Keynote Speakers

Dr. Shannon Márquez, Columbia University, United States

Dr. Shannon Márquez is the Dean of Columbia Global Programs and the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement. The Columbia University Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE) develops, coordinates, implements, and collaborates with other units at Columbia to support academic and co-curricular opportunities–including study abroad, global internships, global service-learning, global research and global courses on campus and abroad—for global learning and engagement for all Columbia undergraduates, and works closely with faculty in their global research and teaching to ensure visibility and access to opportunities that build global awareness and the accomplishment of global competencies.

Columbia UGE enhances access and support for undergraduates to global opportunities and brings students and faculty together in a central location that creates a hub of global activity at Columbia, allowing students to better connect and learn about potential programs; faculty and staff to share their global and regional expertise and advice; and for the collaborative development, implementation and assessment of new and existing undergraduate global programs and opportunities for global engagement across Columbia and around the world.

Prior to joining Columbia University , Dr. Márquez was the Vice Provost for International Development and Professor of Global and Environmental Health at Drexel University where she provided leadership in developing interdisciplinary and inter-professional academic initiatives and research partnerships with partners around the world; served as the Founding Director of the Dornsife Global Development Scholars Program which supported study abroad and experiential learning experiences in 36 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia; and and developed and launched CHE—community health and environment in Cuba—a faculty-led intensive field course taught in partnership with the University of Cienfuegos and CIVITAS.

An experienced senior leader in international education and global health, Dr. Márquez has held distinguished international faculty appointments at The University of The Gambia and Gambia College School of Public Health; the Université Gaston-Berger de Saint-Louis in Senegal; as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (or EHESP, The French School of Public Health), and the University of Sheffield (UK) School of Health and Health Related Research (ScHARR).

She holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Prairie View A&M University; a master’s in civil engineering from Texas A&M University; and a PhD in environmental sciences and engineering from the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Nancy Thompson, MBA, AWENS, Canada

Nancy has been leading AWENS for over 3 years, in her role as Executive Director, she works closely with the Board of Directors and staff to improve and broaden opportunities for AWENS and its members.

She holds an MBA in Global Leadership and a Diploma in Adult Education. Working in the field of Adult Education for over 25 years, she is dedicated to helping organizations build capacity from within, and insure adult educators receive the professional development they need to be innovative and build success in others.

Nancy believes, by investing in workplace education, everyone wins – the company, the people and the communities in which we live. Workplace education is important to ensure an economy grows.

Click here to learn more about the Association of Workplace Educators of Nova Scotia.

Jörgen Svedbom, M.Sc, Jönköping University, Sweden

Jörgen Svedbom, M.Sc. is a lecturer at the School of Education and Communication of Jönköping University, Sweden since 1992. His professional interests include the fields of health, environmental, and sustainability education.

At the School of Education and Communication, he has been responsible for commissioned education and coordinator of several projects for international cooperation and student/teacher exchange. Involved regions and countries have been, among others, the Baltic countries, The Balkan countries Cuba, Ethiopia, Malawi, Russia, South Africa Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Profesor Svedbom has been a member of the Regional board of Education in Sweden and the National Board of Education in Finland, the National Institute for Public Health and The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

He has participated in a number of academic development and research projects and contributed to several international conferences with presentations in the field of health, environment and sustainability.

Profesor Svedbom has also published several articles and contributed to a number of textbooks in the fields of health education, environmental education and sustainability education.