Speaker Profiles

Colin Marson is based in Singapore and leads the Google for Education efforts in Asia Pacific. He has worked across both public and private sectors in the region for the past 20 years. Colin holds masters degrees in public policy from UC San Diego and business administration from INSEAD. Prior to Google, Colin’s career has spanned high impact strategy consulting to launching and successfully exiting a mobile technology startup.

Anthony Mackay AM is Board Chair and immediate past President and CEO of the Washington DC based National Centre on Education and the Economy. Anthony is moderator of the annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession and the Annual Global Education Industry Summit. He is Co-Chair of Learning Creates Australia, Deputy Chancellor Swinburne University, Senior Fellow, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Visiting Professor, Bolton University UK. Anthony is immediate past Chair of Australian Council for Educational Research and immediate past Deputy Chair of New Zealand's Education Council. He was Inaugural Chair of Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership and Inaugural Deputy Chair of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. Anthony is an expert consultant to OECD, Senior Fellow IBE UNESCO and Council Member of Asia Society’s Center for Global Education and Co-founder of the Global Education Leaders’ Partnership.

Kathe Kirby AM is Executive Director of the Global Education Leaders’ Partnership. She was Executive Director Asialink and Asia Education Foundation at The University of Melbourne for 28 years following a career in education as a teacher, policy maker and teacher educator. She is currently Principal Consultant, Centre for Strategic Education; Education Consultant, Australian Learning Lecture and Education Specialist, PNG Aus Partnership Secondary Schools initiative. Kathe is an Independent Director of Education Services Australia and Koshland Innovation Fund and a former Board Director of Foundation for Young Australians, Australia Malaysia Institute, The Myer Foundation Beyond Australia Committee and Ministerial appointment to the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program National Reference Group.

Azlina Kamal is Education Specialist and Lead for UNICEF in Malaysia. She provides technical guidance for the strategic development, implementation and evaluation of education programmes. She seeks opportunities to accelerate innovation for learning and to leverage on government and private sector partnerships for system strengthening, for capacity building, and for greater engagement and advocacy. Besides focusing on improving learning outcomes, Azlina’s work revolves around ensuring equity and inclusion especially for children who are marginalised, disadvantaged, excluded.

Wong Siew Hoong has served the Singapore Education Service for 38 years, with his last 7 years as Director-General of Education at the Ministry of Education, Singapore. He retired in March 2022 and continues serving the Ministry as an Advisor. He started his career as a teacher in 1984, became Head of department, Vice-Principal and Principal, including heading Raffles Institution. He was posted to the Ministry HQ as Director of Schools, then Deputy Director-General of Education in-charge of Curriculum, before becoming the Director-General. During his career with MOE Headquarters, he looked after professional areas of curriculum, assessment, education technology, teacher training and development and school management. Internationalaly, he has been involved with PISA and TALIS for more than 12 years, representing Singapore in the TALIS Governing Board since 2008, and is currently the Chair of the Board. He sits on the Advisory Panel of the Centre of International Educational Benchmarking of the National Centre for Education and Economy, USA and the Board of the Singapore International School in Hong Kong.

Ismael Palacin is General Director at Jaume Bofill Foundation - an independent think and do tank based in Barcelona. We are focused on next educational challenges and overcoming inequalities: promoting research, advocacy, capacity building, innovative programs and coalitions to achieve best educational policies and practice that can provide equity and quality learning ecosystems for all. Some of our initiatives are focused on community based learning and after school opportunities, learning transformation, preventing education drop-out, digital equity, school desegregation. In the past Ismael led social inclusion networks, managed innovative social programs for children and families rights, school achievement and community-based inclusion.

Dr Wagheeh Shukry Hassan is currently the Deputy Director of Learning Platforms at the Ministry of Education Malaysia. He has been in a multitude of organisations within MOE, starting as a teacher specialising in English and technology and have experience in curriculum and pedagogies. In this role, Shukry coordinates, develops, and engages with a number of technology and CSR partners in providing Digital Learning for all teachers and pupils in Malaysia. Shukry is also responsible for developing the learning platform to cater for current and future needs for MOE and the country.

G.H. Ambat is Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Service and Alternative Learning System in the Department of Education in the Philippines. She was previously a policy specialist and agenda manager of the Senate Committees on Health, Peace, and Finance in the Office of Senator Teofisto Guingona III. She also served as a social development specialist at the Senate Economic Planning Office and a legislative staff of Senator Manny Villar during her earlier years in public service. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

Mr. Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary is Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Islamabad. He is also looking after the development portfolio of the Ministry and is the focal person for development partners. He is a civil servant having 30 years of public sector experience. He has served in the Province of Sindh and Punjab and held important designation and portfolios. He remained Deputy commissioner Mianwali, Managing Director Lahore Waste Management Company, and CEO Punjab Saaf Pani Company. He has been instrumental in the execution of many World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JICA, and IFAD Projects. He has a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering.

Kasim Kasuri has been Chief Executive Officer of the Beaconhouse School System since 2004. Established in 1975, Beaconhouse is one of the largest private school networks in the world with over 180,000 students in eight countries. Kasuri is passionate about change in the educational status-quo and has been involved in a number of radical school initiatives including the establishment of TNS Beaconhouse - a “school of tomorrow” based in Lahore, Pakistan, which espouses project-based, experiential learning. He is also actively involved in the development of the school network across Asia, Middle East and Europe. From 1996 to 2004, Kasuri was Chief Executive Officer of Beaconhouse-Informatics, a large chain of IT institutes in Pakistan offering corporate training and IT degrees. He has always maintained an interest in technology and publishing and managed to combine both when he launched Pakistan's first computer magazine in 1988 while at the Lahore American School. Kasuri completed his Bachelor's degree in 1994 from Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA, followed by a Master's degree from the Lahore School of Economics in 1996.

Dorothy Burt co-established the Manaiakalani programme in 2006, which involves schools, teachers, students, whānau and their community in a partnership enhanced by technology. Established to accelerate academic progress and deliver digital learning outcomes in low socioeconomic communities, Manaiakalani now has an outreach programme with more than 100 schools across Aotearoa. Since inception Dorothy has led the Manaiakalani education programme for schools in Auckland and the twelve outreach communities around Aotearoa. Research on Manaiakalani by the Woolf Fisher Research Centre has shown significant improvement in student achievement, particularly in writing. Dorothy established the Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher Academy in 2013, which has allowed groups of teachers to extend the possibilities of students through innovative solutions. She co-established the Digital Teacher Academy in 2014, an effective induction pilot for new teachers, and has since scaled this approach to a Digital Fluency Intensive programme offered to all Manaiakalani teachers. She has led a team training thousands of teachers in effective pedagogy for digital learning. This supported a seamless transition to online learning for Manaiakalani schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2022 Dorothy Burt was awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to digital learning.

Keren Caple leads Innovation Unit (IU) Australia New Zealand. She focuses on strategy and impact in the Asia Pacific region and IU education work globally. Keren leads IU work with the Bermudian Government, developing new models of learning and schooling and leading the transformation of the system across Bermuda. Keren is deeply committed to supporting people and communities to really thrive, beginning with their early education and care and continuing with their learning and wellbeing throughout their lives. To achieve this Keren works with communities, organisations, foundations and whole systems and sectors to create fundamental change in ‘the way things are done’. By maintaining a focus on both the lives of the people involved and the learning experience of leaders and indeed all professionals who work to make a difference, Keren’s work creates the conditions in which real change can happen at scale. Prior to joining Innovation Unit, Keren spent five years as General Manager of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership.

Dr Tracey Burns is Chief Research Officer at the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, DC. She is seconded to this position from the OECD's Directorate for Education and Skills, where she was Chief of Research for the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. She is additionally an Expert in the UNESCO Broadband Commission and previously an expert for their International Commission on the Future of Education. Tracey’s most recent publications include What Schools for the Future? Leadership for Uncertainty; Trends Shaping Education 2022; Back to the Future of Education: Four OECD Scenarios for Schooling; Education in the Digital Age: Happy and Healthy Children and Educating 21st Century Children: Emotional Well-Being in the Digital Age.

Dr Sonia Sharp is a partner in EY’s People Advisory Service. She heads up the Government and Public Sector practice across Australia and New Zealand. Her personal focus is education and human services, from early childhood through to adult. Sonia is an active member of EY’s global education team, working on complex, large scale transformation and change. Prior to moving into consulting, Sonia was Deputy Secretary Schools and Early Years for the Victorian government, building on a successful career leading education authorities in the UK as they transformed educational outcomes for all students and closed stubborn equity gaps.

Dr Asheley Jones is a senior education executive with more than two decades’ experience in the education, technology, and professional service sectors. Her leadership is highly focused on developing sustainable business strategy and providing oversight of organisational change management through the development and deployment of professional credentialing initiatives. Over the last five years, ultimately as COO of Deakin Digital, the commercial arm of Deakin University, Asheley has led in the design and implementation of industry-verified, evidence-based employability skills capability frameworks, mapped to multiple global qualification frameworks. Asheley has successfully worked with multiple stakeholders in academia; state and federal governments; industry and not for profit sectors. Asheley holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Victoria University (Australia) and is a registered expert of the Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) panel of experts. A Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), she currently heads the Education, Accreditation and Micro Credential portfolio for the Australian Council of Professions (ACoP), a peak body representing over 1,000,000 professionals.

Dr Zane Olina is immediate former Head of Curriculum Implementation for Skola2030 (Implementing Competency-based Curriculum Project, the Latvian National Centre for Education), a nationwide K-12 curriculum redesign effort. Zane is the founding CEO of “Iespejama misija” (Mission Possible), member of the Teach for All network attracting outstanding university graduates to become inspirational teachers and leaders. She co-established Transformation of Education Programme of the Soros Foundation – Latvia. As a Fulbright scholar, she received her Ph.D. in Learning and Instructional Technology from Arizona State University and served on the faculty of the Florida State University’s Instructional Systems Programme. Zane Olina is married, with four children.

Chris Harte has an unwavering belief in the potential of young people to learn and thrive in a flourishing, diverse and equitable society they co-construct. He also believes that education systems and learning ecosystems underpinned by powerful technologies can help to achieve this potential. Chris has worked in education since 2000, as an award winning languages teacher, a senior leader in one of the UK’s most innovative schools, Director of the online school, Emerging Sciences Victoria, an independent consultant and now as ANZSEA Government and Academic Engagement Lead at Google for Education. In his role at Google, Chris works with multiple jurisdictions across the Asia region as a thought partner in developing vibrant, healthy learning ecosystems that use Google technology to develop educational equity, anywhere learning and provide data insights into learning growth.

Dr Jennifer Groff is an educational engineer, researcher, and designer, whose work focuses on redesigning learning environments and education systems. She is the founder of Learning Futures Global, which supports organizations around the world to design and implement modern learning designs and their future-focused learning strategy. In 2020, she was the Innovation Fellow at WISE (Qatar Foundation) where she led the development of the WISE Innovation Hub—helping learning environments and education systems to transform. For more than a decade, Jennifer led leading-edge research at MIT on the design of innovative learning environments, learning technologies, and game-based environments and assessments. Most recently, she was the Chief Learning Officer for Lumiar Education, a network of innovative schools, co-founded the international NGO the Center for Curriculum Redesign and was a Fulbright Scholar (UK) at Futurelab, while also serving as the Technology SME on the OECD Innovative Learning Environments Project. She holds a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, holds a Masters in Learning Sciences and Systems Innovation from Harvard University.

John Vamvakitis leads Google for Education’s international initiatives with teams spanning APAC, EMEA and LATAM. He’s held senior-level roles across content, technology and management consulting and possesses a deep understanding of general management, strategic planning & new concept development with over thirty years of multi-functional executive experience ranging from venture funded start-ups to The Walt Disney Co., KPMG and Google. At Google for Education (GfE), John focuses on strategic planning, international operations and new market development while working with groups ranging from Ministers of Education to grassroots change-makers and education thought leaders to help re-imagine classrooms for the 21st century. As a parent, John has seen the power of personalized learning and believes technology can make this learning model accessible and affordable for all. During his six years leading GfE International he has grown and reorganized the team, implemented operational best practices and created new global partnerships -- as a result deliverables have grown over 30x during this timeframe. Before joining Google for Education, he led the APAC Partnerships team for YouTube and launched the Sport/Leisure segment vertical in the region.