Dr. Bhavani Rao
UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Dean, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Amrita University, India
Dr. Bhavani Rao is the Dean of the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), a top-ranked University in India. She is the Director of two Research Centers: AMMACHI Labs (Amrita Multi Modal Applications and Human Computer Interaction) and the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality. She has been designated as India’s UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Her work focuses on empowering underserved communities, especially women in rural areas, through capacity building and vocational skills, using the latest technologies. Since 2009, she has led many projects funded by international, national and foreign organizations (including UN agencies and the Government of India).
Prof. JosAnn Cutajar
Gender and Sexualities Department, University of Malta
Keynote Speech Title
The Relevance of the EU in the Promotion of Gender Equality in Southern European Countries: The Case of Malta
JosAnn Cutajar is a lecturer in Gender and Sexualities Department at the University of Malta. She has over 20 years of professional experience as a gender and community development expert. She has worked as a consultant with various Maltese government entities. From 2017-2020 she acted as the coordinator for the Consultative Council for Women’s Rights within the Ministry for Justice, Equality and Governance. Between 2012-2017 she helped set up the Cottonera Resource Centre within the University of Malta as a university outreach post in a socially deprived area. This project won the 2016 EPALE award for community engagement. Her publications focus on community development and issues relating to gender and social justice. She has also been involved in a number of EU projects, namely GEPARD (Erasmus+), GenderAction (Horizon 2020) and reSEArch-EU (Horizon 2020).
Prof. Nalini Moodley
Executive Dean and Professor, Faculty of Arts and Design, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Keynote Speech Title
Gender-Based Realities in Higher Education Institutions. A Time To Focus
Prof Nalini Moodley is currently the Executive Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Design at the Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. She has a B.A (Fine Arts), M.A. (Art History) cum laude, a University Post Graduate Certificate in Education (cum laude) and completed her PhD in Art History that focused on the visual art produced by Indian South Africans. Professor Moodley also has an MBA in Education Management from the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Science in Finland which focused on the barriers for women in higher education leadership. She is currently the Chairperson of the Women in Leadership Forum and the Chair of the Task Team on Gender Based Violence at the Tshwane University of Technology. She is a mentor for HERSA offering mentorship for women in tertiary education and a member of the Advisory Council of the Oxford Women’s Leadership Symposium.
Dr. Rebecca Ranz
Sapir Academic College, Israel
Keynote Speech Title
Women As a Bridge to Religious Awareness: A Social Work Case Study
Dr. Rebecca Ranz (PhD.) is a Jewish religious woman. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Sapir Academic College in Israel. Dr. Ranz completed her first, second and third degrees in social work at The School of Social Work at Bar- Ilana University, Israel. She is the International Programs Coordinator for the School of Social Work at the Sapir Academic College. Her main areas of research are: Religion, Spirituality & Social Work and International Social Work. She has developed both classroom and virtual courses focused on the integration of spirituality and religion in social work.