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Skills Academy: The ILO strategy on skills and lifelong learning for 2022–30

Meet the Academy team! click on the photos of our experts and organizers to read the bios!

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Lamà Shashit

Ana R. M. Pereira

Alex Bizzotto

Sophie Ouine

Bernd Mueller

Noémie Razafimandimby

Stefano Merante

ITCILO

Christine Hofmann

Juan Iván Martín Lataix

Cecilia Pugliese

Patrick Daru

Bolormaa Tumurchudur Klok

Olga Strietska-Ilina

Takaaki Kizu

Ashwani Aggrawal

ILO

Pedro Moreno da Fonseca

Jenni Jostock

Hae Kyeung Chun

Julien Varlin

ILO

Alexandre Berthon-Dumurgier

Jeff Bridgford

Mounir Baati

Florian Kadletz

Mariavittoria Garlappi

Other institutions

Florian Kadletz works as Human Capital Development Expert for the European Training Foundation, an agency of the European Union providing policy advice and support to EU neighbouring countries and Central Asia and to European Commission services and EU Delegations on the reform of education, training and employment policies and systems. Among his main responsibilities is leading on ETFs work in the area of career development support through, inter alia, the development of methodological tools, provision of policy advice, cooperation with international partners and facilitation of peer learning as by the latest career guidance factsheets and ETF publication “International trends and innovation in career guidance”. Within the ETF Network for Vocational Excellence, Mr Kadletz holds responsible for integrating career guidance and career education as key elements of excellent services of centres of vocational excellence. In the last thirteen years, Mr Kadletz worked with a wide variety of stakeholders and countries on key competences, pedagogy, quality assurance in education and training, including teacher education. He holds a Master in Educational Science and Master in Advanced European and International studies.

Alexandre Berthon-Dumurgier is global advisor on TVSD financing at Agence Française de Développement (AFD). Committed since the beginning of his career to improving the quality of employment-skills ecosystems at various levels (national policy, territories, training institutions), he has accompanied the development of the competency based approach as task team leader, technical assistant, instructional system designer, trainer and teacher.

Takaaki Kizu joined the ILO as an Economist in 2014. He has published on a variety of topics such as school-to-work-transition; jobs in global supply chains; labour provisions in trade agreements; firms’ labour flexibility strategies; and skills for the green transition. Prior to joining the ILO, he worked at the UNESCO Bangkok, the University of Pennsylvania and two vocational education institutions in the United States. He holds postgraduate degrees in Development Economics from the Institute of Developing Economies and in Education from the University Of Pennsylvania Graduate School Of Education.

Julien VARLIN has international experience in rural development projects, labour-intensive construction works, and on-site vocational training programs. After working 3 and half years in the private sector, he joined the ILO in 2018, working first in Geneva and then in Mauritania. He has an engineering degree in agronomy, majoring in rural economics. He is fluent in English and French with good knowledge of Spanish. Julien will work as a Junior Project Technical Officer in the Skills for Social Inclusion unit.

Alex Bizzotto is an Training Activity Assistant He has a degree in International Studies, a Master degree in China Studies and an extensive background as Export manager. Since 2018 is working at the ITCILO as Course coordinator, providing logistic and administrative support for courses and activities in Turin, online and in the field. He acts also as Ecampus tutor, Zoom facilitator and focal person for participants. In 2023 he joined the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme.

Mariavittoria is a senior international education and training expert. Over the last 30 years she has supported system reforms in Northern Africa and the Middle East, Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries. Among her main activities: drafting studies, providing policy advice, and implementing technical assistance projects. Mariavittoria is the ETF Migration Focal point and is specialised in skills’ dimensions of migration. As part of her tasks, she helps European union services in the design and implementation of migration projects in ETF Partner countries and leads ETF cooperation with international partners such as CEDEFOP, JRC, ILO, ITC-ILO, IOM, ICMPD

Patrick Daru is the Team Lead on Skills Delivery of the ILO Skills and Employability Branch. He was until 2020 the ILO Senior Skills and Employability Specialist for the Regional Office for Arab States, for more than eight years, and the Country Coordinator for Jordan for over four years. He previously managed the largest ILO project on youth employment in the Asia-Pacific region. In the early 2000’s, he managed two ILO regional projects on forced labour in South Asia and child labour in Eastern Europe, aiming at increasing the capabilities of at-risk populations. For 10 years before joining the ILO, he managed large scale projects related to forced displacement in former Yugoslavia, the great lakes region, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, with a strong focus on skills development. He has contributed to and coordinated the publication of numerous ILO research papers and manuals.

Ashwani Aggarwal is the ILO's Workgroup Leader for Skills Policy, Systems, and Digitalization. Holding a PhD degree in the governance and management of Skills Systems and Institutions, and experience spanning 38 years, Ashwani has provided valuable policy advisory and technical assistance to more than 50 countries across the world. His contributions have been instrumental in shaping skills and youth employment policies and programmes, contributing to positive changes in numerous regions. Ashwani's has led significant research projects and publications, including the ILO Toolkit for Quality Apprenticeships, Core Skills framework for Work and Life, Lifelong Learning and Skills for the future of work, Recognition of Prior Learning and Skills Development Policies. One of his remarkable achievements was leading a team in drafting statutory reports and background information for a new International Labour Standard on Quality Apprenticeships for the International Labour Conferences.

Noémie Razafimandimby Is a Programme Associate, Employment Analysis and Policy Service, ITC-ILOShe holds a Master's degree in Public Law and Political Science from the Catholic University of Madagascar. She has completed the DESS degree course on project management and local development. And is currently pursuing an online professional certificate on knowledge management and big data/industry 4.0. She has joined the EPAP team recently and had worked with ILO Madagascar for 4 years as a project manager, and with IOM before that.

Lamà Shashit is an e-campus tutor and technical support for this course. She is a is a final-year Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies student at the University of Turin. With a keen interest in labour migration, employment , development and skill policy. Currently training in the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme at the ITCILO in Turin.

Bolormaa Tumurchudur Klok is a Technical Specialist at the Employment Policy Department (Skills and Employability Branch) of the International Labour Office. She joined the ILO in 2012 as a technical officer of a technical cooperation project on “Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED)” that comprised substantial country and sectoral‐level research and capacity‐building activities concerning the nexus between skills, trade and employment in export potential sectors of developing countries. Prior to the ILO, she was an Economic Affairs Officer at the Trade Analysis Branch of the UNCTAD. She has a PhD in Economics from University of Lausanne (HEC) and has consulted for the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Cecilia Pugliese works as a Technical Officer at the ILO Skills Branch since October 2022. Her main areas of work are apprenticeships and core skills. Prior to that, she worked as a Project Officer at the European Labour Authority, where she coordinated an EU-level training programme for employment consultants and supported the management of the European Network of Employment Services (EURES). She has also worked as a consultant for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs, mainly in the framework of policy evaluation projects - in particular for the evaluation of the European Social Fund support to employment and labour mobility. She holds a Bsc and Msc in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University in Milan and is fluent in Italian, French and English.

Jenni is a Technical Officer (JPO) supporting Skills for Social Inclusion a the International Labour Organization. Prior to this, Jenni worked for the Youth & Trade programme at the International Trade Centre and with the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth. Jenni holds a MSc in Development and Communications.

Dr Bernd Mueller is the Manager of the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme (EPAP) at the ILO’s International Training Centre in Turin. In this role he manages the ITC’s portfolio of capacity development services to constituents and partners worldwide in the fields of employment promotion, skills development, labour market statistics and analysis, transition to formality, among others. Previously, Bernd was the Senior Employment Specialist at the ILO Decent Work Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, where he supported tripartite constituents in the formulation and implementation of employment policies and the promotion of youth employment. He also was the ILO’s Africa-wide focal point on employment matters. Before that he has been rural employment specialist at the FAO, and pursued an academic career as teacher and researcher on employment and labour markets at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Dr Jeff Bridgford is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education, Communication and Society, King’s College London. He was the founding Director of the European Trade Union College which in 2015 was merged into the European Trade Union Institute. He has written widely on different aspects of work-based learning, primarily apprenticeships, and is in the process of writing a report on social dialogue and skills development for the International Labour Organization.

Hae Kyeung Chun is a Technical Officer at the Skills and Employability Branch, Employment Policy Department of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Her work area focuses on skills needs anticipation for the future of work, skills for trade and economic diversification, skills for environmental sustainability and climate action, and skills for technological change and digitalization. At the ILO, she coordinated the preparation of the report, “Skills development in the time of COIVD-19: Taking stock of initial responses of technical vocational and educational training” in collaboration with the UNESCO and the World Bank. Recently, she edited, updated and finalized the publication, “Changing demand for skills in digital economies and societies: Literature review and case studies from low- and middle-income countries”. Currently, she has coordinated developing a practical guidance tool on how to green TVET and skills development. Before joining the ILO, she worked at the OECD Development Centre and the Korean Delegation to the OECD in Paris. She also has work experience at the Embassy of Rwanda in Seoul, and worked as a research assistant at Seoul National University. She holds a Master's Degree in International Commerce from Seoul National University.

Juan Iván holds a bachelor's degree in business and management from ICADE Business School and an MBA from IESE University. He has also invested on lifelong learning through courses at MIT (Blockchain Technologies) or IMD (Digital Excellence Diploma). With over two decades of professional experience, Juan Iván has cultivated a diverse skill set in strategy and management, honed in roles spanning Madrid, Paris, Hanoi, Barcelona, and Geneva. Beyond his corporate endeavours, he has actively engaged with numerous NGOs, advocating for causes related to children, immigration, and education as he is a firm believer that education is the cornerstone of freedom and prosperity. In his most recent position as the Head of Innovation and Digital Transformation at IATA (International Air Transport Association), Juan Iván played for over a decade a pivotal role in various innovation initiatives. This includes spearheading the digitalization of IATA's training business, where he introduced cutting-edge digital tools to streamline content creation, launched multiple e-learning platforms and blended curricula, and pioneered the development of smart digital certifications. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Christine Hofmann works as the Team Lead on skills for social inclusion in the ILO’s Skills and Employability Branch in Geneva. Developing approaches to include persons with disabilities, informal economy workers, forcibly displaced people, LGBTI people and other vulnerable groups is her daily business. She spent five years in Cairo supporting ILO constituents and projects in the areas of skills development, TVET, youth employment, apprenticeship, rural skills training etc. in North African countries. Prior to that, among others, she conducted research for the ILO, and developed a Resource guide on upgrading informal apprenticeship in Africa. Christine also worked in political consulting and for a trade union foundation in Germany. She holds a Masters degree in International Cultural Studies.

Olga Strietska-Ilina is an Area Lead for Skills Strategies for Future Labour Markets at the ILO, Geneva. Her work focuses on anticipating skills needs for the Future of Work, skills for trade and economic diversification, skills for environmental sustainability and climate action, and skills for technological change and digitalisation. Before 2008, Olga worked at the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). Earlier on, she was a Head of the Czech National Observatory of Employment and Training and taught International Relations at the Central European University (CEU). Olga holds post-graduate degrees in Economic and Social Sciences from the University of Manchester, Society and Politics from the CEU, and History and Ethnography from the Moscow State University named after Lomonosov. She published extensively and is the main author and/or (co-)editor of several books and reports, including “Changing demand for skills in digital economies and societies” (ILO, 2021), “The feasibility of using big data in anticipating and matching skills needs “ (ILO, 2020), “Skills and jobs mismatches in low- and middle-income countries” (ILO, 2019), “Skills for a greener future” (ILO, 2019), “Skills needs anticipation systems and approaches” (ILO, OECD et al, 2017), “Parallel cultures” (Routledge, 2017 2nd edition) and “A clash of transitions: Towards a learning society” (Peter Lang Publishing 2007).

Mounir is a Senior Human Capital Development Expert at the European Training Foundation. He is leading the ETF work in the area of quality assurance and managing the ETF QA forum on VET. He joined the ETF in 2007. Mounir is as well the country liaison officer for Jordan and Libya. As such, he maintains external relations with key actors in these countries, collects and up-dates ETF country intelligence and identifies and channels policy advice. Mounir has an extensive knowledge of VET systems in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region, as he has been coordinating the ETF projects in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, and Syria. Mounir has been as well involved in the design of several EU interventions in these countries.

Pedro Moreno da Fonseca works as a Lifelong Learning Specialist at ILO headquarters, in Geneva. He carries out research and provides support to ILO’s constituents in the development of national skills and career development systems. Prior to the ILO, he worked at Cedefop, the European Union agency for vocational education and training, where he managed the agency’s work in career guidance and founded CareersNet, the EU reference network in guidance policy. During his professional career he has also undertaken research and cooperation in policy development in vocational training, education, skills anticipation, validation of skills, integration of migrants in the labour market as well as financing of training. He has also acted as policy advisor for employment policies and in the analysis of skills dynamics and anticipation and lectured on Educational Administration. He holds a Ba and a MA from the Lisbon School of Economics and Management and a PhD from the University of Porto

Stefano Merante is the programme officer in charge of the Skills Development portfolio within the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme of the International Training Center of the ILO in Turin (Italy). He works in the field of TVET and skills development since 2005. After a brief experience in Latin America, he has managed international cooperation and technical assistance programmes and projects in different countries of English-speaking and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. Training engineer and program manager, he has specific skills and experience in the creation of public-private partnerships, in the development of Recognition of Prior Learning systems and in the digitalization of skills systems. He holds a Master’s degree in Training and Employment Systems Design at the ENSFEA (Toulouse, France), a Master’s degree in International Cooperation for Development at the IUSS - School for Advanced Studies of Pavia (Italy) and a Master’s Degree in Humanities at the State University of Milan (Italy).

Ana Rita Pereira is a Junior Office Assistant at ITCILO, she joined the EPAP team in August 2023. Rita is Portuguese and has a background in international development and cooperation, namely in the fields of non-formal education with young people and gender equality and women empowerment.