Dr Ebun Joseph is a Diversity and Race relations consultant, Director Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies and Founder and Chairperson, African Scholars Association Ireland (AFSAI, 2018 -2022). Dr Joseph is the Coordinator and Lecturer in UCD of the first Black Studies module in Ireland. She worked as a Teaching Fellow at TCD, Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Business in the Community Ireland as Training and Employment Officer. Dr Joseph has a PhD in Equality Studies from UCD School of Social Justice; an M.Ed. in Adult Guidance and Counselling from Maynooth University; an IACP accredited diploma in Professional Counselling; and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Benin. Dr Joseph focused her PhD dissertation, titled ‘Racial Stratification in the Irish labour market’ on workforce experiences. Ebun is an author, TV panellist, Columnist, equality activist and convenor of various webinars on Anti-Racism. With a research focus on Labour markets and race relations, she has presented at several conferences, businesses and non-profits. Ebun is published and contributes regular responses on contemporary issues of racism in Ireland. Her recent book is titled, Racial stratification in Ireland: A Critical race theory of labour market inequality with Manchester University press. She also co-authored the book, Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools: Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education with Routledge in Jan 2020.

Srikanth has over 2 decades of work experience spanning North America and Europe. In his previous profiles, he led large multinational businesses across diverse industries like tech services and learning/talent upskilling, consistently driving revenue growth and profitability across a portfolio of 2000 global clients across North America, Europe and APAC regions. In addition, he is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and has championed various initiatives around technology-led business transformation, IT solutions, FMCG, and Skills and Training Development for driving strong brand recognition and financial growth, at large.

In his current role at upGrad, Srikanth is building and scaling our B2B proposition that upskills experienced technology professionals. With this offering, upGrad is well placed to address a significant and growing technology skills gap in the global marketplace, by delivering a world-class proposition and will be responsible for leveraging upGrad’s unparalleled width of technology curriculums, significantly large alumni community, and proven expertise of delivering tangible learning outcomes. His efforts will also be instrumental in setting up a robust ‘Diversity and Inclusion (DnI) framework to allow businesses to build a future-ready and productive workforce.

Natalia Olynec is Chief Sustainability Officer at IMD, where she focuses on executive education, strategy, governance, reporting and advisory on sustainable business transformation. She also writes award-winning teaching cases, designs pedagogical tools, and builds cross- sector partnerships. Natalia serves on the Steering Committee of the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business. Prior to joining IMD, she was the Global Head of Sustainability for Damco, the supply chain management unit of Maersk, where she led cross-functional teams to increase supply chain transparency, energy efficiency, and protect human rights. As a reporter and editor at Bloomberg in Eastern Europe and Asia, she published articles on international business, capital markets, and emerging economies. Natalia is also non-executive board member of Jeronimo Martins, the world’s 47th largest global retailer. She holds a Master in Public Administration from the University of Singapore and a Bachelor degree in Political Science from McGill University.

Anthony Hié is Chief Digital Officer, member of the Executive Committee at Excelia Group Previously Chief Information & Digital Officer, member of the ExCom at ESCP Business School (2018-2021), Director of Digital and IS at the Catholic University of Paris (2015-2018) Director of Organisation and Information Systems at the Department of Moselle (2012-2015), winner of the 2023 trophy for innovation and transformation through digital. CIO of the Reims Management School group and of the Reims Chamber of Commerce (2001-2012). Head of IS France for the USC Europe group, manufacturer of aerosols (1996-2001). He holds a Master’s degree in IS Audit and Design from the University of Lorraine and a Specialised Master’s degree in Information Systems Management from ESSEC Business School. He is also ITIL3/ITIL4 certified and holds a certification in digital marketing from the University of Illinois, USA. He previously held several IT positions at Aerospatiale.

Sustainable development in Stéphanie Villemagne’s view is education for all as this leads to better outcomes across society.

This being the key towards achieving all the others, the SDG she most associates her work with is quality education: This is the base for improving many if not all SDGs such as climate, sanitation or even ethnic and gender equality.

To try to have an impact in these areas, Stéphanie volunteered for ocean clean ups and education, funded schools in Africa and, in partnerships with SPLASH projects, taken business students to Zambia to learn about the access of clean water and sanitation, to understand and act on its impact towards development.

Stéphanie is inspired by the new generation of young activists like Greta or Malala, fighting for a sustainable future. She very much hopes to contribute towards a better future for them through the promotion of education for all and the introduction of more courses and more programmes on sustainability at IE.

Prof. Brian MacCraith is a Senior Advisor to the President of Arizona State University (ASU), with specific responsibility for the development of strategic initiatives (academic and corporate) in Europe. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Global Futures and a Global Fellow at ASU’s University Design Institute. Much of his work is focused on the pivotal role that universities must play in tackling issues of planetary health.

Brian was President of Dublin City University (DCU) from 2010 to 2020, during which time DCU underwent major transformation and grew significantly in terms of scale, footprint, and reputation.

Prof. MacCraith is a distinguished physicist and is renowned internationally for his research achievements in the areas of (bio)sensor technology, photonics, and advanced materials. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Ireland.

Prof. Catherine Léglu is Vice-Rector (academic affairs) at the University of Luxembourg. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Medieval French and Occitan literature, and before 2019 she worked for 25 years in departments of Modern Languages in UK universities (QUB, Bristol and Reading). Among her past administrative roles, she was year abroad coordinator for the mandatory study abroad of undergraduate students. The University of Luxembourg has mandatory international mobility for all Bachelor’s students, and encourages mobility for Master’s and PhDs students, as well as staff.

An award-winning journalist, John Walshe is the Irish correspondent for University World News and has been involved in educational journalism for most of his working life. He was appointed special adviser to Ruairi Quinn who was the Irish Minister for Education and Skills from March 2011 to July 2014. Prior to that he was the education editor with the Irish Independent and before that worked with The Irish Times. He served as a consultant to the OECD in Paris where he edited or contributed to four studies on education.
He is the author of ‘A New Partnership in Education’ which chronicled many of the major changes in Irish education in recent decades and also wrote ‘An Education’ which recounted his experience as a Ministerial adviser.
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.

Kelly-anne Watson is a dynamic and accomplished Managing Director at The Class Foundation, with a wealth of experience in events, politics, higher education, and real estate. Her impressive career spans over 7 years, during which she has built a strong network of influential leaders in the student housing sector and worked on a variety of impactful projects.

As a former member of the National Code, Kelly-anne implemented the first health and wellbeing clause into the UK national accreditation scheme in 2016. She has since continued to champion social value, investment, sustainability, wellbeing, community, and policy reform within university cities across Europe.

Kelly-anne’s passion for education and quality housing for students is at the core of her work. She understands that a positive and supportive living environment is crucial for students’ success and has dedicated her career to improving accesses to the sector. Her leadership and enthusiasm has been instrumental in connecting the largest network of private and public stakeholders in Europe and driving positive change in the student living sector.