Bright Start Foundation’s International Advisory Council
Council Chairs
Sarah Aiono
Play Pedagogy | Chief Executive Officer, Longworth Education, New Zealand
Mutlu Cukurova
Professor of Learning and Artificial Intelligence, University College London, United Kingdom
Susan Edwards
Professor of Early Childhood Education & Director of Early Childhood Futures, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Jacqueline Harding
International child development and education expert, Author, Director Tomorrow’s Child, Parentchannel.tv,
United Kingdom
Eirini Gkouskou
Associate Professor in Early Years and Primary Education, Programme Leader for MA Early Years Education, IOE, University College London, United Kingdom
Slim Khemakhem
Senior member of the Executive Dean’s Office, Education Division, Assistant Professor, Education Division, Higher Colleges of Technology,
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Ori Ossmy
Professor, Director of the Physical Cognition Lab, Centre for Educational Neuroscience,
Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom
Jennifer Oxman Ryan
Senior Research Manager at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, United States
Priti Verma
Executive Dean, Higher Colleges of Technology, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Council Members
Tania Al Aghar
Academic Program Chair, Abu Dhabi campus, Higher Colleges of Technology,
United Arab Emirates
Liz Bullough
Lecturer, NPQ Early Years Leadership Programme, UCL Centre for Educational Leadership, United Kingdom
Christine Callender
Professor of Educational Equity and Social Justice, UCL Institute of Education - Learning & Leadership, United Kingdom
Michelle Furnell
Special Education leader, Auberge des Pensées / Inn of Thoughts, France
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Nahla Gahwaji
Professor, Early Childhood Department; Dean, Faculty of Human Sciences and Designs, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Saudi Arabia
Sahbi Hidri
Division Chair and Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Education Program, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates
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Susan Holmes
Executive Head, Nehru World School and Healthy Planet Schools, Uttar Pradesh, India
Suhasini Kanwar
Co-Founder, Healthy Planet Early Years School, Delhi, India
Andréa Lopes
Principal, Our Lady of Mercy Preschool, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Robin Ogdol
Academic Program Chair, ECE program,
Higher Colleges of Technology,
United Arab Emirates
Karla Shepard Rubinger
Founding Partner, Rubinger Associates; Former Vice President, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., New York, United States
Gideon Sappor
Associate Professor, leader on the Education Doctorate (EdD) programme & on the Primary PGCE programme, UCL Institute of Education - Learning & Leadership, United Kingdom
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