Mohamed Abdel-Kader is Principal and Founder Radial Global Advisory, a consultancy that serves clients in business, the social sector and philanthropy, and in education with experience, insight, and actionable solutions to their most pressing challenges. Prior to that he served in the administration of President Barack Obama as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education at the US Department of Education and later led the Aspen Institute’s Stevens Initiative. Mohamed has also served several postsecondary institutions in international strategy and major gift fundraising roles.He speaks fluent Arabic and basic Spanish, is a Truman National Security Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow and is the author of a children’s book about stereotypes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Clemson University, a Master’s degree in Higher Education from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Mohamed is a trustee of the Longview Foundation for International Education & World Affairs.

Martyn Barrett is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. He obtained his degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Sussex. He is a developmental and social psychologist but has a strong commitment to multidisciplinary research. He works on the development of intercultural, democratic and global competence; young people’s political and civic engagement, active participation and global citizenship; the development of national and ethnic identifications; and young people’s ethnic, national and political enculturation. He has worked as an expert for the Council of Europe on the development of intercultural and democratic competence since 2006, and he led the Council of Europe expert group that developed the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture. He also works for the OECD, and helped to develop the conceptual framework and assessments of global competence for use in the PISA in 2018.

Frederique Brossard Børhaug is Professor of Education at VID Specialized University and Professor of Education at NLA University College, Bergen in Norway. She teaches intercultural education for BA and MA students. She holds a PhD in education from the University of Oslo, Norway. Frédérique conducts research on Ethics and Anti-Racist Education in French and Norwegian multicultural school contexts, on the Human Development and Capability Approach (HDCA), on Inclusion of minority youth, on VaKE-didactics (Values and Knowledge Education) in intercultural teaching, and on climate change.  A key focus in her research is the critical reflection on one’s own cultural position and the fostering of complex intercultural and anti-racist value thinking that can counteract the reproduction of a sense of privilege and lead to more inclusive educational practices for all in respect with the nature.

Rodrigo has served as the Partner Director for AFS Chile since April 2017. Before AFS, he had experience in the NGO sector working for 3 years as the Executive Director of Educafrica in Kenya and South Africa, working with schools in the slums of Nairobi and Johannesburg. Before that, he worked for BHP Billiton coordinating technology projects. After the earthquake of 2010, he was assigned logistic coordinator for TECHO in one of the regions in Chile. He graduated as a Business Engineer from the Catholic University of Chile. Since 2018 he has been the President of SIETAR Chile. He comes from a very AFS family, his parents and sister are AFS alumni, and in 2001 he participated in an exchange program to Australia with AFS.

Ana Carolina Cassiano is Head of Education Development of AFS Intercultural Programs  where she coordinates global initiatives related to the education curricula of AFS exchange programs, strategic educational initiatives for schools and educators, and advocacy activities to showcase AFS’s social impact & thought leadership. She has worked for AFS globally since 2015 and prior to that was an Specialist in Intercultural Learning and School Relations at AFS Brazil. Since 2020, she has been a Board Member of SIETAR Brasil. Ana Carolina did her Master’s studies in Political Sociology and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. Recently, the challenges to develop and implement engaging learning experiences online motivated her to pursue a Masters program in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, UK which she is currently undertaking. 

Josephine Jim is Partner Director of AFS Hong Kong. As an educationist, Josephine was an Associate Head at a local university responsible for executive education programs design and delivery. She also held various senior management positions in the private education sector. As a business psychologist, Josephine provided consultancy services to sizable organizations and senior executives. She also runs a social enterprise to help students seeking scholarship opportunities in overseas universities and provide them with academic coaching. She holds a B.Sc. Pharmacy from the University of Manchester, an MBA from the University of Warwick, a PhD Education from the University of Hull, U.K. And completed her training in Psychology and Coaching at the University of Cambridge.

Daniel Obst is President & CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs. Under Daniel’s leadership, the 100+-year-old organization has developed a transformative new global strategy focused on three mission-driven impact goals: developing active global citizens, globalizing schools and other institutions and expanding access to intercultural education to young people in underserved communities.Before joining AFS in 2016, Daniel served as Deputy Vice President for International Partnerships at the Institute of International Education (IIE) where he provided strategic leadership for many groundbreaking IIE initiatives. Prior to joining IIE, Daniel worked as Producer and Director of Product Development at the tech start-up iAgora.com, an online community for young internationals who live, work and study abroad. Daniel has a B.A. in International Relations from the George Washington University (USA) and holds a Master’s degree in European Studies from the London School of Economics (UK).He serves on the Board of Directors of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation and the Advisory Council of Diversity Abroad.

Roberto Ruffino is the Secretary General of Fondazione Intercultura.  His work focuses on the pedagogy of international pupil exchanges. He has encouraged research in this field by cooperating with UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission. Roberto founded and served as the Chairman of the European Federation for Intercultural Learning (EFIL), served on the European Board of SIETAR and presided at SIETAR Italy. SIETAR International Congress in Washington awarded him the Senior Interculturalist Award. Roberto is an AFS Alumnus. Roberto holds a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Turin (Italy) and an honorary doctorate in education science awarded by the University of Padua for being “an entrepreneurial leader in the field of intercultural education, that he has contributed to introduce into Italian schools.”

Gustavo Sénéchal is a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. Since 2018, Gustavo has also served as the Head of the United Nations Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasília. His previous work experience includes working on climate change, forign policy, peacekeeping and security in different positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations, and the Embassy of Brazil in South Africa. Gustavo holds a Masters in Diplomacy from Instituto Rio Branco and Masters in International Relations from Instituto de Relações Internacionais, as well as a Law Degree from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. He is an AFS exchange program alumnus from Brazil to Sweden in 1991, and an active AFS volunteer in Brazil for which he received the Distinguished LifeLong Volunteer Award in Brazil in 2016.

Ana María Velásquez is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education of the Universidad de los Andes. She has a doctorate in Human Development Psychology from Concordia University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Education from the Universidad de los Andes. Her areas of expertise are the classroom context, the development of citizenship skills in school-age children. Her research focuses on examining changes in the social climate of the school classroom, and the effect of that social climate on children’s social development. She has worked as a researcher in design and evaluation studies of programs to promote school coexistence such as the Classrooms in Peace Program, as well as in national and international studies on factors associated with school victimization. She has authored several research articles related to these topics and participated as a compiler of the book “Citizen Competences: From standards to the classroom.”