Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, was born in the city of Santo Domingo on July 12, 1967, married to Raquel Arbaje Soni, and is the father of three daughters, Esther Patricia, Graciela Lucía and Adriana Margarita. He is the son of businessman and political leader José Rafael Abinader Wassaf, and Mrs. Rosa Sula Corona Caba,

He studied high school at Colegio Loyola, obtained a degree in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo. He completed postgraduate studies in Project Management at the Arthur D. Little Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also studied Corporate Finance and Financial Engineering at Harvard University and Advanced Management at Darmouth College in New Hampshire. Elected vice president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party at the 2005 National Convention.

He is currently Executive President of the ABICOR Group, which has developed and operated important tourism projects in the country. This family group directed the business project of what is today the company Cementos Santo Domingo, of which he is Vice President He has been president of the Association of Hotels of Sosúa and Cabarete and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES), Member of the Board of Directors of the Fundación Universitaria O&M

Recognized by the State Congress of Rhode Island, United States, for his career in the public, educational and business fields. He also received recognition from the Mayor of Boston and the Massachusetts State Senate for his contributions to higher education, civic engagement, and community service.

He was a candidate for the vice presidency of the Republic for the Dominican Revolutionary Party, in the 2012 presidential elections. Luis Abinader was elected presidential candidate at the PRM convention held on April 26, 2015.

His candidacy is chosen with more than 70% of the votes assuming a victory recognized from the first bulletin by the rest of the applicants. He worked to achieve a presidential project that unified all the opposition and the majority of society with a view to the May 2016 elections.

Despite participating in very adverse conditions, with a party that barely had a year and a half of existence and competing with a president who had all the resources of the State in his favor, Abinader obtained more than 35% of the votes in the elections of May 15, 2016, leaving the PRM as the second political force in the Dominican Republic.

For 2019 he is elected again as a candidate for the presidency in the internal convention of his party, becoming the President Elect of the Dominican Republic in the presidential elections of July 5, 2020, for the period 2020-2024.

She is a labor psychologist from Universidad San Francisco de Quito. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile and a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in Family Counseling from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
She has developed her professional career mainly in the academic field. She was General Undersecretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation and Undersecretary of Access to Higher Education at Senescyt. She has also served as Dean of Students and Quality Management; Director of Planning and Evaluation; and, Director of Academic Registration at Universidad de los Hemisferios.

Mauro Alejo Guevara is the Director of International Managment of the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the Buenos Aires City Government. He is also the co-creator of Study Buenos Aires: the Buenos Aires City Government Policy for international education.

He has been working for over 7 years with the local universities in other both to promote Buenos Aires as an educational hub and improve international students’ experience in the city.

He has a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and did his master’s in Regional Integration (UBA) where he specialized in international education as a tool for regional integration in South America.

Carlos Ortega Maldonado is the first rector and founder of the Espiritu Santo University (UEES) and currently serves as its Chancellor. UEES is a 5-star university in the QS Stars program and ranked #1 in Ecuador by THE. In 1994 he founded UEES as a private university, since its inception the university has set the standard for higher education in Ecuador, managing to occupy the top positions in international rankings. It is renowned for its educational programs, particularly in the areas of medicine, business, economics, and law. The academic offer includes graduate and postgraduate programs across various fields of study, postgraduate courses in medicine and dentistry, and doctoral programs (PhD) in Business and Education.

Since the onset of the pandemic in Ecuador, Carlos devised ways in which the university could contribute to the country’s response. He took the initiative to establish the UEESCLINIC and UEESBIOLAB, a university teaching clinic and a biomolecular laboratory, both dedicated to providing essential care for patients requiring Covid-19 testing, as well as those who lacked access to intensive care beds in the local hospital facilities. Furthermore, he is currently leading the development of a groundbreaking project—a new University Teaching Hospital with a capacity of 150 beds.

Carlos Ortega Maldonado comes from a line of distinguished Ecuadorian educators, each leaving an indelible mark in the academic realm. His great-grandfather established Guayaquil’s first high school. His grandfather served as the rector of the University of Guayaquil, the largest university in Ecuador, on three occasions. Additionally, his uncle founded the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil, where Carlos completed his professional studies.

He is a lawyer and has fourth-level studies in Strategic Management, Finance, and Communication, and obtained a PhD in Education. In recognition of his contributions to academia, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by Pacific University in Oregon. Moreover, the national government of Ecuador bestowed upon him the Medal for Merit in the Rank of Commander. He was the governor of the province of Guayas, president of the Transit Commission, president of the Legal Commission of the National Council of Universities of Ecuador, and vice-president of the Assembly of the Ecuadorian University System.

In addition to his duties as UEES Chancellor, he is the Honorary Consul of Japan, and a member of the National Board of Directors of the Society for the Fight Against Cancer (SOLCA).

Aída Mencía-Ripley, Ph.D., is the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation and the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Intersectional Gender Studies in Education and Psychology at UNIBE. Dr. Mencía-Ripley is a graduate of St. John´s University (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.), and The New School for Social Research (M.A.), both in the city of New York.

While at St. John´s University, she was Doctoral Research Fellow at the Social Stress and Health Research Unit, a research unit that carried out research funded by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. She was also Teaching Fellow, where she taught the research methods in psychology laboratory.

Her clinical training was conducted at the St. John’s University Center for Psychological Services and Clinical Studies, Queens Hospital Center and Roberto Clemente Center, the latter of which are part of NYC Health & Hospitals. Prior to her doctoral training, Dr. Mencía-Ripley worked for supported housing and welfare to work programs that focused on social functioning of people with disabilities and with chronic mental health diagnoses.

Upon returning to the Dominican Republic in 2007, she joins UNIBE´s Department of Psychology where in 2009 she begins her research projects. Since 2009, she has been research coordinator, director, and dean of research. Under her leadership, UNIBE began building its research infrastructure along with the creation of UNIBE´s research policies and research programs.

From 2013-2017, she was UNESCO Chairholder in Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities and Special Education Needs and she also represents UNIBE for the UNITwin Network on Gender, Media, and ICT. She also represents UNIBE at CINDA and ADRU´s research networks. Her academic work has been recognized by the Association of Hispanic Mental Health Professionals.

She has won several awards for her work including the Enerio Rodríguez Arias Prize from  FUNDEPSIC and the Interamerican Psychological Society´s Salazar Prize for best publication. In 2022, she received a special award from the Dominican Republic´s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for her contribution to science in the Dominican Republic and abroad.

Since 2018 she is a member of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology´s researcher accreditation system, holding the highest level of accreditation.

Her work has been published in several international journals such as Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Revista Interamericana de Psicología, Frontiers, among others. She has presented

her work and has represented UNIBE at international meetings such as the PAL Network meeting in Xalapa, Mexico and UNESCO events in París and Barcelona.

She has also participated in conferences of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, CIES, WPATH and at partner universities such as Universidad de Nebrija, Clemson University, and Michigan State University. In 2021, Forbes Central America chose her among its list of the 100 most powerful women of Central America for her role in UNIBE´s COVID – 19 response.

Ben is one of the founding thinkers behind the QS World University Rankings and a veteran in the field of comparative institutional performance in global higher education. As Senior Vice President, Ben heads the institutional performance unit at QS, dedicated to bringing together policy makers and HE leaders through the power of data and insight, to maximise their positive impact on the world and fulfil their potential.
A sought-after speaker on the conference circuit, Ben has spoken on his research in more than 25 countries. He has personally visited over 50 of the world’s top 100 universities, amongst countless others.
Prior to joining QS, Ben graduated in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham and was elected to serve as National President of AIESEC, a student charity dedicated to fostering cultural understanding through immersive international work placements.

Jeff Maggioncalda joined Coursera as CEO in June 2017 and since then helped the company grow to over 100 million learners and 7,000+ institutions, served by high-quality learning content from 300+ of the world’s top universities and industry educators. He previously served for 18 years as the founding CEO at Financial Engines Inc, a company co-founded by economist and Nobel Prize winner William Sharpe. Financial Engines grew rapidly under Jeff’s leadership, providing high-quality online investment advice that has helped millions of people save and prepare for retirement. Jeff has also worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and Cornerstone Research, and serves as a director of SVB Financial Group. He holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and English from Stanford University. In his free time, Jeff is a lifelong learner and proud dad, and enjoys studying music theory and spending time with his wife and three daughters.