Meet the judges

As CEO of COBIS, Colin works with British International schools across more than 80 countries worldwide.

Representing the sector, he’s appointed to the UK Government’s international Education Sector Advisory group and the UCAS International Advisory Group. Plus, he’s a founding member of the International Task Force on Child Protection, a Trustee of the British School in Tokyo.

He has taught in the UK, Asia and Europe working with the Department for Education in the UK and with the Government Office for London has led educational projects on a global scale.

Safeguarding is of paramount importance to COBIS and Colin has a strong partnership with ACRO, cementing COBIS’ position as the founding Global Ambassador for the International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC), and our commitment to keeping children safe around the globe.

Natasha Hilton is an experienced primary school leader who has been in education for over 16 years. After leading in inner city schools in London in the UK she moved into international education in the Middle East.

She moved to Qatar as Head of Primary at Park House English School last year after a successful six years as part of the leadership team at British School Muscat, Oman.

Natasha is a strategic lead for WomenEd and on the board of advisors for TES. She works with BSME and is leading the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion network.

Kirsty is a committed lifelong learner and endeavours to understand the specific needs and cultural expectations of the multicultural groups she works with, focusing on adapting teaching and learning around this understanding using a transformational approach.

She currently leads Continuous Professional Development at the Institute of Learning in Wellington College China. She’s a highly experienced and outstanding teacher and lecturer with knowledge and expertise across the primary age range and within the higher education sector where she worked with future teachers in Initial Teacher Education, leading Primary English. She’s also passionate about developing teachers to excel.

John started his working career in banking (The Midland Bank - or now HSBC) before pursuing his teaching qualification at The University of Wales, Trinity College in Carmarthen.  He took up his first appointment as a teacher in 1976. 

In 1986, John embarked on his International career in teaching/leadership in Hong Kong, and has since worked in Malaysia, Indonesia and Lao. He now works out of Bangkok in Thailand as the CEO of FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) which has a membership of nearly 100 premier British International Schools across 19 countries in the continent of Asia.

Liz Free CEO and Director of the International School Rheintal, an IB continuum school in Switzerland.

She is a globally recognised educator with expertise leading some of the world's most successful schools and in leading teacher professional learning at OUP, Oxford University and as founding Director of the International Leadership Academy in The Hague.

Alongside this work, Liz is a founding trustee of the global charity WomenEd and board member for the Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS) and TES Global. Liz is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Fellow of RSA.

An educator for over thirty years in international education, Ms. Vanita Uppal OBE is the Director of The British School New Delhi.

She is the proud recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her services to British education in an international context, becoming the only Indian serving principal to receive this honour.

Under her leadership, the school has won global acclaim and prestigious international awards such as the TOP British School in the world (2018). She is a member of the IB Heads Council and Vice Chair of the Executive Board of FOBISIA.

Debra Forsyth has been dedicated to education for over 30 years since starting her career teaching Chemistry in London.

A move to the emergent city of Abu Dhabi in 1987 ignited Debra’s life-long passion for international education. She has since capitalised on the opportunity to work with children and educators from around the world in a variety of fascinating locations, including Muscat, Damascus, Vienna and Sharjah.

Debra has worked across a wide range of educational systems and establishments and held a variety of senior leadership and advisory roles.

Dr Nicole Bien is Chief Schools Officer at the International Baccalaureate (IB) and has also served as Global Director of Learning and Teaching leading all aspects of programme and curriculum design for IB’s four programmes.

After a career in strategy, marketing and product development at Fortune 500 companies, Dr Bien began her work in the education sector as an advocate for at-risk youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Dr Nicole Bien has extensive international experience having lived and worked in Europe, Asia, Australia and now America.  She holds a PhD and MA in education from the University of Sydney, an MBA from Columbia University Business School, and a BA from Yale University.

Helen Morgan is Head of Leadership Development and Learning at ECIS. She collaborates with schools, groups and organisations to design and deliver impactful training, coaching and consultancy. She has a track record of building strong relationships with some of the most influential and innovative international schools in the world.

Prior to her role at ECIS, Helen worked extensively as an independent educational consultant with a range of international schools and organisations including Cambridge International and High Performance Learning.

Helen is also an accredited Senior Practitioner Coach with the European Coaching and Mentoring Council, empowering executive leaders to drive improvement. She has a Master’s degree in education and holds the National Professional Qualification for Headship.