Her Excellency Dr. Amel Karboul is CEO of the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East. She is a social entrepreneur, chairwoman, author, and politician who is passionate about nurturing a new generation of responsible leaders and building bridges between the private and public sectors and civil society to solve today’s global challenges. Until February 2015, Dr. Karboul was Minister of Tourism in the Tunisian transition government. She has held leadership roles at Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler and was a senior consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Beratergruppe Neuwaldegg. She served as Secretary-General of the Maghreb Economic Forum (MEF). Dr. Karboul holds a master’s with honors in mechanical engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany and a doctorate in coaching and mentoring from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom. She has served on the advisory boards of CLP, WTFL, and GBC-Ed. Dr. Karboul published her book Coffin Corner outlining a new leadership culture suited to the complexity and dynamics of the 21st century. She is a true advocate for believing that quality education is possible for everyone.

Mercedes Miguel is former Secretary of State for Innovation and Quality in Education at the National Ministry of Education, Argentina. Before taking on her role as Secretary of State, she was a teacher, and since 2010 served in public administration as Planning General Director at the City of Buenos Aires Education Ministry. In this position, she led the Teachers’ School, led the creation of the first Curriculum for Secondary Level Schools, and led the digital education policy. Since 2016, she created the National Education Strategy Plan for the federal system, developed the National School of Government for Education Policies to leave human capacity at the provincial level, led the transformation of digital education, and improved literacy outcomes at the national level through the National Teachers Training Institute. She led the consensus for the implementation of a new framework for secondary level schools, and the Learning Mathematics National Plan. Ms. Miguel represented Argentina at the OECD Education Committee and was also a member of the UNESCO 2030 Steering Committee for two periods. Furthermore, she was designated Chair of the Education Working Group during the Argentine Presidency of the G20 during 2018 leading on both the Education and Education and Labor joint declaration.

Mr. Nsengiyumva brings more than 20 years of experience in education, technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) as well as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at continental and international levels. In the last two years, he has been working as Senior Advisor for the Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) supporting the new initiative known as the Digital Ambassador Program (DAP). He is a former member of the Cabinet in the Rwandan Government from 2011 to 2015. He served as Minister for Infrastructure (2011 – 2013) and Minister of State in charge of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) in the Ministry of Education (2013 – 2015). Before joining the Cabinet, Mr. Nsengiyumva respectively worked for the National University of Rwanda as Director of ICT Center, as Coordinator of ICT in Education at the Ministry of Education and as Director-General of the Workforce Force Development Authority (WDA).

Mr. Nsengiyumva is a Graduate of the Higher Institute of Electronic and Automation of Liège (Belgium) known as Saint – Laurent and he specialized in Industrial Automation and later on in Computer Networking and Information Systems. He is fluent in English, French, Kinyarwanda, and Swahili.

As the former President of Tanzania, His Excellency Dr. Jakaya Kikwete is using his wealth of knowledge and expertise to improve the lives of people in Africa and around the world. In 2017, Dr. Kikwete started his own foundation, the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete Foundation, where he now serves as Chairman. Dr. Kikwete also serves as a Co-Chair on the World Refugee Council and as Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam. During his presidency (2005-2015), he also served as Chair of the African Union in 2008-2009 and Chairman of the Southern African Development Community Troika on Peace, Defense and Security in 2012-2013. Before becoming President, Dr. Kikwete held several ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Water, Energy and Natural Resources, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Shahnaz Wazir Ali is the President of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST). She is a recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz, a civil award for outstanding national contribution in 2016 for her services in education. She has an illustrious career as an educationist, development policy specialist, Minister of State for Education, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sector, and as a well-known women’s rights activist. She has held various positions including Principal at the Lahore American School and Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her long-term commitment to the provision of education at the school level is reflected in her 53 years of continued contribution as the Trustee of the Education Trust Nasra School, Karachi. Currently, she is the honorary Provincial Coordinator for the Government of Sindh for all primary health care including maternal and child health and family planning programs. She is also on the boards of several prestigious national and international organizations, trusts, advisory councils, educational boards, and universities including (SZABIST), Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), National Curriculum Council (NCC), and Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Imran Sikandar Baloch is a civil servant from the Pakistan Administrative Services. He holds an MSc in Educational Studies from the University of Oxford. Over a career of 20 years, he has worked in different positions in the fields of education, health, agriculture, and regional planning. Mr. Baloch has served as Special Secretary and later Secretary of the School Education Department, Government of Punjab. Currently, he is serving as Secretary of the Planning and Development Department, Government of Punjab.

Sir Michael Barber is the Founder and Chairman of Delivery Associates. He is a leading authority on education systems and education reform. He is also Chair of the Office for Students, the proposed new regulator for Higher Education. Sir Michael was DfID’s Special Representative on Education in Pakistan (2011-15), published The Good News from Pakistan about the program with Reform (2013), and was Chief Education Adviser at Pearson (2011-2017). Prior to this, he was a Partner at McKinsey & Company and Head of McKinsey’s global education practice. Sir Michael was Head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (2001-05), and Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards (1997-2001). He is the author of several books on Deliverology, most recently How to Run a Government: So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy (2016). Sir Michael is a visiting scholar at Harvard and an Honorary Doctor of Exeter University. He was knighted in 2005 for his contribution to improving government.

Gwyn Bevan is Emeritus Professor of Policy Analysis in, and former Head of, the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science. As Director of the Office for Healthcare Performance at the Commission for Health Improvement (2001 to 2004) he was involved the transformation of the performance of the NHS in England and observed its absence in Wales. This led into research into the natural experiment into how differences in policy between the countries of the UK following devolution impact on outcomes. He has served on advisory committees to Secretary of State for Health in England, the Welsh Office,  the Lord Chancellor’s Department, the Department of International Development, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, and the Assembly government of Wales. He is an Affiliate Professor for the Istituto di Management of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa.

Marcelo Cabrol was appointed Manager of the Social Sector (SCL) at the IDB in August 2017. Previously he served as the External Relations Manager, Chief of the Education Division (2007-12), and the principal advisor to the Executive Vice President of the IDB. He first joined the Bank in 1998 as a project specialist. Cabrol obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. He completed doctoral studies in government and public policy (ABD) at Georgetown.

Jamie Cooper is the founding Chair and President of Big Win Philanthropy, an operating foundation that partners with driven and committed African leaders to deliver on their transformational visions for children and young people. Ms. Cooper has more than 25 years of experience in roles supporting and bringing leaders together from the public, private, and philanthropy sectors to pursue innovative policy and programming around a broad array of economic and social issues. Prior to launching Big Win Philanthropy, she co-founded the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Jamie serves on several boards, including the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development Board, and the Advisory Board of the Ministerial Leadership Program at Harvard. She is a High-Level Council Member of the Aspen Institute High-Level Council on Leadership & Management for Development. She also serves as a mentor at Mentore Consulting LLP. Ms. Cooper received a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Farah Jadallah is a Results & Effectiveness Director and serves as the Education Lead at the Royal Hashemite Court in Jordan. Working within the Local Development Directorate, Farah is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the National Strategy for Human Resource Development (2016-25). As a big proponent of the results-oriented framework, she works closely with relevant government stakeholders to implement a comprehensive integrated action plan, which seeks to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, quality, and outputs of the education system, to equip youth with the necessary skills to prosper and contribute towards the development of their country. Prior to this position, Farah worked at the Queen Rania Foundation (QRF) and was heavily involved in the development of programs revolving around four main themes; Teacher Development and Recognition, Early Childhood Education and Development, Equity in Education, and Education Technology and Online Learning. Farah has earned her master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Exeter in the UK and her bachelor’s degree in Italian and English Language and Literature from the University of Jordan.

Idris Jala has a global reputation for rescuing ailing ventures or confronting difficult scenarios to turn around. He is steadfast in his belief that all organizations can lift themselves out of even the worst situations. During his tenure as CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), he was tasked with spearheading the Malaysian Government’s transition towards high-income status by 2020. Prior to his role in Government, Jala was CEO at Malaysia Airlines (MAS) for three years. He was brought on board to turn around the airline which was in crisis brought about by a prolonged bout of losses from operational inefficiencies. Before MAS, he spent 23 years at Shell, rising to hold senior positions including Vice President, Shell Retail International. In addition, Jala served on the Advisory Panel for the World Economic Forum (WEF) on New Economic Growth and also on the Advisory Panel of the World Bank.

Baela Raza Jamil, CEO of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), Center for Education and Consciousness, is a public policy specialist and an activist at heart. She is the former Technical Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Education Pakistan. She leads the citizens’ accountability learning initiative, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan, and is the founder of the Children’s & Teacher’s Literature Festival, both of which are nationwide social movements. Baela is a member of multiple national and international education forums. She is a Commissioner of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (Education Commission) chaired by Gordon Brown and serves on several global advisory platforms.

Robert Jenkins, Chief, Education, and Associate Director, Programme Division, UNICEF Headquarters, joined UNICEF in 1995. He brings over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian programming in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Jenkins served as the UNICEF Representative, Jordan (2014-19) and Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Strategy in UNICEF HQ (2009-14). He served with UNICEF in programme and management positions in Uganda (1995-1997), Bangladesh (1997-2000), Myanmar (2000-2003), India (2003-2006), and Mozambique (2006-2009). Mr. Jenkins earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Bath and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. Mr. Jenkins is married and has a daughter and a son. He is a Canadian citizen.

Suzanne Grant Lewis was appointed Director at IIEP in 2014. She has over 25 years of experience in improving educational opportunities in the developing world, particularly in education policy and planning in Africa. She helped launch the International Education Funders Group in 2011 and directed the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa. As a Harvard University faculty member (1997-2006) she co-developed and directed the International Educational Policy Programme, a skills-based Master’s degree program. She also taught postgraduate courses on gender inequalities in education and on education planning and policymaking in international settings. She has lived in the USA, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, and France.

Teopista Mayanja founded the vibrant Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) as a means of enlisting all teachers in their rightful role in the transformation of education. She served as its first General Secretary (2001-2012). Until the beginning of 2020, she was the Africa Regional Coordinator of the Africa Network Campaign on Education for All (ANCEFA), the pan-African education civil society campaign movement on the right to education. She has served on multiple boards and is a Commissioner of The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (Education Commission). She possesses a diploma in Teacher Education, a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Education, and a diploma in Leading Innovations and Change, from York St. John’s University in the UK. She is married to Aloysius Mayanja, with children and grandchildren.

Jaime Saavedra leads the Education Global Practice at the World Bank Group. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he served as Minister of Education in Peru from 2013 through 2016. He has held positions at several international organizations and think-tanks, among them the Inter-American Development Bank, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, International Labour Organization, Grupo de Análisis para el Desarollo and the National Council of Labor in Peru. Prior to assuming his role as Minister for Education of Peru, he had a ten-year career at the World Bank where, most recently, he served as Director for Poverty Reduction and Equity as well as Acting Vice President, Poverty Reduction & Economic Management Network. Mr. Saavedra holds a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the Catholic University of Peru.

Dr. Liesbet Steer is the Director of the Education Commission, chaired by former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown. She was the director of the Commission’s report The Learning Generation: Investing in Education for a Changing World, and now oversees the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations including the design of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI), the introduction of reform and results-based approaches, and the development of global accountability measures. Liesbet has more than 20 years of experience in international development research and policy working at the Brookings Institution, the Overseas Development Institute’s (ODI), the Asia Foundation in Indonesia, the World Bank, and IFC.