTech ThinkTank or catalyst: the Tmrw Institute, EdTech policy, strategy and product development, setting up an accelerator as well as having extensive mentoring and coaching experience, engaging with EdTech startups globally. Carla has worked with international education publishers, international universities and sits on several (advisory) boards, including: DEFI (Digital Education Futures Initiatives at Cambridge University).

She is an occasional author and can be found as a speaker or moderator at many a conference.

Asha Alexander

Principal of GEMS Legacy School, Dubai

Asha Alexander is Principal at GEMS Legacy School, Dubai and Executive Leader of Climate Change at GEMS Education. With 35 years of experience in the provision of education to K-12 students, she has overseen the school’s transition to an exclusively digital curriculum.

Passionate, driven to achieve aspirational goals, and ready to take on any challenge, she believes in nurturing students’ hearts and minds and is particular about a value-based education. She is excited by the prospect of watching every child achieve his or her potential. Asha is a UN certified Climate Change Leader and has made presentations at several Conference of Parties (COP) and other international conferences and has conducted workshops on leadership, and change management for schools in India and UAE. She has led the school’s Twinning Program with 87 schools enabling schools to develop partnerships around the world to embed the SDGs. Currently she has established GEMS Hub Schools for Sustainability in Italy, Indonesia, Malawi, Lithuania and India and is working with the Ministry of Education in UAE to bring Climate Literacy to schools in the UAE. She has been recognized as a UNCC Champion at the 60th anniversary of UNITAR this year at Geneva.

Alex Crossman

Headmaster, London Academy of Excellence

Alexander Crossman is Headmaster of The London Academy of Excellence, the highest ranked sixth form provider in England offering a full A Level curriculum.

Alex is a senior academic adviser to Lighthouse Education Group in Shenzen, China, a member of the Leadership Council of the World Schools Summit, and an advisory board member at the Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning (CIRL) at Eton College. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and The Chartered College of Teaching.

Alex is the author, most recently, with Ian Warwick, of 'Greater Expectations: Enabling Achievement for Disadvantaged Students' (Sage 2024).

Alex’s career in education has included being the founding Head of one of London’s most successful free schools and the Chief Executive of an education consulting firm based in the Middle East but operating worldwide. Teaching is Alex’s first calling but his second career. Previously, he was a managing director with global responsibility for strategy at one of the world’s leading investment banks.

Alan Williamson

Chief Executive Officer, Taaleem

Alan graduated from Glasgow University with an Honors degree in History and Russian Language and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has led several schools as Principal in the UK and international sector. Alan was previously CEO of a premium schools’ group in Dubai, and before that, CEO of a large multi–Academy Trust in the UK.

He brings with him a wealth of experience, as a teacher, headmaster and superintendent of schools. Alan is a strong communicator who fundamentally understands that the profitability and success of an education company is intrinsically linked to happy and flourishing schools where the welfare of students is the number one priority, and where staff are the most prized asset. As well as being passionate about teaching and learning, Alan has been actively involved in school leadership related to Special Educational Needs and Inclusion. In his current role as CEO at Taaleem, he supervises the strategic direction of the company.

Alan has a significant and impressive impact and evidenced based skillset in system wide improvement, incorporating skills, competency and knowledge.

Aangi Shah

9th-grade student, The Riverside School, India

Aangi, a 9th grader from The Riverside School in Ahmedabad, believes that practice makes you better. Known for her passion for learning, she excels in sciences, coding, math, dance, languages, and history, with a special love for Chinese mythology. Eager to explore every opportunity, Aangi has spoken at a poetry evening, participated in various MUNs, and anchored at the BTC Summit last year.

Aashti Zaidi Hai

Founder and CEO, Global Schools Forum, London, UK

A passionate advocate for the power of networks and collective action to transform education outcomes, Aashti is the Founder and CEO of Global Schools Forum, a catalytic community, innovation accelerator, and partnership builder of 130 education organisations reaching 250,000 schools and 22 million children with safe quality education.

Aashti previously worked at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, U.K. Department for International Development, the World Bank and at the American Institutes for Research. She is a Fellow at Forward Institute and advises LedBy Foundation and CommonTime.

Adhishree Parasnis

Director of Communications, Global Schools Leader, India

Adhishree has spent over a decade in the education sector in India and brings wide-ranging experiences in design, research, facilitation and community building. Most recently Adhishree was the Senior Strategist at Subu and Rakshit, a design for social impact firm. In this role, she helped social impact organizations develop effective communication strategies to strengthen the impact of their interventions.

Adhishree previously worked as a Senior Manager for Alumni and Partnerships at Teach For India, as a Strategic Consultant for Teach For Bangladesh, and as a Curriculum Design Consultant with Generation — McKinsey’s social arm.

Adhishree was a 2011 Teach For India Fellow and holds a Masters in International Business & Emerging Markets from the University of Edinburgh.

Adithya Narayanan

CEO, Riverside Learning Center , India

Adithya is the CEO of the Riverside Learning Center where he works with schools and school leaders to enable them to build design-led schools. Adithya started his career as a teacher, where he taught Grades 4 and 5 in Mumbai, and has since built and scaled organisations and businesses across sectors in the USA, Kenya, and India. He has a Masters in Public Policy degree from Harvard University.

Alex Gray

Leader & Founder, D.E.E.P Professional, UAE

Alex Gray is an experienced educator and thought leader with over 15 years in teaching and leadership. His MA in Education, where he explored performance enhancement, and his NPQLTD qualification demonstrate his deep knowledge of educational practices. Alex shares this expertise through his insightful podcast, The International Classroom, interviewing global leaders on cutting-edge educational topics. He also curates resources for performance enhancement on his website, deepprofessional.com, and his D.E.E.P Professional YouTube channel.

Ana Ligia Scachetti

CEO, Nova Escola, Brazil

Ana Ligia Scachetti is a journalist, educator and CEO of Nova Escola, a Brazilian nonprofit organization that supports public school teachers. With an average of 3 million visitors per month, this digital platform provides lesson plans, news reports, online courses, other educational materials and a community for teachers. Since 2023, the organization has been exploring the use of artificial intelligence to leverage its impact in public schools.

Andreas Schleicher

Director of Education, OECD, Germany

Andreas is the Director of Education and Skills and SpecialAdvisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. He initiated and oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other international instruments that have created a global platform for policymakers, researchers, and educators from all nations and cultures to innovate and transform education policies and practices. For over 20 years, he has worked with ministers and education leaders worldwide to improve the quality and equity of education. Before joining the OECD, he was the Director of Analysis at the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). He studied Physics in Germany and completed his degree in Mathematics and Statistics in Australia. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the "Theodor Heuss" prize for exemplary democratic engagement. He is an honorary professor at the University of Heidelberg.

Asheesh Advani

President and CEO, Junior Achievement Worldwide, United States

Asheesh is the President and CEO of JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide, one of the largest youth-serving NGOs in the world focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness. During his tenure leading JA Worldwide since 2015, the organization has been recognized as one of the ten most impactful NGOs in the world in annual rankings. Asheesh is the co-author of Modern Achievement with celebrated leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith, a book that reconsiders the definition of achievement for aspiring leaders. He is a sought-after keynote speaker with experience speaking at Fortune 500 corporate gatherings, the Great Hall of the People in China, the United Nations, and at major universities. Prior to joining JA, Asheesh was a technology entrepreneur and led two businesses successfully from start-up to acquisition. He holds degrees from the Wharton School and Oxford University, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar.

Danielle West

Founding Partner & CEO, Inicio Partners, UK

Dr Farah Sarraj

Chief Corporate Officer, Al Futtaim School Management Company, Dubai, UAE

Dr Farah Sarraj currently holds the role of Chief Corporate Officer at Al Futtaim School Management Company; she also leads a dedicated centre for excellence in Arabic founded in 2018 by the Al Futtaim Education Foundation. Dr Sarraj’s advocacies include education for the 22nd Century, bilingualism, raising the profile of Arabic as a language for thought and life, and education for global citizenship.

Dr Sarraj held several senior school leadership roles in the UK before she moved to the UAE in 2011. In the UAE, Dr Sarraj served on the senior leadership team of a start-up school in the northern emirates before moving to Ajman University, where she lectured in the College of Education at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Dr Sarraj holds an MA and PhD in English Literature/Early Women’s Writing from the University of Manchester, a PGCE/QTS from Brunel University, London and an MSc in Educational Leadership from the University of Portsmouth. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and is currently pursuing a Master’s in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at Kings College London.

Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy

Founder, Ekya Schools, India

Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy is the Vice President of CMR Group of Institutions, Founder of Ekya Schools and Provost of CMR University, Bangalore.

CMR Group is an educational conglomerate established in 1991 in Bangalore with over 20,000 students from Montessori to post-doctoral scholars.

Dr. Tristha founded Ekya Schools in 2010, a chain of dynamic schools designed with the aim of bringing pedagogically sound, research-based learning experiences to India. She spearheads K-12 initiatives under the CMR Group, overseeing state board, CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE and pre-university institutes, with an overall strength of 7000 students. Dr. Tristha brings cutting-edge educational advancements to Ekya through her exposure to the principles of the Project Zero Classroom from Harvard University, inquiry-based learning from the Reggio Emilia approach in Italy, and design thinking from Stanford d.school.

CMR University is a private university in Karnataka established in 2013 with over 9000 students. As the Provost, Dr. Tristha leads transformative academic and administrative initiatives to support students' growth.

Dr. Tristha’s academic qualifications include a Master's degree in Education from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from Singapore Management University. She also holds a Doctorate in Education from King’s College, London. She is currently enrolled in the prestigious Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Her past research has focused on topics including educational equity, teacher motivation, education policy and curriculum construction.

Dr. Tristha is an early-stage investor in startups. She is the current Membership Officer of YPO Bangalore and a Board Trustee of One Billion Literates Foundation.

Mike Fisher

COO and Insights Director, T4 Education, London UK

With over two decades of experience in the technology sector, Mike has a rich history of researching and consulting on trends for the world’s largest blue-chip technology providers, focusing recently on the education sector.
In his role at T4 Education, a digital media platform that aims to support teachers and schools, Mike directs a global team in delivering various initiatives, including the World's Best School Prizes, Best School to Work, and the World Education Medals. He is passionate about enhancing learning experiences and improving educational outcomes through cultivating a positive school culture.

Mosharraf Zaidi

Founder & CEO, Tabadlab, Pakistan

Mosharraf Zaidi has over two decades of experience in analysing and shaping policy in complex political environments. He has spearheaded research, analysis and delivery for a wide array of reform interventions in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as in the South Asia region. His work intersects political economy, strategic communications and change management.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Zaidi has consistently demonstrated expertise in engaging with and persuading leaders to take decision that are informed by data and evidence. He blends a wide array of public engagements through regular speaking and social media engagements. He has worked on regional stability and security in South Asia, improved learning outcomes for children and universal enrolment, universal health coverage and universal basic income in Pakistan.

His most recent work for Tabadlab, the think tank and policy advisory firm he founded in 2018, includes work on improved foreign direct investment, technology and digitalisation, housing and urban development.
Mr. Zaidi joined Albright Stonebridge as Senior Adviser in March 2021.

From 2013 through 2018, he lead the Alif Ailaan campaign for education in Pakistan.

He served as principal Policy Advisor at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2013, where he worked in crisis diplomacy and established the Public Diplomacy division.

Mr. Zaidi was Governance Adviser for the UK Government’s FCDO (formerly DFID) from 2004 through 2008, focusing on tax and revenue reform with the World Bank, and improved public financial management in the Punjab province, with the Asian Development Bank.

Prior to this, Mr. Zaidi worked on various civil service and public administration reform efforts, including disentangling the revenue function from local administration, for the World Bank, and for the National Reconstruction Bureau of the Government of Pakistan.

Mr. Zaidi was honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014 and the Tribeca Film Festival and Disruptor Foundation Fellow in 2015. He writes a regular column for The News in Pakistan, and his writing appears frequently in a variety of other publications including Foreign Policy, the New York Times and the Indian Express. He frequently contributes to television, radio and podcasts.

Nik Kafka

Founder & CEO, Teach a Man to Fish, London, UK

Nik Kafka is Founder & CEO of Teach a Man to Fish, a non-profit organisation supporting schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America to empower their students, through entrepreneurship education, with the skills & mindset needed for success in education, work and life.

Rooted in 'real world' and experiential learning, this award-winning model provides students a practical way to learn vital business and 21st Century skills - as well as generating profits to fund school projects, equipment or community work. Teach A Man To Fish's education and enterprise initiatives have now benefited over 500,000 young people across more than 100 countries, principally through the School Enterprise Challenge awards program.

Following a successful banking career in London, Nik moved to Paraguay teaming up with the Fundacion Paraguaya where he helped develop the award-winning Financially Self-Sufficient School model. He has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a recipient of the Charles Bronfman Prize 2022 and jury member for the World's Best School prizes.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Director General, International Baccalaureate Organization (IB), Finland

Olli-Pekka Heinonen became the 8th Director General of the IB in 2021. Prior to this, he was Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education where he worked from 2016.

Mr Heinonen had an active career in politics in Finland between 1994-2002: as Minister of Education and Science (1994-1999); Minister of Transport and Communication (1999-2002) and as a Member of Parliament (1995-2002).

From 2002-2012, Mr Heinonen was Director of Yle, the Finnish national public broadcasting company, before joining the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office in 2012 as State Secretary. He has also been responsible, as State Secretary, for the portfolios of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development and the Ministry of Finance of Finland.

He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku in Finland.

Palash Devra

10th grader student, The Riverside School, India

Palash is a 10th grader from The Riverside School in Ahmedabad and believes in following his heart and living in the moment. Known for making friends quickly, he has diverse interests including Maths, Science, robotics, cooking, and sports. Always ready for adventure, Palash has anchored the Riverside AIR 2024 and mini BTCs at the BTC Summit 2023.

Sharvaree Ballal

9th-grade student, The Riverside School, India

Sharvaree, a quirky and fun 9th grader from The Riverside School in Ahmedabad, believes in "Being the Change." Known for her dancing, liveliness, and leadership, she played the main lead in AIR 2024, served as the Persistence CEO in grade 8, and performed twice at the BTC Summit 2023.

Shiny Wang

Vice Principal, Beijing No. High School International Campus, China

Wang, Shi (Shiny), Vice Principal of Beijing No.4 High School International Campus. ETS TOEFL Board Member, formerly served as the Assistant to Principal at Tsinghua University High School and Director of College Counseling, Vice Principal of Tsinghua Daoxiang School, Academic Consultant of Tsinglan School, former Vice Principal of Beijing Kaiwen Academy. Member of NACAC & InternationalACAC, Former member of International Advisory Committee of the College Board, Winner of “Outstanding Contribution Award” from United States Department of States(Education USA), Special Advisor of United States Department of States(Education USA), Secretary-General of Beijing Academy for College Counseling. Residential staff of College Board Summer Institute of College Counseling at NYU Shanghai. Founding member of ChinaICAC, member of international advisor board at IE University in Spain and University of St Andrew in UK. Chairman of Phoenix League Advisory Board of U Chicago. Initiator of CCABA. CCAJZ and CCAXN.

He is one of the first professional counselors at a Chinese public school offering college admission counseling for students and has more than 20 years of counseling experience as well as more than 20 years of teaching and school administration in China’s famous secondary schools.

Shiny has great experience working with leading schools both in China and all over the world. He is a respected expert in China on college counseling and international education. He has been invited to present at many professional conferences, events, forums , such as International ACAC annual conferences, Sina, Tencent and so on. Shiny has also published articles on China's international education in major media including the New York Times. Recently published a best seller on college counseling in Chinese, his teaching stories has been adopted in the book of Lessons in Life- What we can all learn from the world’s best teachers by Andria Zafirakou.

Tamara Philip

Director of Networks and Programs, Global School Leaders, UK

Tamara was a teacher and teacher leader for fifteen years before joining GSL. She taught at an international school and an affordable private school in India, and most recently was Director of Teaching and Learning at Avasara Academy, a non-profit school in Pune, India. In this role, she led all areas of teaching and learning, taught middle school science, coached and supported teachers and heads of department, and supported other non-profit organizations with their own teachers’ professional development.

Tamara holds an MA in Global Education and International Development from the University of Warwick and a PGCE in Secondary Education from Oxford Brookes University.

Vikas Pota

Founder & CEO, T4 Education, London, UK

Tamara was a teacher and teacher leader for fifteen years before joining GSL. She taught at an international school and an affordable private school in India, and most recently was Director of Teaching and Learning at Avasara Academy, a non-profit school in Pune, India. In this role, she led all areas of teaching and learning, taught middle school science, coached and supported teachers and heads of department, and supported other non-profit organizations with their own teachers’ professional development.

Tamara holds an MA in Global Education and International Development from the University of Warwick and a PGCE in Secondary Education from Oxford Brookes University.

Aisha Abdulla Miran

Director General, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai, UAE

Aisha Miran has more than 22 years of invaluable experience in the public sector, marked by a strategic focus on shaping governance and decision-making processes. Over the course of her career Aisha has demonstrated expertise in strategy management, strategic planning, performance management, policy making, and governance.

In her role as the new Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Aisha is spearheading efforts to enhance Dubai’s private education sector, aligning with emirate’s vision to solidify its position as a world-class hub for education.

Concurrently, she has been appointed to The Executive Council of Dubai, further cementing her influence in shaping policies and strategies for the emirate's socio-economic development.

In her previous role at The Executive Council, Aisha was instrumental in setting the strategic agenda for The Executive Council of Dubai and its Strategic Affairs Council. She was pivotal in establishing a world-class strategy execution system across the Government of Dubai, which was internationally recognised as a best practice by the Hall of Fame Award.

She also introduced Qarar, the Dubai Government’s integrated smart decision support system, endorsed by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council. Through the system, information flows freely from information owners to government entities, to sector committees, to The Executive Council, and to the Ruler of Dubai, when required.

Under her leadership, Dubai also attained the ISO 37120 Platinum level certification, a pioneering recognition globally, alongside eight other cities in 2014. She also led the Dubai Government team in updating the emirate’s strategic plan for 2021 (Dubai Plan 2021), launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai in December 2014.

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and with close supervision of HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Protection of Rights of People with Disabilities, Aisha led the emirate’s
efforts to transform Dubai into an accessible-friendly city by 2020.

Aisha holds an EMBA from the American University of Sharjah, an Executive Diploma in Public Administration from the National University of Singapore, and certifications in Balanced Scorecard Practice.

She is a graduate of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development, showcasing her dedication to continuous learning and professional growth. Aisha is a member of the UAE Education and Human Resources Council. She is also a board member of the Digital School, one of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and on the board of trustees of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and a member of the board of TECOM Group.

Aisha has represented Dubai Government in numerous international conferences and co-authored multiple cases on performance and strategy management. Her remarkable career began with The Executive Office, where she played a key role in projects such as the establishment of the Dubai Institute for Human Resource Development and the Dubai Government performance management system.