Seminar Programme ICEF Higher Education 2023

Seher joined ICEF in 2007 as a university student and is now the Central and Eastern Europe Director at ICEF. She has over 15 years of experience in advising educational institutions across Europe on growing and diversifying international student recruitment. She works closely with educators and industry service providers to help them strategise best practices with agent engagement, as well as, on how to market their brand to the right audiences through marketing support, consulting, sponsorship, exposure on digital & offline media and ICEF Events. Seher gained a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Translation Studies at the London Metropolitan University and also graduated in Translation Studies and Political Sciences from the University of Bonn. She is fluent in German, English, Turkish and Kurdish and speaks French on intermediate level.

Ross Holmes is Vice President, Global Brand Solutions at ICEF, where he leads commercial strategy and revenue growth across ICEF’s global portfolio of service provider clients. He also oversees ICEF’s Market Intelligence division, including ICEF Monitor and ICEF Insights. Ross began his career in international education in 2007, organising student fairs and agent workshops across Brazil and Latin America. After five years, he returned to the UK to help major brands such as HSBC, British Airways, and Harrods develop strategies to engage international students. Since joining ICEF in 2013, Ross has played a central role in connecting education institutions, student recruitment agencies, and service providers around the world.

Johan Asplund has worked in the study abroad industry for 20 years and studied abroad in several countries. He is an expert on the Scandinavian study abroad market, Swedish CSN-funding, and student recruitment online. In 2016 Johan founded DreamStudies, based in Stockholm, Sweden. We give students free study abroad information, and we help schools to recruit international from Scandinavia and the rest of the world.

Oana Lelcu is Global Sales Marketing Director at SRH Universities, where she designs and leads the international strategy for the Group. She currently focuses on leveraging AI and digital technologies to transform student recruitment and admissions processes, helping SRH scale their global reach while improving applicant experience through data-driven insights and automated solutions.

Ross Holmes is Vice President, Global Brand Solutions at ICEF, where he leads commercial strategy and revenue growth across ICEF’s global portfolio of service provider clients. He also oversees ICEF’s Market Intelligence division, including ICEF Monitor and ICEF Insights. Ross began his career in international education in 2007, organising student fairs and agent workshops across Brazil and Latin America. After five years, he returned to the UK to help major brands such as HSBC, British Airways, and Harrods develop strategies to engage international students. Since joining ICEF in 2013, Ross has played a central role in connecting education institutions, student recruitment agencies, and service providers around the world.

Ella has worked as a lecturer at Tio Business School for 6 years where after she has continued her career as Assistant Campus Manager of Tio Business School in Amsterdam. In her position as Assistant Campus Manager she handles all international affairs and takes care of all the international students’ requirements. Ella excels in making students feel like they have arrived in a welcoming and motivating/supporting family, which is one of Tio Business School’s core traits. A personal atmosphere, while striving for student’s excellence.

Carles Ibars started his career in the higher education in 2016. He joined EU Business School (Barcelona Campus) in late 2017, as a responsible for the Europe Region enrollments. In 2019 he changed his position as International Sales Manager, being responsible of analyzing the recruitment statistics of EU Business School and finding new regions to develop. In 2022 he became the Head of Sales & Recruitment, managing a team that recruits from the whole world. His knowledge goes beyond the admissions and enrollments, having the role of recruiting for the Barcelona, Munich Geneva and Digital campuses by enhancing the current partnerships, as well as optimizing the sales resources and exploring new countries and opportunities.

Dr. Busch currently serves as the Associate Vice-President of Enrolment and holds the role of Senior International Officer at the University of Windsor. Within this capacity, he leads the university's endeavours in enrolment management and internationalization and oversees international academic partnerships. His responsibilities entail close collaboration with other executives and senior leaders across the institution, including within the academic and research enterprises. Having earned his doctorate from the University of Calgary, Dr. Busch's doctoral studies centred on exploring contemporary trends and pertinent issues within post-secondary education, encompassing the higher education domain. His academic and research interests are primarily directed toward understanding how organizational culture influences internationalization efforts, including integrating global, intercultural, and international elements into higher education's mission, operations, and delivery.

Abhishek (Abhi) is 5X founder, with 3X exits and a budding investor. He is a fun loving technology enthusiast. With 14 years of experience in the International education sector. His experience includes ex Director of University- IUBH/ IU, an agent and an ex international student. Innovation drives Abhi. He has proven to solve the problem of “student conversion”. With his expertise in neuromarketing and power of generative Ai with short-from videos. Abhi and his team have developed groundbreaking technologies for the Higher education sector. And beyond. This includes: - Conversion focussed video Software- For Agents & Universities & Other industries - Digital Transformation Solution (DTS)- For Agents - Admission automation solution- For Universities

I was born in Batman, Turkey in 1996. I attended high school in Batman and graduated in 2013. I learned English at International House London (in London) in 2014. I then completed my undergraduate degree in BA (Hons) Business Management at the University of Westminster, graduating in 2021. Since then, I have been working at Happy Student. When I first moved to London as an international student, I faced numerous challenges. These ranged from understanding the role of a GP and managing health needs, to obtaining a transportation card, opening a bank account, and finding available LGBTQIA support, among others. To put it simply, I felt like an outsider. This experience was pivotal when I conceived my platform. As with every new idea, validating my idea was key, and I wondered if others faced similar struggles. Engaging in primary and secondary research, feedback from over a hundred students was collected. Interviews with university staff from various departments revealed common student concerns and available resources. The results were enlightening. It wasn't just international students who were struggling to adapt; domestic students also faced difficulties in settling into a new environment. This solidified my decision to create Happy Student.

Nabil joined ICEF in 2011, initially serving as the Agent Relations and Business Development Manager for the Middle Eastern and North African markets. In 2018. He later became the Director MENA Region at ICEF and currently holds the position of Managing Director for the MENA Region at ICEF since 2023. During his tenure, Nabil has successfully expanded ICEF's reach in the region by cultivating a strong network of industry contacts. He has focused on introducing high-quality agents to global events and establishing strategic connections and partnerships with education providers in the MENA region. Nabil also plays a crucial role in supporting and advising educational institutions new to working with study abroad agents and/or participating in ICEF events. His expertise lies in helping clients select the most suitable ICEF services to enhance their international student enrollments. Nabil holds a Master's degree in Automation Technology from the Technical University Berlin, Germany, which he earned in 2010. He is fluent in English, German, and his native language Arabic. Nabil's extensive experience, industry knowledge, and linguistic abilities make him an invaluable asset to ICEF and its endeavors in the MENA Region.

Tiffany is a leading professional in the field of agent relations. As Director of the Agents Department at ICEF, her knowledge and dedication has been crucial to the development of ICEF events and agent recruitment. During her tenure of over 20 years at ICEF, Tiffany has overseen the successful organisation of most of ICEF’s agent events and today manages an international team which continues to develop and to increase efforts to ensure the recruitment of professional study abroad agents worldwide.

Diogo Rodrigues is CEO of YES Intercâmbio, a Student Exchange Agency from Brazil, specialized in higher education. With over 15 years of experience in the field of Education, Rodrigues has a postgraduate degree in Marketing, Business and International Communication at the University of California Berkeley. Between 2007 and 2009, he worked at educational institutions in Silicon Valley like Intrax and other American start-ups. He holds a degree in Advertising from PUC-PR and an MBA in People Management and Leadership from Volvo.