About Us

About Us

A cross-sector, interdisciplinary innovation platform, committed to advancing the use of science and technology to improve the outcomes for learners of all ages through systemic transformation

The GLC was founded in September 2014 by Subra Suresh – then President of Carnegie Mellon University – along with a distinguished international advisory board of thought leaders and practitioners to identify practices that help maximize the potential of technology-aided learning practices at universities through the science of learning.

GLC brings together thought leaders and practitioners in the effective use of technology to discuss and address system-level pathways that enhance access to education and improve learning outcomes for people of all ages and backgrounds.

GLC has assembled a strong multi-sector group of leaders, philanthropists, policy makers, and experts who will serve as Advisory Board Members and Members of Committee of Experts and Partners. They collectively provide significant domain expertise to help effect systemic transformation at scale in the science and practice of education and learning.

Our Commitment

Digitization and technology will continue to transform our lives and livelihoods and impact humanity in many intended and unintended ways. It has the potential to improve education and learning at all stages of life for people from all walks of life and geographical backgrounds. It has also markedly compressed the time horizon for the adoption of technology-enabled learning for children, adults and the elderly.

While global access to information is an important requisite for individuals to gain knowledge, it alone does not effectively and lastingly improve learning outcomes. As seen during the Covid-19 global pandemic, about one half of the world population does not have access to the internet, and millions of school children and university students from under-privileged backgrounds and under-developed regions were disproportionately disadvantaged because of the lack of availability of quality education, both in person and online. And yet, the global pandemic significantly accelerated technology deployment for commerce, personal life, and professional interactions on an unprecedented scale. These and other inequities within and among developed and developing nations with respect to opportunities for learning and for access to the internet, information and educational materials have also been exposed during the global pandemic.

We are committed to advancing the use of science and technology to improve the outcomes for learners of all ages through systemic transformation. The need for GLC has never been greater or more critical.

GLC Team

Subra Suresh

PresidentGlobal Learning Council

Gerlinde Kristahn, PhD

AdvisorGlobal Learning Council

Zane Ranney

Operations CoordinatorGlobal Learning Council

GLC Advisory Board

Meagan Fallone

Entrepreneur In Residence Executive Advisor On Climate JusticeCare Usa

Fabiola Gianotti

Director GeneralConseil Europeen Pour La Recherche Nucleaire

Christine Goh

DirectorNational Institute Of Education Singapore

Kris Gopalakrishnan

ChairmanAxilor Ventures And Pratiksha Trust

Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Director GeneralInternational Baccalaureate

Lee Howell

Executive DirectorVillars Institute

Claudette Irere

Minister Of State Information Communication TechnologyGovernment Of Rwanda

Bitange Ndemo

Ambassador Of Kenya To European UnionGovernment Of Kenya

Ben Nelson

FounderMinerva Project

Volker Meyer-Guckel

Secretary GeneralStifterverband

Göran Sandberg

Executive DirectorThe Knut And Alice Wallenberg Foundation

S.D. Shibulal

Co FounderInfosys

Suzanne Walsh

PresidentBennett College

GLC Committee of Experts & Partners

Tina Ambos

Professor Of International ManagementUniversite De Geneve

Miniya Chatterji

CeoSustain Labs Paris

Gururaj (Desh) Deshpande

Co Founder And ChairmanDeshpande Foundation

Vanessa Evers

ProfessorUniversity Of Twente

Friedrich Hesse

Scientific DirectorCatalpa

Christian Kobsda

Head Of Berlin OfficeMax Planck Society

Christine Looser

Senior Academic DirectorMinerva Project

Rahim Rajan

Deputy DirectorBill Melinda Gates Foundation

2023 Rejuvenation and reconstitution of GLC

Effective 1 January 2023, a re-imagined GLC with a renewed scope and action plan has been established with new leadership, a powerful global team of advisors and partners, along with a secretariat based at the Villars Institute in Villar-sur-Ollon, Switzerland.

The Villars Institute was established in January 2022 as a Swiss non-profit foundation dedicated to accelerating the transition to a net zero and nature positive economy through intergenerational collaboration, interdisciplinary knowledge, and systems leadership. It is based in the alpine village of Villars-sur-Ollon which has long history of intercultural education. The Institute’s partners include leading secondary schools and research universities from around the world. Its foundation board also has extensive experience in secondary, tertiary and executive education.

Global Learning Council Timeline

2018-22

  • 2022 The Global Learning Report and a research paper on “Digital Higher Education Transformation” were completed.
  • 2021 Numerous online and virtual meetings and forums were hosted.
  • 2020 The GLC Summit, planned to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, had to be cancelled because of the global pandemic.
  • 2019 The GLC Head Office was established in Berlin, with funding provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
  • 2018 & 2019 Workshops related to the themes of GLC were held in Bonn, Seattle, and Nairobi.

2017

In June 2017, Professor Matthias Kleiner, president of the Leibniz Association, hosted the third GLC meeting in Berlin, Germany, together with a group of German partner organizations, featuring individual tailored courseware as well as insights on adaptable, needs-based learning initiatives.

Effective 1 July 2017, the Chairmanship of GLC was transferred from Professor Suresh to Professor Kleiner.

The Berlin Consensus document was published emphasizing educational technologies that improve engagement of individuals with learning materials and with other learners. It also featured individual tailored courseware as well as insights on adaptable, needs-based learning initiatives.

2016

In April 2016, the second meeting of the GLC was convened in Singapore by Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore.

This event focused on technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in Asia. This conference featured topics around best practices in the development and deployment of TEL tools in higher education, consideration of cultural contexts and cross-cultural learning audiences when using TEL at scale.

2014

The GLC was founded in September 2014 by Subra Suresh – then President of Carnegie Mellon University – along with a distinguished international advisory board of thought leaders and practitioners to identify practices that help maximize the potential of technology-aided learning practices at universities through the science of learning.

With this goal in mind, the GLC held its inaugural meeting and symposium from September 4–5, 2014, in Pittsburgh, PA, where members addressed digital education transformed by learning science, big data, and lifelong learning.