Jane Larsson has led the Council of International Schools (CIS) as Executive Director since her appointment in 2010, with a strategic focus on the development of collaborative partnerships to enable educational exchange and the development of international and intercultural perspective. The CIS global membership community of schools and universities currently includes 1,444 institutions across 121 countries, each committed to achieve high standards in international education.

Prior to her appointment at CIS, Jane was Direc­tor of International Partnerships with the Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) in the United States, where she led outreach to promote international educational exchange, establishing relationships with minis­tries of education, universities, internation­al schools and educational associations. She began her career in international education as the Director of Educational Staffing and Publications for International Schools Services (ISS) providing recruitment services and resources to international schools.

Jane lends her voice to key topics shaping the future of international education, advocating for the development of socially responsible leadership through international education. She currently serves as Chair of the International Taskforce on Child Protection and as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Commission Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA).

Across the world, we continue to recover from a global pandemic. Many aspects of life are uncertain amidst global political tensions, conflict and invasions, the soaring cost of living, a heightened awareness of our mental health and an urgency to care for our planet. We know that all of these things will have an impact on the education of future generations. We also know that all of these things can be impacted through international education. Together, we’ll examine the purpose of international education amidst a changing landscape and how we can develop socially responsible leadership.

Marlon Devonish is famous for being one of Great Britain’s most successful sprinters. A career that spun over 20 years, he competed in the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m relay achieving European, Commonwealth, and World Indoor Championship titles representing his country. He is Britain's most decorated male athlete with 18 medals. He is known globally for being one of the four athletes to win Gold at the 2004 summer Olympics Games in Athens. Throughout his athletic career, Marlon was awarded for his successes, although not earmarked on his journey he became a Member of the British Empire alongside his fellow teammates Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, and Mark Lewis-Francis. Furthermore, he has honorary degree’s from both Coventry and Warwick Universities for his dedication and longevity in his sport. 

After retiring officially from athletics in 2013, Marlon created a speed consultancy business working predominately with professional sports players to enhance their sprint speed in their sport. Alongside this, he worked as a business coach for the German company Rixcom, gaining and sharing his knowledge on what is high performance to management at all areas across the business. He travels to countries such as Australia, India, Singapore, and United Kingdom and he still has a foothold in the company. 

In 2017 Marlon saw the opportunity to give back his wealth of knowledge at the British International School in Shanghai, Puxi. He is a high performance and I.B pastoral coach at the school working with students on developing the appropriate mindset that breeds success. Among various projects throughout the school, Marlon leads the athletics program with a vision to make champions in life through sport. Over the past 4 years, he has worked with pupils aged 3 to 18 at the school and teaches within the P.E department. 

One of Marlon’s latest projects was to write a book about his Olympic journey. Collaborating with his teammates and writers, Trystan Bevan and Ben Mercer, in the Amazon raved review book named “Our Race.” Which details the untold story of an all-time sporting shock. Marlon continues to thrive with his wife and two kids and enjoys sharing his wisdom with both the young and experienced. 

Keynote:  Succeeding in the Face of Adversity
No matter what role we assume in life, as we strive to succeed, we also face adversity. One of Britain’s greatest Olympians shares his story as an example of overcoming adversity.