Speakers and panellists

Barry O’Sullivan is the British Council’s Head of English Language Research. He has worked on test development and validation projects globally and advises ministries and institutions on assessment policy and practice. He is the founding president of the UK Association of Language Testing and Assessment, and visiting professor at the University of Reading, UK, and is Advisory Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He was awarded an OBE for his contribution to language testing.

Amol Padwad has been a teacher, trainer, teacher community leader and ELT consultant and retired as the Professor & Director, Centre for English Language Education, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi after a distinguished career of four decades. He is an Executive Member of the AINET Association of English Teachers (India) and a Trustee of the A. S. Hornby Educational Trust, UK. He has several national and international publications and presentations and has led many innovative ELT projects

Victoria A. Murphy is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She was Chair of NALDIC (UK) between 2018-2021. Her work has been funded by ESRC, The Leverhulme Trust, The Nuffield Foundation and the Educational Endowment Foundation, among others. Victoria has published two books on the topic of young language learners, as well as numerous refereed journal articles and book chapters.

Gazi Md. Saifuzzaman is the Additional Secretary at the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning in Bangladesh. He has worked at Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Ministry of Public Administration, Government of Bangladesh and as a Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate overseeing district administration and development.

Dr Victoria Clark is the Manager of the British Council Global Assessments Solutions Group. In this role, she spearheads initiatives collaborating with ministries of education to integrate assessment into language policy and addresses the assessment needs of students and teachers at a national level. Victoria's focus extends to ensuring evidence of quality in bilingual and English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) contexts. 

Madhuri Kannangara is a dedicated and accomplished professional in English language education, currently serving as the coordinator of the Regional English Support Centre in Kandy. Her career began in 1994 as an English Language Teacher. Madhuri holds a National Diploma in English, a BA (Part 1) and a B.Ed. She has also earned the diploma in the Global Education with a focus on action research.  Her special interests lie in materials writing, content development, and action research.

Manivannan Ranganathan (Mani) is Segment Head for Higher Education (HE) business unit in TCS iON. As part of this role, Mani is driving business growth by positioning TCS iON products to private and Govt higher educational institutions across India. Mani has 32+ years of IT industry experience, out of which 28+ years are in TCS, with many leadership roles. Mani graduated as a B.E Mechanical Engineer in 1992, from College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai.

Dr Fauzia Shamim currently works as Professor and the Chief Academic Officer for Durbeen, an NGO committed to improving teacher quality in Pakistan. She has a Masters in linguistics for ELT from the University of Lancaster, and Ph.D in TESOL from the University of Leeds, UK.

Evan Frendo has been involved in ESP and business English teaching since 1993. He is a regular speaker at ELT conferences and events and was the opening plenary speaker at the 2023 IATEFL Conference in Harrogate. Evan is considered an expert in corporate training materials and has authored several coursebooks and methodology books.

Neenaz Ichaporia is EdTech Lead, English Programmes at the British Council, where she ensures quality standards and innovation in EdTech for English language teacher development. She is co-author of the British Council report Artificial intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future. She has an MSc in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh. Neenaz has over 14 years’ experience in ELT including in digital education, educational management and teacher development.