Speakers

Bob Athwal is the Global Lead for Racial Diversity and Early Careers at Skyscanner. Bob has a unique background and perspective as he has been an employer, a vendor and a University senior leader. He is a regular International conference speaker specialising in Early Careers, Social mobility and Racial Equity, Student Experience and Student Outcomes. He has been the recipient of several industry awards relating to graduate recruitment and development as well as careers preparation within universities. Bob is the co-founder of the Global Career Services Summit which now includes the International Network of Employers and University Career Service Associations. He is also the co-founder of the 1 Hour Project, an initiative designed to level the playing field based upon his PhD to help advance social mobility amongst graduates. Bob was the first recipient of the ISE fellowship who did not serve as CEO or Chair, recognising his contribution to the sector as an employer and university educator.

Dan Black is a Recruiting Leader with 23 years of experience in the field. He is passionate about building a better working world by providing opportunities to the best and brightest talent and leveraging their considerable skills. Dan is an accountant with experience serving clients, accomplished public speaker, and established industry resource cited regularly in major media outlets. He is interested in opportunities that will help connect people with their passions.

Specialties: Strategy, development and oversight of major talent acquisition and management functions in large organizations.

Paul has 30 years strategic and management experience working across the University-Business interface, delivering nationally and internationally acclaimed and award-winning services. His divisional portfolio includes strategic and operational responsibility for employability, careers, enterprise education and interdisciplinary and place-based learning in the UK and globally, via central Professional Services and the curriculum. Paul has led several £multi-million projects across relevant areas including ‘Nucleargraduates’ contract and delivering a HRM graduate development programme for the nuclear sector. He has facilitated the climb of two Universities to the top of national league tables for Graduate Prospects and assisted universities, graduate employers, professional associations and governments in reviewing related services and strategies. Paul has delivered +100 keynotes and masterclasses at regional, national and international level across various education sectors and industries.

Tony Botelho is the Director of Career & Volunteer Services at Simon Fraser University (Canada). He was awarded the Stu Conger Award for Leadership in Career Development (2019) for his innovative work in career education and the Rob Shea Research Award (2014) for his research on the role of career education in the contemporary university environment. SFU Career & Volunteer Services has been identified as one of the top three university career centres in Canada (2017) and also recognized as the Career Development Organization of the Year by the BC Career Development Association (2018).

Davide Dattoli is founder and CEO of Talent Garden, Europe’s leading platform for digital tech business community. Talent Garden network provides coworking spaces, future skills education, Corporate Transformation help for 150 big corporates and various innovation projects and activities in 23 campuses across 8 countries.

Mark is a Venture Partner at Anthemis. A serial investor and entrepreneur, Mark has an established track record of bringing velocity to high growth early stage companies. Mark is a key member of the Ecosystem Development team, managing business development and developing Anthemis’s partnerships with financial services incumbents and technology companies worldwide.

In 2012 he co-founded Trov—the world’s first on-demand insurance platform—and was accountable for revenue, strategy and growth as the company expanded internationally. In two decades he has helped get dozens of ventures off the ground, through his Canadian- and Irish-based incubators. Mark was an LP in Bullet Time Ventures, an early seed investor in Uber and Twilio. He is the Chairman of Techstart Ventures, which helps entrepreneurs build successful technology businesses from the ground up in Northern Ireland and Scotland. He is an advisor to several companies including Modius Health, StageTEN, eHarvestHub and Flo Technologies.

Joseph (Joe) Du Pont is the Associate Vice President of Career Services at Boston College and a member of the Division of Student Affairs leadership team. In his role, he provides strategic direction, builds partnerships, and strengthens on and off campus initiatives to realize the Career Center’s mission of empowering all Boston College students to incorporate their career goals into a broader sense of living a life of meaning and impact. Joe has over 20 years of experience in career services, previously working as Dean of the Hiatt Career Center at Brandeis University as well as Vice President of Career Services for Teach for America. Before entering the fields of student affairs and career services, Joe worked as a corporate attorney in New York City.

Joe is the author of several articles and publications and has presented in many forums about organizational change, assessment, and leadership within career services. Joe currently co-chairs the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Future of Career Services Leadership Task Force and previously served on its board of directors. In 2016, Joe co-founded the Student Career Development Knowledge Committee of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

Joe holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from New York University, and an A.B. in History and Religion from Duke University.

Dr. Branden Grimmett joined Loyola Marymount University as associate provost in 2015, where he leads Career and Professional Development, the office responsible for launching all LMU undergraduate and graduate students into their professional careers. 96% of LMU undergraduates are employed, pursuing graduate school, or involved in service within six months of graduation.

Dr. Grimmett specializes in diversity and inclusion in the workplace, rebranding career services, and measuring and reporting post-graduate outcomes. His work in the field of higher education has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and American Public Media’s Marketplace.

Trevor Johnston is the Head of Careers, Employability & Skills at Queens University with responsibility for strategic planning and leadership of the Service in accordance with the University Corporate plan with particular focus on enhancing the employability of Queen’s students. Trevor is also Co-Chair of AHECS, the Association of Higher Education Careers Services in Ireland. 

Prior to joining Queen’s Trevor held a range of private sector roles as UK Business Development Manager for National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies and Regional Manager for Northern Ireland with SummitSkills, a Sector Skills Council with responsibility for representing employers. He has previously led the development of an All-Ireland Interreg Funded Renewable Energy Installer Academy establishing regional training provision for a range of renewable energy technologies and an Ireland wide training, certification and quality inspection scheme for renewable energy installers.

With close to 20 years of experience as a career coach and management consultant, Jon is the Executive Director of the South East Asian Association of Graduate Employers (SEAAGE), and an external career advisor to the world’s top business schools including Cambridge (Judge), HKUST, INSEAD & NUS. Originally from Toronto, Jon spent 8 years in the Consulting practice of one of the largest professional services firms in the world, most recently with their Global Future of Work Centre of Excellence. Currently, he’s fascinated by the idea of applying Design Thinking principles to individuals in their careers. Having lived & worked on 3 continents, he is now based in Singapore.

Mark possesses over 20 years of experience in career services including his current role as Executive Director of Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA). Prior to Northwestern, Mark has worked at Johns Hopkins University, The University of Rochester, The University of Virginia School of Architecture, and The University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kansas. Like many undergraduates, he changed his major as an undergraduate from Aeronautical Engineering to Psychology at Purdue University. He has previously presented at both national and regional conferences on a variety of topics including recruiting consortia, use of social media in the job search, and teaching networking and other non-traditional job search strategies to undergraduates.

Currently, Mark supervises a staff of over 20 professionals who implement a broad range of career services to undergraduate and graduate students. Through school-based counseling and advising, NCA focuses on providing personalized career services across students’ four years at Northwestern. Additionally, NCA proactively develops robust partnerships with employers, parents, and alumni to educate and recruit Northwestern students.

Francesca Saracino is Head of the Career Service office at Politecnico di Milano, one of Europe’s top leading universities for technical studies. Being a native American-Italian bilingual and having obtained a Master in Cultural Mediation, she sees how students and employers need help in understanding each other because they speak different languages. The Career Service she manages is self-financed and serves 45,000 students with 19 people in staff. Since 2018, she manages the first Diversity & Inclusion Program of the University, called POP (Pari Opportunità Politecniche). Previously, she worked as an English language teacher and translator. Francesca is also a lindy-hop dancer, yoga learner, occasional singer and concert addict.

Trudy Steinfeld (@trudygsteinfeld) is an Early Careers, Higher Education and Workplace Expert and is currently a Strategist, Americas for Cappfinity and an Advisor to the City University of New York. Previously Trudy was the Associate Vice-President of the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development. Considered a thought leader in career development and college talent, she is a consultant, coach and facilitator and especially focused on the career mobility of underserved students. Trudy has been a frequent contributor to: The NY Times, Wall Street Journal, NY Daily News, NY Post, NBC, CBS, and CNN and writes the Career Warrior column for Forbes.com. She is co-editor of Leadership in Career Services and Winning the War for College Talent. She regularly speaks at global and national conferences, facilitated numerous trainings, and is a recipient of numerous awards including being inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows. Trudy earned her bachelor’s degree from Ramapo College and holds a master’s degree from New York University in addition to other graduate work in Counseling. Trudy is passionate about guiding early and first generation college talent, social mobility and impact, coffee, her dog Norm, and the NY Mets.

Kirsten Williamson is the CEO and Founder of Petrus Communications. Petrus creates innovative and impactful projects that bring together leading companies, students and the global education community. We enable young people to fulfill their potential by making the many exciting opportunities the world holds more visible and more attainable.