Athena Liu is leading on Government Relations at Pearson and also the Chair of the International Publishers Coalition in China (IPCC).

She is a professional with over 15 years of experience in the international education sectors. She began her career focusing on international collaborations in higher education at Chinese organizations before joining the British Council, where she established initiatives for bilateral collaborations at government and institutional levels. In 2020, Athena joined Pearson, where she applies her expertise in China strategies, government relations, risk management and negotiation. She has built a trusted and extensive network in central and local governments in education and professional services sectors.

As Chair of the International Publishers Coalition in China (IPCC), she fosters collaboration among international publishing companies with Chinese government authorities and industrial partners. Athena believes that learning new skills drives positive social mobility and emphasizes the importance of understanding diversity as a foundation for successful collaborations.

Julian is the co-founder of Venture Education, Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China and Chair of the Chamber's Education Forum.
 
Julian spent nearly a decade teaching history and history of art in Harrow Beijing (which he joined in its founding year) while also working as an IELTS examiner for the British Council.

In the latter job, speaking to thousands of Chinese students, he understood first hand the challenges that many of them faced in developing confidence, making ideas happen and moving beyond education to lead fulfilling and meaningful careers and lives. Then he met Zhubei and in the first year of Venture they talked. A lot. He leads the consultancy arm of Venture that supports schools, universities and education organisations to thrive in China.

Julian is the Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China and Chair of the Chamber’s Education Forum which includes driving initiatives such as Employability Week and the Young Professionals Development Programme. He is also a mentor for Durham University, former president of the China North Entrepreneurs’ Organization and a strategic advisor for the innovative edtech platform Globiliti. He graduated with a joint degree in History of Art from UCL and SOAS and has a masters in Antiques from UCLAN.

As the Secretary-general of IPCC, Helen is part of the 2025 IPCC leadership team, assist IPCC chair in overall operations, connecting all IPCC members to continually contribute to publishing, copy rights, and education areas.
Meanwhile, Helen plays as the Head of Campaign for Pearson ELL (English Language Learning) in China, responsible for brand and campaign management and performance. Before joining Pearson as a Product Marketing Manager, Helen was a successful English teacher for young children, a lecturer in college, and the academic manager in language learning institutions, online education companies and a leading publishing group in China.

Ms. Tian Hao has 18 years of experience in the Science, Technology and Medical Education Publishing industry. She currently serves as the General Manager of MPS Greater China. She oversees the product localization, sales marketing promotion, and operational management of MPS’s products—such as educational learning platforms (OWL Learning, TOPSIM, EI Design), scientific research services (AJE), and publishing platforms (HighWire)—across the Greater China region. Previously, she held various leadership roles at Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, and Springer Nature, driving business localization and growth in Greater China. Beyond her corporate roles, Ms. Tian chairs the IPCC Education Publishing Working Group, sits on the board of the Alliance for Scientific Editing in China, and is a member of the Financial Times Women-in-Business Asia Forum. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Nanjing University and dual master’s degrees from Nanjing University and Uppsala University in Sweden. She is currently pursuing an Executive MBA degree through the Tsinghua-INSEAD EMBA program.

Catriona MacLeod Stevenson is General Counsel and Deputy CEO of the Publishers Association.

Catriona is part of the PA’s senior management team, advisor to its Board, and holds shared overall organisational responsibility. Catriona leads the PA’s industry-leading legal and content protection & enforcement functions and provides fundamental support to wider organisational policy and government affairs work. Catriona’s recent work has included legal and policy support to publishers on AI and copyright matters, assistance to international law enforcement in the global shutdown of notorious pirate network, Z-Library, and coordination of a broad pirate website blocking order in the UK High Court.

Catriona is Co-Chair of the Copyright Committee of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and represents UK publishing at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). She sits on the board of the British Copyright Council as well as a number of prominent UK IPO stakeholder

Yosef Karasik is the Director of Educational Technology and Innovation at Dulwich College Beijing

In this role, Yosef leads a team of instructional technology coaches supporting cross-campus teaching, learning, and innovation through digital transformation. Since establishing the College’s Centre for Educational Technology and Innovation (CETI), he has driven the strategic integration of technology into interdisciplinary curricula, with a strong focus on real-world learning and responsible AI adoption in schools.

Under his leadership, Dulwich College Beijing received the inaugural China Schools Award in Science and Technology for its pioneering work in AI and education. Yosef also developed the school’s award-shortlisted FutureTech curriculum, blending emerging technologies with global challenges to create authentic, future-focused learning. A strong believer in bridging the classroom with the world beyond, he has built impactful partnerships with universities and industry—co-hosting Planet Hack with the Australian National University, serving as a founding member of the AWS DeepRacer League in China, and most recently collaborating with HP and Intel to launch a dedicated AI Innovation Lab on campus. This new space is designed to inspire students and educators to explore and develop cutting-edge AI and technology-driven projects.

A regular speaker at regional education and EdTech conferences (including ACAMIS, 21CLHK, and Learning2), Yosef brings the grounded perspective of a teacher and school leader to the dialogue on AI in education—balancing innovation with pedagogy, opportunity with ethics.

Donald is the Head of Education at the British Council China and the regional lead for international mobility.

He has over 18 years of international education experience in Singapore, the UK and China, and deep knowledge in the higher education partnerships, transnational education, science and research collaborations. With a strong track record of market insight analysis in fostering bilateral and multi-lateral education collaborations, key stakeholder management of government relationships and higher education institutions, corporate partnership management and business development.

With a rich 20+ years’ experience in international education as well as solid knowledge and strong networks with institutions and governments both in the UK and China, Ruoshui oversees all the operations for Trinity in the region.

Ruoshui lived and worked in the UK for more than ten years before returning to China in 2014. She has worked on senior roles at various institutions and educational companies both in the UK and China extensively leading on successful projects and operations of educational and arts collaborations, initiatives, and partnerships.

Guy Dru Drury is Managing Director of Coventry University Group (CUG) in China, leading its strategic engagement, partnerships, and profile-building across the region.
A fluent Mandarin speaker with over 18 years' experience in UK-China-Asia relations, Guy previously served as China Chief Representative for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), where he established the Beijing office and expanded operations across Asia Pacific.
At CUG, he drives transnational education, research collaboration, managing a team based in Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Hainan. Awarded an MBE for services to UK-China business in 2017.

Yan Fang is a Level 3 EPQ Exam Officer with over 8 years experience delivering ASDAN's offering in providing a wide choice of activity-based programmes and nationally approved qualifications based around the development of personal, social and employability skills. Yan Fang is passionate in discovering imaginative ways of developing, assessing and certificating young people’s knowledge and skills development.