Allan Askov Christoffersen – Global Partnership & Brand Activation Director at momondo/Kayak
Allan is globally responsible for momondo’s partnerships with the focus of establishing long-term partnerships founded on shared visions under the “Let’s Open Our World” purpose platform. Allan is responsible for developing the partnerships with the aim of growing brand and purpose conversations leading to business growth for both momondo and partners. His other areas of responsibility are brand activation opportunity assessment, influencer strategy and global ambassador network building. Allan has a strong passion for purpose marketing and the value it creates for people, brands and society.
Allan Askov Christoffersen has a Cand. Scient. Pol degree from the University of Copenhagen and is a guest lecturer and speaker at a variety of marketing classes and industry events. Allan has been awarded with both an effectiveness and creativity award.
Caecilia van Peski – CISV Netherlands Alum, Section Chief, Peace Programming, United Nations Volunteer/United Nations Development Programme
Caecilia is a senior expert on Democratization, Human Rights and Elections. She specializes in issues of Security and Strategy within these fields. She served in over 30 Election Observation Missions for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and as part of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.
In 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands appointed Caecilia as UN Women’s Representative to the 65th UN General Assembly in New York. After her tenure with the UN, Caecilia was deployed to the European Union Monitoring Mission to the Republic of Georgia. Here she worked as Team Leader Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance at the Administrative Boundary Line with South Ossetia.
Today, Caecilia is Chief of the Peace Programming Section with the United Nations Development Programme/UN Volunteers Programme at Bonn HQ, Germany. As Section Chief, she oversees and implements UNV’s Peace Programme Strategy in countries which are predominantly in a state of crisis and post-crisis recovery.
David Wertheimer, CISV USA Alum, Director of Community & Civic Engagement, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
David has worked in the non-profit, government, education, and philanthropic sectors for more than three decades. He joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006, focused on issues in Washington State, including family homelessness, early learning, education, and support for the local non-profit sector in order to improve capacity and outcomes. He also serves on the board of directors of Partners for Our Children, and the Washington State Health Innovations Leadership Network (HILN). He is past board president of Funders Together to End Homelessness, and served as co-chair of the Seattle Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda Task Force.
Before coming to the Gates Foundation, David served as principal at Kelly Point Partners (KP2), working to integrate services for people struggling with homelessness, mental illness, addictions, criminal justice system involvement, and HIV/AIDS. Between 1990 and 2000, David was the systems integration administrator for the King County Department of Community and Human Services, developing and mobilizing services for people with chronic and severe mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders.
A native of New York City, David was also the executive director of the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and served as a New York City human rights commissioner.
Damian Zimmermann (Switzerland), Director Education Programmes, Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation
Master in Pedagogies and Social Management; Trainings in diverse topics concerning intercultural understanding/intercultural competences and peace building such as conflict transformation, teaching respect for all (anti-discrimination, anti-racism), intercultural communication; degree in Mediation and Coaching.
Damian has been working the last 15 years in the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation, formerly as a trainer in over 100 exchange projects as well as in trainings of trainers/teachers in diverse countries, now working in the management as a head of all activities in the Pestalozzi Children’s Village.
Gemmeke de Jongh, International Association Expert for Flanders and Brussels
Gemmeke de Jongh knows the ins and outs of the meetings industry, she has invaluable experience on the associations market. In the past, she was responsible for attracting association conferences to the Benelux, Mexico, Singapore and the province of Alberta in Canada. Gemmeke puts her focus on Flander’s tourist attractions such as art, architecture, culture, gastronomy, the historic cities and cycling, and on bringing those association conferences to Flanders that match with our Flemish DNA.
Melissa Liles (USA), Chief Education Officer, AFS Intercultural Programs
Based in NYC, Melissa is passionate about learning—especially intercultural learning. Influenced by her own early experiences throughout the U.S., Austria, France and Tunisia, she has spent almost two decades leading efforts to help people and organizations improve how they communicate and connect across differences of all sorts in order to make good things happen.
Melissa currently heads global partnerships and thought leadership for AFS Intercultural Programs. She works closely with education practitioners (traditional and nontraditional—like CISV!) and academic experts from over 60 countries to explore how AFS can exponentially expand its reach and deepen its impact in developing active global citizens.
Her focus today includes overseeing the creation of an ambitious new AFS Center for Intercultural Learning and Global Competence that aims to establish these as fundamental educational rights for all learners. Previous adventures include developing a state-of-the-art global training initiative, The Intercultural Link Learning Program, for over 50.000 adult learners, serving as the first National Director for AFS India, and working on Madison Avenue to support the early digital/online advertising efforts of Global 500 brands.
Nicola Alexander (UK), Business Development Director, Visit Alberta
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ving worked in the meetings, conventions & events sector for over 20 years, Nicola’s role at Visit Alberta allows her to promote a country and destination about which she is passionate.
Visit Alberta is the tourism marketing agency of the Government of Alberta marketing Alberta’s authentic experiences in breath-taking landscapes.
Nicola’s role at Visit Alberta, based in the UK, is to strengthen Alberta’s position in the meetings, conventions and events sector and to inspire European event planners to discover Alberta. Visit Alberta, in partnership with Team Alberta’s destination marketing organizations (DMO’s) provides free, impartial information, advice and support to planners considering Alberta destinations including the international gateway cities of Calgary and Edmonton and the iconic Rocky mountain locations of Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper for their events.
One of the key areas of support Nicola provides to associations, in partnership with our DMO’s, is building bids and proposals and creating a partnership with associations to deliver on their objectives not just around their conference or event but also their wider association goals and strategy.
Reynaldo Laguda, CISV Philippines Alum, Executive Director, Philippine Business for Social Progress
Currently the Executive Director at the Philippine Business for Social Progress, Rey has over 20 years of professional experience in the NGO, corporate, and government sectors including Under Secretary at the Department for Education.
The Philippine Business for Social Progress is the largest business-led social development NGO in the Philippines. It is at the forefront of corporate citizenship that contributes to sustainable development and poverty reduction. The Foundation has over 230 corporate members and growing, who contribute millions every year to fund poverty reduction projects.
Rey is a strong advocate of volunteerism and engagement, as a former volunteer and program officer of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines Foundation, recruiting, training and sending volunteers for a year of service to marginalized communities and areas with the greatest need.