Speakers and moderators
Nadine Burquel
Director General, HUMANE, BE
Nadine is the Director General of HUMANE. She works closely with the Chair and the governing bodies on HUMANE’s strategic developments. She manages the HUMANE Office to offer the membership an attractive portfolio of professional development and networking activities. She has been involved with HUMANE since its foundation in the mid-nineties, until December 2022 as Executive Director of the three residential schools (the Barcelona Winter School, the Berlin Summer School and the Asia School).
Nadine has extensive director level experience, having worked with multiple international non-profit organisations, university networks and international boards. She has wide knowledge of leadership, governance and management in higher education institutions, and the global trends in the higher education sector. As EFMD Director of Business School Services she was responsible for a wide portfolio of large global events and communities of practices, interacting with business schools and universities in the wider Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Gulf, as well as North and South America. More recently in Maastricht University she was strategic adviser to the leadership of the School of Business and Economics, advising on international accreditation, the internationalisation strategy, and delivering societal impact.
She has significant experience with EU (higher) education policy and programmes since the early days of the Erasmus programme. She has a strong track record of EU projects, leading large EU-funded European university networks and providing technical assistance to the European Commission. She is high level EU policy expert, working at system level in Brussels and beyond, carrying out capacity building and evaluations of EU interventions, having worked with EU Delegations in many countries.
Angela Clark
Head of Recruitment, University College London, UK
Angela Clark is a seasoned HR and talent management professional with over 25 years of experience in talent acquisition, organisational design, and HR transformation across financial services, technology, and higher education. As the Head of Recruitment at University College London (UCL), she leads a team of 28, driving strategic recruitment initiatives that enhance hiring efficiency, improve workforce diversity, and deliver substantial cost savings. Under her leadership, UCL has successfully reduced its time-to-hire by more than 50%, improved its recruitment service delivery through technology integration, and significantly increased applications from underrepresented groups.
Prior to UCL, Angela held senior talent leadership roles at Cognizant, Equiniti Group, NEST Corporation and Deutsche Bank where she spearheaded global hiring strategies, implemented recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) models, and led large-scale international workforce integration projects. At Cognizant, she played a pivotal role in scaling graduate and apprenticeship recruitment, optimising contractor management, and driving efficiencies that reduced cost-per-hire by 37%. Her expertise in international recruitment frameworks, contingent workforce strategies, and employer branding has positioned her as a thought leader in talent acquisition within complex, global environments.
Angela is passionate about leveraging data-driven talent strategies to support business transformation and international expansion and she will share insights on building scalable, inclusive models that align with organisational growth in an increasingly globalised talent market.
Riitta Silvennoinen
Chief Human Resources Officer, Aalto University, FI
Riitta Silvennoinen, MSc (Econ.), MBA, is responsible for the human resources management department, including competence and leadership development.
Her previous position was as Nokia’s VP, Global HR Centre of Expertise. She has been employed by Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Nokia Networks in a variety of human resources management roles since 1997.
Prior to this, she worked at the Helsinki School of Economics’ International Centre.
Andrea Silvestri
Director General, University of Turin, IT
Since 2021 Andrea Silvestri is the General Director of the University of Turin, the third in Italy by size, with 82,000 students and 4,500 staff.
As the University General Director, he is responsible for the overall organization and management of the services, leading the University staff, and managing the University infrastructures and financial resources.
Prior to joining the University of Turin, Andrea developed his professional career in the consultancy sector, in the mega events organisation (Olympic Winter Games) and in the philanthropic institutions, with different roles in Italian and European organisations.
He has been part of the governance of the European association of foundations (Philea, formerly EFC) and is currently a member of the Supervisory Board at the European Cultural Foundation.
Karen Vandevelde
HR Director, Antwerp University, BE
Karen Vandevelde is the HR Director at Antwerp University since 2018, after a long career as research policy advisor at Ghent University (2006-2018). She oversees the implementation of HR policies as well as their operational processes, including recruitment & selection, career development, appraisal & rewards systems and academic leadership. She represents Antwerp University in the HR Working group of the Flemish Rectors’ Conference (VLIR), in the Research Policy working group & Academic Careers working group of YERUN, and in the formal national negotiation committee of the government, union representatives and institutions.
Many of her pet projects are to be situated at the intersection of research policies and HR policies. She has taken on the role of Advisor or Expert in a number of working groups for the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation, the Flemish Royal Academy of Science and the Arts, the OECD (Careers of Doctorate Holders project), the European Commission (DG RTD) and a number of consultancy-led projects related to research policy, HR and researchers’ careers.
Karen is committed to making universities a great place to work, despite the increasing pressures on academics in terms of career insecurity, competitive funding acquisition, leadership challenges and work-life balance. In order to keep challenging her own career choices, she enjoys being a mentor in the postdoc career mentoring programmes of Antwerp University as well as Ghent University.
Karen holds a MA Degree from Ghent University (1996) and a PhD Degree in Arts (2001) from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Hertta Vuorenmaa
Research director Future of Work, Aalto University, School of Business; Chair, Finnish Association of Work Life Research (FI)
Hertta Vuorenmaa is a University Lecturer (tenure) of Management at Hanken School of Economics and Director of the Future of Work research program. She is also Chair of the Finnish Association of Work Life Research (FAWORE). Vuorenmaa is an experienced researcher and educator with a background in large-scale research projects funded by the Academy of Finland, focusing on themes such as well-being at work, people management, and gender inequalities.
Her current research explores the impact of artificial intelligence, remote and hybrid work, organisational transformation, human-centered work design, future work skills and learning, and workforce diversity and inclusion.
She has extensive experience teaching and training across academic levels, from bachelor’s to doctoral programs, as well as MBA and EMBA programs, and has taught in Finland (Hanken, Aalto University, University of Helsinki) and internationally (e.g Poland, South Korea, Singapore, and Spain).
Her executive training portfolio includes topics such as Global and Strategic HRM, the transformation of work, organisational culture, inclusive leadership, and issues of gender and diversity in the workplace.