BESA x Bett: Empowering EdTech Innovators 2026 Hosted by Cooley and EDT & Partners

Michaela Fearon, Event Director, Bett UK

As Event Director of Bett, the world’s leading EdTech event, I’m dedicated to advancing Bett’s mission: to inspire and empower educators, spark meaningful collaboration, and showcase the innovations shaping the future of learning worldwide. I am passionate about creating an environment where global education leaders, teachers, and technology partners come together to solve real challenges and drive lasting impact. Previously, as Founder & CEO of Ascend Global Media, I built and scaled the Women in Tech World Series into the largest global event platform for women in technology, delivering seven flagship conferences across Europe and North America and welcoming thousands of attendees each year. Across my career, I’ve been driven by the belief that events can transform industries and I’m proud and super excited to bring that energy, purpose, and executional excellence to Bett. 

Caroline Allams, Co-Founder, Educationalist & Chief of Product, Natterhub

Caroline Allams is co-founder of Natterhub, and an experienced educator with over 15 years in school leadership. She created Natterhub, a multi award-winning digital literacy platform now used in over 15K schools across 80+ countries, supporting children to develop the skills needed to navigate the online world safely and confidently. Caroline is a leading voice in digital wellbeing, innovative pedagogy, and early intervention. A recipient of the Bett Award for Transformational Impact and named a Woman to Watch in Education, she regularly contributes to BBC News, BBC Radio, and Westminster Education Forum. Natterhub was acquired in November 2024.

Laurie Forcier, Vice President, Strategy, EDT & Partners

Laurie Forcier is Vice President for Strategy at EDT&Partners and a senior education expert specialising in evidence, evaluation, and strategy and communications in EdTech. Her career spans organisations including the Urban Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Pearson, alongside leadership roles supporting education and technology organisations. Laurie believes evidence matters most when it is clearly expressed, grounded in real educational contexts, and helps people understand change, make better decisions, and improve outcomes for learners. She works with organisations to communicate complex ideas with clarity and has written and spoken internationally on evidence in EdTech, AI in education, and system-level change.

Kristen Weatherby, Education Researcher and Consultant, Weatherby Education Studies

Dr Kristen Weatherby is a researcher and consultant with 25 years of experience in some of the largest global public and private sector players in technology and education including Microsoft, the OECD, and UCL. Her work with edtech startups began while helping develop edtech accelerators for UCL IOE and College of Engineering. She has consulted on cutting-edge national edtech projects with France’s national research agency (ANR) and High Council for Education Research (HCERES) and for edtech start-ups across the UK, Europe, and the Americas. She is also the founder of Breakthrough Labs, a community supporting female founders of tech startups. 

Kristy Evers, Director of Partnerships, ImpactEd Evaluation

Kristy is an education evaluator with over ten years’ experience spanning edtech and evaluation. She is Director at ImpactEd Evaluation, leading development of new partnerships, thought leadership and evaluation delivery across charities, government, universities, and edtech organisations. She is a trustee of the Charity Evaluation Working Group and Apps for Good and a governor at a local primary school. Earlier in her career, Kristy worked in research impact in a HE SaaS start-up and as a researcher at a major educational publishing company, leading product evaluations that informed product and sales strategy. She is passionate about translating rigorous evidence into actionable insight for decision-makers. 

Neelam Parmar, Director of Professional Learning, AISL Academy

Dr Neelam Parmar is an internationally recognised educational consultant and advisor in Digital Education, with over 20 years of experience in the EdTech landscape. Currently, she serves as the Director of AISL Academy at AISL Harrow in Southeast Asia, delivering on a global, online professional learning and development platform offering accredited and certified high-impact programmes, pathways, courses and webinars for K-12 academic and non-academic members. Previously, she held the position of Chief Digital Officer at E-ACT MAT in the UK and has worked with Ashford School and the United Learning Multi-Academy Trust. Neelam’s recent collaborations include impactful partnerships where she led initiatives focused on educational disruption and transformation. She actively supports global EdTech startups and has advised governments internationally on digital transformation and AI strategies, advocating for innovation in education governance and policy development. Neelam holds prominent leadership and advisory roles in the education sector, more notably as an EdTech Advisory Board member with the Chartered College and Department of Education (DfE). She serves as a Governor for Bournemouth and Poole Colleges, Bett Advisory Board member and judge.

Peter Doyle, Head of Policy & Research, BESA

Peter represents the interests of BESA members to parliamentarians and officials across Government departments, working on various policy issues across the association. His passion for the education sector developed while working for a BESA member, where he contributed to the development and implementation of EdTech products and curricula for the Primary Sector. In addition to his professional work, Peter volunteers as a Governor at a federation of local primary schools in East London.

Daren White, Academic Technologies Lead, Lift Schools

An award-winning teacher and Senior Leader with a passion for integrating technology into education. With over 25 years of experience in teaching and 15 years in leadership roles, Daren is now Academic Technologies Lead for one of the UK’s largest Multi-Academy Trusts. A Google Champion, Trainer, Innovator, and Coach, Daren is also a Canva Trainer with a passion for pragmatic and effective use of AI in education. Daren is a dynamic and engaging presenter who delivers keynotes, coaching, training, workshops and events both in the UK and internationally.  Daren was named in the #edtech50 2021 and proudly won the Skills Development Champion Award at The Edufuturists Awards 2023 and was a Digital Innovator of the Year Silver Award winner in the 2023 National Teaching Awards. He is a member of the Digital Futures Group, a not-for-profit group of educationalists offering support and guidance through system generosity, and also the BETT Advisory Board.  Daren has also published What’s Their Why? Exploring Motivation and Engagement in Learning. 

Jodie Lopez, Education Technology Business Consultant, Edtech Ninja UK

Jodie is an award-winning former teacher who now helps companies build and sell software that schools actually want to use. With experience spanning the classroom, big edtech, and early-stage startups, Jodie brings a sharp understanding of what makes educational technology products work, and what gets in the way. 

Dr Melody Lang, Founding Partner, MPA Capital

Dr Melody Lang is Founding Partner at MPA Capital, an investment firm backing bold solutions at the intersection of Learning, Talent, and Work. A former EdTech operator and founder, Melody brings deep industry insight and a strategic investor lens to the companies she backs — having scaled ventures from idea to international reach.

She is also Co-Founder of Mindstone, a learning platform that helps professionals and teams develop practical AI skills to drive real-world impact in their work. Previously, she was a VC investor at Salica Investments (formerly known as Hambro Perks) and led European partnerships at Knewton, the global pioneer in adaptive learning technology.

Melody began her career as an engineer and research scientist, with roles in marine and then aerospace engineering at QinetiQ. She holds a Master’s in Mathematics from UPMC Paris VI and an Engineering Doctorate from the University of Bristol and Imperial College London.

Victoria Throen Longhi, Investment Associate, Owl Ventures

Investment Associate at Owl Ventures. Owl Ventures invests exclusively into Education and the Future of Work, with $2B+ AUM. Previously Strategy Lead for EdTech Impact Investments at KIRKBI (the LEGO Holding & Investment Company) and Consultant at McKinsey & Company. 

John Soleanicov, Investment Director, EdTechnical

John Soleanicov advises investors, funds, companies and organizations in the education and technology sectors. He has more than 20 years of global experience in financial services, management consulting and education. John designed and deployed a fund of ten leading EdTech venture capital funds investing in early to mid-stage education technology companies globally and continues to manage it on behalf of the Jacobs Foundation. Prior to Jacobs, John was the Program Director for Education for the UBS Optimus Foundation. He also founded Teach for Romania and continues to serve on its board. Previously, he worked for the Health and Education Investment Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington, Mexico City and Cairo. John has also worked as a management consultant for McKinsey and Company and as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers. He has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Columbia University.