Maria is Global Chief of Staff at Education First (EF), the world’s largest private education company with over 50,000 employees across more than 100 countries. Working closely with EF’s Chairman, she leads global human resources, including talent acquisition and employee development.

She is also President of EF Pro Cycling, overseeing the operational and commercial activities of EF’s professional cycling teams competing at the highest level of the UCI World Tour, including a top-10 men’s team and a highly successful women’s team launched in 2024.

With over 20 years of international leadership experience, Maria began her career at McKinsey & Company in London, later holding senior leadership roles across Asia and founding a pan-Asian beauty retail business backed by private equity. She is a board member of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and a frequent international speaker on global leadership, team culture, and professional sports management.

Markus is a people-first, results-oriented sales leader with 15+ years in commercial roles and Enterprise SaaS, including 6+ years managing sales and business development teams in GTM leadership positions.

His passion lies at the intersection of people leadership, emerging technologies, and business strategy transformation. He’s driven by helping businesses and people grow, adapt, and thrive – especially as we navigate a world where technology and human potential are more connected than ever.

In his role as a Global Client Executive at LinkedIn, he leads a cross-functional commercial client team partnering with Fortune 500 organisations across Technology, Financial Services, Media Entertainment, and FMCG. They work closely with senior stakeholders and C-level executives to reimagine success – enabling AI-powered solutions and workflows that unlock business impact and sharpen competitive edge.

Over his career, he’s had the opportunity to build, coach, and lead high-performing sales teams, manage strategic client partnerships across global markets, and consistently deliver ARR growth, multi-product expansion, and strong internal and external alignment in complex global environments.

Lisa leads the end-to-end strategic talent agenda for IKEA UK & IE, specifically the streams of Employer Branding, Recruitment, Sourcing & Onboarding, Succession & Workforce Planning, Leadership Development and Competence Development. 

Lisa has worked for IKEA UK & IE for 28 years, primary in the People & Culture Function in various leadership roles. An advocate for developing talent pipelines from within the business, Lisa has excellent results in creating and leading development programmes to secure a strong talent pipeline throughout the organisation. Described by her peers as a strong mentor and inspiring communicator, Lisa is proud that her extensive experience within IKEA, allows her to use both her strategic vision and operational views to be a valued People Partner for IKEA. 

A passionate leader for the IKEA Brand, Lisa has strong experience in strengthening the workplace culture in IKEA and ensuring that the culture and values are a key part of our Leadership strategy and felt throughout the whole organisation. 

Lisa is qualified with the CIPD to Chartered Status.

Sevim is a Partner in EYs People Advisory Services (PAS) TAX team and is based in Stockholm, Sweden. She currently serves as the country leader for PAS TAX Sweden and Market Leader for Europe Central PAS Tax.

Sevim joined EY and the PAS TAX team in October 2015 and has been a Partner since 2018. She brings over 22 years of experience in global mobility with extensive hands on expertise across complex international mobility environments. Her background includes personal expatriate experience, having worked in the UK for two years with a focus on UK and international tax and social security law.

She has extensive experience advising on Mobility strategy and talent policies, mobility performance programs and business travellers’ programs, delivering both compliance and cost optimization for global clients.

Sevim is a Certified Tax Advisor by FAR and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Stockholm University. She is a frequent speaker at client seminars and a highly regarded presenter at internal EY training sessions.

Tania Tandon is the co-founder of TandonHildebrand, the first and only UK firm to ditch the billable hour and not record time. The firm’s focus is advising UK and international clients on employment and corporate law matters. It also provides global HR support. Tania is Swedish with Indian and British roots and having been raised internationally, has a passionate interest in people in business. Her unique background gives often serves to provide helpful perspectives on cross border business and cultural dynamics. She [is a fomer board member of the SCC UK and current board member of the Swedish School], has a Bachelor of Laws with European Law from University of Leeds (LLB) (ERASMUS-Uppsala Universitet) and studied postgraduate economics at the London School of Economics (LSE). Collaboration lies at the heart of her approach, fostering strong partnerships with clients and business contacts.

Harry Coath is Head of Talent & Skills at London & Partners, the capital’s growth agency, where he leads a team helping high-growth companies to hire effectively and inclusively. Before joining London & Partners Harry served in a variety of roles across communications, politics, and publishing.  

Joanna is a HR professional with over 30 years experience. As HR Manager for the Atlas Copco Group Joanna has played an integral part in shaping the businesses human resources strategies and fostering a positive workplace culture. Her expertise spans the entirety of a HR role including talent acquisition, employee relations, performance management, and organisational development.

Joanna's commitment to employee well-being, strategic vision and implementing best practices across the Group have contributed to the company’s growth and success. Known for her empathetic leadership and innovative approach, Joanna continues to inspire and mentor, not only her team but peers and colleagues across the Group. Always with the focus on ensuring that the Atlas Copco Group goals, vision and culture attract and retain the best people to remain a top employer in the industry.

Ben is the Head of Global Mobility at Ericsson, having joined in September 2025. Ben is based in the UK and leads a global team of 28 mobility professionals primarily based in Sweden & India. The team manages around 800 - 1,000 short and long-term employee assignments across the world on an ongoing basis, ensuring they are well-supported with their relocation needs when moving between countries.

Previously Ben worked in Global Mobility consulting at Deloitte and has worked with many different multinational companies and sectors over the past 20+ years to advise them regarding their global mobility programmes.

Ben is very passionate about talent development and has featured in a variety of People focused roles in his career, and he is a regular mentor to others to support their career development and longer-term goals.

Ben is also a qualified Chartered Tax Advisor and a graduate of Bristol University in Economics & Finance.

Ryan Vincent is the Advisory Director at TLC Lions, a global leadership and workplace learning company dedicated to humanising the working world. In his role, Ryan leads the design of TLC Lions’ most powerful learning experiences, helping organisations build high-performing, human-centred cultures through immersive and unconventional leadership development.

Ryan has supported 75+ global organisations in shaping leadership programmes and culture strategies, including Vanguard, Rolls-Royce, and AstraZeneca, with his work reaching audiences across 50+ countries. He is also the lead author of TLC Lions’ annual Workplace Trends Report and a key contributor to its thought leadership on human leadership and the future of work.

Ryan can also be found onboard TLC Lions’ Human Skills in the Sky series, available to millions of passengers through TLC Lions content on Emirates flights worldwide.

In his spare time, Ryan supports community initiatives through an LGBTQ+ sports club in North London and is a self-published author.

Fredrik is the Managing Director of Kinnarps UK, part of Europe’s leading office furniture manufacturer, dedicated to creating workplaces that drive performance and wellbeing.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the global workplace and interiors industry, he has built a career around helping organisations unlock the potential of their people through better workplace strategy, thoughtful design, and strong leadership. Driven by a clear vision, he is passionate about creating workplaces that empower people to do their best work every day — environments that elevate performance, nurture wellbeing, and support people both mentally and physically in a rapidly evolving world of work.

Before joining Kinnarps UK, he spent almost a decade at Steelcase, the world’s leading office furniture company, where he developed deep insight into the global workplace through partnering with multinational clients and leading international teams.

As an organisational psychologist and with significant industry

experience, Sharon researches, writes and facilitates experiential

learning in topics around new leadership logics for the 21st century;

leadership agility; polarity management; integrative thinking; engagement

and motivation; cognitive diversity and psychological safety; and

emotional resiliency.

Recent Article by Sharon for Dansk HR from p.20

Dr Aarti Anhal is a resilience and transformation specialist who helps organisations and their people perform at their best during times of disruption and uncertainty. As founder of before nine, Aarti works with senior leaders and HR professionals to build resilient organisations that unlock performance, agility, and growth in their people when challenge and change arrive. Her approach integrates positive psychology, evidence-based behavioural science, and practical business expertise.

Aarti brings over 15 years of experience advising FTSE 250 companies, government agencies, and critical infrastructure organisations on risk, crisis management, and organisational resilience. Before founding before nine, she was UK Chief Operating Officer at 4C Strategies, where she established and scaled the Swedish firm's UK business.

Aarti holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, and is an EMCC-accredited coach.

A sought-after facilitator and keynote speaker, she creates engaging, interactive experiences that help leaders move from insight to action.

Katrin Norell is a Partner in EY’s People Advisory Services (PAS) Tax team, based in Stockholm, Sweden. She has served as the Country Leader for Tax & Law Sweden since 2020 and, as of July 2025, she also holds the role of Europe Central PAS Tax Leader. Furthermore, she was the PAS Tax Sweden Leader between the years 2016-2026.

Katrin advises multinational organizations on cross-border individual taxation, social security and employer obligations. With over 20 years of experience in Swedish and international tax matters, she supports clients in managing complex global mobility programs and establishing robust internal structures and processes for the operational handling of expatriates, ensuring policy alignment and compliance.

She has extensive experience leading large, multinational engagements and works closely with HR, payroll, and finance functions to implement efficient and sustainable solutions. Katrin also advises incentive programs, both from a compliance perspective and in the design and management of such programmes.

Furthermore, Katrin is a Certified Tax Advisor accredited by FAR and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Stockholm University. She has also studied international tax law, comparative law and IT law at the University of Aix-en-Provence, France.