Digital Education Stakeholder Forum 2025:Tap into Europe's Digital Potential

Global Head of Social Impact, Santander Universidades

Anna Bajo Sanjuán worked in different universities in Spain for more than 15 years after a decade in consultancy. With a Cum Laude PhD in Business Management, she has built a career at the ESIC Business School as a professor and researcher in the fields of Business Ethics, Sustainability and Strategic Management. She has also been the Deputy Dean of Business, Director of the Business School and Director of Sustainability.  

Her knowledge of the transition towards sustainability of both businesses and academic institutions led her to publish about the role and impact of organizations in society in various academic articles and books. 

Since 2022 he has worked at Banco Santander as Global Director of Social Impact at Santander Universities.

Head of Unit for ‘Vocational Education and Training, Skills Portability, CEDEFOP’, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission

Anna Banczyk works for the European Commission in the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. She is Head of Unit “Vocational Education and Training, Skills Portability, CEDEFOP” since January 2025. Previously, Anna was Head of Unit “Learning and Development” in Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security.  

 Anna has also held several other positions in the Commission including as Deputy Head of Unit for “Future of Work, Youth Employment”. Her professional experience includes also labour law, occupational safety and health, human resource management and organisational development.  

 Anna holds an MA degree in sociology and an MA degree in psychology from University of Silesia in Poland.

Head of Entrepreneurship Education, European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Marián Belko is an expert in entrepreneurship education and research management. He currently serves as the Head of Entrepreneurship Education Section at the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) in Budapest, Hungary.  

 In this role, he leads a team in charge of designing strategic initiatives in education, capacity building in education, and bridging the gap between education and industry. His responsibilities include overseeing education agenda in trans-European innovation projects, contributing to policy development, and engaging with key stakeholders in the European education ecosystem.  

 In his professional career, he gained experience as a university lecturer and contributed to several international initiatives and research projects. He graduated in political science, international relations, and financial management.

Founder and Chairwoman, EU STEM Coalition

Drs. Beatrice Boots is director of National Dutch STEM Platform - the knowledge, expertise and network centre in the field of technological education and the technological labour market. Cooperation between education and business and regional implementation are central, with attention to setting up sustainable, regional public-private partnerships of education, business and government. Underrepresented groups are an important focus of the approach. She is also chair of the EU STEM Coalition, the most important EU network of national STEM platforms and other association partners.

Policy Advisor at the Flemish Ministry of Education

Jan De Craemer works for the Knowledge Centre for Digital Education (Flemish Ministry of Education & Training). He is currently responsible for stakeholder management and international collaboration of the Knowledge Centre. For more than 25 years he has been responsible for ICT policies and initiatives in Flanders. He represents Flanders to the European Commission Working Group on Digital Education (DELTA). He is also the Chairman and Board Member of European Schoolnet.

Head of Unit of 'Digital Education', DG EAC

Georgi Dimitrov is Head of Unit “Digital Education” in the European Commission, Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC). 

He joined the European Commission in 2008 and was first involved in various roles in setting up the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). He then helped to develop and launch HEInnovate, an initiative by the European Commission and the OECD aimed at supporting universities to become more entrepreneurial. He led the development of the first Digital Education Action Plan adopted in January 2018 and also of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 that was adopted in September 2020.  

Before joining the Commission, Georgi worked for a leading multinational telecommunication company and in a software start-up in Germany. Georgi studied at the University of Bonn (M.A.), the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (PhD) and the Open University UK (MBA in Technology Management).

Associate Professor, University College London

Dr Rikke Duus is an Associate Professor at University College London. Rikke undertakes research in the areas of digital and AI-led transformation, digital value creation, and skills development, and she has published in academic journals and global media outlets.  

Rikke is appointed to several of the European Commission’s working groups on digital skills, sustainability, AI and futuring and collaborates with innovation, education, and policy teams to develop insight and recommendations for EU Member States.

Science Programme Manager of European Schoolnet

Agueda Gras-Velazquez is the Science Programme Manager of European Schoolnet (EUN). As Head of the Science Education Department at EUN, she oversees all STEM projects in which EUN is involved. Additionally, she leads Scientix® (the community for science education in Europe, http://scientix.eu) and coordinates EUN’s Ministries of Education STEM representatives Working Group. In her 17 years at EUN, Agueda has been involved in more than 80 EC funded projects and 20+ private funded ones. She has co-authored papers in Science Education Research and has a PhD in Astrophysics from Trinity College Dublin.

Director General, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission

Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen is the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport at the European Commission. She took up this position on 16 September 2023, after holding the same position for four and a half years at the Directorate General for Communication. 

From March 2018, she served as Deputy Secretary General and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, she was also Director at the Directorate-General for Communication, in charge of the Commission’s Representations in the Member States. Between 2009 and 2014 she was Chief Spokeswoman of the European Commission; and Deputy Spokeswoman of the European Commission from 2004 until 2009 under former Commission President Barroso, also in charge of Planning and Coordination of the Spokespersons’ Service (SPP). 

She began her career in political communication as Environment Spokeswoman in 1999 (Commissioner Margot Wallström), having previously held positions in the Commission’s departments for Industry (1995-97) and Information, Communication and Culture (1997-99). Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen was a Schuman Scholar at the European Parliament (1989-90). She studied Business Administration and Modern Languages at the Copenhagen Business School and Political Science at the Institut d’études Politiques de Paris, specialising in intercultural communication and European identity.

Managing Director of European EdTech Alliance

Beth Havinga is the Managing Director of the European EdTech Alliance (EEA) and her own consultancy firm, Connect EdTech. Beth currently serves on the Digitisation Council of the state of Berlin in Germany, on the steering committee of DigiEduHack, and serves on the international advisory boards of CoSN, ISTE, and the Children’s Future Foundation. Beth represents the EEA in the European Commission stakeholder group on Digital Education Content, UNESCO’s Broadband Commission data for learning group, and the Digital Transformation Collaborative. Additionally, she consults to the Council of Europe on the topic of AI and education. Beth is chairwoman of the German standardization committee for Learning Technologies and represents Germany as head delegate to the European committee for standardization of interoperability of learning technologies and edtech. In the past, Beth has taught in schools, managed education software and publishing houses, founded two startups, and worked in over 45 countries to develop digital structures and strategies.

Head of Unit of ‘Schools and Multilingualism’, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission

Mónika Képe-Holmberg is Head of Unit for ‘Schools and multilingualism’ in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. The unit contributes to the building of a European Education Area both via policy and programme. Mónika deals with: 

• policy cooperation in the areas of schools and multilingualism on topics such as key competences development and equity in education, quality early childhood education and care, teachers' professional development, learning for sustainability, and language learning,  

• the European flagship programme Erasmus+ in the areas of schools, vocational education and training, and adult learning, and 

• the digital education platforms eTwinning, the European School Education Platform, and the European adult learning platform (EPALE).

Mónika has worked in Brussels for over 25 years and she joined the European Commission in 2003. She has worked both on programme implementation (Socrates, Lifelong Learning Programme, European Social Fund) and policy development in education, training, employment and social inclusion. Mónika completed studies in Hungary, Italy and Germany and holds degrees in economics, business administration and European studies.

Director for Innovation, Digital Education and International Cooperation, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission

Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva has been Director at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) since 2016. She is currently Director for Innovation, Digital Education and International Cooperation. She is responsible for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, which are key components of the Horizon Programme. She also coordinates the EU Digital Education Action Plan. 

Antoaneta joined the European Commission in 2008. She has occupied various management and expert positions across the Commission and dealt with a wide range of topics such as external relations and enlargement, internal security and police cooperation, cyber security, stakeholder relations and international affairs. Antoaneta has also worked as a diplomat to the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU in Brussels for five years. She is a graduate in political science at Sofia University, with training and qualifications in European studies from Germany (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung) and the UK (Sussex University).

Code.org

Aleksandar Lazovski is a Program Manager at TeachAI, a global initiative led by Code.org, which is dedicated to equipping educators to teach with and about artificial intelligence. His work in TeachAI focuses on AI Literacy. 

A Fulbright Scholar, Aleksandar holds a Master's degree in Education (Ed.M) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). His earlier work centered on leveraging emerging technologies and digital tools to expand access to quality education in low and middle-income countries. He was the co-founder of SmartUp, the Social Innovation Lab, and EDUINO, North Macedonia's crowdsourced digital educational resource platform.

Senior Director for Operations and Projects, DIGITALEUROPE

Helena Lovegrove is Senior Director for Operations and Projects at DIGITALEUROPE, representing Europe’s digital and digitalising industries. With 20+ years in EU policy, she oversees projects tackling Europe’s digital competence gap at both basic and advanced levels, including AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, and digital for sustainability. She holds degrees in Business & Economics and French from Lund University.

Executive Director of the Class’Code Association

Bastien Masse is the Executive Director of the Class’Code Association, a collective of more than 30 partner organizations from the fields of education and digital technology, including universities, institutions, companies, associations, and federations of popular education. Together, they create MOOCs and open educational resources to support educators (teachers, facilitators, youth workers, parents) in teaching coding, computational thinking, and digital literacy. 

He is also affiliated with the UNESCO Chair in Open Educational Resources and Artificial Intelligence (RELIA) at Nantes Université. The goal of this Chair is to develop AI for Education through research and European projects, as well as to promote Education about AI by training teachers and organiszing science outreach activities for the general public.

Director, Pix

Benjamin Marteau is the director of “Pix”, an online public service designed to assess, develop, and certify digital skills initiated by France. Former General Delegate of the French Conseil national éducation-économie (“National Education-Economy Council”), he also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the French Minister of Education (2012-2014) and as Parliamentary Assistant in the European Parliament.

DigiEduHack 2024 Global Winner and Administration and Marketing student at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences

Thais Anjeli Meza Ccoyllo is a 19-years-old student of Business Administration and Marketing at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in Lima, Peru. She is a creative person with a deep passion for design and fashion, always seeking new ways to express herself and grow. 

She is part of Los Resolvers,  a multidisciplinary, diverse and passionate team of young Peruvians who came together during the 28H Hackathon, held in the city of Lima, Peru, with the purpose of creating innovative and accessible solutions for everyone. Together they developed Signedge, an application designed to break down the communication barriers faced by people with hearing disabilities, facilitating the learning of sign language in an accessible and interactive way. 

Her involvement in initiatives related to digital education has inspired her to continue building skills that blend creativity, strategy, and technology. She is committed to lifelong learning, embracing new challenges, and making a positive impact in everything she does.

Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, European Commission

As Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu’s task is to guide the overall work on strengthening Europe’s human capital, from skills and education to culture and sport. 

Roxana Mînzatu is leading the work on the Union of Skills, focusing on investment, adult and lifelong learning, vocational education and training, skill retention and recognition and enhancing skills intelligence. 

Learn more about Executive Vice-President Mînzatu

Minister of Education, Poland

Barbara Nowacka is a Polish politician and the Minister of National Education since 2023.    

She is the President of the Inicjatywa Polska party, which has been co-founding the Civic Coalition since 2018. 
Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland for the 9th and 10th terms, elected in the Gdynia-Słupsk constituency. In the ninth term of the Sejm, she worked, among other things, in the Education and Youth Committee and was vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Science and Higher Education. 

She is the vice president of the Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka Foundation. 
She worked as a volunteer at the Women's Helpline established by the Federation for Women and Family Planning and she is a member of the Program Council of the Congress of Women. 

She  chaired twice the Citizens' Committee for the “Save the Women” legislative initiative liberalizing the anti-abortion law. 
She was also a member of the Citizens' Committee “Yes to in vitro.” 
She is a co-founder of Campus – the Future of Poland, Europe's largest socio-political festival for young activists. 
In 2016, she was named to Foreign Policy's annual FP Top 100 Global Thinkers list, and in 2017 - together with the Save the Women committee - she received the Simone de Beauvoir International Award “For Women's Freedom.” In 2020, she was awarded the National Order of Merit, the fourth French decoration in the state's seniority hierarchy.

Founder and CEO of Code.org

Hadi Partovi, a tech entrepreneur and the CEO of Code.org, has walked an improbable path from his upbringing during the Iran-Iraq war to his current leadership in technology and education. After immigrating to the US, he worked as a software engineer to pay for school, eventually earning a Masters in Computer Science from Harvard.  Rising to executive ranks at Microsoft, he founded startups later   
acquired by Microsoft and News Corp, and subsequently served as an advisor or early investor in companies that became household names such as Facebook, Dropbox, Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX. 

As founder and CEO of Code.org, Hadi has helped expand computer science education to reach 30% of US students and launched the global Hour of Code initiative that has surpassed 1 billion student  
engagements. Residing in Seattle, Hadi finds enjoyment in skiing, water sports, music, and word games during his spare time.

Deputy Director, National Audiovisual Institute of Finland (KAVI)

Dr Leo Pekkala is a distinguished expert in Media and Information Literacy, with extensive experience in research, higher education, teacher training, and sustainable development across both developing and developed contexts. As the Deputy Director of the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) and Head of the Media Education and Audiovisual Media Department, Dr Pekkala oversees the national promotion and coordination of media education and media literacy in Finland. He represents Finland in number of international organisations promoting media literacy.

Senior Analyst in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), OECD

Mario Piacentini is a Senior Analyst in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Since 2009, he has led the development of innovative assessments of 21st-century skills, authoring frameworks for PISA 2018 Global Competence and PISA 2021 Creative Thinking, and coordinating the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) programme.  

 He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Geneva and has published prominent analytical policy reports on student well-being. Prior to PISA, he contributed to the OECD’s Public Governance and Statistics Directorates.

Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC), European Commission

Since January 2024, Normunds Popens is the Deputy Director General in the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. 

From 2011, Normunds Popens was the Deputy Director General for Implementation in the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and in charge of overseeing the implementation of structural and cohesion fund programmes in EU member states and candidate countries.  

Before joining the European Commission in March 2011 he has occupied several posts in the Latvian diplomatic services. 

Notably from 2007 until 2011, he was the Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU.  
He also dealt with European affairs as the Undersecretary of State of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He hasalso been responsible for t foreign trade and transatlantic relations and has worked as an Ambassador in Norway, Iceland and as a diplomat  in the USA.

Initial Teacher Educator, University College Dublin (UCD)

Declan Qualter works in initial teacher education at the UCD School of Education. His research interests include teachers' digital skills, AI literacy, and parental involvement in children's digital learning. He has previously served as a member of the European Commission’s SELFIE for Teachers Expert Group and as a regional advisor in Ireland, supporting the implementation of SELFIE in secondary schools. Declan is also an active member of several European working groups and projects on digital education.

Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament

Nela Riehl has been a member of the European Parliament since June 2024, after being elected as one out of three German Volt representatives.  

Since 2024, Nela Riehl is   the Chair of the Committee for Culture and Education. As a former secondary teacher, her work focuses on improving access to public education, raising civic-, basic-, and digital skills, and tackling disinformation in Europe and beyond, with a special interest in using education for global equity and international cooperation. She is also member of the Committee for Employment  and Social Rights.   

Nela Riehl is married with two children and lives in Brussels.

Programme Director at Bucerius Law School, Germany

Lezel Roddeck is the Programme Director at Bucerius Law School, Germany, where she leads academic strategy and oversees over 60 courses annually. A former practising lawyer, she brings over a decade of expertise in higher education, driving innovation in legal education through curriculum development, strategic international collaboration, and the digital transformation of academic programmes. She directs the Foreign Language Communication Programme, directing the development of cross-cultural legal communication skills in English (Common Law), French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. 

An early advocate of digital modernisation in legal education, Ms Roddeck has pioneered the adoption of digital assessment systems, flipped classroom methodologies, and multimedia resources at Bucerius Law School. Her research sits at the forefront of the intersection between law, education, and emerging technologies, with a particular emphasis on explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), data protection, and regulatory innovation. 
She has published widely on these topics in academic journals, edited volumes, and policy reports. Most recently, she contributed to the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) expert report on Explainable AI (XAI) in education, and serves as a member of the Working Group responsible for updating the Ethical Guidelines on AI and Data for Educators. Through her work, she contributes to shaping European discussions on responsible innovation, transparency, and the future of digital education.  
Ms Roddeck actively participates in EU-funded working groups and expert networks, and regularly shares her work at international conferences focused on AI governance, digital transformation, and the future of education in a digital society

Director of the Lycée des Arts et Métiers (LAM), Luxembourg

Fabrice Roth is the Director of the Lycée des Arts et Métiers (LAM) in Luxembourg, a role he has held since 2018​. With a background as a computer science engineer, he spent over a decade teaching information technology at LAM​, giving him firsthand insight into classroom realities and the evolving needs of digital-age learners. This dual experience as an educator and technologist fuels his dynamic approach to school leadership and curriculum innovation. 

As Director, Roth has spearheaded the launch of cutting-edge short-cycle higher education programs (BTS) to align education with industry demands. Under his leadership, LAM introduced new BTS programs in Game Design, Game Programming, the Internet of Things (IoT)​ and lately in Applied Artificial Intelligence, making the school a pioneer in these high-tech fields. In 2019, he also established the TalentHub incubator on the LAM campus​ – a unique collaborative space that brings together students and startups. Through TalentHub, young innovators work side by side with ed-tech entrepreneurs, bridging education and enterprise in daily practice and fostering a strong culture of entrepreneurship among students.   

Beyond his school, Fabrice Roth contributes actively to national digital education reforms. He participated in initiatives like AI4T (Artificial Intelligence for Teachers), which empower educators to understand and leverage AI tools in secondary education. He also launched the “Du bass prett!” (“You are ready!”) in 2022​, aimed at preparing students in preparatory tracks for the future through hands-on learning experiences and cultural projects.  
A proponent of innovative pedagogy, Roth champions hybrid learning models that blend online and in-person teaching, ensuring learning remains flexible and resilient. He frequently advocates for integrating real-world projects and entrepreneurial thinking into the curriculum, believing these approaches equip students with critical 21st-century skills. 

Roth’s commitment to youth development extends into the community. He serves as a board member of Fondation Sommer, a prominent Luxembourg foundation dedicated to promoting youth education and culture​.  
As a thought leader, he engages with wider audiences through social media and professional networks. On LinkedIn and Facebook, he regularly shares reflections on digital innovation in education, discusses data privacy and ethics in the use of educational technology, and highlights successful school–industry collaborations. Fabrice Roth’s professional journey reflects a passion for bridging traditional education with future focused innovation.

Senior Research Analyst in the Research and Analysis Unit, IEA

Dr. Mojca Rožman is a Senior Research Analyst in the Research and Analysis Unit (RandA) of IEA. Her research interests include questionnaire development and psychometric analysis, focusing on scaling of questionnaire, and test data. She led the scaling, analysis and reporting tasks, as well as co-leading questionnaire development for the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2023. Dr. Rožman was joint editor and author of the ICILS 2023 Assessment Framework and Technical Report and a contributing author to the ICILS 2023 International Report.

Head of Unit of ‘Interactive Technologies and Digital for Culture and Education’, Directorate-General for Communications Network, Content, and Technology

Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak is the Deputy Director for the Data in the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, and Head of the Unit "Interactive technologies, Digital for Culture and Education ". .  

The Unit 's mission is three folds:  

i) To foster the wider use of extended reality technologies in industrial and societal domains. Rehana is the coordinator of the EU strategy on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 ;  

ii) To support the uptake of advanced digital skills contributing to the Digital Decade targets and to the Union of Skills and  

iii) To support the Data strategy of the European Commission through the implementation of data space in key sectors. Rehana is responsible for 4 data spaces in cultural heritage, media, tourism and skills.   

In her previous positions at the European Commission, Rehana was the deputy Head of the Unit responsible for Learning, Multilingualism and Accessibility. Prior to it, she was closely involved in the development and follow-up of the European regulatory framework on audio-visual media and the Commission's strategy on Data. Rehana holds a degree in finance and economics and a master's in actuarial science.

CEO, WeSchool

Letizia Sbarbaro, 30, is the CEO of WeSchool, Italy’s leading company in educational innovation, with over 260,000 teachers and 1.7 million students. Since 2019, she has been working on the design and development of training courses for teachers and educational projects for students, aiming to bridge the gap between education and the world of work, and to help young people become more motivated individuals, more aware professionals, and more engaged citizens. 
She holds a degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, where she also collaborates as a teaching assistant in the courses of Philosophical Anthropology, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy.

Chairwoman of the International Affair Committee and Aerospace Engineering student, Warsaw University of Technology

Karolina Skalska is a third-year Aerospace Engineering student at Warsaw University of Technology. She is the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee, where she actively supports and integrates international students within the university community. She was also one of the coordinators of the ENHANCE Smart City Challenge, which brought together students from across Europe to collaborate on innovative solutions for urban challenges. Beyond the Students' Union activity, she is also the President of the SKAP Motostudent team at WUT.

Founder of RoboHub and CEO of Bucharest Robots

Ana-Maria Stancu is the Founder of RoboHub - an excellence center in AI & Robotics, and the CEO of Bucharest Robots. With a strong background in civic engagement and digital inclusion, she promotes robotics education for all, especially vulnerable groups. She advocates for ethical, inclusive tech policies both on a national and European level. Through RoboHub, she empowers children and teachers to shape the future with technology.

Research Officer, Global Kids Online, Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Dr Mariya Stoilova holds a post-doctoral research position at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her work sits at the intersection of child rights and digital technology, with a particular focus on the opportunities and risks of digital media in children’s and families’ everyday lives.  

Grounded in multi-method evidence generation and cross-national comparative analysis, her research addresses key themes around the effects of digital engagement on mental health and the pathways to harm and wellbeing.  

Mariya Stoilova also works on issues related to online privacy, datafication and platformisation; generative artificial intelligence; digital literacy and skills; as well as intimate life, citizenship, and social inequalities. Over the past fifteen years, she has conducted research and published widely on these issues.

Head of European Communications, All Digital

Selin Tagmat leads the Communications, Advocacy, and Events team at All Digital—a prominent pan-European network working for a digitally inclusive Europe where everyone can benefit from the opportunities of digital transformation and actively participate in digital society. The All-Digital network, consists of over a hundred digital competence centres, empowering 2.3 million people to build essential digital skills—from jobseekers and seniors to migrants and youth.  

 Selin supports this vital mission with extensive experience gained in communication agencies, where she led large-scale campaigns for European institutions and managed communications for EU-funded research projects across a wide range of policy areas. Her expertise includes the development of European communication strategies using a mix of tools and channels, stakeholder outreach, media relations, audiovisual production, and event organisation. 

 An experienced communications professional with a creative background, she completed an Executive Master on Communication and EU Affairs from IHECS in Brussels after receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from METU in Turkey.

Youth Ambassador, Girls Go Circular

Aanvi Tandon, 14, is a passionate environmentalist who began advocating “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in primary school. With Girls Go Circular, she promotes circular economy practices and co-created a recycling game app. A confident speaker and student leader, she represented Girls Go Circular as a panellist at DigiEduHack Main Stage Event in 2024, by speaking at school events, and by leading workshops, to inspire peers toward sustainability and responsible innovation!

Expert for the European Commission and the Council of Europe and a lecturer at the Autonomous University of Lisbon

Vitor Tomé is an expert for the Council of Europe and the European Commission, a lecturer at the Autonoma University of Lisbon, an invited researcher at CIES-Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon, a teacher trainer, a trainer of trainers, and a freelance journalist (CP1524).  

He has coauthored several books such as “Empowering Communities with Media Literacy: The Critical Role of Young Children” (Peter Lang, 2023) and “Digital Citizenship Education” (Council of Europe, 2017), and other publications such as contributing to  the “Guidelines for teachers and educators on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education and training” (European Commission, 2022).  

Vitor holds a PhD in Media Education from the University of Lisbon and a 6-year post-doctorate in Communication Sciences from the University of Algarve, CLEMI-Paris, and the Catholic University of Milan.

Policy Advisor and Erasmus+ Coordinator Digital, Dutch National Agency, Nuffic

Before joining Nuffic (the Dutch National Agency for Erasmus+), Virginia van der Ster- van der Wel was the Project Manager and Senior Policy Advisor for Global Engagement in HEI for 16 years, where her core business was managing and monitoring international cooperation and ensuring that the mobility goals in the institution’s strategy were accomplished. Projects which Virginia managed were mostly linked to digitalization, such as “Erasmus without Paper” (paperless administration) and setting up multiple Virtual International Cooperation (VIS) projects. During her time in Higher Education, Virginia was also an elected Steering Group Member of the EAIE’s Expert Community Mobility Advising for six years (from 2016-2022). 

During her current role as Digital Contact Point, Virginia was member of the Steering Group on Digital, in which she contributed to the strategic framework for digitalisation.  

Finally, Virginia is also member of the European Digital Education Hub, in which she was the Squad Leader for the Squad for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and an active member of the Squad for Sustainability.

Team Leader in the “VET, Skills Portability, Cedefop” Unit, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission

Jan Varchola works in Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, in the “Vocational Education and Training, Skills Portability, CEDEFOP” Unit.He leads a team working on the VET policies, relations with EU presidencies, Advisory Committee for Vocational Training, VET providers associations and implementation of the EU VET tools. 

Jan Varchola joined the Commission in 2004. Since then, he has been working on various themes related to education and training, such career guidance, Leonardo da Vinci Programme, skills competitions, Agenda for New Skills and Jobs and attractiveness of VET. He was in charge of the main policy documents in the field of VET since 2010: Commission Communication on the future European cooperation in the field of VET (2010), Commission Staff Working Document on excellence in VET (2012), Riga Conclusions on the medium-term priorities in the field of VET (2015), the Opinion of the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training on the future of VET (2018), the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (2020) and the Osnabrück Declaration (2020).

OECD

Luis Francisco Vargas Madriz joined the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) team in August 2022 to support the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Programme, and more recently to support the development and implementation of the PISA 2029 Innovative Domain Assessment. He was born and grew up in Costa Rica, where he completed his bachelor and licentiate degrees in psychology (Universidad de Costa Rica). He then moved to Canada to pursue a master’s degree in educational technology (University of Alberta), followed by a doctorate in human development (McGill University).  

Before joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), he worked on a variety of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research projects in the areas of educational technology, educational psychology, and human development (social-emotional learning) in both secondary (middle, and high school) and tertiary (college, and university) school settings. Francisco speaks Spanish, English, and French.

Vice-President of European Government Affairs, Microsoft

Nanna-Louise Linde is Microsoft’s Vice President of European Government Affairs with responsibility for Microsoft’s government affairs and public policy work across Europe since September 2022. Nanna-Louise leads a team of government affairs professionals tasked with strengthening Microsoft’s external relations with the EU institutions and governments across Europe and ensuring the company is a constructive partner in supporting policy makers in Europe achieve their goals and adapting smart legislation.  

A competition lawyer by training, Nanna-Louise brings with her almost two decades of experience at Microsoft. She has led Microsoft’s Corporate External & Legal Affairs team in 32 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, responsible for legal matters and relations with governments and other authorities. Prior to that, she was leading Government Affairs for Microsoft in Western Europe. Nanna-Louise and her teams have helped Microsoft build important partnerships with governments in Europe and position Microsoft as a trusted partner to EU institutions and governments in the region.  

Nanna-Louise is known to be a modern leader who empowers her team and facilitates cross country and cross group collaboration with a transparent and authentic approach

Chief Academic Officer, Code.org

Pat Yongpradit is the Chief Academic Officer for Code.org and the lead of the TeachAI initiative. As a global thought leader in artificial intelligence and computer science education, Pat has influenced each stage of the education system, from policy to practice, in the legislature, and in the classroom, where he taught for 13 years. Although Pat currently spends most of his time in education policy conversations, he still finds ways to sneak into the classroom