Bridge the Gap 2026

Konstantinos Doukas is the President and CEO of Doukas School, one of Greece’s leading private educational institutions with a century-long tradition of excellence. A third-generation educator and innovator, he founded SoFIA (School of the Future International Academy) — a global non-profit organization that empowers schools and educators to transform learning through innovation, leadership, and technology. With academic experience at Columbia University and MIT, and a career spanning education, technology, and entrepreneurship, Konstantinos is deeply committed to advancing SoFIA’s vision of a world where education continuously evolves to help every student achieve their dreams.

Paweł Gmyrek, PhD is a Senior Researcher at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, where he studies how digital technologies and generative AI are reshaping labour markets. His research focuses on the implications of AI for employment, occupational structures and labour market transitions, including the development of task-based measures of occupational exposure to generative AI. His work combines statistical methods and AI tools to analyse large-scale labour market data, and he collaborates with institutions including the World Bank, universities and national research institutes. He holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Geneva and a Master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics.

Anthony Salcito leads Coursera’s enterprise business, working with companies, universities and governments to build job-relevant skills for employees, students and citizens. Before joining Coursera in 2025, he was Chief Institution Business Officer at Nerdy (Varsity Tutors). He spent more than two decades at Microsoft, most recently as Vice President of Worldwide Education, where he launched global programmes including Partners in Learning, the Microsoft Innovative Educator programme and Showcase Schools. He has served on the boards of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Western Governors University and Teach.org, co-chairs the board of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and is a member of SoFIA’s Bridge the Gap Advisory Board.

Nick Chambers is the founder and CEO of Education and Employers, a UK charity he set up in 2009 to give young people the inspiration, skills and opportunities to reach their potential. A former science and technology teacher, he saw first-hand how contact with the world of work changed his students’ motivation. The charity’s Inspiring the Future platform connects schools and colleges with volunteers from industry at no cost, and its research on employer engagement has been recognised by the OECD and the World Economic Forum. Its film “Redraw the Balance”, on how stereotypes about careers form early in childhood, has been viewed over 100 million times.

Tiffani Baik is a senior at Yale University studying American Studies, Politics and Communities. At Bridge the Gap 2026, she joins the youth roundtable to share her views on how schools can better prepare students for a changing world of work.

Jared Chung is the co-founder and CEO of CareerVillage.org, a nonprofit that gives young people free, personalised career advice. He has worked where technology, education and social impact meet for more than a decade, and the platforms he leads have reached millions of learners. Under his leadership, CareerVillage has grown into a multi-service organisation and launched AI Career Coach, an AI-powered career guidance tool for students. His work has been recognised for innovation by the Lumina Foundation, Points of Light and the Zendesk Foundation. He holds a B.S. in Finance from NYU Stern.

Alan Tang is the co-founder of Collaboration Laboratory (CoLab), an award-winning online programme where students from around the world build problem-solving, communication and teamwork skills through games, puzzles and escape-room challenges. He came to education by an unusual route: six years in corporate finance, starting at Grant Thornton UK, then training and working as a chef in top London restaurants. He went on to found a consultancy that gives startups fractional Chief of Staff support and worked at Synthesis before co-founding CoLab. He holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick.

V. Scott Solberg is a Professor of Counseling Psychology and Applied Human Development at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and part of its Center for Future Readiness. His work focuses on designing and evaluating career development programmes for young people, especially those furthest from opportunity, and on connecting social-emotional learning with career readiness. A leading expert on individualised learning plans, he leads a network of policy leaders from 30 US states and has studied educators’ views on career readiness in more than 15 countries. He is the author of Making School Relevant with Individualized Learning Plans (Harvard Education Press).

Dr. Charalampos Bratsas is the founder and chairman of the board of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information and Electronic Engineering at the International Hellenic University. His primary research areas include Intelligent Software Systems, Open Data, the Semantic Web, Knowledge Graphs, Linked Open Data (coordinator of the Greek DBpedia), Data Science, Data Mining, and Big Data Applications with AI algorithms. Dr. Bratsas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (1999), a Master’s degree in Medical Informatics, and a Ph.D. in Knowledge Graphs in Medical Informatics (2008). He has been involved as a scientific director in numerous EU-funded research projects. With over 100 publications in scientific journals and conference proceedings, his work spans areas such as the Semantic Web, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Analysis.

Mark Sparvell is Director of Education Marketing at Microsoft, focused on AI and education. An award-winning teacher and school leader with more than 30 years of international experience, he explores how technology can support more equitable learning and student wellbeing. He founded the SELinEdu Community, a network of more than 30,000 educators focused on social-emotional learning, and advises organisations including the MindUP Foundation. He is an Ambassador for the Emotional Intelligence Society and a member of the Bett Global Advisory Board, and is also an author, podcaster and keynote speaker.

Nathalie Blais is the founder and CEO of Coach Academy (Canada Coach Academy) and an International Coaching Federation Master Certified Coach, the profession’s highest credential. She designs experiential programmes that help people challenge their assumptions and grow, and trains coaches from many fields, including business leaders, HR professionals, non-profit staff and teachers. She studied psychology at graduate level at Harvard University, where her research focused on the teacher as coach. She also hosts The Connection Experiment podcast, which explores human connection, community and coaching.