ADVISORY COUNCIL

  • Alison Bellwood
    The World's Largest Lesson, Creator & Director

    Alison Bellwood


    Alison is a creative communications expert with a specific focus on children and education. She worked extensively with some of the world’s most recognised brands (PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestlé) before partnering in the creation of a children’s learning programme to encourage global citizenship in K6 students.


    Since 2014 Alison has created and directed the World’s Largest Lesson, a programme delivered in partnership with UNICEF, to build understanding for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and inspire social activism in students. She has worked to bring together United Nations agencies, NGOs, high profile figures such as Sir Ken Robinson and Malala Yousafai and the educator community, to introduce thousands of educators and millions of students to the Global Goals in over 130 countries.


  • Yaccov Hecht
    Education Cities - the Art Of Collaborations, CEO

    Yaccov Hecht


    Each and every one of us is unique and exceptional. Yaacov Hecht has been carrying with him this belief since early childhood, as a dyslexic "problematic" schoolchild, and until today as CEO of Education Cities - the Art of Collaborations.


    Yaacov’s belief along with his desire to help every child find his/her uniqueness and bring it to fulfilment, drove him to found, 30 years ago, the Democratic School in Hadera, Israel - the first school in the world to be called a democratic school.


    Next, in 1993, he initiated IDEC - International Democratic Education Conference as an instrument to maintain his support of the international network, which convenes every year in a different continent. IDEC has facilitated the establishment of hundreds of innovative democratic schools around the globe, 30 of them in Israel.


    After the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister, 22 years ago, Yaacov was asked by the Israeli Ministry of Education to promote democratic values and democratic educational perception in schools nationwide.


    In 1996, he founded IDE - the Institute for Democratic Education that worked on integrating democratic and innovative processes in Israeli public schools. As part of Yaccov’s work in IDE, he opened the first academic program for training of democratic education teachers in Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel's leadingcollege of education. Then, he opened a graduate program in Democratic Education in Tel Aviv University. In 2007, Yaacov initiated the Pioneer training program for innovative and groundbreaking school principals.


    After years of collaborative work in schools with the Israeli Ministry of Education, Yaacov came to the realization that the center of gravity is shifting from the State to local authorities. For instance, Mayors can implement today innovative educational programs in their municipalities, and promote the necessary collaborations for transforming the city into "one big school". Education Cities organization, which was founded in 2010 by Yaacov, perceives the task of weaving and maintaining these kind of municipal collaborations as a work of art.


    In January 2017, Education Cities was chosen by the Finnish project HundrED, as one of the ten leading education initiatives in the world.
    Today, Yaacov's work in Education Cities is wide-ranging and comprehensive and covers all levels of education: In the classroom, in the schools, in the city, nationwide and in the world.
    As a whole, Yaacov perceives the task of preparing the education system towards the future as his life’s mission.

  • Wendy Kopp
    Teach for America, Founder
    Teach for All, CEO & Co-Founder

    Wendy Kopp


    Wendy Kopp is CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent organizations that are cultivating their nations’ promising future leaders to ensure their most marginalized children have the chance to fulfill their true potential.

    Wendy founded Teach For America in 1989 to marshal the energy of her generation against educational inequity in the United States. Today, more than 8,000 Teach For America corps members—outstanding recent college graduates and professionals of all academic disciplines—are in the midst of two-year teaching commitments in 52 urban and rural regions, and Teach For America has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for expanding opportunity for children. After leading Teach For America’s growth and development for 24 years, in 2013, Wendy transitioned out of the role of CEO. Today, she remains an active member of Teach For America’s board.

    Wendy led the development of Teach For All to be responsive to the initiative of inspiring social entrepreneurs around the world who were determined to adapt this approach in their own countries. Currently, the Teach For All network is comprised of partner organizations in 53 countries on six continents, including its founding partners Teach For America and the U.K.’s Teach First. Wendy has been recognized as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards for public service. She is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, where she participated in the undergraduate program of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Wendy resides in New York City with her husband Richard Barth and their four children.

  • Juan Antonio Ojeda Ortiz
    OIEC, Academic Director

    JUAN ANTONIO OJEDA ORTIZ


    Brother of La Salle. Doctor of Education from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, with the thesis: "The Universities in network for the generation and transfer of knowledge". Teacher and Bachelor of Pedagogy. Former Secretary General of Catholic Education in Spain. Former President of the National Association of University Teaching Centers of the Church, in Spain. Former Vice President for Europe of the International Association of Universities La Salle (AIUL). Former Dean of the La Salle University Center in Madrid, attached to the Autonomous University of Madrid. Speaker at multiple National and International Congresses. Trainer of trainers and Center Managers. Expert in Management and Organization of Educational Centers, as well as in educational trends, collaboration and networking. Advisor to different Educational Institutions, national or international, for the creation and development of a collaborative culture, working in their own networks and with others. He has been Director of the World Congress of Catholic Education, held in November 2015, in the Vatican, Rome. Gold Master Award from the Senior Management Forum and Gold Desk of the CEAAEC (Spanish Confederation of Alumni of Catholic Schools)

  • Marc Prensky
    Global Future Education Foundation, Founder

    Marc Prensky


    Marc Prensky is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed speaker & author, working to empower the planet’s two billion kids to Better Their World via a new, third-millennium upbringing and education. Coiner of the term “Digital Native,” Marc has authored seven books and 100+ essays -- translated into a dozen languages -- and has spoken and consulted in over 40 countries. He founded and currently runs The Global Future Education Foundation and the Real-World-Impact Project Education Network (ARISE-NET.WORLD). Marc attended Oberlin College and the Sorbonne, holds an MBA from Harvard, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Yale, and has taught at all levels from elementary to college. Earlier in his career Marc acted on Broadway, spent six years at the Boston Consulting Group, headed an early prototype charter school, and founded a learning games company that ran for over a decade. Marc’s writings, interviews and videos can be found at www.marcprensky.com.

  • Sandy Speicher
    Former CEO, IDEO

    Sandy Speicher


    Sandy Speicher is a former CEO of the global design firm IDEO. As a practicing designer and educator, Sandy is internationally recognized for her expertise in designing large-scale systems.

    Sandy has stewarded some of IDEO’s most significant client relationships creating impact for business and society. Her iconic work in Peru designing a school system from the ground up has been lauded as a game-changing example of systems design. As of 2019,Innova Schools has grown to 43 schools, 2,000 teachers and 43,000 students in Peru. It has recently scaled to Mexico, and the model is widely cited as inspiration in other countries.

    Sandy has been widely cited in publications such as the New York Times, Quartz, and the Wall Street Journal, and has taught at the Stanford d.school, Washington University in St. Louis, and Redding Elementary School in San Francisco. She serves as a member of the Thought Leadership Council at the Khan Academy, is a strategic advisor to Pearson, and frequently speaks about the value of design thinking to designers, educators, and leaders in business and government around the world.

  • Saku Tuominen
    HundrED, Founder

    Saku Tuominen


    Saku Tuominen is a Finnish entrepreneur, education innovation specialist and the founder of HundrED. HundrED helps schools change by seeking and sharing scalable innovations in K12 education globally. He has written 14 books, consulted various companies and been teaching innovation in Aalto University in Helsinki.

  • Stavros Yiannouka
    WISE, CEO

    Stavros Yiannouka


    Stavros Yiannouka CEO, WISE Stavros N. Yiannouka is the CEO of the WorldInnovation Summit for Education (WISE), a global think tank of the Qatar Foundation. WISE is dedicated to enabling the future of education through innovation. Its activities encompass research, capacity-buildingprograms, and advocacy. WISE flagship initiatives include an annual series of research publications, a biennial global summit dubbbed the 'Davos of education', the WISE edTech Accelerator, the WISE Innovation Awards, and the WISE Words podcast.
    For more visit www.wise-qatar.org.

    Prior to joining WISE in August 2012, Stavros was the Executive Vice-Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) at the National University of Singapore. He joined the LKY School in June 2005 to spearhead the implementation of an ambitious growth strategy, which he had helped develop as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Today, the LKY School is widely recognized as the leading global policy school in Asia. Together with Kishore Mahbubani et al. Stavros is the co-author of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy: Building a Global Policy School in Asia, World Scientific (2012).
    For more visit www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg

    Before joining the LKY School, Stavros spent five years with McKinsey & Company from 2000-2005 serving private and public sector clients in Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Canada, predominantly in finance, healthcare and education. Prior to joining McKinsey, Stavros practiced corporate law in the City of London from 1995-1998 with the firms Gouldens and Mayer, Brown & Platt. Stavros holds an MBA (with Distinction) from the London Business School and an LLB (with Honours) from the University of Bristol. He is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA); a Member of the Board of Trustees of Nazarbayev University in Astana Kazakhstan; and a non-executive Director of Blue Diagonal Capital Limited.

  • Mei Lin Fung
    People-Centered Internet,
    Chair and Co-Founder

    Mei Lin Fung


    Chair, cofounder with Vint Cerf of the People Centered Internet, gave the keynote on Decade of Digital Transformation at the World Bank IFC Global SME Financing Forum October 2020, she presented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Digital Economics launch in 2017. Mei Lin is an early pioneer of customer relationship management (CRM). She served as socio-technical lead for US Federal Health Futures initiative 2011-2013. Within the IEEE Standards Association she chairs the Industry Connections Social Impact Measurement committee , and on the Executive Committee for IEEE’s Humanitarian Activities Committee. Mei Lin is Singaporean, living in Silicon Valley who worked at Intel then Oracle. She was Douglas Engelbart’s business partner 2000-2004, organizing the 2008 Program for the Future. She was on the 2016-2018 WEF’s Global Future Council on Digital Economy and Society and is anti-technocolonialism.She earned her BSc in Math from ANU, MBA in Finance from MIT where she studied under two future Nobel Economics Prize winners.

  • H.E Ms. Reem Badran
    Al Hurra for Management & Business Development,
    Founder & CEO

    H.E Ms. Reem Badran


    H.E Ms. Badran is a former member of the 16th Jordanian House of Representatives (MP) where she obtained the highest number of votes and was the only woman MP elected outside the quota system. She is an elected Vice Chair of Amman and Jordan Chambers of Commerce, since 2009. (The only elected women). She served as the Chief Executive Officer of Jordan Investment Board (JIB)-the government of Jordan.

    Ms. Badran is the founder of Al Hurra for Management and Business Development Consultancy Company, which renders boutique services to public and private sectors on investments in Jordan and the region.
    Ms. Badran is a board member in several companies in education, Engineering consultancy, real estate development sectors in Jordan and the Arab region. Ms. Badran Chairs the Jordan Africa Business Association; and Partners Jordan. She is the Former Chair of the Middle East Business Women Initiative, The International Women Forum/ Jordan, and several other NGOs.

    Ms. Badran, a mother with two children, holds a Masters degree in International Economies and Middle Eastern Studies from Johns Hopkins University/Washington DC and recently graduated from the Faculty of Law in Jordan-2023.