Ilaria manages the units in charge of Innovation, Education, and Communication at the seat of the EIT in Budapest.

She began her career at Whirlpool Corporation, where she held different managerial positions in Customer Service and Marketing and led the EMEA Innovation Team.  She then worked as Head of Business Development and Grants Management for an Engineering Consulting firm, building her experience in European Grants strategies and submissions, with proven successes.

She was then Senior Partner at Great Product Ventures Inc, a US based venture development firm. Ilaria is a Startup’s business developer, mentor, and advisor and has put together an extensive network of relations with major crowdfunding entities, VC players, Accelerators & Incubators, and many valuable startups at international level.

In the last 10 years, Ilaria is also a Lecturer at LIUC University (Italy), teaching Innovation Management at the Faculty of Economics and Innovation & Industrial Design at the Faculty of Engineering.

Ilaria holds an Msc in Economics from Università Cattolica di Milano.

Dr. Martin Vendel holds the position as Academy Director at EIT Urban Mobility. He has experience from academic research and teaching combined with industrial experience from large multinational corporations and startups. Dr. Vendel has experience from a number of executive and board positions, with a focus on corporate strategy, marketing, business development and industry transformation. The last years with a focus on technology driven transformation and change.

Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva is Director for Innovation, Digital Education and International
Cooperation at the European Commission. She is responsible for the coordination and
implementation of the EU Digital Education Action Plan, the international dimension of the Erasmus+
programme, as well as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and the European Institute of
Innovation and Technology, which are integral parts of the Horizon Europe Programme.

Antoaneta joined the European Commission in 2008. She has worked across various Commission
services on a wide range of topics such as external relations and enlargement, internal security and
police cooperation, digital matters and cyber security, stakeholder engagement. Before joining the
Commission, Antoaneta had spent 10 years in the Bulgarian public administration, including as
diplomat at the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria in Brussels, dealing mainly with justice and
home affairs issues.

Antoaneta is a graduate in political science of Sofia University “St Kliment Ohridski” (Bulgaria), with
training and qualifications in European studies from Germany (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für
Sozialforschung) and the UK (Sussex University).

Since 2019, Emma Linsenmayer is an Analyst in the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) team of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) at the OECD, contributing to the development and implementation of innovative assessment frameworks, with a particular focus on 21st century skills. She plays a central role in the design of the Learning in the Digital World assessment (PISA 2025), collaborating closely with international experts to design technology-enhanced activities that allow us to evaluate complex, process-based competences in large-scale assessments.

She also leads the OECD Platform for Innovative Learning Assessments (PILA), an open-source initiative that supports the use of formative, technology-enhanced assessments in classroom settings. PILA aims to bridge assessment innovation and pedagogical practice, enabling more personalised and inclusive learning experiences.

In addition to her work on PISA, she has contributed to the OECD’s Education for Inclusive Societies project. Her policy analysis focuses on how artificial intelligence can affect students with special education needs.

Founder and Executive Chairman at Educraftor, Founder and CEO at Teach millions, Accelerator Programme Lead at the European Digital Education Hub.

Märt Aro’s involvement in the field of education development dates back to his secondary school years which saw Märt organising educational events for peers on a national level.

Since 2004, Märt has established numerous organisations and companies in the area of education development.

Märt is the co-founder of DreamApply.com Student Application Management Platform, launched in 2011.  DreamApply is used by more than 300 universities from across 40 countries, serving millions of users annually.

Märt is serving as Chairman of the Board at NGO EdTech Estonia that brings together 50+ founders of education innovation initiatives from Estonia with the aim of sharing experience and fostering cooperation.

In order to drive education forward Märt regularly collaborates with: United Nations, European Union, Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, and many others.

Jannie has extensive experience working with digital competence, pedagogy, and management, both as an educator, principal, and head of professional development. She has been appointed commissioner to the Swedish Government’s strategic cooperation programme on Skills and Lifelong Learning and has advised the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and Swedish Public Employment Agency as a member of their Innovation Advisory Boards. Jannie is the CEO of Swedish EdTech Industry and Chair of  The European EdTech Alliance (EEA), an umbrella organisation of European associations connecting the European EdTech ecosystem and representing more than 2500 EdTech companies.

Jitske van Os is Managing Director of Dutch EdTech, where she leads the Dutch EdTech community and supports entrepreneurs in growing and scaling internationally. With over a decade of experience in ecosystem building, strategic project management, and stakeholder engagement, she has worked with 500+ startups and scale-ups to accelerate innovation. Previously, she held leadership roles at Techleap.nl, StartupDelta, and Tech Tour, developing international growth programs, forging strategic partnerships, and driving impactful collaborations between entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. Passionate about connecting people and creating opportunities, Jitske thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution to deliver lasting impact in education and techn

Biography to follow soon

Dr Sharon Flynn was the National Co-ordinator of N-TUTORR (2022-2025), an ambitious programme of work funded by the European Union and NextGenerationEU. In her role, she worked closely with senior academic leaders in seven partner HEIs to transform teaching and learning in the technological higher education sector in Ireland. Dr Flynn has experience working at a national level, leading the Irish Universities Association’s Enhancing Digital Teaching and Learning (EDTL) project between 2019 and 2022. Previously, she was Assistant Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at the University of Galway between 2006 and 2019. In July 2025 she took up the role as Manager of the Research Institute for Creativity at the University of Galway. With a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, she has almost 30 years experience working in higher education in Ireland.

Michaela Horvathova is an international education expert with extensive experience in education reform and future skills development. As Co-founder and Chief Education Officer at Beyond Education, she leads an edtech startup focused on preparing students for the future by assessing and cultivating 21st-century skills online. Her career includes advising the Prime Minister of Slovakia on education reform and spearheading transformative educational projects for the 21st century with the Center for Curriculum Redesign in Brazil, South Africa, and the Netherlands. She has also worked as a policy analyst at the OECD and as a consultant for organizations such as UNICEF, the International Baccalaureate, and The Future Society, emphasizing her commitment to leveraging education as a catalyst for societal progress and preparing students to meet the challenges of the future. Michaela holds a Master’s degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University.

Lana is the President of the European Students’ Union (ESU) for the 2025/26 mandate. She has been actively involved in the student movement for over five years, beginning as president of the student council at the University of Rijeka. As a member of the Croatian Students’ Council, she engaged in national and European-level advocacy on a wide range of student issues. Prior to becoming president, Lana served as Vice-President of ESU during the 2024/25 term and was a member of its Executive Committee since October 2023. In these roles, she worked extensively on topics related to enhancing the Quality of Education and the development of the European Education Area. As president, Lana focuses on advancing the European Education Area and strengthening the Organizational Development and Capacity Building. She is committed to fostering a more inclusive, innovative, and student-driven higher education landscape across Europe.

Pamela Pokorny is an inclusive education specialist with a background spanning instructional design, EU policy, and edtech. She leads the Digital Learning Unit at EIT Food, where she oversees a program reaching over 200,000 online learners. Her work focuses on developing accessible, scalable learning experiences, including innovations in 3D and augmented reality platforms and microlearning strategies. Pamela has led cross-functional teams in both academic and applied settings, advancing lifelong learning in the context of agrifood system transformation.

Gerard is an education professional with experience in policy, research, and programme design and implementation. He has worked in think tanks, government agencies, ministries, higher education and the third sector. His current role is Head of Education Capacity Building at EIT Urban Mobility, where he leads the organisation’s participation in EIT Community education programmes and is responsible for projects in moderate and modest innovation countries. He is in charge of the strategic development of the EIT Campus, the online platform that brings together the EIT KICs’ education offer and has attracted over 200,000 users since 2023.

Biography to follow

Prof. Redford is an internationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship, innovation and AI-enabled EdTech. He serves as President of the NGO PEEP where he focuses on evidence-based policymaking in education reform and economic development.

Dr. Redford has worked extensively with the EIT as a lead educator, expert and evaluator across multiple KICs, including EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing, EIT Urban Mobility and EIT RawMaterials. He played a central role in the EIT Label Framework and has advised on capacity building, quality assurance and innovation ecosystems across Europe and beyond.

He is a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley researching Gen Z entrepreneurs. He has worked as an expert for the European Commission, the U.S. government, UNDP, UNIDO and the OECD. He is a Member of the Advisory Board of the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative and has authored several books on the Entrepreneurial University, High Impact Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion.

Originally a high school teacher from Australia, Beth Havinga has managed education publishing houses and education software companies in Europe, founded her own EdTech startups in Germany and the USA, and, for the last six years, has supported a wide variety of education organisations through her company, Connect EdTech. Beth works with large tech corporations, education publishers, governments, ministries of education and education startups globally, supporting them in education policy, digital implementation strategies, market analyses, and the internationalisation and expansion of digital products. She currently serves on the practical advisory board of Kids.digilab.Berlin.

As a specialist in the digitisation and interoperability of education systems, Beth currently serves on the Digitisation Council of the state of Berlin in Germany, is chair of the advisory board of Kids.Digilab.Berlin, and also represents Germany as head delegate to the European Committee for Standardization of Interoperability for Learning Technologies and EdTech. Additionally, Beth is part of the EdTech Roundtable of the European Commission, represents the EEA as part of UNESCO’s Broadband Commission, and is part of the COSN international advisory board.

Beth has previously served on the expert committee of the Austrian Ministry of Economy, Research and Science, and was an invited member of the expert Platform, “Digital Future: Learning. Researching. Knowledge” of the German Digital Summit under the Chairmanship of the German Education Minister.

As a cofounder of the European Edtech Alliance, Beth is excited about making the digital education landscape within Europe more accessible, interconnected and open for innovation.

Biography to follow

Christina Makarona, PhD, acts as project coordinator in the Science Education Department at European Schoolnet, overseeing the EmpowerED project, EUN’s main initiative on EdTech. She has a background in STE(A)M pedagogies in secondary education, interdisciplinary studies is higher education and in science communication.

Anne-Wil Kramer is a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University and part of the Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI), where she studies teacher AI collaboration and works with schools and EdTech partners to co-create and implement AI in daily teaching practices.

As Education Director at EIT Culture & Creativity, I work with my team to commission degree education courses, continuous professional development skills and training, as well as important EIT cross-KIC initiatives such as the HEI, Girls Go STEM, EIT STEM Tech Talent Induction, EIT CAMPUS, and EIT CONNECT. Our work focuses on unlocking the transformative potential of culture and creativity to foster innovative education, research, and entrepreneurship across and beyond EIT’s existing Knowledge and Innovation Communities. I am particularly interested in how the cultural and creative sectors and industries can pioneer responses to EC priorities such as security and resilience, climate change and the environment, health, inequality, and democratic engagement.

With a career spanning artistic and design innovation and strategic leadership across academia, research, and policy, I have served as Director of Research at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design and Stockholm University of the Arts. I have held senior professorships in artistic research in Sweden and in the epistemology of design-led research in Belgium. I was twice elected Vice-President of the international Society for Artistic Research.

I work as an evaluator for the European Research Council, Horizon Europe, and national research councils in Sweden, Norway, Portugal, and Austria, and have chaired expert panels for the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research assessing universities seeking Centres of Excellence in Higher Education.

Beyond the academy, I maintain an international profile in experimental architecture and interdisciplinary storytelling. As a member of the Experimental Architecture Group, led by Rachel Armstrong, my creative work on microbial architecture—spanning publications, performances, and exhibitions—has been presented at major biennales and cultural institutions worldwide. I am also part of the “Emerging Bio-Age” expert group at Chatham House, London, contributing to cross-sectoral dialogues on the intersections of biology, technology, and design.

Dr. Martin Vendel holds the position as Academy Director at EIT Urban Mobility. He has experience from academic research and teaching combined with industrial experience from large multinational corporations and startups. Dr. Vendel has experience from a number of executive and board positions, with a focus on corporate strategy, marketing, business development and industry transformation. The last years with a focus on technology driven transformation and change.