The conference will feature keynote and invited addresses from leaders in inclusive education, higher education leadership and global talent strategy. These contributions will connect debates on inclusion in schools and universities with wider conversations about organisational culture, diversity and the future of work.
Prof. Colin Calleja
Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Malta
Colin Calleja is Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. He has extensive experience in teacher education, educational leadership, and inclusive education, and has worked closely with schools and policymakers to strengthen inclusion in the Maltese education system.
Prof. Catia Giaconi
President of SIPeS, Italy
Catia Giaconi is Professor of Didactics and Special Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education and Vice-rector of the University of Macerata. She is President of the Italian Society of Special Pedagogy. Her work focuses on special and inclusive pedagogy, life project planning, and quality of life for people with disabilities. She has contributed to national and international research networks on inclusion and support across the life span.
Prof. Paola Aiello
Director, Department of Humanities, Philosophy and Education, University of Salerno, Italy
Paola Aiello is Professor of Didactics and Special Pedagogy and Director of the Department of Humanities, Philosophy and Education at the University of Salerno. She is Vice President of the Italian Society of Special Pedagogy. Her research addresses inclusive teacher education, teacher agency, school inclusion, and the study of instructional tools and strategies that promote the teaching–learning process from an inclusive perspective.
Roselyn Cason Marcus
Global Director, Senior Talent Attraction and Affinity, McKinsey and Company
Roselyn Cason Marcus is Global Director, Senior Talent Attraction and Affinity at McKinsey and Company. She has extensive experience in executive-level talent attraction, leadership assessment and coaching in professional services. At McKinsey, Roselyn leads a global team focused on attracting senior talent and increasing diverse representation at leadership levels.
Roselyn has previously served as Global Leader for Black senior recruiting and retention. Beyond McKinsey, she collaborates with organisations such as Arms Around the Child, which provides safe and caring homes for children living in adversity, and the Amos Bursary, which supports boys of African and Caribbean heritage to realise their full potential. McKinsey partners with organisations worldwide to innovate sustainably and inclusively, achieve lasting performance gains, and build workforces that can thrive now and in the future.
Rosa M. Colon-Kolacko, PhD.,
President and Principal Consultant, Adjunct Professor, Tufts University
Former CLO, CPO, CDEIO, Health Equity Executive, CM/OD, IT/AI Expert
Dr Colon-Kolacko is a recognised leader in inclusion, diversity, and equity. She has been a driving force behind transformative, equity-centred strategies across healthcare, government, academia, and global industry.
With more than 30 years of senior leadership experience, Dr Colon-Kolacko has held roles including Chief Learning Officer (CLO), Chief People Officer (CPO), Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer (CDEIO), and Health Equity Executive. Her work consistently focuses on advancing racial and health equity, embedding inclusive cultures, and redesigning systems to promote fairness, belonging, and organisational learning. Through GEL, she advises organisations on inclusion and equity strategy, cultural transformation, human capital, customer experience, and large-scale change management.
Previously, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Tufts Medicine, leading enterprise-wide equity and community health initiatives. As an Officer of the City of New York under Mayor Bill de Blasio, she was Senior Vice President and Chief People/Experience Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, responsible for workforce equity, employee experience, and organisational culture across a 60,000-strong workforce. She also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity and Learning Officer at Christiana Care Health System, among the first Chief Diversity Officers in U.S. healthcare.
Earlier in her career, Dr Colon-Kolacko led global change, equity-informed learning, and cultural transformation initiatives at Bristol Myers Squibb and SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline), spanning Asia, Europe, North America, and Puerto Rico. Her expertise also includes organisational development, IT/AI-enabled transformation, and large-scale systems implementation.
Bridging scholarship and practice, Prof. Colon-Kolacko is widely regarded as a beacon of influence in advancing inclusion and equity at both organisational and societal levels.
Dr Alistair De Gaetano, PhD
Chairperson of the Malta Autism Advisory Council
Dr De Gaetanois a leading Maltese policy expert, legal scholar, and advocate in the fields of disability rights and autism inclusion. He currently serves as an Administrator within the Maltese Government’s Directorate for Disability Issues (DDI) and as Chairperson of the Malta Autism Advisory Council, playing a central role in shaping Malta’s contemporary disability and autism policy landscape.
Dr de Gaetano was instrumental in establishing both the Directorate for Disability Issues and the Autism Advisory Council. His work has focused on developing and implementing key legislation, national strategies, and policy frameworks to reform and strengthen the disability and autism sectors in Malta, with a particular emphasis on rights-based, inclusive, and participatory approaches.
At the international level, he has represented Malta in numerous high-level negotiations and policy forums, including within the United Nations and the European Union. Notably, during Malta’s 2017 EU Presidency, he served as Vice-Chair of the Social Questions Working Party in negotiations on the European Accessibility Act, contributing to landmark legislation that improved accessibility and inclusion across EU Member States.
Dr de Gaetano is a warranted lawyer, having pursued his legal studies in Malta, Maastricht, and Dublin. He was awarded his PhD by Trinity College Dublin, following the successful defence of a doctoral dissertation examining the systematic denial of rights to autistic people, work that continues to inform his policy, advocacy, and advisory roles.
Alongside his governmental work, he has a long-standing background in disability and autism advocacy. He is a co-founder of the European Council of Autistic People (EUCAP) and has been actively involved in outreach and rights-based activism at the European level. More recently, he served on the Scientific Committee for the Autism-Europe 2025 Congress, contributing to advancing research-informed and inclusive discourse on autism across Europe.
Through his combined expertise in law, policy, and advocacy, Dr Alistair de Gaetano is widely recognised as a key figure in advancing inclusion, accessibility, and the human rights of autistic people and persons with disabilities in Malta and beyond.
