Keynote Speakers

Jenny Marie leads the Academic and Learning Enhancement team at the University of Greenwich, where she works to enhance the quality of education provided across the institution. She has co-developed the university’s Student Success sub-strategy, working closely with the DVC and Director of Student Academic Services. She also leads on many aspects of the university’s response to Office for Students and government learning and teaching policy.

Jenny is a professor of Academic Enhancement and Student Partnership, in recognition of her contribution to forwarding student partnership practice across the sector. Student partnership in co-designing programmes is a strong feature of the Student Success sub-strategy at Greenwich, along with the support of students’ sense of belonging to the institution. Prior to joining Greenwich, Jenny worked at UCL where she led UCL’s student partnership scheme, UCL ChangeMakers. She oversaw the development of the scheme from a small pilot to one of the largest schemes in the UK, and its diversification from supporting projects to also supporting partnership to enhance department’s student satisfaction and to review teaching practices. She has published widely in the area, including a guide to scaling up student partnership in collaboration with Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, and a guide to enhancing programmes through student-staff partnership.

Sara Berkai is the founder of Ambessa Play, a social enterprise that creates educational toy kits and workshops for children. Sara has previous experience in technology companies (Amazon, Cisco) academia (UCL) and charities encouraging girls into STEM (Stemettes).

Sara recently completed an MSc in Education at the University of Oxford, studying child development and digital inequality/learning. Sara holds a BSc in Information Management for Business from University College London. She was awarded the University of Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award, Innovate UK’s ‘Young Innovator’ 2020 and the UN’s International Telecommunication Union ‘Young ICT Leader’.

Ambessa Play is a social enterprise operating on a one-for-one model. For every kit purchased in the UK, a displaced child out of school receives one for free. Ambessa Play has won the Innovate UK’s Young Innovator award and participated in the Design Museum’s Entrepreneurs Hub. Ambessa Play has received funding from the Mayor of London, Courier and UnLtd, and has been supported by Cambridge Social Ventures and the University of Oxford. 

Alison Cook-Sather is Mary Katharine Woodworth Professor of Education at Bryn Mawr College and Director of the Teaching and Learning Institute at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges in the United States. Dr. Cook-Sather has developed internationally recognized programs that position students as pedagogical consultants to prospective secondary teachers and to practicing tertiary staff. She has published over 100 articles and book chapters and given as many keynote addresses, other invited presentations, and papers at refereed conferences on six continents. Author or co-author of eight books, includingPedagogical Partnerships: A How-To Guide for Faculty, Students, and Academic Developers in Higher Education (with Melanie Bahti and Anita Ntem, Elon University Center for Engaged Learning Open Access Series, 2019) and Promoting Equity and Justice through Pedagogical Partnership (with Alise de Bie, Elizabeth Marquis, and Leslie Patricia Luqueño, Stylus Publishers, 2021), she is founding editor of Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education and founding co-editor of International Journal for Students as Partners.

Learn more about Dr. Cook-Sather’s work at https://www.alisoncooksather.com/ 

From 2010-2017, Mary was Chief Executive of UCAS. Earlier in her career she held executive and non-executive positions in the education, hospitality, food and biotech sectors.

Mary is chair of Pearson Education, its UK arm, and also chairs the governing body of the Dyson Institute. She is a non-exec Director at the Student Loans Company, the London Interdisciplinary School, the Student Room and Education Cubed, and a Trustee  at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).  She has the role of Network Chair for Emerge Education, the leading edtech investor in Europe.

In 2021, Mary took on the Chair of the UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission, set up to ensure successful student futures following the pandemic. She is a regular speaker and commentator on HE policy and practice and a recognised champion of the student interest.

Mary has an MSc from London Business School and was awarded an OBE in 2000, and a CBE in 2020 for services to further and higher education. She is an honorary Fellow of Birkbeck and Goldsmiths and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire.