International student recruitment conference 2022

Andy has been in post as Assistant Director for External Affairs at Universities UK International (UUKi) since 2019, and he leads UUKi’s campaigns, communications and events.

Andy is a judge for UKCISA’s #WeAreInternational student ambassador programme, sits on UniQuest’s international advisory board, and recently led his team to win ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ at the PIEoneer Awards 2021 for UUKi’s #WeAreTogether campaign.

Prior to his current post, Andy spent several years in senior marketing, student recruitment and alumni relations roles at the University of Southampton, and won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award in 2019 for an alumni engagement campaign he led. 

Charley has worked in higher education since 2007, in roles covering international student recruitment, partnerships, and outward mobility. Most recently she worked for Goldsmiths University of London, as Head of International Recruitment and Global Opportunities during which time she was also on the BUILA executive team. She joined Universities UK International in December leading on UUKI’s policy and global engagement work around international student recruitment and outward student mobility.  

Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Leeds.  She began her career as a desk officer for Europe and the Former Soviet Union at the British Council. She has worked on a range of scholarship programmes including Chevening Scholarships and Commonwealth Scholarships. Elizabeth is now Study UK Director and leads on the GREAT Scholarship programme, widening access to the diverse range of UK HEIs and courses.

Helen is the British Council’s Higher Education Lead for the EU. Her team works to identify mutually beneficial areas for collaboration and facilitates partnerships and mobility between the higher education sectors of the UK and the EU. Prior to the EU, Helen worked on the development of the Alumni UK programme and in East Asia for Study UK. Her other experience includes working for the Department for International Trade, where she advised foreign investors on UK skills policy, and the Department for Education, where she helped to support underperforming schools. She has worked as an English teacher and for a media outlet in China.

Jonah leads the strategic direction of IDP Connect’s external relations including B2B marketing, media relations and stakeholder management. With more than 20 years of experience in Higher Education sector, Jonah is leading expert within his field and regularly contributes to policy development and speaks at numerous sector events.

Jonah joined IDP Connect in 2017 after 11 years at Birkbeck, University of London. He is responsible for leadership across Marketing and Communications and Stakeholder Engagement implementing pro-active audience and partner engagement, marketing, communications, and public and external relations strategies which maximise IDP Connect’s profile and tell our compelling story, across all our global markets. 

Rachel is responsible for leading the University’s external engagement strategy covering an integrated portfolio of Internationalisation, Marketing & Communications; Brand & Reputation Management; Student Recruitment; Admissions; Widening Access & Lifelong Learning; Development & Alumni Relations; and Civic Engagement. Rachel is also the University’s Sanctuary Champion.

Rachel is the University’s Universitas 21 network Senior Leader, a Board member of the University’s European network, The Guild, and the University lead for the CIVIS European University Alliance.

Rachel is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and currently a Global Trustee of CASE, whilst also contributing to several sector advisory boards. 

Simon leads the strategic direction and operational delivery of IDP Connect, the business-to-business division of global education company and ASX 100 listed organization, IDP Education. With more than 20 years of experience in Higher Education sector, Simon is leading figure within the industry and regularly provides expert comment and analysis on policy, trends, and sector developments. 

Sitting on the Global Leadership Team for IDP Education, Simon leads the direction of strategic partnerships for IDP across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Simon is also responsible for the delivery of IDP’s client-facing data solutions, client success strategies as well as the delivery of significant digital marketing solutions for higher education clients across the world. 

Simon joined the Hotcourses Group in 2000 within the commercial division before progressing to become CEO in 2015. Following the Hotcourses Group’s acquisition by IDP, Simon remained as CEO of the division and became a Global Leadership Team member simultaneous during the takeover.

Yinbo joined UKCISA in 2019 where he leads the non-member engagement function, including stakeholder communications, international student engagement, UKCISA’s strategic partnerships function, the award-winning #WeAreInternational campaign and its student ambassador programme.   

Prior to that, Yinbo was elected as the International Students’ Officer at the National Union of Students UK (NUS) for two terms, representing around half a million international students in the UK. He has been playing a leading role in policy influencing and campaigning on a range of issues, covering the entirety of the international student experience. Yinbo was educated at Nanjing Foreign Language School in China before coming to the UK to study for a BSc in Economics at the University of East Anglia and an MSc in Urban Economic Development at University College London. 

Janet Ilieva is the founder and director of Education Insight, a research consultancy specialising in international higher education. Janet's research focuses on global student mobility, university partnerships, national policies for global engagement and sustainable development.

Education Insight launched the Global Engagement Index (GEI), which captures the state of internationalism across the UK higher education institutions, their engagement with the sustainable development agenda and graduate outcomes.

Janet started her career as a university lecturer in economics before joining the British Council in 2004 to lead the department's work for higher education research and market intelligence. She joined the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in May 2013 as head of the HEFCE Observatory.  

Janet regularly undertakes research in higher education engagement for government departments, international organisations and universities in Europe and Asia.