Dr. Mike Bottery is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Hull, England, having formerly been Head of Centre, and Director of Research at the same institution.  He graduated from Oxford University in Philosophy and Psychology, and after taking a teacher training qualification. He taught in Primary schools in England and Australia for thirteen years. He then moved into the University sector, taking his doctorate in values education in 1986. He became a full Professor in 2000. He has published ten books with major publishers, and numerous peer-refereed articles in international journals, on the subjects of values and policy in education, the sustainability of educational leaders, and education’s contribution to global sustainability.

He has been awarded the title of Noted Scholar at the University of British Columbia, Visiting Professor at Seattle Pacific University, and both Advisory and Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Education, and has taught at other universities in the UK, Canada, the US, mainland China, Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore.  He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the British Educational Leadership and Management Association in 2017, and his book Sustainable School Leadership (with P.M. Wong and George Ngai, Bloomsbury, 2018) was shortlisted by the American Publishers Association for its 2019 English Prose Award.  Writing a Watertight Thesis (with Nigel Wright, Bloomsbury, 2019) is currently being translated into Chinese and will go into a 2nd Edition in 2021. His book, The Educational Leader in a World of Covert Threats is contracted to be published in 2021.


Dr. Ariel Levy serves as a visiting faculty member at the Mandel School of Educational Leadership, and works at the Yad Hanadiv foundation, accompanies and adviser the implementation of the AIW (Authentic Intellectual Work ) program in Israel. In his previous position he was Senior Deputy Director-General and Head of the Pedagogic Administration in Israel’s Ministry of Education. 

Before that he was in charge of professional development for principals in the Israeli National Institute for School Leadership  “Avney Rosha” since its establishment.He served as principal of a large grades 7-12 high school in Jerusalem and led pedagogic programs focusing on the individual needs of students and on nurturing the staff.Served as a facilitator in a “thinking communities” program at Branco Weiss Institute, Jerusalem.Dr. Levy holds an MA in Philosophy and PhD  in Educational Administration and at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Dr. Levy’s research focuses on School’s emotional climate and its contribution to the relationship between leadership style, teachers’ internal motivation and school effectiveness. He is also a certified teacher. Dr. Levy is a graduate of the Mandel Program for Educational Leadership.


Themis Christophidou is the Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission, since March 2018. She is a civil engineer with 35 years of experience in private and public sector management. 

After having worked in the private sector for 15 years, she joined the European Commission in 2001.  Having held various positions in the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, she worked as Deputy Head of Cabinet of Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Youth and Sport in 2010-11.  From 2011 to 2014, Themis Christophidou was the Head of Cabinet of Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and from 2014 to 2018, she was the Head of Cabinet of Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. Themis Christophidou is an alumna of the civil engineering faculty of the Metsovio Polytechnic University of Athens, specialised in transport infrastructure and urban transport. Born in Famagusta, Cyprus, she is trilingual Greek, French, English.


Kyriaki (Kiki) Messiou is Professor of Education at the University of Southampton, UK. Currently she is Director of Research/Deputy Head of Southampton Education School.   Internationally known for her research in the field of inclusive education, her work focuses on children’s and young people’s voices as a means of understanding notions of marginalisation and developing inclusive practices in schools. These are the themes of her publications, including her book ‘Confronting marginalisation in education: A framework for promoting inclusion’. Currently, she leads a study that involves 30 schools and five universities in five European countries. The study focuses on developing effective strategies for including all children in lessons, particularly those seen as ‘hard to reach’.  Her research aims to have a direct impact in the field, whilst at the same time advancing theoretical understandings around notions of inclusion in schools. Previously she worked at the University of Hull where she developed and led undergraduate and postgraduate programmes about inclusive education, and established and led the Inclusion Research Group. 

She was also a primary school teacher in Cyprus before completing her postgraduate studies at the University of Manchester.  Kiki is a regular contributor to international conferences, including AERA, BERA and ECER. She has made keynote presentations in Austria, Cyprus, Italy, South Africa and Spain. Recently she was invited to Stanford University to present her work and this has led to ongoing research collaborations.


Kyriacos Kokkinos is the Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation of the Republic of Cyprus, member of the National Board for Research and Innovation (NBRI) and Chairman of the Research and Innovation Foundation. He is a distinguished professional and technologist with long service in IBM Europe and PwC, with key focus on Digital Transformation Consulting and Information Technology.

He served as IBM Executive Director & Partner, IBM Europe, with 30 years of experience in the Technology Consulting and Services Sector, most recent role being the leader of European Consulting practice in Cognitive Computing – Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for his leadership and professional excellence and he served at Board of Directors level of many organizations (as Chairman or Member of the Board).  His Academic qualifications include Executive MBA in Strategic Management from Henley Management College (UK) and MSc & BSc in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (USA).