The Founding Cohort
The Next Learnerspace was born out of the generous and fruitful effort of a unique group of thinkers who convened for six weeks to join efforts in reflecting, discussing and creating the foundations for this new initiative.
Richard Gilby
Richard has had a varied career in education and leadership. His education work has taken him from his native England to Greece, Egypt and Mexico, including headships in three Cambridge International schools. Along the way he has also been a small business adviser and an education consultant.
Richard’s current role is Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for Cambridge Assessment International Education. He is led by his enthusiastic team in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo from his base at home in rural Mexico. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical society.
An avid reader (Richard is the guy in line for the ATM with a Kindle), he also enjoys painting/drawing and running. Richard and his partner have a 15 year old son who fortunately inherited all his genes from his wonderful, talented and creative mother.
Richard believes that it usually takes about 30 years for people to figure out that new technology does not replace old technology but opens up a world of new opportunities. Technology and education are just hitting that cusp right now and at a time when new forms of leadership and new structures for organisations are beginning to have an impact. Exciting times!
Bruce Symbalisty
Senior Partner & Strategic Director at Reality Engine
Entrepreneur, creative instigator, and walking tempest. He worked at eWorld in the early ’90s where he developed innovative blogging systems and sold that intellectual property to Apple. He has delivered strategic initiatives and campaigns for Alberta Health Services, BP Amoco, Coca-Cola, a few Emmy-Award winners, the Glenbow Museum, Innovate Calgary, Mattel, Microsoft, RobertLangford UK, and Telus.
Bruce spent a decade as a business and marketing analyst for the oil and gas sector before founding his own marketing firm, Reality Engine. Over two decades later, his love of marketing burns as bright as his entrepreneurial spirit. Bruce is an active member and advocate of the Canadian Marketing Association, and a regular judge on the community engagement panel at the prestigious CMA Marketing Awards. He is also a member of the national committee that developed the pedagogical components for the Canadian marketer’s professional designation.
Bruce’s other great love is the arts – he is a fine artist and dedicated supporter of the arts community.
Bruce strongly believes that by being fearless, we can push the limits of boundaries, spark conversations, and continue to evolve. It keeps things interesting, and that’s what creativity is all about.
Mariana Lane
Mariana has worked in international education for the past 20 years.
In her current role with Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ), Mariana works collaboratively with member schools in Queensland, Australia, to support school interests and programs in this area. This includes the production of resources and delivery of professional development activities, and more generally to advise and support individual schools in their international endeavours and engagement. In recent years, Mariana has actively supported internationalisation of schooling and global citizenship education.
At a national level, Mariana works closely with other education peak bodies to contribute to and represent the interests of schools with international programs.
Prior to her current role, Mariana has taught as a mainstream and ESL teacher in diverse communities, including Groote Eylandt, Christmas Island and Mt Isa in Australia, and has lived for a period of time in Indonesia. She has TESOL experience in primary and secondary schools, as well as in Migrant Education and ELICOS Programs.
Mariana is married with a daughter and son. Her interests include reading, drawing, cooking and travelling.
Kirsti Jansson
An innovator who from the earliest of days in the financial services sector has been an architect of or a participant in transformational change. Much of her current leadership is at the forefront of reshaping financial services in response to new technologies, regulatory changes and cultural movements. The belief that a financial organization needs to play an important role in the lives of its customers but equally in the communities it serves keeps Kirsti excited about what the future of banking might look like. Driven by a set of deeply held values, Kirsti’s leadership is deeply rooted in strong relationships, intuition, creativity. She is currently Vice President of Transitions at ATB Financial, an innovative leader in the financial services sector. She is also a recent graduate of THNK School of Creative Leadership where Kirsti, together with a cohort of 36 people from 28 countries were recently convened to solve for complex challenges facing the world today.
Denise Bussio
Denise is a native Argentinian, who has worked both at home and in the United Kingdom, with a trajectory in both the development and private sector fields. Her expertise in the areas of project management and implementation, organizational development and relationship-building spans across different sectors such as the oil & gas upstream business and corporate social industry programs. Her training includes a degree in Geological Sciences from Universidad de Buenos Aires, a Master’s in Business Administration from Heriot_Watt University and a specialty in Not-for-Profit organizations from Universidad de San Andrés. Curious as it may read, this combination of knowledge and working experience, sought out with intention, has given her acumen to tackle complex issues, seeking to think out of the box whilst thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
One of her most recent and unexpected accomplishments was the opportunity to teach Year 7, IGCSE & IB Geography at St. Andrew’s Scots School, which was a learning experience in its own right, as she had never worked with children and adolescents before. She also became the proud coach of the school’s Model United Nations simulations, and was delighted with the enthusiasm and connectedness it sparked in students.
Denise has come to realize she most enjoys helping “build bridges” in whichever context, assisting others see purpose and connection, while enhancing overall commitment to deliver.
She joined The Nature Conservancy as Director of Argentina in January 2019.
Sofia Sengenberger
Born in Uruguay but have lived in Argentina practically all my life. I was raised in a farm, went to a boarding school in Córdoba, studied Food Technology at university in Buenos Aires. I have worked in education for the last 25 years until 6 months ago.
My love for nature, especially the world of plants and my need to do something more artistically creative triggered this change in my professional life. I am now in the process of setting up my own floral design business.
Being a parent and a conscious inhabitant of the Earth are two of my drivers for life long learning.
Two daughters and a sailing adventurous husband share our home and small garden in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
Heather Herring
Heather is a professional engineer and proud alumna of the Haskayne School of Business. She is known for her ability to pinpoint the essential elements of an idea, business, challenge or person and use her leadership, innovation, and management skills to identify opportunities for excellence. As a coach, she supports client companies in business, communications and customer development. Often described as passionate, driven, and admired for her ability to forge connections between people and industries, Heather shines brightest at the intersection of cooperation, collaboration and competition to drive success for all parties. Currently is working with several pre-revenue companies as an advisor.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-herring-3b7a5119/
Christina McGirr
From a young age, Chris has been interested in different perspectives. She is an avid debater, and has taught the skill to a wide range of students, including competitive debaters to corporate sales teams. She’s actively involved in the CivicTech movement, and most recently is volunteering with a mentoring program for underhoused youth looking to learn tech skills. When not working or volunteering, she can be found reading more than any human realistically should, helping out on her family’s off grid farm, or co-conspiring on zany plans to change the world for the better. She speaks Spanish well enough to enjoy Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and to hike around 300km of El Camino.
Chris has a BComm in entrepreneurial studies from the University of Calgary. She currently resides in Toronto, where she works in marketing.
Jeff Stephens
Dr. Jeff Stephens began his career in Weber School District in 1984 as an English and Reading teacher at Wahlquist Junior High School. Dr. Stephens was appointed as principal at South Ogden Junior High School in 1998 and served in that capacity until 2000 when he was named as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Weber School District. In 2004, the Weber School District Board of Education appointed Jeff to the position of Assistant Superintendent overseeing curriculum and instruction, assessment, and career and technical education. In 2011, Dr. Jeff Stephens was named as Superintendent of Weber School District in Ogden, Utah. Dr. Stephens received his Bachelor of Science Degree and Master of Education Degree from Weber State University; and received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Utah State University in 1994. He has also received an Advanced Reading Endorsement from the Utah State Office of Education. Dr. Stephens has provided leadership in local, state, and national professional organizations and has been presented with numerous recognitions, honors and awards for his leadership and abilities. Dr. Stephens has also taught numerous courses in content area reading and writing, writing process, the struggling reader, as well as school finance for Utah State University and Weber State University. Jeff has served on numerous boards including ASCD, Success in Education and Weber State University.
Delfina Terrado Kaehler
Delfina is a Delicate Activist who designs educational and social innovation journeys. She is the initiator of Iniciativa Murmullo, which is born from the joint need of a community of professionals who considers their practice as the path of development, learning and growth. This community works steadily towards the inner life of social organizations to generate practical, reflective and collaborative practices, thus creating conditions conducive to life. She works for Vivir Agradecidos designing and facilitating an Evolutionary Learning Ecosystem with a team of colleagues. Her previous work was to design the content and train facilitators of learning communities in a School Climate and Emotional Education Program led by the provincial government of Buenos Aires for 2000 public schools.
Delfina’s strategy is to hold sustainability of thivaible spaces within organizations to generate systemic well-being. Communities of practice represent the container where synergy occurs in such a way that regenerates the social tissue of the system. She believes that we can work as a community to become the community we want to see in the world.
Richard Lightcap
Richard’s dedication to Education and Teaching was born from the time of his fourth-grade academic year in a one-room schoolhouse in Belingwe, Zimbabwe. His teacher there inspired him to be well-read, well-educated and a world traveler. Dr. Lightcap completed an M.Ed. at Edinburgh University, followed by an Ed.M. and Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. He has taught English, Social Studies and Psychology in international private schools in Cairo, Buenos Aires, and Los Angeles, and in public schools in New York City and Miami. He has had an ongoing interest in the Learning Styles of K-12 students, and how today’s technology has affected those learning styles and much of the field of Education. Now living in Buenos Aires with his wife and daughter, he is continuing to learn Spanish, and teaching at The Global School.
Catherine Nelson-Reid
As an energetic and seasoned entrepreneurial business leader Catherine has led and supported many businesses in the financial and hospitality industries. Twenty-two years ago her life journey took a turn when Catherine made a concerted decision to follow her passion, Yoga.
For 15 years, Catherine has been a committed student and teacher of the Yogic path. Saraswati (the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and nature), is the spiritual name bestowed upon her by her guru. Catherine holds over 1800 hours of formal Yoga training and was the Studio Owner and guide for many years of the Bodhi Tree Yoga Centre in Calgary, Alberta. These experiences have gifted her with a multifaceted perspective of Yoga, its practices and teachings, and what it is to be in the struggle of being human.
As a gifted intuitive, Catherine can be considered a Corporate Mystic, Facilitator and Healer working with a number of organizational leaders to reduce and heal the stress and potential trauma of organizational life, toxic organizations and the complexity of everyday life.
Catherine has developed an array of tools and methods for reducing the adverse effects of stress and trauma. Her offerings in Nervous System Regulation Skills and Tools elevates the practice of meditation, breath work, relaxation and embodiment; Defining Your Presence and Shifting Limited Belief Patterns provides guidance in living an inspired life free of the old chains of beliefs and negative self-affirmation.
Laura Barton
Laura has over 20 years experience as an executive coach and leadership consultant specializing in improving communication and team dynamics, building relationships, providing large and small group facilitation and executive education. Her primary focus is to strengthen both the impact and resilience of leaders and their teams to create greater engagement, efficiency and accountability across the organization.
Laura teaches in Executive Education and in the Family Enterprise Advising Program at the Sauder School of Business at UBC and has taught in the Directors’ Education Program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She earned a master’s degree in leadership and Training from Royal Roads University and is a graduate of both the Coaches Training Institute and the Newfield Network.
Laura is certified to use several communication and personality instruments including Insights Discovery,™ and has been part of a think tank for the Insights Learning and Development Corporation for three years. Laura has spoken at various ICF (International Coach Federation) conferences and co-chaired the Executive Coach Summit in the US and Canada.
Marilyn Milavsky
Social artist, designer, community convenor –Over the last twenty years, Marilyn Milavsky’s passion and creativity has assisted a cross-section of Calgary’s charities and arts organizations. Marilyn served as Chair of Calgary Opera, advocated for Aboriginal Leadership at the Banff Centre, co-chaired the Telus Community Board and served on the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. In 2009 Marilyn received the Mayor’s Award for Innovation in Business and the Arts. Marilyn’s focus currently is on researching holistic approaches to regenerating social and cultural change.
Lucia Valyi
She has a degree in Political Science, a diploma in Leadership and Social Transformation, a master in Social and Educative Interventions, done yoga teacher training and have attended many courses on theatre, singing and self knowledge. Right now she is participating in a teacher training on Forum Theatre.
A year ago she started working at Alwa, a company that provides socio-educative experiences and programs to enhance entrepreneurial and socio-emotional skills, among many others. The events organized involve hackatons, design thinking and workshops to train a diverse variety of tools for life, always aligned with the SDGs.
Cheerful, enthusiastic, enterprising and passionate about transformation and personal and social empowerment, she enjoys generating networks between people, organizations and cultures. Political scientist and educator at different social contexts, she actively works to promote self-knowledge, the development of socio-emotional competences and sustainable projects, at all levels.
Rachel Power
Rachel Power has always been a lover of the arts and was an avid young artist who drew, painted, wrote plays, and created sets, costumes and stage makeup for home productions with her sister and neighbourhood friends. Her maternal grandmother, my favourite person ever, fancied herself a bit of a culture vulture and introduced her to local theatre, galleries and all that Halifax had to offer. Now, sheI wears many hats in the arts world: local summer theatre festival set designer, the Visual Arts in Education Instructor for St. FX, Artist in Residence at her local hospital, the Arts Coordinator for her local arts council, and most recently as Creative Director at The Arts House here in her hometown of Antigonish, NS. In 2015, She received a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction in Visual Arts/Inquiry-Based Learning from St. FX University, and this past November, she graduated from The University of Victoria with a Professional Specialization Certificate in Collections Management. Although she is quite busy with teaching and other jobs, she still dabbles in art making. In her arts practice, she gravitates towards mid-century inspired mixed media, mainly collage using paper dolls, catalogues, magazines, ink, acrylic and watercolours.
Matt Keay
Matt Keay is a Calgary entrepreneur and award winning documentary filmmaker interested in the evolution of human consciousness.
Lupe Ayerza
Lupe Ayerza is a nature and art lover, passionate about social innovation and sustainability. She is very curious about the world around me, and loves discovering new places, meeting new people, learning about different cultures and getting inspired by them.
Having founded a nonprofit in Argentina (http://minkai.org/) at age 18 with a group of friends, and then having moved to NYC to launch the TECHO office (techo.org/us), she has journeyed through different non-profit departments. In this process, she has discovered that her greatest passion and virtue is building transformational relationships to turn inspiring ideas into impact, and finding creative ways to make everyone feel part of a bigger purpose. She is currently working at Tompkins Conservation (http://www.tompkinsconservation.org/home.htm).
In her free time she can be found doing sports, taking dance or theatre classes, exploring the outdoors, or discovering what the city has to offer from museums to small coffee shops.
Tomas Jimenez-Eliaeson
Tomas Jimenez-Eliaeson is the Design Principal for the Charlotte Community Practice Group, and a Partner at Little, an industry leading architecture and design firm with more than 400 professionals in six locations across the USA and China. He leads a team of architects and designers dedicated to educational, cultural and civic projects including academic institutions, cultural facilities, performing arts centers, and libraries.
Tomas is a member of the AIA, NCARB, A4LE, and is a LEED Accredited professional. Originally from Spain, Tomas received a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Houston and a Master Degree in Architectural Design from the University of Texas at Austin.
Tomas is focused on projects that fuse typological redefinitions and environmentally conscious design with leading-edge technology and innovation. He is highly passionate about the future of education and has written about the Immersive Learningscape, an approach to the design of educational facilities that
respond to 21st century skills, innovation and trans-disciplinary collaboration. He is also researching the
relationship and connectivity between learning and workplace in the future, and the role of Neuroscience and Wellness in the design of the Learning Ecosystem. He has presented at various National and International conferences, including the AIA National Convention, NEOCON World’s Trade Fair, A4LE International Conference, Innovate Conference in Brazil, and ASB Unplugged in India.
Linked In Profile: linkedin.com/in/tomás-jiménez-eliæson-06b1431
Tatiana Charry Reyes
Tatiana Charry Reyes has a degree in Social Communications from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Bucaramanga, Colombia. She completed a Master´s Degree in Business Administration from Devry University in Chicago USA and is currently studying towards a Master of Education Degree at Arizona State University. She has more tan 10 years´worth of experience in planning and developing various educational projects, results-oriented in strategic planning, executive leadership and multicultural environments.
Her ongoing challenges as Head of Newport School in Bucaramanga, Colombia, including positioning the school as a leading institution developing an innovative pedagogy through active learning.
Aaron Park
Aaron is a passionate educator and enthusiastic community builder. As the Manager of Youth Education Programs with the Calgary Stampede Foundation, Aaron seeks to provide experiences that develop youth as good people, motivated to make a positive impact for others in the world around them. Aaron also shares this passion as a sessional instructor with the Werklund School of Education, and as a volunteer with the UCalgary Senate as Chair of Community Engagement. Aaron is inspired by the potential to build community through education.
Don Hill
Don Hill is a sound artist, writer, broadcaster, and digital media producer. His television programmes have been broadcast around the world. A former host of CBC Radio One’s Tapestry, and presenter of numerous documentaries on IDEAS in Canada, Don also enjoyed a long association with CKUA Radio Network in the province of Alberta. His investigation of psychoacoustics of ‘place’ has resulted in responsive interactive media, for instance, Edmonton Soundwalks, a 3D audio guide designed for mobile phones. Another recent production, Special Places: Writing-On-Stone is an immersive 360 video presentation that scales from full-dome screens to VR (virtual reality) headsets.
Sheldon Guenther
Completing his 32nd year as a professional educator, he is fortunate to have worked in schools in Canada (my country of birth), Tanzania, China. Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico. He is currently am the Head of MSHS Campus/HS Principal of the American School Foundation of Monterrey, Mexico, one of the top American Schools in Latin America. He has a lovely and loving wife Jacky, a daughter Sofia (15) and a son Sebastian (27). He is also a grandfather of three. He loves literature (especially Russian) and sports (especially hockey and soccer). His professional goal is to make education a more meaningful experience.
Follow me on twitter @sjguenther
Stephanie Jones
Stephanie councils women who have embarked on their spiritual journey. Helping women dig deep, uncover limiting beliefs and patterns that no longer serve is her work. We as humans are such powerful beings. It is Stephanie’s mission to help women step fully into that power and create their life, their way.
Rene Pelletier
Rene has honed his craft in applied leadership with focused intention. He has served in senior roles in learning and leadership development for organizations in diverse industries as both an internal specialist and leader, and as an external consulting partner. His clients say he is collaborative, curious, and creates a safe environment for learning and discovery. Key focus areas have included workforce optimization, leadership development, and succession management. As a continuous learner, Rene feels fortunate to have partnered with and learned from amazing leaders, colleagues, and clients. Rene leverages his learning, past wins, and missteps so that he can bring his best to each new client engagement. His ability to recognize patterns and listen for meaning helps to quickly uncover client needs and develop fit-for-purpose programs and partnerships. Rene combines his coaching certification and graduate studies in adult education and leadership with a depth of practical and hands-on experience in business to bring significant value to the leadership dialogue. Based in Calgary, with his wife Lorissa, he is a proud dad to three amazing daughters. They can often be found on some remote trail in the nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Silvia Breiburd
Silvia Breiburd is an EFL teacher and researcher on generational theory with wide experience in primary and secondary teaching and managerial positions; teacher training and in-service professional development. Silvia has authored numerous articles and blog posts on changing the educational paradigm to address the needs of the youngest generations of learners. A passionate educator and ever-lasting learner, Silvia advocates generational-friendly sustainable leadership, teacher empowerment through action research and 21st century education for all.
Links to papers and presentations
Utilizando el Liderazgo Generacional hacia el Cambio Educativo
Una Experiencia Trienal de Investigación-Acción.
Hints & Tips for Decoding Gen Zs.
Teaching 21st-Century ELs: 5 Areas of Impact.
21st-Century Students’ Needs.
Liderazgo 3.0 Un nuevo estilo de gestión para la escuela del siglo XXI.
5 Generational Tips for Enhanced Synergy in Schools. ASCD Inservice.
Paula Manzitti
Paula has a degree in elementary school teaching, specialized in English language from Instituto Privado Santa Catalina de Belgrano. She is the Vice Principal and a Board member at Saint Catherine’s Moorlands School. She is currently president of ACBIRP (Asociación Civil de Rectores y Coordinadores de Colegios del Bachillerato Internacional del Río de la Plata), member of the Executive Committee of ACOBI (Asociación de Colegios Bilingües), and a member of ESSARP (English Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate).
She is married with two children and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Angie Gelinas
A not-for-profit strategist with high-level policy experience, a keen eye on the big picture, and an ardent fan of alliteration, Angie’s mission is partnerships that make a capacious (YUGE) contribution to community. She’s also pretty darn unflappable and carries with her an impressive bag of tricks when it comes to working with people and organizations looking to maximize their impact.
Paula Barberis
Paula is passionate about education and bringing the best in students, sometimes as a teacher and sometimes as a mentor.She is used to wearing many hats: she taught several traditional subjects, ranging from Literature to Science or Visual Arts and has done extensive work in theatre as a producer and set and costume designer.
She loves to think of herself as an entrepreneur. Everything looks like a project to her. And as for regular bios, she holds a post graduate degree in Education which has allowed her, above all, to meet the great thinkers in education in today’s world. Reading a lot from many different fields, she is obsessed with challenging the many definitions of creativity that abound in this world.
Ok Go – One moment in time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvW61K2s0tA
Tim Harford – A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford_a_powerful_way_to_unleash_your_natural_creativity
Egg Educación – Cooperation to change the world https://eggeducacion.com/
Nicky Case – The evolution of trust (game theory) and all the math I wish I knew https://ncase.me/trust/
Ideo – This deck of cards will change the way your work https://www.ideo.com/blog/this-deck-of-cards-will-change-the-way-you-work
Judy Willis
Dr. Judy Willis, , M.D. M.Ed. combined her 15 years as a board-certified practicing neurologist with ten subsequent years as a classroom teacher to become a leading authority in the neuroscience of learning. Dr. Willis has written nine books and more than 100 articles about applying neuroscience research to classroom teaching strategies. She is on the adjunct faculty of the Williams College.
Dr. Willis travels nationally and internationally giving presentations, workshops, and consulting while continuing to write books and staff expert blogs for NBC News Education Nation, Edutopia, Psychology Today, and The Guardian. She was selected by Edutopia as a “Big Thinkers on Education.”
Website www.RADTeach.com
Peter Foster
Peter has over thirty years of experience as a passionate educator. While completing his Masters of Educational Studies at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, he has enjoyed teaching from Prep to Year 12. Peter thoroughly enjoys working with all students, developing their exceptional talents while providing an outstanding student experience. Most recently Peter served as the Head of Co-Curriculum at Moreton Bay Colleges and previously was the Headmaster of John Paul College in Daisy Hill, one of the largest Co-educational schools in Australia. A Head of Year at Brisbane Grammar School and a Senior Housemaster at Canberra Grammar School. He is currently the Principal of Hymba Yumba Independent School in Queensland, a majority Indigenous school that strives for excellence in 21st Century education for all students and is proudly ‘First nations’ in culture.
He has been the Chair of the ‘The Associated School Sports Association’, Director of the Queensland Christian Schools Sports Association, the Queensland Education Leadership Institute Ambassador and was a member of the Independent Schools Queensland – “Schools Advisory Committee”.
Ben Davies
Ben lives in Argentina with his wife and daughter where he is the Head of Secondary School at St Andrew´s Scots School in Buenos Aires. He loves exploring theories and implementing ideas in an attempt to deliver impactful, and relevant ways of educating children. He aspires to find the time to be more active online in order to share ideas, experiences, successes and failures, and is inspired by educators that are able to do this successfully. Currently investigating the history of measurement and wondering if and how it may be possible to measure a good education.
Caroline Berglund
Caroline is a Senior Consultant in Kincentric’s Culture & Engagement practice located in Calgary, Alberta, with a wealth of expertise in leadership, employee engagement and employee eXperience.
Caroline orchestrates the leadership efforts in Canada, is a leader on the Global employee eXperience solutions steering committee, as well as leads consulting assignments that assess engagement levels within an organization.
With nearly twenty years in human capital consulting combined, her talent has been widely recognized around the globe. She conducts workshops, focus groups, and key note talks in a variety of subjects including in part; Leadership, Employee Engagement and Employee eXperience. Additionally, Caroline has taught presentation skills in public programs at various colleges, is an active writer personally and professionally and is sought after as an executive coach, helping leaders realize their most lofty goals. She has extensive experience in a wide range of industries including law firms, insurance, manufacturing, oil & gas, consumer packaged goods, telecom, energy, public sector and education.
She attended both the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and Concordia University in Montreal where she studied Sociology and Political Studies through the Bachelor of Arts program, as well as the Niagara Institute leadership development program and continues to be active in the pursuit of new learning. Some of her diverse certifications include; Adept-15, Hogan, DDI facilitation, Dale Carnegie, BarOn EQ-I, DiSC, Myers Briggs, Professional Sales Coaching, Creative Writing and Business Acumen.
Susannah Johnson
Pursuing liberated learning for the individual by the individual, Susannah seeks an education revolution that includes the ultimate in student-centered learning through Individualized Realized, LLC, an education opportunity to take individualized learning out of theory and into
the classrooms of the world, redefining what it means to be an educator.
Through research and in the classroom, Susannah spent eight years developing truly individualized instruction that is grounded in critical thinking, authentic, and driven by passion.
Susannah received her Master of Education degree in 2016, and is a five time presenter at the Schools of the Future Conference, two time presenter at the International Conference for Critical Thinking, and the author of articles about this unique pedagogy. Susannah continues to pursue knowledge and evolving educational strategies, using her own global explorations to ignite ideas in education progress.
Steven Boivin
He is currently attending the Haskayne School of Business – for a business commerce degree. My major is in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with a minor in Marketing.
Aside from that, I am an entrepreneur running my own small business for the last 4.5 years and am a partner in my parents’ company. These companies are Timber Ridge Tree Service and Timber Ridge Firewood. They operate as residential and commercial businesses providing me with a wide range of skills and experience that go along with owning, operating and scaling small companies. I have various types of experience in the Sales industry, Marketing, Consulting and business design. I am passionate about learning and expanding my skill sets. I believe in agile development and being able to be dynamic in an environment that is always shifting and changing. I am motivated by creativity and unique ways to tackle problems. I believe in innovation and the need to think outside of the box to be competitive and disruptive.
Christian Plebst
Christian currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He trained as a general and child and adolescent psychiatrist in Argentina and at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Teachers College, Columbia University, in the USA. A nationally recognised expert in Autism, he has cross-trained in many early childhood intervention methods, including ABA, DIR-Floortime, and Son-rise. He was recently named as Consultant in Child Development and Education for the Unit of Future Mental Resource Development of the government of Buenos Aires.
Director from 2000 to 2010 of a nationwide reference centre for children with special needs (FLENI – CETNA) and founder of the NGO PANAACEA (a national Autism Program for children adolescents and adults). He is currently an active lecturer in different universities and medical schools nationwide.
In 2006 he was invited into the presence of HH Dalai Lama for a dialogue about Science and Spirituality. For the past 15 years he has researched different meditation techniques, especially Vipassana. He is Director for Latin America of the Academy for Mindful Teaching, being certified as a Child and Adolescent Mindfulness trainer under the Attention Matters method of Eline Snel (www.elinesnel.com). Founder of the Argentine chapter of “Values in Healthcare” program of the Janki Foundation, Oxford, UK. His current efforts are directed into exploring Intentional Communities, particularly the Camphill communities around the world.
D. Simon Jackson
At the age of 13, Simon Jackson founded the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition and spent two decades working to unite the voices of six million young people in the successful pursuit of protecting the last intact habitat of the endangered white Kermode or spirit bear. Today, as a storyteller and movement builder, Simon is committed to advancing a better balance between the needs of people and nature through Nature Labs – a virtual, storytelling-driven high school textbook. For his efforts, he has been named a Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine and was the inspiration for the movie, Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story.
Edgardo Manzitti
Holds an Advanced Degree and is a university professor in government and international relationships at Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE). He speaks five languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin) he has been an intern in the United Nations in New York where he worked with scholarship students from the Dominican Republic. Currently working at the Jefatura de Gabinete de Ministros de la Nación Argentina where he lands virtual learning environments for provinces and cities for the Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública. He is also the Executive Secretary for the International Schools Association, where he works with schools all over the world striving to promote internationalism, peace education and global citizenship. Edgardo´s LinkedIn profile
International Schools Association (ISA)
Silvana Tejón
Silvana Tejón currently holds the position of Academic Director at ESSARP (English Speaking Scholastic Association of the River Plate), and in this role, she is in charge of designing the professional development agenda for the leaders and teachers of the 200 affiliated bilingual schools the association serves. She worked as an English teacher and head teacher at several bilingual schools in Argentina implementing diverse approaches to teach English including project work and integrated studies. She supplemented her teaching degree with an MA in Educational Management issued by the University of Bath which fed her interest in the development of professional learning communities and lifelong learning.
Ainsley Rose
Ainsley B. Rose “Developing People-Cultivating Success”
48 years as an award-winning educator. Began as a high school teacher and progressed to be an Elementary and Secondary Principal, and Director of Education in Quebec, Canada.
Now an author consultant, President of Thistle Educational Development Inc. Conference keynote presenter and professional development consultant with several organizations. Certified Visible Learning trainer and contributing author for several educational publications.
Married with three adult children and six grandchildren all living in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Okba Aziza
Okba Aziza is a teacher of English from Syria living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (University of Essex, England, 2012) and a BA in English Literature (Tishreen University, Syria , 2009). In Syria, he taught in different universities. In Argentina, he has been teaching in various contexts, schools and companies, in Buenos Aires since 2017. He works with the British Council Argentina as a remote teacher of English and a facilitator and translator in refugees’ Spanish courses held by the British Council. He has participated in many refugees delegations and activities organized by the UNHCR.
Okba´s Life Story – National Argentine Newspaper
#EXAporUdeSA: Okba Aziza
Alexander Laszlo
Alexander Laszlo, PhD, is President of the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS), Research Director at the Laszlo Institute for New Paradigm Research (LINPR), and Chief Edunaut of the Evolutionary Learning Ecosystems program at Vivir Agradecidos in Argentina where he currently resides. He is Professor of Systems Science & Curated Emergence, author of over 100 journal, book and encyclopedia publications, and a 6th Degree Black Belt in traditional Taekwon-do.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Laszlo_(scientist)
Bertalanffy Center
Laszlo Institute
LinkedIn profile
Agustina Lualdi
Agustina has had an eclectic journey that includes degrees in Physical Education, Advertising and postgraduate work in Educational Management. After various roles in different areas and activities, she returned to her true calling, education, teaching and being a member of the leadership team at different schools. She is cofounder of The Learnerspace, an educational consulting firm dedicated to furthering change in education and Project Director at The Global School, where she is channeling her strong belief that education can truly become a tool for students to develop a sense of strong self-awareness and develop lifelong health and fitness habits.
Patricia Glenn
Leader, Business Operations at The Next Institute
Patricia is a builder who loves starting at ground zero and seeing a project from conception to reality. She enjoys working with a group of visionaries to develop ideas and implement strategies that have a positive impact on the clients and communities they serve. Patricia is a results-driven leader with over 15 years’ multi-faceted leadership experience and expertise in strategic and operational roles.
After a fulfilling career in the private sector, Patricia made the move to not-for-profit, leading fundraising teams through transition to achieve significant results with some of Calgary’s most recognizable organizations. Most recently, in an executive role, she led a Calgary based non-profit through a strategic plan focused on fiscal stability, program excellence, and growth. Patricia is currently completing her master’s in leadership at Royal Roads University.
Andre N. Mamprin
Andre Mamprin has been a student of both the Art and the Science of Leadership for more than two decades. His work developing leaders, designing leadership learning content and delivering programs to more than 20,000 Leaders as Executive Director of The Banff Centre, Leadership Development and as Leader of Knowledge Architecture at The Next Institute has created a foundation for meaningful change.
He has translated his experience as both a leader and entrepreneur in the Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, and Banking industries to designing and delivering intricate and often large-scale solutions for an array of blue chip organizations across North America.
He continues his learning as his Leadership evolves.
The Next Institute
Gabriel Rshaid
Gabriel is the co-founder and Director of The Learnerspace, a company whose mission is to help build the future of learning. He is also co-founder of The Global School, the first school of its type in Latin America, attempting to make educational change a reality. Formerly Headmaster of St. Andrew’s Scots School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the oldest bilingual school in the world, he is a passionate educational futurist who is intent on sharing his belief that it is the best time in history to be an educator. Gabriel is the author of five books, and has contributed as a co-author to numerous other books and anthologies. A former board member of ASCD and chair of ESSARP, he has spoken and led professional development workshops all over the world, working with educators to help create the future of education.
He can be contacted at gabriel.rshaid@thelearnerspace.org
Gabriel´s books on Amazon
The Learnerspace
The Global School