Europe, Middle East, and Africa Annual Conference (Limited availability)

Keynote I: The Social Entrepreneurship Mindset

Adrian de Groot Ruiz, Impact Institute

Adrian is the Executive Director and Co-founder of Impact Institute, where he leads the development of the Integrated Profit & Loss accounting method and technologies. He is also the Director and Co-founder of True Price, a social enterprise with a mission to realize that all products are sustainable and free of external costs. He is the co-initiator and a board member of the SDG Charter Foundation and the Impact Economy Foundation. He was recognized as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and as one of the top-20 of most influential people in sustainability by the Dutch newspaper Trouw. Adrian also serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of Utrecht University.

Melle Schellekens, The Good Roll

Melle Schellekens is founder of The Good Roll, a company that makes toilet paper with a mission: clean toilets for everyone. Schellekens invests half of the proceeds from The Good Roll with his company in clean toilets in Africa. In 2018, he started as Director of Operations and Business Development for De Concept Creators, a company that can help ensure successful concept development. He worked there with clients such as Coca Cola, KLM, The Harbor Club and Apollo Hotels. Almost four years ago he founded his own company, The Good Roll, where he is the Creative Captain of marketing and development.

Willem van Winden, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Willem van Winden (1971) is a professor of urban economic studies. He completed his PhD in 2003 at the Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University of Rotterdam. He then worked as university lecturer and researcher with the European Institute for Comparative Urban Research. He has published many international comparative studies, among others about cities in the knowledge economy, ICT & the city, the future of industry in European industrial regions, and economic clusters.

Keynote II: Meeting Student Expectations in a New Economy

Bas has a long history in EdTech, dating back to the late nineties when he started in the field of Student Information Systems for Higher Education. Next he introduced various new solutions to the European marketplace such as Blackboard LMS, Canvas LMS and ePortfolio solutions often in partnership with national organisations for IT in Higher Ed such as Surf in the. Netherlands, JISC in the UK, SUNET in Sweden and Unit in Norway. These solutions help institutions on their journey to more personalised engagement with all of their stakeholders while helping them transition to new business models that build longer lasting relationships with learners, company contacts, alumni and their local constituents. Currently Bas serves as the lead for Education at Salesforce in Europe.