Festival of Learning & Development – Keynotes and Facilitators 2025

About Sarah

Sarah Hubbard is a Senior Consultant in Senior Leadership and Strategic Transformation at Advance HE. As part of her role, Sarah provides culture and leadership development and other consultancy services to a wide range of UK and global institutions. Prior to Advance HE, Sarah gained significant experience working in different institutions for over 15 years, holding cross-institutional leadership roles in the areas of equity and inclusion, student services delivery and organisational development.

Her expertise lies in co-creative change and organisational design; in collaboration, Sarah’s work is focused on enabling and empowering individuals, groups, and institutions to thrive. Sarah is a published author on communities of practice, a certified Organisational Transactional Analyst (ITAA), a Chartered FCIPD, a qualified coach, interpersonal mediator and integrative counsellor and a Lean 6 Sigma practitioner.

About Christina

Professor Christina Hughes is Founder and CEO of Women-Space Leadership, a consultancy designed to support women who work in universities to flourish. Named as a “Woman of Influence 2023”, Christina has executive leadership experience in three UK universities (PVC, University of Warwick; Provost, Sheffield Hallam University; DVC (Interim) University of Kent). She is also an internationally leading feminist educator and researcher with 20 books to her name. Christina established Women-Space Leadership in 2021 with its focus on working for equity in higher education.  

She has published over 15 books through her career and her 2020 edited collection Transdisciplinary Feminist Research, London, Routledge (with Carol Taylor and Jasmine Ulmer) was shortlisted for the American Educational Research Association prize ‘Outstanding Book of the Year 2021’. 

Over her career she has won around £1.5m in external grant capture.  Her upcoming publications are International Perspectives of Leadership in Higher Education (2022, with Alasdair Blair, Darrell Evans and Malcolm Tight) and the Routledge Handbook of Feminist Transdisciplinary Research (2023, with Carol Taylor, Jasmine Ulmer and Michelle Salazar Perez).

About Stella

Dr Stella Lee is an academic-turn-consultant, an ed-tech and AI strategist, international speaker, startup advisor, LinkedIn Learning instructor, writer and executive board member for the Learning and Development Accelerator. With over 20 years of experience in digital learning, Stella combines her passion, academic background, and knowledge in computer science, visual art, human-computer interaction, and adult education with her unique global insights for her work with clients such as the UNICEF, United Nations, Asian Development Bank, The Open University, Government of Yukon, Government of Alberta, WorkSafeBC, TransLink, Bosa Properties, Arco/Murray Construction, and InnoEnergy. She is the founder of Paradox Learning Inc., a boutique consulting firm based in Calgary, Canada. Still firmly keeping one foot in academia, Stella continues to research, collaborate, mentor, and teach with universities and institutions worldwide. Stella’s research interests include AI applications for education, ed-tech ethics, personalised and adaptive learning systems, and learning analytics.

About Marie

Dr Marie Oldfield SFHEA FIScT, is the AI Lead for the Institute of Science and Technology. Dr Oldfield is the CEO of Oldfield Consultancy. Dr Oldfield sits on the following AI national and international standards committees as an IST representative. Marie is a recognised and published leader in AI and Ethics with a background in Mathematics and Philosophy.

Dr Oldfield serves as a trusted advisor across government, defence, and legal sectors. Dr Oldfield is frequently invited to speak on popular podcasts, panels and at conferences about her experience and research on the development of ethics in AI.

Marie is passionate about giving back to the global community through extensive pro bono work, with a focus on ethical AI, education, poverty, children and mental health.

About Rebecca

Rebecca Rutschmann is a pioneer in the convergence of coaching technology and artificial intelligence. She is the co-founder of Viva la Coaching, the world’s first AI literacy movement bringing AI literacy specifically to coaching and corporate learning. She has also co-founded the AI coaching companion startup evoach in 2019, being responsible for all product development and acting as Co-CEO overseeing product development and marketing. She is the creator of the AI Coach Alpina that was officially launched early March 2023 as one of the first AI Coaches completely integrating generative AI (ChatGPT). As a tech entrepreneur, communications specialist and certified business coach, her expertise shines in crafting outstanding user experiences, a testament to her deep understanding of both technology and human interaction.

Rebecca’s mission is bold and transformative: she aims to make coaching accessible through designing and developing innovative AI coaching and learning experiences. This groundbreaking work is designed to empower coaches and their clients, unlocking their utmost potential in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Her focus extends beyond theoretical frameworks to practical applications, particularly in coach enablement. She dedicates herself to making AI an accessible and integral tool for coaches, fostering a deeper understanding and practical navigation of AI in coaching. She is an accredited coach with both the International Coaching Federation where she holds a PCC level accreditation and the European Mentoring & Coaching Council where she holds a Senior Practitioner accreditation. Rebecca is not only an EMCC Global trained Assessor but also actively involved as VP Accreditation for EMCC Germany working on ensuring high quality level coaching competencies, while leading a global workgroup on upskilling coaches in AI literacy as part of the Digital and AI Community for practice. She is also a member of the ICF AI Task Force and an advisor to the NYU Coaching & Technology Summit.

About Stefaan

Stefaan van Hooydonk is founder of the Global Curiosity Institute and author of the bestselling book: The Workplace Curiosity Manifesto. His forthcoming book, Curiosity: The Secret Ingredient for Professional and Personal Success, is due in January 2025.

Stefaan researches the topic of workplace curiosity in companies. He believes that curious individuals need curious environments to thrive and that especially in times of turmoil individuals and companies need to embrace intentional curiosity. With the help of a number of diagnostics he designed, he creates insights on what drives and what enables (or prevents) individuals and organisations to show up curiously. He consults global corporations and leadership teams towards building a stronger curiosity muscle. He is a regular speaker around the world on the power of curiosity to benefit professionals, leaders, teams, and organisations. 

Stefaan is a daily meditator, a marathon runner and a father of 4 children. Together with his partner, Jeltje Peletier, a successful psycho – and yoga therapist, he runs a modest permaculture farm and is a beekeeper.

About Eagle

Egle Vinauskaite is As the award-winning director of the learning innovation studio Nodes, Egle Vinauskaite’s deep expertise in learning, behaviour and technology has made her a sought-after advisor for blue-chip companies and next-gen edtech startups. With experience in AI, XR, mobile technologies, digital platforms and blended learning environments, Egle offers a wealth of insight at the intersection of technology, organisational learning and the future of work. In her capacity as an advisor and researcher, she focuses on integrating AI into L&D operations and equipping workforces with the necessary skills for AI adoption across their organisations. Grounded in both research and practical application, Egle understands the ground zero of how AI is ushering in entirely new ways of doing things in the world of L&D, learning and edtech.