Pedro Noguera is the Dean of the Rossier School of Education, and Distinguished Professor of Education at USC. He is one of the nation’s leading scholars on issues related to race, inequality, and education. Prior to coming to USC, he held endowed chairs at UCLA, NYU, Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 15 books. His most recent book A Search for Common Ground with Rick Hess was the winner of the American Association of Publishers Prose Award in 2021. Noguera serves as an advisor to several states, school districts, foundations, NGOs and nonprofits. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education and Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and in 2020 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Noguera has received eight honorary doctorates from American universities, most recently from his Alma Mater, Brown University. He has received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty. In 2023 he was ranked 1st in the nation for influence and impact in the field of education, by Education Week. Born in NY City to Caribbean immigrants, Noguera is the father of five children, and grandfather to five.

Dr. Mary Ashun, CEO of Ghana International School, started her teaching journey in 1996 in Toronto, Canada. She joined the Ghana International School in 2014 leading the school to transform how it teaches, learns, collaborates and grows. Prior to joining G.I.S as Principal and Head of School, she was a School Principal in Canada and taught (Chemistry, Biology and Maths) for several years in Canadian Schools. Mary also lectured at Redeemer University (Ontario) in the Faculty of Education, teaching and supervising pre-service and in-service teachers. Mary holds a BSc from Univ. of East London (UK), a B.Ed. from Univ. of Toronto, a Ph.D from SUNY Buffalo, NY and is a Klingenstein Fellow of The School of Education, Columbia University in NY. She is active in the Association of Internationally Certified Schools (ASICS) in Ghana as a Council Member, a former Board Member of the Association of International Schools in Africa and the Chair of the Advisory Board of Young Africa Works, Mastercard Foundation’s new strategy tasked with reducing youth unemployment in Africa. Mary is a creative; she writes novels and short stories (13 published), musicals (3), and most recently (March 2022), executive-produced a student production of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s play, Death & The King’s Horseman. Mary is married to Joe and they have three adult sons.

Explores the vital role of creating safe and supportive environments in educational settings, where physical, mental, and social-emotional wellness are prioritized. Sessions under this theme will highlight practical strategies for building resilience, promoting inclusivity, and addressing disparities that affect wellbeing.

This strand emphasizes the critical role of leadership in reshaping educational landscapes through intentional collaboration and ongoing professional growth. This strand explores how leadership teams can effectively drive curriculum reform and implementation,
ensuring that teaching practices align with evolving needs of today’s students.

Empowering youth through education means equipping them with skills, knowledge, and confidence to shape their futures and drive change. This strand focuses on leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving while fostering self-awareness, resilience, and collaboration. By creatin conditions for empowerment in education, we prepare learners to excel academically and lead impactful change in their communities.

Rooted in student-centered education, tis strand examines what it means to design classrooms where students are engaged in decisions about what and how they learn. It explores the roles of pedagogy in fostering both academic and cognitive growth, emphasizing teaching strategies that enable students to share ownership of their learning and assessment approaches that are tools for empowerment so that students thrive in and beyond the classroom. 

The intergration of Artificial Inteligence (AI) and STEM (Science, Technolog, Engineering, and Mathematics) is reshaping how we learn, work, and innovat. This strand explores the transformative power of emerging technologies in equipping individuals with the skills needed for the future, emphasizing the pivotal role of AI and ICT in education and workforce development.