Andrea D. Ferrari CEO Global Great Place to Study™; Executive Director and Founder of WholeSchools International; Partner @ School Day Finland
Andrea holds a Master's in Education from Columbia University, New York with specialization studies at the University of Lapland in Finland and at the Loris Malaguzzi International Center in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She is a specialist in accreditations and global programs that drive innovation, happiness, wellbeing, and equity at the heart of every educational institution. “Do not let success determine your happiness when you can let your happiness determine your success!”
Mr. Sherman taught elementary, middle and high school students in a variety of settings and has also served as a community college instructor and university professor. Mr. Sherman is actively involved in school improvement efforts and accreditation in Latin America as an Engagement Review Team member for Cognia. With Cognia, Andrew served two consecutive three-year terms as Vice-Chair of the Committee on International Schools, permitting his involvement in schools in more than a dozen countries. Mr. Sherman currently services Cognia schools in the role of Vice President for International Strategy and Development in Latin America. Patiently supported by a wonderful educator and a terrific wife of over twenty-five years, Tisa Rodriguez, he also enjoys his time as a father to Sofia Salome and Ilan Cayetano, proud citizens of both the United States and Mexico. Mr. Sherman currently works from his home office overlooking the Canon del Chiche in Tumbaco, Quito, Ecuador.
Mr. Ari Mäki, Master of Political Sciences, is the Ambassador of Finland to Mexico, also accredited to Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Since joining the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1996, he has served in Tehran, Paris (UNESCO), and Rome, later becoming Ambassador to Afghanistan (2013–2015), Director for Latin America and the Caribbean (2015–2019), and Ambassador to Türkiye (2019–2023) before assuming his current role in Mexico in 2023. Before his diplomatic career, he worked in shipping lines, film festivals, and the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Coming from a working-class family in Nastola, Finland, he attended a small countryside school where he developed a lifelong love for libraries. His favorite subjects were history, geography, and drawing, though he struggled with physical education due to his small frame. Later, he excelled in languages—English, Swedish, German, and French. He attributes his journey to Finland’s education system, which ensured equal opportunities for all.
I am the owner and general director of a future unicorn boutique school in Mexico City on the cutting-edge of educational innovation.
I am on a passionate daily quest to discover new ways of leading, teaching, and learning, so we can dramatically improve schools and empower future generations of learners to make a significant positive impact on the development of the human race.
I am an empathic and intuitive leader, who places a high value on the skills of collaboration, communication, creativity and thinking critically in schools, in order to effectively improve the system. I have a desire to make an impact in the world, through the kindness I use to connect with people on a daily basis.
I have a strong interest in all Metaverse, blockchain, and NFT projects that have the power to transform educational settings and impact school and student learning.
Proud father and proud husband and infinitely grateful to have a big impact in the life of my family and the students and teachers I aim to serve.
Lasse Leponiemi is the co-founder of HundrED – the mission driven organisation validating, amplifying and supporting the implementation of K12 education innovations globally. HundrED has a platform of over 6,000 education innovations from around the world, and their network reaches 100+ countries. Lasse is responsible for the overall operations, and leads the development work of their HundrED Foundation.
Peter Brunn is the vice president of organizational learning at Center for the Collaborative Classroom. Previously at Collaborative Classroom, he was the director of professional development, director of staff development, the assistant director of the Reading Project, and a staff developer. Before coming to Collaborative Classroom, Peter was a staff developer for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and worked in New York City public schools helping teachers implement reading and writing workshops in their classrooms. Peter received his master’s degree in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and his undergraduate degree in history from Marquette University. Peter is also the author of The Lesson Planning Handbook: Essential Strategies That Inspire Student Thinking and Learning, published by Scholastic. Follow Peter on Twitter at @pdbrunn.
Tracey Bryan is a passionate educator with over 25 years experience. Currently she designs and operates spaces and experiences that facilitate interdisciplinary, cross-divisional, hands-on learning. She is passionate about combining modern technology with manual tools in order to foment creativity and spark innovative ideas through her work in the maker spaces at The American School Foundation. Partnering with community members and teachers spanning K-12 allows her to create authentic learning experiences for students of all levels. Recognized as an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Innovator she has presented on innovative educational practices throughout Latin America, the US and Sweden.
Jill has worked in over 30 states in the US and 20 countries around the world.
She is the author of Developing Natural curiosity through Project based learning. An expert in learner centered environments, school cultures and community engagement.
Jill is a disruptive optimist!
Armando Andrade has been a teacher for 30 years. He has worked with children, adolescents and adults. He became a teacher trainer 20 years ago and currently trains teachers and visits schools around the world as an authorized IB educator.
He has published two series of books for Macmillan Publishing House. One of his series is a teacher edition. He completed a Master's Degree in Education at the University of the Americas. He was awarded twice as best teacher of the year by the SEP.
Armando has participated in the creation and design of different schools from their initial conception, start-up and successful operation. One of them became the first IB PYP school in Latin America. He is currently working at Foresta International School as IB Director and recently designed curricular connections and content for the opening of the first educational entertainment park attraction of National Geographic in Mexico.
General Director and founder of the Oquixpi Human Development Center. Advocate of human value and the right to wellbeing, in favor of truth. Humanist Psychologist with a Gestalt Master's Degree and a specialization in Positive Psychology. Certified meditation teacher. Claudia is currently the General Director of Colegio Hebreo Maguen David.
Gabriela González-Pacheco, Programs Director at WholeSchools International, VP LATAM Great Place to Study™. Gabriela has 32 years in teaching and as a national and international speaker, 22 of them in educational leadership positions, plus 25 years of consulting experience with a master's degree in psychotherapy and a specialization in Educational Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She believes social change will only truly be achieved through education.
Graduated from Harvard University with a Master in management, as an Industrial Engineer from Uniandes and a marketing specialist from CESA, Vicky is co-founder of Arukay. Arukay has received multiple awards: Holon IQ for three consecutive years, Tech de Monterrey highlighted it as one of the 10 EdTechs that are revolutionizing global education, The Pacific Alliance and the IDB.
Vicky has her TEDx Talk on “Programming, the Language of the Future”. She has been awarded as a Woman of Impact by Endeavor, chosen as one of the Geniuses in education by Dinero Magazine. In 2019, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDBLAB) awarded Vicky as the most innovative and dynamic STEAM Woman in Latin America and the Caribbean for the revolution that Arukay has brought to the school segment.
Panelist at the IFE Conference (Institute for the Future of Education) in Mexico in 2023, and also at the HABLA MEXICO event, sharing participation with other renowned panelists like Yuval Harari and Andrés Oppenheimer. She has also been invited to the IDB General Assembly and at the UN Women's summit for her outstanding career in education.
Edgardo H. Manzitti is a passionate education professional with a lifelong dedication to the field, beginning his journey at just 18 years old. Coming from a family deeply rooted in educational institutions, he has honed his expertise as the Head of St. Catherine's Moorlands School, Belgrano campus, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also CEO of Exo Schools LATAM. ExO School is a consulting firm specializing in aligning the educational and business models of schools to optimize academic performance and financial results (EBITDA). We apply exponential technologies and accessible innovative solutions without requiring significant investments.
As General Secretary of the International Schools Association (ISA), Edgardo plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of global education. He also serves as a consultant, guiding schools through transformative processes in pedagogy, management, and value propositions.
Driven by a commitment to innovation, Edgardo consistently seeks to equip schools with cutting-edge tools and strategies, empowering them to prepare students for success in an ever-changing world.
As of January 10, 2022, Mario López Roldan took office as Director of the OECD Center for Latin America. Previously, he worked for nearly 15 years as Head of the Speech and Outreach Intelligence Unit in the Office of the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He also supported the Secretary-General in coordinating and strengthening the OECD's collaboration with Latin America. Before working at the OECD, he led the Euro Alliance consulting group, promoting economic cooperation between local governments in Spain and Latin America; served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OECD; Economic Counselor at the Embassy of Mexico in France; and Coordinator of Economic Studies and Spokesperson for the Institute of Euro-Latin American Relations (IRELA), based in Madrid. Previously, he worked at the Embassies of Mexico in Spain and the United Kingdom, and held various positions at the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of the President of Mexico. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from the University of the Americas in Mexico, a Master's in European Integration from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and doctoral studies in International Economics and Development at the Complutense University of Madrid. He speaks Spanish, English, French, and Italian; and his main hobbies are poetry, painting, music and football.
Dr. Christina Hinton leads the Human Flourishing Program’s work in education. At Harvard, she leads research on character skills, loving relationships, and flourishing among children, adolescents, educators and parents internationally. In addition, she leads the Evidence-Based Parenting for Flourishing Families initiative. Dr. Hinton is also the Founder and CEO of Research Schools International (RSI), which has carried out over 80 research and professional development projects to promote character skills and flourishing in schools across 70 countries. She lectures internationally and has delivered keynotes in over 35 countries. Prior to her current roles, Dr. Hinton was a faculty member at Harvard Graduate School of Education, lecturing on neuroscience and education and social-emotional learning. In addition, she worked in multilateral diplomacy and international policymaking at the OECD’s Center for Educational Research and Innovation and UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development unit. She was also a Research Fellow at Sesame Workshop. Dr. Hinton completed her doctorate and master’s at Harvard in education, neuroscience, and child development, and her bachelors at Swarthmore in neuroscience and education.
Anoushka Jolly is a distinguished teenager who has made significant contributions to the field of child welfare and mental health in India. Anoushka is the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar winner, which is bestowed by the Prime Minister of India and is the highest civilian honour for any child in the country.
In addition to her remarkable achievements, Anoushka is the creative mind behind the Anti-Bullying Squad and the innovative Kavach app, designed to support adolescent mental health. Her passion for empowering young people and addressing critical issues such as bullying and mental well-being has garnered widespread acclaim and positively impacted many lives. A visionary student Anoushka's incredible journey started as an entrepreneur at a young age of 9 and today at 15 years she is making an impact in the lives of countless young people. Anoushka successfully secured funding for her social enterprise, Kavach, during the first season of Shark Tank India. Recently, she was appointed by Harper Collins Publishers as the brand ambassador for a new wellbeing series aimed at school children and educators. Anoushka was also invited to speak at the International Baccalaureate Global Conference 2024 in Daegu, South Korea.
With a background in psychology and educational sciences, Magdalena Balica has over 25 years’ experience in educational research at international level. Her current focus area is wellbeing in education. She has authored a series of policy papers on wellbeing and she managed a set of foundational studies on student and teachers’ wellbeing in partnership with the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford.
She is currently leading the “Wellbeing in school” project for the IB, in partnership with Jacobs Foundation, Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford, Research School International (RSI), Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University and HundrED, piloting evidence-based interventions in the area of student wellbeing and providing action research support for more than 150 schools and over 15000 educators across the globe.
Magdalena Balica has been with the IB for over 6 years in The Hague Office, The Netherlands and she is managing the Development and Implementation Research Team within the Research and Design Department.
Leoni is the office manager and research associate at the Oxford University Wellbeing Research Centre and production assistant of the World Happiness Report.
Coauthor of the recent report on “The wellbeing of teachers in schools” and the “Teacher wellbeing framework and key considerations to enhance teacher wellbeing” in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate.
Leoni graduated with an MSc in Child Development and Education from the University of Oxford, and a BA in Education from the University of Cambridge. She is currently studying part-time for a PhD in Education at the University of Birmingham. Her research interests focus around the advocation for children, particularly marginalised children, within cultural contexts where social stigmas might act as a barrier to these individuals being fully recognised and supported within society.
