SPEAKERS

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Pasi Sahlberg is Director General of CIMO at the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. He has worked as teacher, teacher educator and policy-maker in Finland and as an expert for several international organizations and consulting firms. During the last two decades, he has analyzed education reforms around the world and worked with education leaders in the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle-East and Asia. Dr. Sahlberg is the former staff member of the World Bank in Washington, DC, and European Commission in Turin, Italy. He continues to train teachers, support leaders and coach schools in Finland and abroad. He is Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of Helsinki and at the University of Oulu. His most recent book is titled Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? He can be reached through pasisahlberg.com.

Carl A. Cohn is Co-Director of the Urban Leadership Program and Clinical Professor in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Cohn’s distinguished career in education has spanned over thirty years. Throughout this time, he has worked in a variety of educational capacities; such as a teacher, counselor, professor, superintendent and Federal Court monitor. Earning his Ed.D in Administrative and Policy Studies from the University of California Los Angeles, Dr. Cohn has personified the valuable role of a research practitioner, expanding the field of education in a variety of ways. Dr. Cohn has worked as a faculty advisor for both the Broad Superintendents Academy and the Harvard Urban Superintendents Program. Currently, he serves on the boards of the American College Testing, Inc. (ACT), the Freedom Writers Foundation, the Western Governors University and EdSource. Among his many publications and research projects, Dr. Cohn co-edited the 2004 Teachers College Press publication, Partnering to Lead Educational Renewal: High Quality Teachers, High Quality Schools.

Kirsti Westphalen has worked in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland ever since the beginning of 1980's.  She has been posted in Paris, Beijing, New York, Damascus, Rabat and the UK.  Mrs. Westphalen is an expert in political Islam, radicalisation and counter terrorism. Since September 2008 she is the Consul General of Finland in Los Angeles where she has promoted Finnish education and educational exchanges between Finland and the United States.  Issues related to green economy, sustainability and clean-technology have also been her priority.

Hannele Niemi is Professor of Education at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki. She also is Chair of the CICERO Learning Network for multidisciplinary research on learning (2005–). Scientific Director of the national research program Life as Learning, Academy of Finland (2002– 2006). Vice Rector for academic affairs at the University of Helsinki (2003–2008, 2008–2009), She has contributed in many EU and OECD projects as an expert or researcher and served as a keynote lecturer in several international forums, e.g. in Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, German, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England, France and Estonia. Her main research interest areas are teachers’ professional development, moral education and technology-based learning environments. Professor Niemi has graduated as Master of Philosophy 1974, Master of Theology 1977, and Doctor of Philosophy 1978 at the University of Helsinki.

John R. Burbank is the Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute. He has a Master of Public Administration from the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington and a B.A. from Evergreen State College. Before founding EOI, John was project manager of the Sand Point Community Housing Association, political director of the Washington State Labor Council, staff coordinator for the Washington State Senate, and director for the Community Labor Coalition in Rhode Island. He speaks Finnish and has published in the Journal of Finnish Studies.

Karen Symms Gallagher is the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. Since assuming this role in 2000, she has led her faculty, students, staff and alumni in a strategic plan with a mission of strengthening urban education locally, nationally and globally. Dr. Gallagher has been a professor, scholar and academic administrator at both public and private research universities throughout the United States. Before joining USC, she was the dean of education at the University of Kansas. Previously she directed Ohio’s Commission on Educational Improvement. Dr. Gallagher’s distinguished career has established her reputation as one who transforms educational organizations to successfully achieve their goals. She has launched several successful reform initiatives locally and internationally. Dr. Gallagher has published widely on educational policy and politics, higher education, and early childhood education.

Peter Finell has since 2002 held the position of International Relations Manager at Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences in Kokkola. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Sciences from Åbo Akademi University (Finland) and a European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from the University of Padua (Italy). Before being appointed as International Relations Manager at COU Finell was working as a researcher at the Åbo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights (2001-2002). He was accepted as a doctoral candidate of the Finnish Graduate School of Human Rights Research. His current research interests include: The role of universities in post-conflict societies and education and armed conflict as well themes connected to international education. Finell has had several lecturing assignments in Finland and abroad and he also serves as a member in many working groups connected to international education.

Markku Jahnukainen is a Professor of Special Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Prior that he worked at the University of Alberta Canada as an Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Psychology. He is an Adjunct Professor of Special Education at the University of Helsinki, and University of Turku Finland. His research focuses on life courses and experiences of students with educational history in special education, social exclusion and marginalization issues, and comparative studies of inclusive and special education.

Marja-Liisa Tenhunen, PhD (Econ.) has held the position of rector at Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences and CEO of the Joint Stock Company of Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences since April 1995. Dr Tenhunen is a member of several business organisations and participates in many business projects, such as those of the Ministry of Education in Finland. She has been a member of the board of The Finnish Chartering Organisation since 1994. She also holds several confidential posts and is a member of numerous co-operation groups. Dr Tenhunen has been chosen for a second term (2008-2011) as delegation member for the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation Tekes. Tekes works under the auspices of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Her most notable appointment is member of the Science and Technology Policy Council for 2007-2011 by the Government. This Council is chaired by the prime minister. The name of this council is since 1.1.2009 the Research and Innovation council. Dr Tenhunen’s research interest is commercial science entrepreneurship, articles on which she has presented at international conferences.

Elizabeth Quintero has been involved with early childhood programs for many years in many different states and countries as teacher, program developer, curriculum specialist, and guiding supervisor. She is particularly interested in programs that serve families in multilingual communities that represent a variety of cultural and historical backgrounds. She is currently Professor of Education at California State University Channel Islands where she is Coordinator of Early Childhood Studies program. Quintero was recently appointed as an Associate Editor at the research journal, Early Education and Development.

Riitta Kärävä-Andonian received a Master of Science degree in Economics and Management from the Department of Food Science at the University of Helsinki in 1983. In 1989, she earned a Sequential Award in Fashion Design from UCLA. She is currently completing her studies for a Certificate in Translation in Spanish at the California State University Channel Islands. She is a Trained Interpreter in Spanish for the Ventura County Behavioral Health Services. Prior to moving to California in 1983 to manage the subsidiary of Lännen Tehtaat Oy from Finland, she worked as interpreter and tour manager in Finland and other European countries. She has also lived and worked in Italy and Norway. She speaks, and reads and writes in Finnish, English, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, German, French, and Norwegian. She has a long-term commitment in effective language education that produces culturally competent communicators.

Dr. Philip Johnson is the Finlandia University’s 16th President. Before then he served as a campus pastor, an assistant to the President, and the associate dean of Finlandia’s Suomi College of Arts and Sciences. He has provided leadership and visioning in building long-term partnerships with the community and targets enrollment growth through the College of Health Sciences and NCAA Division III athletics. Dr. Johnson is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has lived and taught in the US, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. President Johnson earned his BA at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and completed his M.Div and Ph.D. at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

Kaia Tollefson's career in education began in Kodiak, Alaska. She was a middle school teacher there for nine years and worked in administration for the next five—first as a curriculum and staff development coordinator and then as an elementary school principal. She discovered a passion for teacher education while pursuing her doctoral degree in language, literacy, and sociocultural studies, awarded by the University of New Mexico. One of her professional goals is to find ways to refresh and reground her roots in the public schools, never getting too far away from knowing what it means to be a classroom teacher. She is currently an associate professor of education at California State University Channel Islands, working in teacher education, coaching a Critical Friends Group, and exploring the relationship between the concept of voice and the processes of teaching and learning.

Tiina Itkonen is an Associate Professor of Education at California State University Channel Islands. Her areas of specialty include education policy and politics, interest groups, and collective action, on which she has published widely. She is a senior lecturer (docent) at the University of Turku and Abo Akademi I Vasa. She has an extensive career in P-12 as a teacher, administrator, and federal project coordinator, and holds two teaching credentials, a behavior intervention case manager, and a mental health rehabilitation specialist credential.