Eight new speakers confirmed for GESS Education Global Leadership Summit

The two day virtual conference, running on 23 - 24 March 2021, is free to attend and exclusive for members of GESS Leaders in Education who directly influence purchasing, owners of schools and those who direct school strategy and training. There will be a nominal fee of USD $95 for other registrants.

More confirmed speakers will be announced in the coming days.

Ms. Abiola Lamikanra – Chairperson, Association of International School Educators of Nigeria

Abiola has acquired over 40 years of School Management and Parent liaison experience from working in the three levels of Nigerian education – primary, secondary and tertiary. After 19 years of running a family owned school she for the last 12 years been involved at management level in the international secondary schools’ sector in Nigeria and is currently in City of Knowledge Academy Ijebu-Ode as the pioneer Head of School.

A Certified Transformational Coach and also a scientist by first training (B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc. Applied Entomology) she is now a professional educator (PGDE/M. Ed Guidance and Counseling). With her experience in CIS accreditation processes, Sustainable International Governance (ECIS) and Technology in Education the ongoing pandemic and transition to online education has been just more challenge to tackle.

She is a member of the BOT AISEN (Association of International School Educators of Nigeria)  The Association provides a forum through which members access training, advice, and practical assistance where required. The networking opportunities enable professional educators to share, help and support on both professional and personal matters; she is the current Executive Chairman of the Association.

She has spent considerable time mentoring young persons and working with men and women from various backgrounds on a variety of life issues.

Brett Girven – Principal, The Arbor School

Mr. Brett Girven has been the principal of the Arbor School Dubai since 2019 and has more than ten years of experience in the Middle East. Having moved to the UAE from his native New Zealand, Mr. Girven has a critical eye for detail, an in-depth understanding of the Dubai and UAE educational climate, and a relentless drive to ensure a high-quality education is provided for every child at the Arbor School.

Mr. Girven's formative years were spent growing up on the beaches and in the waves of beautiful New Zealand, trekking through the pristine forests and sliding down mountains. It is no wonder that through these pastimes, he developed a passion for the environment and went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Science, majoring in Zoology. Mr. Girven continued to study Environmental Science at post-graduate level, and throughout his teaching career has always enjoyed the Ecology and Environmental Science side of teaching Science and Biology.

Mr. Girven’s experience of FS-Year 13 schools, and expertise in the secondary phase, ensures that the future development of the Arbor School is carefully balanced to ensure the holistic growth of all learners, leading to academic excellence.

Mr. Girven lives in Dubai with his wife, three young children, and continues to enjoy sports and the outdoors, including coaching rugby teams, completing triathlons and enjoying Dubai's beautiful beaches. Although his downtime largely includes reading educational and leadership articles, books and blogs; he also enjoys going to the movies with his wife and walking their dog.

Daniel Sobel - Founder and CEO, Inclusion Expert

Daniel Sobel MA Ed (Psychology) FCMI FCIC FRSA is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Inclusion Expert. An internationally respected leader in inclusive education, he has advised the Department for Education, the European Union, governments abroad and led various large scale initiatives involving thousands of schools.

Daniel has an enormous following, particularly on LinkedIn and is a highly regarded and sought after speaker for his thought provocative and often hilarious presentations and refreshingly original approach to Education and Inclusion Leadership.

He is the author of several works, including The Pupil Premium Handbook and The SEN Code of Practice Pack. His best-selling books Narrowing the Attainment Gap, Leading on Pastoral Care are available now and ‘The Inclusive Classroom’ just released in January 2021, all published by Bloomsbury Press. He has written over 50 articles in publications around the world, a series for the Guardian on Inclusive Schools and a regular column in the UK’s leading Principal’s periodical Headteacher Update.

Under Daniel’s leadership, Inclusion Expert has grown into one of the country’s most respected education organisations, which has worked with over 10,000 schools in the UK and abroad and launched programs at the Houses of Parliament. His training has been used in more than 40 countries and translated into numerous languages.

Daniel has a vision of a new era in Inclusion: beyond labels where we all share both a common humanity and a unique individuality. This vision continues to drive Inclusion Expert’s ethos and has resulted in recognition from - amongst others - The Educational Business Awards, The Education Investor Awards and the Teach Early Years Awards and accredited Post Graduate and Masters Leadership programmes with the University of Buckingham.

Fiona McKenzie - Head of Carfax Education, UAE

Fiona's comprehensive understanding of the education sector has been built up over 30 years of working in schools and education consultancy, in locations as varied as South Africa, Australia, the U.K., and the U.A.E. Fiona has worked with hundreds of families guiding them to make the best educational choices for their children whether at school or university level. As Head of Global Consultancy at Carfax Education, Fiona’s team advise families from across the globe, including the Middle East, Russia and China. They offer bespoke solutions for each family’s education needs with schools guidance, private tutoring, residential placements, homeschooling, university preparation and career mentoring.  Fiona regularly contributes to education journals, radio shows and panel discussions in the UK, and the UAE.

Laura Henry-Allain MBE - International Writer, Speaker and Consultant

Laura Henry-Allain MBE, is an expert international award-winning Early Education specialist. She is the creator of the well-loved CBeebies characters JoJo and Gran Gran and is also the series' associate  producer. She is the vice-president of The British Association for Early Childhood Education, and is an educational consultant for several well-known brands as well as children’s media and television, particularly in the areas of inclusion, racial equality and diversity.

Michael McDonald – VR Languages Consultant and Founder, Gold Lotus Consultancy

Michael McDonald, TEFL teacher and Founder of the Gold Lotus consultancy in Italy, supports secondary schools in understanding how to build students' English-as-a-foreign-language skills and competencies for an interconnected world of work with the help of virtual reality. Michael is also collaborating with academics from University College London's Institute of Education and the University of Salento (Italy) AR/VR Lab to explore how virtual reality can enhance pedagogical tasks within the Task-Based Language Teaching framework. As team leader of the vLanguage track for the fast-growing Educators in VR community, Michael is continuously searching for ways to promote accessibility - increasing the number of people who can benefit from not only the immersive nature of the digital tools available, but guiding them on how to take an active role in creating their own educational language-learning content in line with any existing school curriculum.

Ms. Mutheu Kasanga – Chairperson, Kenya Private Schools Association

Ms Mutheu Kasanga is the current National Chairperson for the Kenya Private Schools Association, which is the umbrella body for private basic education institutions. She is also the Chair for the Education Sector Board at Kenya Private Sector Alliance. She is a director at the Lukenya Schools, College and a trustee at the Lukenya University.  She is a board member at the East Africa Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) and most recently she is a member of the Taskforce on Enhancing Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity, and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms.

Peter Milne - Founder, Target4Green

Peter Milne has had over 25 years’ experience as a teacher and educational consultant, working mainly in science, environmental, global citizenship and outdoor education in the UK, Malaysia and the UAE.

From 2012- 2015, Peter worked as a Freelance Environmental Education Consultant/Trainer in the UAE. In that time, he developed curriculum-linked school activity and CSR programmes for companies such as Emirates NBD and Bee’ah School of Environment, as well as specific workshops and school support for Environmental Education and Sustainability in over 40 schools in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Through the success achieved in the UAE, Peter founded Target4Green Educational Consultancy and Training Ltd upon his return to the UK in July 2015.

In addition to working with many schools globally, Peter has been a keynote speaker at the World Environmental Education Congress, resource/article writer and a regular workshop leader, including organising and running a 4 day seminar in Jakarta on Children’s Environmental Rights.

This then developed as a course on the UK Government funded Global Learning Programme; strongly linked to Global Citizenship, and adapted as an in-school programme called Climate Change: From Causes and Consequences to Rights and Responsibilities.

Peter is also the creator and facilitator of the Beyond COP21 Symposium Global Series which has already taken place 14 times in 7 different countries and will continue until 2030 in line with the SDGs.

For more information on GESS Education Global Leadership Summit

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For further updates on the event or if have any questions, please do not hesitate to visit the event's page or contact us and we will be happy to respond to all your queries.