Ms. Anastasia Pouliou, Cedefop Expert, Department for VET and Qualifications 

She is currently leading the Agency’s research on Microcredentials for labour market education and training,  learning outcomes and VET excellence and inclusion for the 21st century in Europe. She is involved in other Cedefop activities (including the coordination of developments on national qualifications frameworks and the TVET-Interagency group on the Future of TVET). Before joining Cedefop she worked as an Educational Consultant in the Ministry of Education and Religious affairs and as a head of the European Affairs Unit in the Organisation for Vocational Education and Training (Greece). She has performed senior management and national coordination on Europass and Leonardo da Vinci projects and has published influential articles in academic journals. She has represented Cedefop as keynote speaker at high-level international events in Europe, USA and South Africa.

Dr. Oonagh McGirr, President of the World Alliance for Micro-credentials Foundation (FRSA) 

Oonagh is an experienced academic leader. She is the inaugural Director of World Alliance for Microcredentials Foundation and leads the College International for Institut Commercial de Nancy in Paris, France for one of the world’s largest education providers. She held the role of Deputy Chief Executive for Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand – a national leader in its field and was a Senior Adviser for Academic Innovation for Te Pukenga-New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology during the recent national Reform of Vocational Education. She was a Director for the Open Education Resource Universitas, a global not-for-profit delivering free access post-secondary curriculum to all-comers.  As Tertiary Education Advisor to the inaugural Ambassador for Ireland to Aotearoa-New Zealand, she advised on the development of bilateral research initiatives between Eire and Aotearoa. She engages in practice-based research on academic leadership for sustainable and equitable higher education, with a focus on inclusivity, innovation and enhancement. Oonagh is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and an Associate of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics.

Professor Joachim James CALLEJA, Consultant St Francis de Sales Institute Don Bosco Foundation Malta.

Professor James Calleja has been involved in vocational education and training since 2001. He is the President of EfVET and consultant/mentor to the St Francis de Sales Institute for WBL and non-formal education. Before serving as Principal and CEO of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology from June 2018 to August 2024, Mr Calleja was Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) from 2013 to May 2018. Before joining Cedefop, he served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Employment in his native Malta from 2011 to 2013. In 2005 he was entrusted with the setting up of the Malta Qualifications Framework and served as Chief Executive of the Malta Qualifications Council up to December 2010. He is an Associate Professor and served as Council member of the University of Malta and represented Malta on the Bologna Process and the EQF Advisory Group.

Ms. Stella Philippou, Officer Α’, Training Directorate, Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA)

Member of the System of Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) team at HRDA. The team is responsible for the development and continuous update of the vocational qualification standards under SVQ, which are correlated with CyQF and EQF. Tasked with the development, update, monitoring and support of the assessment and certification of vocational qualifications process, as well as the training of SVQ Assessment Center representatives and Vocational Qualifications Assessors. Appointed Officer for Microcredentials at HRDA. Holder of a Master’s Degree in Adult Education, a Master’s Degree in Monetary and Financial Economics, a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. Certified Trainer of Vocational Training and Certified Assessor of Vocational Achievement. Married with children. Lives in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Ms. Noreen FitzPatrick, Employee Development Manager in the Enterprise Employment and Skills unit in SOLAS, the Further Education Authority of Ireland.

Employee Development supports the development and implementation of the Further Education and Training (FET) policy framework on skills development for the employed, to enhance levels of employee participation in FET, in alignment with the National Skills Strategy. She has extensive experience working with learning networks and enterprise to upskill in priority skill areas to ensure competitiveness and skills development in industry.

Ms. Ivana Krešić Klaucke, Head of Department for Adult Education in the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia.

She has an extensive experience in higher and adult education, especially in curricula development and qualification frameworks. For the past three year she has beein working on implementation of microcredentials and recognition of prior learning in Croatian educational system which put Croatia among the first european countries who implemented microcredentials on a state level. As one of the main editors and authors of the Methodology for the development of microcredentials in Croatia and leader of the project Implementation of recognition of prior learning in Croatia she is one of the leading experts in the country for the fields.