Team

Dr. Jillian Michelle Pandor (PhD) Board of Advisors I have been extremely fortunate to spend the better part of the last two decades working in a field I am deeply passionate about—a field that prides itself on shaping minds, both young and experienced, for the unpredictable future that lies ahead. Throughout my journey, I have witnessed first-hand the evolving challenges that the education sector faces. Emerging technologies continue to reshape our focus from “product” to “process,” and educators have become increasingly responsible not only for delivering content, but also for cultivating learning, curiosity, and adaptability. We must assess learning in more nuanced ways while striking a delicate balance: encouraging students to question, to challenge, and to think independently, while simultaneously equipping them with the capacity to unlearn and relearn as the world around them shifts. I consider myself not only an educator, but also an educational researcher and a lifelong learner. I have had the privilege of working across K–12 and higher education contexts in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. These experiences allowed me to observe diverse academic cultures, yet across all of them I noticed a consistent truth: successful learning is anchored in three foundational elements—rigor, relevance, and relationships. Regardless of geographical or cultural background, the most meaningful learning occurs when these three elements intersect. My own academic path reflects this global perspective. From my formative K–12 and undergraduate years in the United States, to completing my Master’s and PhD in Spain, I experienced firsthand the rich juxtapositions that define modern education. I became particularly intrigued by how international students navigate unfamiliar academic landscapes and, more importantly, why they often struggle to acclimate. This curiosity ultimately shaped my PhD dissertation on foreign student integration in new academic contexts. My research findings reinforced what I had long felt intuitively: teaching is fundamentally a human-centered art form. True rigor emerges only when authentic relationships are built, and when content becomes relevant to a learner’s personal context, identity, and future aspirations. This belief was further solidified when I began teaching in a Master of Education program in the UAE, where I mentored experienced teachers and school leaders from diverse backgrounds. While I introduced them to the latest research and best practices in education, it became increasingly clear that effective teaching is not about reciting theory. Rather, it is about creating the conditions in which students can experience learning in authentic, meaningful ways. Today, as Chair of the Department of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai, I oversee the largest academic department on campus and ensure excellence in the delivery of our General Education program. In the American higher education model, General Education serves as a bridge between K–12 learning and university specialization, broadening students’ perspectives beyond their major fields. Whether through creative writing, psychology, public speaking, or other disciplines, our aim is to help students implicitly build the soft skills needed for success in the modern workplace. Yet despite our best efforts, industry continues to signal a persistent gap—one that cannot be addressed by traditional academic approaches alone. This is where Skills Shift captured my interest. Soft skills have long been perceived as intangible, innate, or secondary to academic achievement. But in my own professional experience—leading a team of nearly 45 academics and navigating complex, often sensitive situations—my success has never relied solely on my PhD. It has come from learning to listen, to connect dots between stakeholders, to take calculated risks, to negotiate conflict, and to adapt to continuous change. These are skills I learned through experience, not explicit instruction. In my work as an Advisory Board Member for two K–12 schools in the UAE, I see the same question emerging repeatedly: how do we differentiate in an increasingly competitive education market? How do we better align degrees with career prospects and employer expectations? What if there is a solution that complements traditional academics—a “yes, and” approach that provides a framework on top of discipline-specific content, helping students master the art of navigating challenge and change? What if we could shorten the on-the-job learning curve and strengthen students’ resilience from the start? These questions are exactly why I have joined the Skills Shift journey as an Advisory Board Member. I believe this unique approach has the potential to create truly transformative impact—one that prepares learners not just for today’s world, but for the world still unfolding. Evidence Based Approach Ensure soft-skills training deliver soft-skills as teachable and research-backed competency that is supported by academic rigor, grounded in research and pedagogy. Strengthening Employablity Insight into ways to close employability gap through addressng needs in communication, adaptability, critical thinking and reslience. Institutional Leadership Dr. Pandor’s experience in departmental leadership in education demonstrates skills in navigating complex, sensitive environments, listening, sensemaking, negotiation, conflict management, risk taking, and adaptability. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Dr. Jillian Michelle Pandor PhD. differentiates Skills Shift by grounding human skills in academic rigor, bridging the persistent gap between education and employability, and exemplifying leadership rooted in lived human experience rather than credentials alone. Together, these themes give Skills Shift credibility, relevance, and defensibility in a crowded market, and create clear value for customers navigating change in the age of AI. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help you and your organisation. Contact Us

Rama Syahrul Operations Advisor With more than two decades of experience across professional services, enterprise technology, digital transformation, and organisational change, my career has taken me through complex, high pressure environments. These are environments where outcomes are rarely determined by technical capability alone, but by the ability to understand people, influence decisions, and build trust through uncertainty. Early on, I noticed a consistent pattern. The hardest problems were not technical. They were human. Projects succeeded or failed based on communication quality, emotional intelligence, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders toward shared outcomes. Managing these human dynamics proved far more challenging than solving deterministic technical problems, and it fundamentally shaped how I approached my work and my career. Consulting gave me exposure to mentors, frameworks, and real world situations that revealed there is an entire discipline behind perceiving, influencing, and shaping human behaviour. I learned how storytelling, structured communication, and thoughtful facilitation can build consensus, navigate difficult conversations, and influence belief. Most importantly, I learned that trust is not assumed. It is built deliberately through behaviour, consistency, and empathy. At Accenture, I helped shape, plan, and execute large scale digital transformation programs for major organisations. My role extended beyond delivery into facilitating executive alignment, shaping business narratives, and guiding decision making in ambiguous environments. Storytelling and influence were essential in enabling investment decisions and sustaining long term transformation efforts across complex stakeholder landscapes. Later at a rapidly growing SaaS startup, holding regional leadership role, I was accountable for building and scaling consulting and delivery organisations across Asia Pacific. Much of my work involved managing difficult conversations, de escalating conflict, re establishing credibility, and rebuilding trust with customers. These experiences reinforced my belief that commercial success is deeply rooted in human capability. One of the most meaningful parts of my leadership journey was developing people. I designed curriculum and coaching frameworks to help highly technical consultants evolve into trusted advisors. By focusing on communication, influence, and client value creation, we enabled teams to engage executives with confidence, advise rather than simply deliver, and build stronger long term relationships with customers and partners. More recently, I worked closely with founders and leadership teams of growing organisations, helping them assess talent capability, align skills to shifting industry demands, and sharpen their value proposition. In an era of rapid technological change, sustainable growth depends even more on people who can think critically, communicate clearly, and lead with empathy. I co-founded Skills Shift because I believe the rise of artificial intelligence makes human skills more important, not less. They are essential life skills that enable better decisions, stronger relationships, and more meaningful outcomes in business, education, and life. Driving Measurable Outcomes Practical experience applying communication, storytelling, influence, and emotional intelligence to secure investment decisions, recover at risk accounts, grow revenue, and scale organisations. Building Trust from Expertise Led highly technical teams of engineers, architects, developers and consultants, and helped them communicate value, influence stakeholders, and engage executives whilst leveraging technical credibility and excellence. Human Capability as Differentiator Rama has designed and led capability development at organisational scale to complement core value proposition, align with Go To Market strategy and strengthen market differentiation. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Rama’s experience differentiates Skills Shift in three fundamental ways. He connects human skills to real business outcomes. He bridges technical excellence with trusted advisory presence. He also designs human capability as a system that scales and endures. Together, these themes give Skills Shift credibility, relevance, and defensibility in a crowded market, and create clear value for customers navigating change in the age of AI. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help you and your organisation. Contact Us

Myrto-Helena Pertsinidi My professional journey is guided by a strong belief that learning becomes truly meaningful when it connects knowledge with experience, people, and purpose. I am motivated by the idea that education should be experiential, participatory, and rooted in real life, enabling people of all ages to grow, adapt, and navigate complexity with confidence. Through my studies in International and European Politics at the University of Edinburgh, and in International Relations with a focus on the Mediterranean region at the University of the Aegean and Université Paris Nanterre, combined with extensive international experience, I developed strong critical thinking and analytical skills, along with the ability to communicate across cultures and contexts. Living, studying, and volunteering in different European environments, as well as beyond Europe, strengthened my adaptability and intercultural awareness and helped me understand how deeply context, culture, and perspective shape the way people learn, communicate, and collaborate. A key turning point in my path was my early engagement with learner-centred and non-formal education approaches. This shifted my focus from content delivery to learning design, placing the learner and their experience at the centre of the process. At the same time, my long-standing connection to creativity and culture has strongly influenced my work. I have consistently drawn on creative practices in my professional activities, designing learning experiences that use artistic and creative tools to make learning more engaging, accessible, and meaningful. For more than fifteen years, I have worked in the education and cultural sectors, focusing on international project development, proposal writing, educational programme design, event management, and the coordination of multidisciplinary teams. At Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V., a Germany-based sociocultural and educational organisation, I serve as Deputy Chair and Senior Programme Manager. In this role, I design, coordinate, and oversee international projects and their educational outputs in the fields of youth work, education, culture, and social inclusion. Being an integral part of the organisation for over fifteen years, I have gained extensive experience in working with diverse teams and contributing to the organisation’s strategic direction. My experience has shown me that both younger generations and professionals increasingly need skills that go beyond formal education or technical expertise. The ability to communicate clearly, think critically, reflect on information, and engage constructively with different perspectives has become essential for working, learning, and acting responsibly in today’s societies. Non-formal education, experiential learning, creativity, and intercultural exchange are not simply approaches I apply in my work; they form the foundation of my professional identity. They shape how I lead, collaborate, and design learning environments grounded in empathy, resilience, and purpose. This path has led me to my role on the Founders Board of Skills Shift, where I contribute to initiatives that strengthen human skills in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven world.   Human Centred Learning Human Centred Learning Myrto’s grounding in education, international relations, and cultural work allows her to craft learning experiences that feel relevant, inclusive, and emotionally resonant. Cross Culture Intelligence Cross Culture Intelligence Her work in international education and sociocultural projects fosters inclusive dialogue and create psychologically safe learning environments by navigating differences in norms, values and communication style. Program Delivery Excellence Myrto’s experience in programme coordination and international project management helps translate vision into execution by managing stakeholders, timelines, partners, facilitators, and participants. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Myrto’s experience differentiates Skills Shift by ensuring learning is deeply human, culturally intelligent, and operationally sound. She transforms soft skills from abstract concepts into engaging experiences, ensures global relevance through inclusive design, and delivers programmes with consistency and care. Together, these themes give Skills Shift credibility, relevance, and defensibility in a crowded market, and create clear value for customers navigating change in the age of AI. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help you and your organisation. Contact Us

Stefan Kiehne | Advisory Board Member at Skills Shift “Sustainable growth starts with people; their skills, their agency, and their ability to adapt.” This belief has guided my professional journey and reflects my commitment to human-centred development, lifelong learning, and responsible leadership. I am driven by the conviction that organisations and communities grow sustainably when learning, inclusion, and ethical decision-making are embedded in their structures and everyday practice. My work is shaped by values of adaptability, collaboration, social responsibility, and long-term impact. I hold an academic background in Political and Social Sciences from TU Dresden, which shaped my understanding of social structures, governance, and civic engagement. From an early stage, I have combined theoretical insight with hands-on practice in community-based cultural and youth work. I am the founder and Chair of Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V. (JKPeV), an organisation established in Dresden in 2004 and rooted in the values of cultural diversity, active citizenship, and social inclusion. In this role, I am responsible for the strategic, financial, legal, and operational management of the organisation, ensuring that creative ambition is supported by sustainable structures and sound governance. Over the years, I have led and monitored the implementation of numerous European, national, regional, and local projects, including training courses, summer camps, seminars, conferences and artistic residencies. My responsibilities span project design and coordination, financial oversight, organisational development, and long-term strategic planning. Alongside this work, I have been actively involved as a board member and volunteer in youth and cultural centres and have organised cultural and music festivals across Saxony for more than fifteen years. Through these activities, I have developed extensive expertise in event management, logistics, coordination, and financial administration. Beyond JKPeV, I serve as Chair of KulturBüro, contributing my practical experience to board-level discussions and strategic decision-making in support of cultural initiatives and collaborative governance. I am also the initiator of the Full Moon Gallery, a monthly exhibition format bringing contemporary art into public space, and the founder of KulturCentrale, a multifunctional cultural venue that has become a vibrant hub for artists, cultural professionals, academics, activists, and young people. These initiatives have contributed significantly to the cultural life of Dresden’s Hechtviertel and strengthened connections between creative communities and the wider public. My life path and professional journey in community-based cultural work have shaped my commitment to meaningful, responsible leadership. Through many years of hands-on engagement at local and international levels, I have gained deep insight into navigating complex environments and supporting initiatives that balance strategic vision with practical implementation. This path has led me to join the Skills Shift Advisory Board, where I offer advice and insights grounded in real-world experience, governance awareness, and an operational perspective, alongside a strong commitment to human-centred and sustainable growth. Human Centred Operations Human Centred Operations Stefan’s experience allows Skills-Shift to credibly demonstrate that its human-skills philosophy is compatible with governance, accountability, and institutional rigor, particularly important for public sector, education, and partner organisations. Community-Based Learning & Ecosystem Community-Based Learning & Ecosystem Stefan helps Skills-Shift’s to be a community-driven capability platform founded on engagement, peer learning, and ecosystem growth rather than purely transactional training models. Multi Stakeholder Environments Stefan’s work spans local, national, and European projects, involving public institutions, cultural organisations, volunteers, artists, youth groups, and funding bodies. This involved continuous negotiation, coordination, and alignment across diverse interests and cultural contexts. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Stefan Kiehne differentiates Skills-Shift by anchoring its human-skills mission in real governance, community-based learning, and the practical navigation of complex stakeholder environments. His experience ensures that Skills-Shift’s approach to communication, influence, and leadership is not only human-centred, but operationally credible and institutionally relevant. Contact Us

Fawzi Fares Chief Learning Officer I’ve spent more than 26 years in the IT industry, but the most important things I’ve learned were never written in any technical specification. Early in my career, I realised that the difference between a solution that works on paper and a solution that works in reality is almost never about the technology — it’s about the people. I started out as a technologist who loved solving complex problems. But along the way, I found myself drawn to the moments in a project that technology alone couldn’t fix: misaligned expectations, unclear communication, frustrated teams, or a client who didn’t feel understood. Those moments taught me that architecture isn’t just about systems — it’s about clarity, trust, and helping people move forward together. That shift shaped my entire career. As a consultant and solution architect, I became the person teams called when things were complicated, sensitive, or stuck. I helped translate business needs into clean solutions, guided stakeholders through ambiguity, and built the human alignment needed for real progress. Mentoring naturally followed. I saw talented technical professionals who struggled not because of their expertise, but because they didn’t yet have the tools to navigate communication, influence, or collaboration. Helping them grow into confident advisors became one of the most rewarding part of my work. My entrepreneurial path began with co-founding CloudSense, where I led the design of its CPQ and order management platform. What started as a small idea grew into a global business — one that ultimately achieved a successful exit. That experience taught me the reality of building something from the ground up: the strategy, the pressure, the resilience, and above all, the importance of people who can communicate clearly and lead with trust. Today, with Skills Shift, I’m bringing all these experiences together — the technical depth, the consulting mindset, the entrepreneurial lessons, and the belief that human skills are what truly drive transformation. Technology will keep evolving. Complexity isn’t going away. But clarity, communication, and human connection will always determine what actually succeeds. 26+ Years in IT & Digital Transformation Led complex enterprise solutions across telecommunications and technology sectors, translating business needs into scalable architectures that drive real business value. Solution Architect & Trusted Advisor Bridges the gap between technical complexity and business clarity, helping teams navigate ambiguity and build alignment when projects are complicated or stuck. Co-Founder with Successful Exit Built and scaled a global SaaS startup from concept to successful exit. Combining technical depth with entrepreneurial resilience and strategic leadership to drive customer outcomes. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Whether you’re an individual seeking to future-proof your capabilities, an organisation looking to build competitive advantage through human skills, or a partner interested in systemic change, Skills Shift offers a proven pathway forward. Contact Us

Omar Paul CEO Having always been curious about how things work, be it technology or business, I have been fascinated by what sits beneath the surface. The written strategies, the structures and the technology platforms give part of the picture, yet the real forces are often not obvious. They appear in how people think, how they respond to pressure, how they interact with one another and how they make sense of and adapt to situations that keep changing. That curiosity shaped every step of my career. I began in the world of enterprise technology where the work was precise and structured. But I soon realised that systems alone never determined success. Meaningful change came from clarity, alignment and the ability to bring people together around a shared purpose. Once that happened, the technology found its place naturally. That perspective has been with me throughout my entire journey. At DMCC in Dubai, I helped shape a transformation that strengthened the experience for every investor and employee, contributing to the free zone becoming recognised as the best in the world. At EE in the United Kingdom, I helped design the merger that created the largest mobile operator in the country, bringing coherence and stability at a time when customers and teams needed it most. At CloudSense, I worked with a small group of passionate people and helped them grow into what became the fastest growing Salesforce Platinum Partner of its era, creating solutions that made customer interactions simpler and more meaningful. At Makepositive, I supported the evolution of the business in a way that brought teams together, improved customer outcomes and eventually led to a successful exit. These achievements mattered, not because of the recognition that followed but because of what they revealed. In every case, the real breakthrough came from people. It came from understanding individual motivations, creating trust, simplifying complicated environments and helping teams feel confident in their direction. My passion for customer experience grew from the same place. Customers remember how you made them feel long after they forget the features you delivered. I saw this truth repeated across government, luxury retail, hospitality, aviation and media. When you design with empathy and remove friction, the entire organisation becomes stronger. Over time, my work evolved into the role leaders turned to when situations were delicate or unclear. Whether advising governments on ecosystem scale up, guiding free zones on investor experience, helping media groups modernise their platforms or supporting national programmes in shaping citizen journeys, my value came from seeing the entire system and translating it into something people could act on with confidence. Mentoring became a natural extension. Everywhere I went, I met people with deep technical talent who struggled not with capability but with influence, communication or situational judgement. Helping them find their voice and build their own clarity became one of the most rewarding parts of my work. Beyond my professional life, I served as a school governor in the UK. That experience grounded me in a different kind of responsibility. It taught me that education is not about preparing children for our world. It is about preparing them for a world none of us can fully imagine. The pace of change is faster than anything previous generations experienced. The skills that will matter most are confidence, curiosity, empathy, communication and the ability to adapt with grace. That truth continues to influence the way I work and the way I teach. Skills Shift was created from all of these experiences. It brings together everything I have learned across government, enterprise, technology, customer experience, leadership and education. It is grounded in a simple belief. Human capability will always sit at the centre of real transformation. The ability to create clarity, to communicate with intention and to build trust in uncertain environments is what truly moves organisations forward. Technology will keep evolving. Markets will keep shifting. New platforms will continue to reshape how we work. Yet the people who can think clearly, connect meaningfully and bring coherence to complex situations will always be the ones who shape the future. That is the purpose of Skills Shift. To help people grow in the ways that matter most. Global Transformation Leader Led ambitious CRM and experience programmes in enterprise contexts across the Middle East and beyond, delivering measurable business outcomes at scale. Integration of AI & Human Design Integration of AI & Human Design Applies data, automation and AI as enablers of human-centred outcomes, not substitutes for them—ensuring technology amplifies human capability. Board & Executive Adviser Regularly guides C-suite teams to align strategy, technology and customer impact, bridging the gap between vision and execution. Ready to Shift Your Skills, Team or Organisation? Whether you’re an individual seeking to future-proof your capabilities, an organisation looking to build competitive advantage through human skills, or a partner interested in systemic change, Skills Shift offers a proven pathway forward. Omar’s experience demonstrates that sustainable competitive advantage comes not from technology alone, but from the strategic integration of business insight, technical capability and human excellence. Let’s explore how Skills Shift can accelerate your journey. Contact Us