Professors Without Borders Think Tank

Caroline Varin

Welcome Speech

Caroline holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and an M.Sc. in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics, an LL.M. in International Law from the Universita di Bologna, Italy and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a lecturer, a mentor and a tutor in Europe, the UK, the United States and in Central America. Caroline is passionate about education and finding new ways to stimulate and encourage students. In addition to pursuing her dreams of making education more accessible to all, Caroline has experience managing projects, organizing conferences and developing communication strategies for a variety of clients and sectors in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She has also written a number of articles on international security issues and has published three books.

Majeks Walker

Welcome Speech

Majeks Walker has taught and practiced law since 2004. He has an LLM from UCL (Banking Law, Conflict of Law, Corporate Law and Law of Foreign Investment in Emerging Economies), and a Certificate in Law Teaching. He was called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2006, and is a qualified SPP Mediator. Majeks has taught law at Kaplan, and the University of Greenwich. He has also taught Criminology and Psychology at Royal Holloway University of London. He currently lectures law at undergraduate and postgraduate level at University of Westminster, and at Regent’s University London. He is a seasoned corporate trainer, and provides advice and training to many multinational companies and sovereign states on various legal issues. Majeks also does a range of philanthropic work, including helping to give a voice to those that cannot afford legal representation.

Titus Ayodele

Titus Started his professional career in Chartered Accountants in 1991. He incorporated Julius and Julius & Associates in Nigeria in 1997 and in 2009 in Britain. He possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree from London South Bank University; a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from University of Northampton; and a Master of Science degree in Corporate Governance & Leadership. He recently had two academic work in the field of Accountancy, Leadership and Corporate Governance; He did Leadership and Response to Economic Crisis in London; and Investigation into Corporate Governance and the Effectiveness of Board of Directors in Nigeria quoted companies. He had professional certification in Canada, Australia, UK, Norway and Nigeria. Titus is currently a practising accountant, the Director of Gulf Futures Center and the Managing Director at Newage Solutions and Technology Limited.

Henry Adams

Panel 1: Tech Tools for Gen Z

Henry Adams is a big proponent of and participant in, game and YouTube culture, particularly via mobile channels. He is a pupil at St George’s College, Weybridge.

Paul Azrak

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age

Paul Azrak is a second-year undergraduate student in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Exeter. He has been involved in multiple projects including being Treasurer and now President of the Diplomatic Hub, a student-led project that aims to create an interdisciplinary forum for the student body interested in international affairs and diplomacy at the University of Exeter. His main research interests lie in French foreign policy and humanitarian intervention.

Laurens Geffert

Panel 1: Tech Tools for Gen Z

Laurens Geffert is currently Data Science Manager at Nielsen Marketing Cloud (UK), where he and his teams build machine learning models for programmatic advertisement using big data. Originally from Germany, he came to the UK to work with the UN on using technology for the international conservation of nature. He obtained a PhD from the University of  Cambridge and has since worked in a number of industry roles, including Sainsbury’s Data and Analytics Center of Excellence. He is also a Data Camp instructor, an open-source contributor to various libraries, a Google AI Impact Challenge reviewer for DataKind, as well as a data science blogger.

Tina Götschi

Panel 1: Tech Tools for Gen Z (Moderator)

Tina studied Computer Science in South Africa where she worked as a developer before moving into Education. She has taught Computer Studies, Computing, IT, Maths and Art and also has a Foundation Diploma in Textiles. She joined Ada as Head of Computer Science to lead the team in developing the curriculum and teaching the new BTEC in Computer Science. She is keen on the intersection of Technology and Creativity and enjoys sharing her enthusiasm with others.

Dr. Carola Hieker

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age (Moderator)

Dr Hieker is Professor of Organizational Behavior and a Senior Executive Coach with over 25 years of experience in leadership development. She is a founding partner for diversity-in-leadership and hilcoaching, and her main clients are global companies in the Financial Services Sector as well as Professional Services Firms. Her focus in research lies in coaching, leadership and diversity. She is passionate about educational access for all and sits on the Advisory Board of ‘Professors without Border’.

Carola has university degrees as Diplom-Psychologin (corresponding to M.A. in Psychology) and Dr. Phil (corresponding to Ph.D. in Psychology.); she also completed a Diploma in Systemic Management at Birkbeck University and is an Ashridge Certified Supervisor (Master level).

Allison Cole-Stutz

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age

Allison Cole-Stutz, is currently Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students at Richmond the American International University in London where she has worked since January 2001. Richmond University/London is the only UK university offering a dual degree which is US/UK accredited. At Richmond, Allison oversees and manages all of the student experiencing including health and welfare, financial support, immigration, student accommodation, student activities, student leadership, student representation, careers and internships and pastoral care.

Allison is originally from Canada, but lived for a number of years in the US. She has called London home for almost 20 years. She completed a BA in Comparative Literature at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, USA and an MA in Foreign Language Education/ TEFL at University of Texas at Austin, USA. She is currently completing an EdD International at UCL’s IOE where her dissertation focuses on the practicalities of liberal arts study. Allison’s team was recently awarded International Student Experience of the Year by Independent HE, shortlisted for the THE awards for Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development for the Richmond Leadership Academy—a group of activities, resources and support offerings to help students develop personally and professionally while at university. 

Marc Lewis

Panel 1: Tech Tools for Gen Z

Mr Lewis is a serial entrepreneur in creative industries. His start-ups have created over £50m in shareholder value. In 2010, he returned to the School of Communication Arts where he is the Dean. Mr Lewis is a champion of the role of education in creating creativity.

Laura Hills

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age

Laura Hills is an Academic Developer at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is responsible for developing online professional development resources for academic staff and investigating the potential of digital portfolios for students.  Prior to coming to the LSE, she worked at the Open University and has experience of supporting distance learning students and staff through a range of digital technologies. She has also been involved in producing Online Open Courses on what to expect from online learning and getting started in Higher Education. As a parent, she has a personal interest in the debates around children’s use of technology and digital media.

Andrea Rodrigues

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age

As a passionate programmer, Andrea strives to creatively solve problems. She is currently developing a Character Generator App to help artists hone their skills. Enthusiastic about inspiring others to start their own digital journey, Andrea teaches coding to primary schools and shares her advanced skills and insight tech conferences.

Mary Sullivan

Panel 2: Social and Mental Well-being in the Digital Age

Mary Sullivan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies from Richmond, the American International University in London. Originally from the United States, she is currently the Think Tank Projects Manager for Professors Without Borders helping to manage publications for the think tank and organise both domestic and international conferences. Mary is set to pursue her M.A. in Global Health at the University of Glasgow starting in the fall of 2019.

Frederick Zahn

Panel 1: Tech Tools for Gen Z

After graduating from the German School London in 2017, Frederick Zahn went on to study Computer Science at the University of Southampton. Currently in his second year, his main interests are in Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence. He has completed work experiences at his university, Commerzbank, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and will begin an internship with a research-led cyber security consultancy in London this summer. In his free time Frederick furthers his knowledge on technology by attending Hackathons and through his role as Head of Simulations for Southampton’s Formula Student Team.

Sophia Hieker

Closing Comments

Sophia Hieker is Head Girl at German School in London in her
second to last year of her studies. She has lived in Germany and
England and studied for one year at Swiss School in Madrid as a
guest student. Her interest in international politics and she aims to
study journalism after finishing the German Abitur and
International Baccalaureate by 2020.