Pro. Sang Xinmin

Pro. Sang Xinmin is a professor and doctoral adviser in Nanjing University. He is the founding director of Institute for Digital Learning and Management in Nanjing University. He also holds position as member of experts consultant team of National Modern Distance Education in China Ministry of Education, researcher in National Research Center for Education Development, and visiting professor in Peking (Beijing) University.

During the past decade, he and his colleagues have been working on the foundational theory of Education Technology and the innovative research on effective teaching model in the network environment. Based on the research, he and his colleagues were able to begin the exploration in higher education. The national experimental project The Theory and Practice Research in Helping College Students Enhance Their Learning and Creative Abilities in Multi-media and Network Environment, won the national first price in higher education in 2001, and the online course for this project Learning Theory and Practice in Information Age also won the national excellent online course in higher education in 2004. He was awarded national Professor-of-the-Year in 2003.

Position: Professor and Doctoral Adviser in Department of Educational Science and Management, Nanjing University. Founding Director of Institute for Digital Learning and Management in Nanjing University

Speech Title: Educational Wisdom in the Global Age: East and West

Guo Han

Guo Han, the Principal of Beijing 101 Middle School, has been working for 32 years since as an educator. She has once worked as a teacher and a researcher, and since 1995, she has been a principal. She is also an active participant in several academic organizations. At present, she is a Commissioner of Beijing Committee of Colleges Education and Recruitment, and a Drector of Principal Committee of Senior High School Education.

Glenda Tesalona

Glenda Tesalona is the Director of Global Classrooms at the United Nations Association of the USA. As the Director of Global Classrooms, Glenda oversees all aspects of Global Classrooms from development of classroom resources, professional development of teachers and conference staff, to the implementation of the Global Classrooms program in 10 US cities and 11 international capitals including Beijing, Beirut, London, Sao Paulo and Tel Aviv. According to Ms. Tesalona, this is the best part of her job: meeting teachers and students around the world and realizing that our commonalities and larger than our differences. Glenda has led in the development of Global Classrooms resources include three curricula units, Peacekeeping, Sustainable Development and Human Rights. The department is currently developing a new classroom resources entitled “The Economics of Globalization” to help students understand basic principles of trade, finance and development, that will help them understand the complexities of solving international issues given global economics.

Prior to UNA-USA, Glenda worked in several positions with the New York City Department of Education; as an early childhood classroom teacher in the Bronx and Hamilton Heights section of Manhattan, to a school-level thematic coordinator. While working in the school level, Glenda also spent much of her time on district-level initiatives including technology in the classroom, summer institutes for new teachers and early childhood literacy. Her final year was spent with Community School District 5 in Harlem as the District Literacy Coordinator for its 10 elementary and middle schools.

Glenda Tesalona received her BA in political science and urban studies and her MA in elementary education from Fordham University in New York City.

Jun Feng 

Mr. Jun Feng is CEO of Beijing Huaqi (Aigo) Information Digital Technology Co.Ltd.  He was born in Jiangsu in 1969 and graduated from the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University in 1992. In 2004: he Graduated from EMBA of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

Jun Feng, a legendary figure in IT industry in Zhongguancun( Chinese Silicon Valley), built up his enterprise by starting with 2 employees and RMB 200 yuan, and is a leading figure who has built “Aigo” into an international brand that Chinese people are proud of . With good faith and great objectives, he has developed Huaqi into a respectable rapidly-growing enterprise in the eyes of foreign IT industry.

Currently, Mr. Jun Feng is also a Member of Political Consultative Conference of Haidian District, Vice Chairman of Beijing Electronics Chamber and a Member of Beijing Industrial and Commercial Executive Committee. In 2002, Mr. Jun Feng was Selected one of Top 10 Chinese Technological New Talents, in 2003, he won the 6th session of “Outstanding Award of China Youth Technological Innovation”. And in 2005, he was selected a member of the 10th session of All-China Federation of Youth.

In 2006, he was elected as one of the “Top 10 Outstanding Youth of the Year”. In 2007, he was honored as the “ 2006 CCTV Price for Innovation”.

Professor Tan Songhua

Tan Songhua is Executive Vice-President of the Chinese Association of Education.  He is also a Committeeman of the Evaluation Committee for high school of China, the Administrative Vice-Chairman of Chinese Association of Education, Director of Science Committee, and Researcher of the National Center for Education Development Research.  His work also includes being a Doctoral Tutor, Advisory Professors of Peking (Bejing) University, Beijing Normal University and East China Normal University.  In addition, he is a Counselor of Shanghai Academy of Sciences. He was the Vice-Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CCP for the First Medicine College of Shanghai, Section Chief and Adjunct Researcher of the Research Office of Shanghai Municipal Committee of CCP, and also the Vice-Director of the National Center for Education Development Research.

Speech title: Education in China, Present and Future

Wang Shuren

Professor Wang Shuren is a famous philosopher working at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He was chairman of the Chinese Academic Society of foreign Philosophy History, vice president of academic committee of philosophy institute and director of Research Centre of the History of Western Philosophy. Today he is the honorary chairman of the Chinese Academic Society of foreign Philosophy History.

His research has significant contribution in the fields of Chinese and western philosophy, aesthetic, philosophy history as well as comparative study of Chinese and Western culture. Several of his important works are: "New Exploration in Speculative Philosophy", "Philosophical Reflection on the History" and "Return to the Original Thinking".

Particularly he has raised "Xiang-Thinking" theory, which provides new approaches to interpret the essence and features of the traditional Chinese culture and its thinking model. On the recent 15th International Conference on Chinese Philosophy, "Xiang-Thinking" theory has attacked a great deal of attention.

Position: Researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); philosopher

Speech Title: The Root of Chinese Philosophy and Culture: “Xiang” and “Xiang-Thinking”

Dr. Karen Stephenson

Dr. Karen Stephenson, hailed in Business 2.0 as “The Organization Woman”, is a corporate anthropologist and lauded as a pioneer and "leader in the growing field of social-network business consultants." In 2007, she was one of only three females recognized from a distinguished short list of 55 in Random House’s Guide to the Management Gurus. In 2006, she was awarded the first Houghton Hepburn Fellow at Bryn Mawr College for her groundbreaking contributions to civic engagement. In 2001, her consulting firm Netform was recognized as one of the top 100 leading innovation companies by CIO. Her prominence catapulted in 2000 when she was featured in a New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell, regarding the social dynamics of office spaces. A global nomad, she has been sighted at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University where she currently lectures. This was preceded by 5 years at the Harvard School of Design and 10 years at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. www.netform.com.

Speech Title: The Impact of Networking in Organizations

Linda Boza

Linda Boza, Middle School Assistant Division Leader at Independent Day School in Tampa Florida USA, and Co-Director of the ISC Global Youth Leadership Program in Beijing.

Lisa Cobb

Lisa Cobb received both her graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida USA. In addition to serving as the Subject Area Leader for language arts for the past eight years, she is also the Lead Teacher for Curriculum Integration at Andrew J. Ferrell Middle Magnet School, the Center for Language Exploration and Global Communication in Tampa.  She has been developing global school partnerships using a weboffice named Homemeeting.

Speech Title: Technology Approach to Global School Partnerships

Hans Forsberg

Hans Forsberg is a former Headmaster / Principal of Gripenskolan, Upper Secondary School in Nyköping, Sweden.

Hans has 40 years experience in teaching and school leadership in Sweden, including several years as Leader aof the International School Moshi, a “United World College” in Tanzania.

Hans has developed a school focused on students´ individual progress,personal responsibility and concern for human values and the environment. 

Speech Title: Your School Can Make a Difference in the World

Li Xinfang (Lydia Li)

Li Xinfang (Lydia Li) is an English teacher at Beijing 101 Middle School. She
studied at Department of Foreign Languages at Beijing Normal University, majoring in
English Education. Since graduation from the University, she has been studying
English Education at middle schools.

Hans-Erik Persson

Hans-Erik Persson is the former Superintendent of Schools in Katrineholm, Sweden.  Today he serves as the Co-Chairperson of the ISC Board of Directors as well as its Vice President for Global Connections and Partnerships. He is launching a new School District Leaders Network in the ISC.  Mr. Persson Co-Founded the Swedish Association for School Superintendents and today is responsible for its Professional Development Program for Superintendents.  He represents the ISC on the Board to create an international conference for School Superintendents and Directors in Stockholm in 2007.

Summit Role: ISC Board Member at Large

Lily Seah

Lily serves education, organizational learning & change and leadership development as consultant, facilitator and trainer.  Based in Singapore, she works well within the diverse cultures in Asia, having had experience in China; as an ADB consultant, Philippines, Nepal, India and Mauritius. 

Her on-going research interest is on the universal qualities of human systems, and practices that develop the human potential.  Currently, she is engaged in PhD research at the Nanjing University, China.

She is the founder of Integros Pte Ltd, a licensed senior Human DynamicsTM facilitator and the Singapore hub coordinator of ISC.

Speech Title: Developing Qualities of Global Citizens

Karolyn Snyder

Dr. Snyder is President of the International School Connection, Inc. (ISC), and one if its Co-Founders.  The ISC emerged 10 years ago from connections in Europe, South America, and North America, became a multi-national/multi-university Cooperative with Masters and Doctoral Programs, and in 2002 became a non-profit organization in the USA.  Today the ISC is a global learning network of educators and business leaders who are creating a new story of schooling for the 21^st century.  Dr. Snyder has served as a consultant, trainer, visiting scholar, and speaker in over 30 countries on six continents for 45 years, and has published over 260 scholarly works.  All of the work has been about a Systemic Approach to School Development and Leadership within a Global Context.

Summit Role: General Host

Summit Program: The Future for Schooling in the 21^st Century

Professor Kai Sung

Professor Kai Sung teaches in the Department of Information Management in the School of Management at National Central University in Taiwan. His work today involves speeches and collaborations with universities throughout China. He is Visiting Professor at six universities, and Advisory Professor at four other universities in China. He has served as professor, Chair of a Management Department, and Dean of the School of Management at National Central University. Dr. Sung is a member of the ISC Board of Directors, who brought the weboffice Homemeeting to the ISC for its international meeting as a virtual organization. ISC Schools now are acquiring Homemeeting for the international school partnerships.

Speech Title: Experiences from Creative Thinking Learning Communities

Dr. Zhanbao Wang

Dr. Zhanbao Wang is the Principal of High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, and Chairman of the Board of Nanjing Shuren International School & NSFZ Jiangning Campus, in Nanjing, China.   He earned his Doctorate in Educational Sociology from Nanjing Normal University.  Dr. Wang also serves as Vice President of the High School Education Committee for the Chinese Society of Education.  Dr. Wang initiated the new ISC Youth Leadership Summit program in April 2005, with preparation events during the 2006 ISC Summit in Tampa Florida USA, and the Youth Summit launch at the 2007 ISC Global Summit in Beijing.

Speech Title: East and West Connect: The Nanjing China-Pasco County USA School Partnership Story

Martin Kleiman

As a Canadian, Martin taught in high schools in Canada, Brisbane Australia, and London. After completing a specialist degree in Special Education, Martin began working with behaviorally challenged students who were living in the psychiatric ward of the Children's Hospital.  After completing his Masters Degree in Administration, he became a leader in vocational high schools, and academic high schools.  For the past 11 years Martin has been an administrator, serving  for six years as Principal at A. Y. Jackson Secondary School in Ottawa. 

Dr. Robert H. Anderson

Dr. Robert H. Anderson, Member of the ISC Board of Directors, USA.  Dr. Anderson is a former school principal, a school superintendent in the first nongraded school district in the world, Professor at Harvard University for 19 years, Dean of the College of Education at Texas Tech University, and President of Pedamorphosis, Inc. for 25 years.  He is know throughout the world for his seminal work in Nongradedness and Multi-Age Pupil Grouping, Team Teaching, and Clinical Supervision.  He was the Editor of WINGSPAN, in its paper version for 25 years, which was distributed to educational leaders world-wide.

Speech Title: The Roots of Collaboration and Multi-age Grouping in the Classroom

Paloma Sanz

Paloma Sanz is the daughter of the owners of Ramon y Cajol Private School in Madrid, Spain. As a professional educator, Paloma is leading the school’s change to become a model school for the M.O.R.E. Approach. She is working with Dr. Joyce Swarzman for Ramon y Cajol to become a model M.O.R.E. Approach School for Spain. Already principals and teachers are coming from all around Spain to observe the changes in teaching and learning with this new approach.

Speech Title: Accelerating Learning with a Brain-Compatible Model: The M.O.R.E. Approach

Robert James Hartley

Robert James Hartley has been involved in education since his graduation from Florida State University in 1977. After 17 years in the classroom, he served as an assistant principal, the District Director of Employee Relations in Polk County School District in Florida, and is presently the Principal of Lakeland Highlands Middle School in Lakeland, Florida, USA, a school that advocates academic excellence.

Caryl Menendez

Caryl Menendez is a recently retired public high school administrator from Tampa, Florida USA, where she created the first high school International Program of Studies in Hillsborough County School District, the 10th largest in the USA. She intends to spend her time now to encourage students and educators in the United States to see the necessity of global education today.

Summit Role: Video Showing: Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat.

Sture Norlin

Sture Norlin has an International Masters Degree in Educational Management and Administration. He has served in a variety of roles, among other things as:

Superintendent of Education, Culture, Leisure and Social Services, a Principal, a Development Leader, a Teacher and Department Head of the Swedish National Board of Education. Today, Sture serves as a Director of SchoolVision International, working with schools and their communities in many countries all over the world. During the last years there has been a special focus on work within Germany, primarily by training Principals.

Summit Role: Seminar – Individualized Learning Based on Systems Thinking

Christina Norlin

Christina Norlin has an exam as a Remedial and Primary School Teacher and has served as a Teacher and Teacher Team Leader in different schools in Sweden for many years. Her work with teachers has helped to shape nurturing learning places for students who live together as families during school. Christina is a Consultant now for creating the necessary culture of learning in schools. The focus is teacher work with each individual child that includes Individual Development Plans, Portfolios, Diagnostic Instruments, School-Diary, and Cooperative Learning.

Summit Role: Seminar – Individualized Learning Based on Systems Thinking.

Dr. Waynne B. James

Dr. Waynne B. James is a Professor of Adult Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa, USA. Dr. James is a founding member of the US Association of Research in Adult Education, and is one of America’s leading scholars in the field. She is a co-developer of the ISC’s Masters Degree and Doctoral Degree Programs at the University of South Florida in Global Organizational Development, a multidisciplinary program.

Summit Role: The ISC Beijing Summit’s Resident Researcher

Shirley Ho-Woo

Shirley Ho-Woo is currently the Principal of Cedar Primary School.  She had obtained her Masters in Social Science (Counselling) from the University of South Australia.  She developed a Language Arts package for children between 10 – 15 years for use in the Monolingual stream with the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore.

Prior to her school principal posting, she was the Cluster Superintendent in-charge of 13 primary schools.  Currently, she is working on the Lesson study project that brings about teachers’ action-research with the National Institute of Education, Singapore.  The school is also experimenting new teaching approaches in teaching and learning.

As a member of the ISC, her school is currently collaborating with a school in Tampa, Florida through web conferencing.

Dan Hector

Dan Hector is the Financial Officer of the International School Connection, Inc.  He has been responsible for Grants and Contracts in various roles with the University of South Florida for 16 years, and now is Director of Research for the College of Nursing at Central Florida University, in Orlando Florida USA.

Summit Roles: Finances, Registration, Hotel & Local Transportation

Dr. Elaine Sullivan

Dr. Sullivan is the ISC Vice President for Professional Development and Co-Coordinators for the ISC Tampa Bay Hub.  She was former Principal of Hernando High School in Brooksville for 17 years, and winner of the Florida Principal of the Year in 1997 and Principal of the Year USA in 1998.  She has taught graduate course in School Leadership for the University of South Florida and St. Leo University.

Summit Roles: Co-Chairperson of the Youth Leadership Program

Adult Summit Program: Global Learning Centers: What do They Look Like in Practice?

Dr. John Fitzgerald

Dr. Fitzgerald is the ISC Vice President for School Connections and School Endorsement as a Global Learning Center.  He is a former school principal and Area Superintendent for the Ottawa-Carlton School District in Ottawa Canada.  John was also Coordinator and Instructor for the Principals’ Training Program at the University of Ottawa.

Summit Role: Co-Coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program

Presentation: Global Learning Centers: What do They Look Like in Practice?

Dr. Joyce Burick Swarzman

Dr. Joyce Swarzman is Headmaster of Independent Day School-Corbett Campus in Tampa, FL, a National Blue Ribbon Award winning school.  Dr. Swarzman also is a member of the ISC Board of Directors, and at this Summit IDS – CC will be recognized as the first Elementary & Middle School in the World to present a portfolio as a Global Learning Center. Joyce provides continuous training and consulting to schools in the ISC Spanish Hub. She was the former Director for the University of South Florida’s National ward winning Suncoast Area Teacher Training Program, and has trained more than 15,000 teachers and education students in communication and teaching skills.  The spirit for her school is an Olympic Mentality, along with the MORE Approach: Multiple Options for Results in Education.  Her school produced the book: It’s all about Kids, with Debbie Cohen. www.idsyes.com

Summit Role: Educational Leadership Program: Accelerating Learning with a Brain-Compatible Model: The M.O.R.E. Approach. 

Youth Leadership Program: Global Leadership Training

Dr. Kristen M. Snyder

Dr. Snyder is the ISC Vice President for Research and Publication, and serving as Editor for the ISC Journal WINGSPAN: www.iscweb.org.  Dr. Snyder’s research has focused for the past six years on social networking within the virtual and actual environments of the ISC, which has added information about dialogue communities and their development in virtual spaces.  Kristen is also a Senior Research Faculty at Mid Sweden University, researching and teaching on school development, benchmarking school development and open learning systems in an educational environment.

Summit Role: Co-Coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program

Victor Pinedo, Jr.

Victor Pinedo, Jr. is President of Corporate Transitions International. He has been a consultant in organizational change since 1969, and he is the creator of Organizational Architecture, an effective program for organizational transformation, which is being used in many countries in the world today.  His book publication in 2004 is Tsunami: Building Organizations Capable of Prospering in Tidal Waves.

Mr. Pinedo's became CEO of the Coca-Cola bottling company in Curacao at age 23, and continues to be actively involved in the management of his family companies, the VEPS Group, Inc. He has consulted for Shell Oil, The Bank of America, Hardees Food Systems, Petroleos de Venezuela, and several Coca-Cola Bottling Companies, among others. His work has brought him into contact with the cultures of a variety of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, as well as the United States.

He became a member of the Young President's Organization at the age of 28, and has held the offices of Director and Senior Vice President International in that organization.  In addition to this background, which has given him a unique understanding of business all over the world, Mr. Pinedo holds a Masters' Degree in Psychology and has completed the coursework towards a Doctorate in Business Administration. He is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, and English and has a solid working knowledge of Portuguese and French.

Adam Arkon

Adam Arkon is the ISC Webmaster. He has worked with several website management projects, and is spearheading design enhancements and migration of new technologies into the ISC web infrastructure. These include site redesign, Web 2.0 technologies such as wiki's and blog's, and database integrations. He has worked as a systems engineer for MCI WorldCom, Nielsen Media Research, and IBM Microelectronics. He currently works as a senior systems engineer for a Fortune-50 ranked retailer in North Carolina, USA.

Summit Role: Web site server management, design and implementation of databases and submission forms, and secure online payment solutions.