Dr Ali Elquammah, based out of Morocco, is currently the Director - Academic Affairs at HEM Business School since January 2010. At HEM Business School. Dr. Elquammah is also a Professor and Director – International Affairs and is in charge of all issues and matters pertaining to the organization internationally such as international relations. Prior to this, he was Director -Executive Education, from January 2006 until December 2009. Prior to HEM BS, he was a Senior Analyst - Business Intelligence at EchoStar Corporation in the United States. He has also worked as a Senior Information Analyst at Merrill Lynch for five years. He holds a PhD in Management Sciences, an MBA, and a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems. His major professional/academic work includes articles and case studies on the homeostasis of stability and change to succeed an implementation of an Enterprise System.

François is currently Professor, Director of Open Programmes and Senior Advisory to the Dean at African Business School in Morocco. He has 25 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education in 7 different countries, including Dean’s and Director’s positions in Europe, South-East Asia, and the Middle East, giving him direct exposure to the higher education landscape in these regions. François has worked in small and large universities and business schools, both for and not-for-profit in Canada, France, Australia, Oman, Malaysia, Dubai, and Morocco. His areas of expertise are in strategic change, entrepreneurship, incubators, new programs development, and accreditations (national and international). He has consulting experience with business schools and UN agencies. François holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Newcastle University (UK), an MPhil from IAE Aix-en-Provence (France) and a Master’s in Management from Toulouse Business School (France). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (UK) and of the Society of Leadership Fellows (UK).

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Olayele’s diverse career spans academia, government, finance, and international development. A distinguished economist and public policy expert, his research interests and practice areas cover trade policy, innovation, FDI, urban policy, political economy, and inclusive development. He has published and shared best practices in these areas at numerous conferences and institutions around the world. He has consulted widely and advised many public and private organizations in Canada, United States, and Africa.

Previously, he was Chief Economist and Senior Vice President with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he oversaw a wide range of economic research and policy initiatives. Prior to that, he held several economic policy positions and advised the Canadian provincial governments of British Columbia and Saskatchewan across the FDI, economic development, and energy policy domains. Earlier in his career, he was a global trade finance specialist with Citigroup.

Professor Olayele has held academic positions and taught graduate and undergraduate courses in economics, strategy, and public policy at the University of Regina and Carleton University. He has served as a visiting professor and guest speaker across universities and academic institutions abroad. He was a Visiting Scholar at the World Trade Institute in Bern, Switzerland, and a Visiting Professor of Trade and Development at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

His research has appeared in The International Trade Journal and the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development. His most recent books include Regional Economic Systems after COVID-19: Actionable Insights for an Equitable and Resilient Recovery (Edward Elgar Publishing); African Policy Innovation and the Political Economy of Public-Private Policy Partnerships (IGI Global); and Sustainable Development in Post-Pandemic Africa: Effective Strategies for Resource Mobilization (Routledge).

Dr Henry YATICH holds Ph.D in Strategic Management with a Postdoctoral Training in Research and Supervision from University of Stellenbosch, SA. He is an avid Research Fellow and Strategic Management Consultant with research focus on Lifelong Learning, Skill Development, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education and TVET Sector. He is currently, the Ag. Principal, College of Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR) at Mount Kenya University. Previously, he has served as the Dean, School of Business and Economics (MKU-Kenya) 2019-2021, Director, University Teaching Programmes (2019), Director, Technical Support, Content Development & Design (2018-2019), Senior Administrator (2016-2017), Registrar, School of Business and Economics (2015-2016), Deputy Director, Finance Administration & Planning and Management (2014), and Programme Coordinator, School of Business and Economics in 2013-2014. Prior to this, he served as institutional head at Alphax College, a TVET institution in Kenya.

Joanne Powell is the lead advisor with Quality Education Development (QED), a long-established advisory company that supports business schools with continuous improvement, international accreditation and leadership development. Joanne has extensive experience in education, training and assessment. Prior to joining QED, she worked as an educator, a chartered accountant and as Head of Assessment for Chartered Accountants Ireland. Her leadership philosophy focuses on deepening awareness of each individual’s core leadership characteristics and values to raise overall effectiveness and impact. She is an expert in international Business School accreditation (AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS and EFMD Accredited) – working with teams in international business schools across six continents to support them in achieving their accreditation objectives.

Jon is Dean and Director of Henley Business School in Africa, part of the Henley Business School UK, a leading global business school with campuses in Europe, Asia and Africa. With Henley Africa being the first school to be accredited by The Association of Africa Business schools (AABS), Henley now holds international quadruple accreditation, AABS, AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. Henley’s purpose is ‘We build the people who build the businesses that build Africa.’

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Jon’s career includes roles as educator, dean, corporate executive, airline pilot, aerobatic competitor, writer and speaker. He has 45 years of international working experience. He has been a professor of innovation, MBA director, director of executive education, designer and director of numerous executive education programmes and lecturer in strategy, innovation and executive learning. His interests are economic and educational transformation, sustainability and business evolution.
Henley Africa has been an entrepreneurial success, with a strong reputation for progressive learning design and care for students and clients.

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Jon is chairman of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa, chairman of the Association of Africa Business Schools, board member of the Alliance of Management Development Associations in Rising Economies, and former vice-chair of the South African Business Schools Association. He is chair and founder of MBAid, an NPO that seeks to turn the energies of business schools to social good, which has worked with over 350 NGOs. Jon is also a Distinguished Professor at Woxsen University, India and a life Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Justice Bawole is a Professor of Public Administration and Management and Dean of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Legon. He obtained a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester, UK. He has over 30 years of cumulative working experience in teaching, management, leadership and innovative problem solving within organisations. For four years, he served as Head of Department for Public Administration and Health Services Management and for five years, he worked for an Accra-

based NGO as Director of Research and Projects. Prof Bawole has over 100 publications made up of edited books, book chapters, encyclopaedia entries, peer-reviewed technical reports and peer-reviewed journal articles. He has organised panels and presented academic papers in many international academic conferences and has received many invitations to speak in Universities in

the UK and USA.

Prof Bawole is a Commissioner of Ghana National Development Planning Commission, a member of the Governing Council of the National Banking College of Ghana, a member of the Board of Reach for Change Ghana, and a Convener of the African Chapter of the Development Studies Association UK. He has co-chaired the technical committee that developed the Ghana Public Sector Reform Strategy and led evaluations panels for the implementation of decentralization reforms in Ghana. Prof Bawole has also consulted for many local and international organisations including the KFW, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Accra, UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce, OXFAM, UNDP, UNEP, the Ghana Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.

As Dean of Ghana’s premier and biggest Business School, the University of Ghana Business School, Prof Bawole leads a team of six heads of departments, 21 coordinators of academic and administrative programmes, 113 faculty members and over 200 administrative and support staff. His passion is developing the next generation of researchers and scholars and public advocacy on ethical governance in Ghana.

Kevin Allen is an energetic and creative individual. He displays leadership characteristics, believing in leading by example. He believes that we live in an abundant world and looks for ways to impact those around him with positivity, especially through exponential technologies. Kevin is passionate about Africa and believes that Africa is where the future lies. His personal MTP (Massive Transformative Purpose) is Unlocking Positive Human Potential.

Kevin has an undergraduate Pharmacy degree and an MBA (Cum Laude). Although through reading, browsing the internet and experience he has shaped his thinking in terms of exponential business models and what the future holds.

On a more personal note when he has free time he enjoys nature, creating digital art, singing, searching the web, and designing buildings and homes.

Linda Ronnie is Senior Research Scholar and Professor in Organisational Behaviour and People Management at the School of Management Studies, University of Cape Town. A National Research Foundation (NRF) rated scholar, Ronnie has published on key topics such as gender, the psychological contract, and intricacies of the employer-employee relationship within industry and academia. She is the proud recipient of the UCT Distinguished Teacher Award, winner of the inaugural Emerald Case Writing Competition, and runner-up of the

2021 Ceeman’s Case Writing Competition. Ronnie recently completed a term as Dean of Commerce at UCT.

Marieta du Plessis is professor in the Department of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa.  Marieta champions the Leadership Development in Higher Education niche area at UWC where she expands her interest in positive leadership within the Higher Education context. Her research and training on effective leadership styles, practices and values; as well as the role of women in Higher Education has attracted considerable attention. Prior to her tenure at UWC, she worked as Organisational Development consultant and coach in the private and public sector, with a focus on leadership development.

Nacho Zabaleta CFA is the Executive Director at the Canary Islands Business School, where he has worked as a Finance Professor for the past 20 years.

Nacho Zabaleta is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Holds a Bachelors of Business

Administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Mba in international banking from Texas A&M International University as well as a Masters of Science in Finance from Montpellier Business School.

A true believer that education is key to improve the world, he has he has over 15 years experience in the field of financial inclusion as a consultant as well as a researcher in Africa, Asia, and the Islands of the Pacific.

Author of the book Las Sin Banco (the bankless) on the subject of microfinance, he also hosts the radio finance literacy program “hablar por hablar” , at SER radio, the main Radio Station by users in Spain

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and basic level Arabic

Dr. Timothy S. Mescon is executive vice president and chief officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for AACSB International. In this capacity, Mescon and his team currently support close to 600 members and 180+ accredited schools throughout EMEA. Mescon and his team opened the EMEA Office in January 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Mescon is President Emeritus of Columbus State University in Georgia, where he served for 6 ½ years.  Prior he was the dean and Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair for 18 years at the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. The Coles College of Business, with more than 7,000 students and 170 full-time faculty holds both AACSB business and accounting accreditation. He was previously dean at the Perdue School at Salisbury (MD) University and prior to that a tenured faculty member and Assistant Dean at the University of Miami Herbert School of Business and an Assistant Professor of Management at the Carey College at Arizona State University.

In 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 Columbus State was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 50 Public Comprehensive Universities in the South. In 2013 & 2014, online graduate programs in business and education were named among the top 35 in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report.  He served as a Trustee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Georgia Trend Magazine named Mescon one of the 100 most influential Georgians.  

Mescon gained extensive experience as an AACSB peer review team member, chair, and committee member for 25 years before joining AACSB. He is the author of more than 200 articles and case studies, and he has co-authored five books, including "Entrepreneurship: Venture Initiation, Management and Development" 2nd edition (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) and his latest co-edited work, “Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Learning Post-COVID-19- The Crucial Role of International Accreditation,” (Springer, 2022). In 2021 Mescon was named a fellow of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS).

The White House named him as a winner of the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. He has also received the national Award of Excellence from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Dr. Mescon received his Ph.D. from the Terry College at the University of Georgia, MBA from the Cox School at Southern Methodist University and B.A. from Tulane University.

Yasmine SY SARR is currently the Strategic Development and Quality Assurance Director of Groupe Supdeco Dakar, (West Africa) and Academic Director, one the first business school in West Africa, since 2009. She has been part of the development and growth of the institution serving as the Head of International Relations and quality for 7 years, where she developed their international network on four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa) an Accreditations.

Yasmine SY SARR holds a master’s degree in international business and Finance from Rennes School of Business in France and a Master of Arts in International Business from the Open University Business School in London (UK). She is currently a Phd candidate in Management. She began her career as a financial auditor in KPMG in Senegal.

For over twelve years, she has been very active on promoting quality assurance and internationalization in higher education in Africa. She is regularly invited in various places in the world to share her experience in quality assurance and internationalization in higher education.  

Alongside her work, she was in charge of the sponsorship commission of the Senegalese Tennis Federation for 10 years. She is also very active in humanitarian and women empowerment associations.