Special Guests

Tracey Burns, Chief Research Officer at the National Center on Education and the Economy, USA 

Tracey Burns is Chief, Global Strategy and Research at the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, DC. Previously she was Chief of Research for the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation at the OECD. She has additionally served as an Expert for multiple OECD/UNESCO Commissions, and is a member of TeachAI’s Advisory Committee, guiding education leaders on the safe, effective, and responsible use of AI in education.  

Tracey began her career researching language acquisition in children and newborn infants. She holds a B.A. from McGill University, Canada, and a PhD in experimental psychology from Northeastern University, USA. 

Stefan Kooij is an associate professor at the University of Twente, whose research areas are related to various fields of science, particularly physics and materials science. 

 In addition to his research activities, Stefan is an experienced academic leader and educator, with an active role in shaping science and engineering education.  

He has served as programme director of Applied Physics, where he oversaw curriculum development and the implementation of the Twente Education Model, with its distinctive project-based approach.  

He later served as vice-dean for education in the Faculty of Science and Technology, where he focused on strategic initiatives to enhance teaching quality, curriculum coherence and student engagement.  

 His work in education focuses on future-oriented approaches, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, teaching excellence, student mentorship and the cultivation of an academically rigorous yet supportive learning environment. 

Mark West, Futures of Education Lead, UNESCO Future of Learning and Innovation Division  

Mark West works in UNESCO’s Education Sector in where he researches and writes about the future of education with a special focus on technology. He develops projects and publications that help countries understand opportunities and risks for education in an age of accelerating digital and environmental change.  

Mark has authored numerous publications for UNESCO, most recently 'An Ed-Tech Tragedy?', a book about educational experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark's other publications of note include ‘Generative AI and the Future of Education’; 'I’d Blush if I Could' about gender gaps in education and the gendering of AI chatbots; and 'Reading in the Mobile Era' which brought international attention to the ways governments, schools and families can leverage inexpensive mobile technologies to help advance literacy.  

 Prior to joining UNESCO, Mark has worked as a teacher and teacher trainer, completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Azerbaijan, and studied education and history. 

Otto Olavinen, Impact coordinator for Biodesign Finland at Aalto University 

Otto Olavinen is the Impact coordinator for Biodesign Finland, a Need-based MedTech Innovation & Entrepreneurship programme organised by Aalto University and HUS (Helsinki University Hospital). In his role Otto helps to connect the programme with the wider health ecosystem in Finland and abroad.  

Otto is also a Co-founder and the main organizer of the Health Design Conference, a yearly multidisciplinary event focusing on health technologies, service innovation and design thinking. The conference’s pitching competition: Health Spin is one of the biggest healthtech competitions in Finland, it has so far awarded 90 thousand euros to innovative companies with R&D grants and 200 thousand euros in investments together with an Angel syndicate.  

Work in the Biodesign and Health Design initiatives has given Otto a broad understanding of Finland’s health innovation landscape—from entrepreneurship education to design thinking and startup funding.  

Ernests Jenavs, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV 

Ernests Jenavs is the Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Startup Association (Startin.LV) and the co-founder and CEO of the education data company Edurio. Through his work at Startin.LV, he advocates for an open, values-driven, and internationally competitive startup ecosystem in Latvia, working to make the country an attractive environment for the growth of technology companies. 

Edurio, which Ernests co-founded with partners in 2014, is now one of the leading education data companies in Europe—its tools are used by more than 3,000 schools and around 200 school networks in 30 countries, primarily in England. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Ernests worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in London and studied Decision Science at the University of Manchester.