Helen is the first civil adopter of CIGS thin-film solar technology in mainland China. Her home has been installed with an aquaponics system powered by solar energy, an EV charging station, composters converting kitchen waste into fertilisers, a vertical farm and an automatic dripping system. Her experience covers work for and with international organisations and ministries and as a social entrepreneur, understands the organisational challenges of grassroots NGOs.
Nishtha’s role at UN Women focuses on developing and implementing strategies to secure a diversified partnership portfolio with Governments and the private sector to build a community of commitment leading to sustained support for the organisation. She advises on leveraging the role of business in development through the Sustainable Development Goals, business ethics and governance, democratisation of the ICT arena and studying the impact of the regulatory and policy environment on businesses.
Stella Kasdagli is a gender expert, an award-winning author and a trainer with a focus on issues of social change and awareness. She is the co-founder of Women On Top, a non-profit organisation in Greece for the professional development of women and for gender equality in the public sphere. She is the recipient of multiple awards for her social and creative impact. She lives in Athens with her husband and two daughters.
Itzel is Director of Community for Climate Reality Project América Latina, where she designs projects encouraging climate action among 5,600 volunteers in 22 countries. She is currently part of a programme funded by TikTok that seeks to create a Latin American narrative on the challenges of and solutions to climate change. She was profiled as an outstanding activist in Al Gore's book, Truth to Power, in 2017. Itzel graduated with a Masters in Climate Change from Heriot-Watt University.
Jane has worked for 20 years in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Her role includes setting and driving the organisation’s global EDI strategy and the design and delivery of tools and initiatives to support mainstreaming. She has a Masters in Promoting Equality and Managing Diversity and has co-authored a book on equality monitoring in international settings. Jane is a Foodbank Trustee and volunteer and a member of Styal women’s prison Independent Monitoring Board.
María Luisa Zorrilla is a researcher and faculty member at the Institute of Education Sciences at UAEM. She is also Director of Multimodal Education, the institutional initiative to strengthen the use of ICT and enhance the virtual learning environment within the university. María’s research interests include non-conventional educational modalities, digital culture, transferable skills for life and work, and media convergence.
Nadia Nathania is a Co-founder and Managing Director of PT Intune Musik Nusantara Raya, a music production company focusing on commercial music. She has several other companies in different industries, including retail and sports education. She is an avid learner with a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) and a Master of Science from the University of Nottingham. Her passion is to help the society by solving existing problems through business conducts.
A self-published author, her inaugural book My Hall of Mentors was released in 2019. In the same year she gave her first TEDx Talk at Cumbernauld Women. Ntsiki is the Founder of MentHer, a global mentorship network supporting female social entrepreneurs. She serves as a non-executive Director for Pamanda Properties and eKasi Entrepreneurs and as a mentor for Phakama Women's Academy, Business and Arts South Africa and SEED Academy.
Richard is the global Business Development Director for Education at the British Council, where he leads the commercial work across various sectors. Having started his career as an English teacher and trainer, Richard managed learning centres in Asia and the Middle East, followed by roles across the British Council’s global network, including Country Director in Tanzania and Myanmar. His doctorate research at Heriot-Watt University focused on leadership in international matrix organisations.
Sharon Amesu is a multi award winning speaker who started her career in Law. She was a Criminal Barrister for 16 years with a successful practice across the Northwest of England. Sharon now runs a consultancy that supports organisations with leadership development and diversity and inclusion initiatives. A lifelong learner, Sharon recently completed Advanced Studies in Executive Coaching with the University of Cambridge.