Our Team

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of BSBI Sagi Hartov is a successful international cellist who has taken part in several festivals and competitions, as well as recording advertisement soundtracks for BBC and Universal Records. He has been a member of the London Mozart Trio and he is the founder of the Ernest Bloch classical competition. He also serves as Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at the London College of Contemporary Arts, as well as Chairman of HTK Academy (Hamburg) and Principal of GUS Creative Arts.

Professor Kyriakos Kouveliotis is the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at BSBI. He is also the Honorary Rector of James Lind Institute in Geneva Switzerland and a Professor at UNINETTUNO University in Rome where he is the Director of several master programmes. He has served as a Provost in a number of European institutions and has also taught as a professor in many universities, academies and organisations. He is considered a global expert in academic and curriculum development, is the author of 12 books and has also published numerous scientific papers.

After studying languages in Romania, Alina moved to the UK where she spent over 17 years working mostly in the education sector. Alina worked at Global University Systems for over a decade where she gained extensive experience in strategic operations, mergers into the group, student support and daily operations. She is very passionate about the educational field as well as providing an excellent student experience.

Alexander, Associate Dean of BSBI, studied management economics at the Friedrich Alexander University in Nuernberg and spent some time in the USA, Spain and France during his studies. He was previously Managing Director of Radio Charivari Nuernberg, as well as founder of the management consultation “Zeitelhack.com”.

Dr. Fountis has over 20 years of experience in B2B general management, marketing, supply chain and sales of industrial minerals and chemicals. His work has enabled him to work in the European, Chinese and American markets. Throughout his career, Dr. Fountis has held the roles of Managing Director of an industrial joint venture in China, Member of Supervisory Board-State Representative of the European Chamber of Commerce in China as well as Member of the Board Advisors in Verstaan (MA, USA).

Having previously worked as a senior lecturer at Potsdam University, Berlin School of Economics and Law and at TU Berlin, Irina has a wealth of experience which she draws upon in her teaching. Prior to lecturing, Irina studied physics, marketing and cross-cultural management in Moscow, Hannover and Maastricht. Her fields of research include: persuasive semantics in political and commercial promotion and county of origin as a brand. Irina is a mentor and supporter for the students on their learning journey.

Pro. Dr. Barriga has more than 15 years of international academic experience. Using his expertise, Prof. Dr. Manuel Barriga has helped to foster the scope, relevancy and quality of the BSBI MBA programme. He has also helped improve engagement and student pastoral care whilst also introducing innovative teaching methods.

Dr. Simone holds a BA in Tourism from the University of Brighton, UK and received her Master’s degree in Tourism from the University of Otago in New Zealand. She obtained her PhD in Sport Business Management in 2013 from the University of Technology in Sydney. Through her involvement in university/government partnership projects, Simone gained extensive knowledge about qualitative research methods.

Dr Piilik teaches on the master’s programmes at BSBI having worked as a lawyer and business consultant for several years. She has an extensive education record with an LLB from the University of Tartu as well as an MA, a PhD and an MBA under her belt. Dr. Piilik is also an expert at the Asian Research Centre in Estonia and a Consortium Fellow of the University Consortium.

Chad Manian is an international academic, keynote speaker, mentor and specialist in strategy and entrepreneurship. He holds the chair at several international committees and think tanks on technology, global policy and educational reform. Chad has founded and led several leading initiatives bringing together cutting-edge thinkers, Nobel laureates and industry leaders. He is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, British Academy of Management and currently teaches on the Global Master's programmes delivered at BSBI.

With a degree from the University of Gottingen and several years of teaching experience in the field of marketing and communications, Kathrin is currently a trainer and lecturer at BSBI Berlin. Fluent in Spanish, she previously worked as a lecturer in management of campaigns and project management at Ascenso Akademie, in Palma de Mallorca.

Anna, German Lecturer at BSBI, holds a master’s degree in Theatre, Film and Media, as well as Classical Philology. She has extensive teaching experience in German to students across different levels. She is also fluent in Dutch, Polish, English and Russian.

Andre enjoys his role helping international students as a programme coordinator. He is responsible for organising and updating course materials, grades and timetables for students. Andre additionally helps coordinate the delivery of events, programmes and meetings. He speaks many different languages and has lived all over the globe in countries such as Finland and the United States.

Estefania is an entrepreneur with wide experience in marketing and entrepreneurship. She has been the founder and CEO of her own business and has also studied an eMBA in Madrid. Estefania has complemented her studies with her experience as an innovation consultant as well as her certifications as a business model innovator and scrum master. Her passion is to help entrepreneurs to create disruptive business models through systematic innovation and develop them with agile methodologies.

Annika holds a BA in German as a second language and German philology from the University of Tübingen, South Germany. She acquired her TEFL license while living in Madrid, Spain and gained experience teaching in different fields before and during her studies. After graduating, Annika continued working as a German teacher. Once she had gained all the teaching experience she felt she needed in Spain, she decided to move back to Germany and become a motivated member of our team at BSBI.

Josip is originally from Croatia and has a BA in German Philology and Croatian Language and Literature. He also has 9 years’ experience of teaching German to foreign students from all around the world. He previously worked as a Lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Aachen University of Applied Science.

Fintan’s main role is to assist BSBI staff and students with any administrative-related queries. In addition to overseeing the smooth running of communication between departments and students, Fintan also ensures the information on the student base is up-to-date and correct.

William is originally from Anglesey, North Wales and holds a BA in Economics from The University of Nottingham. After graduating from university, he moved to Prague, Czech Republic, where he lived for 10 years. It was a life-changing move, allowing William to experience other cultures and meet people from all over the world. He has over six years’ experience working as an examinations and assessments manager for online universities.

After gaining a master’s degree in 2015 in International Relations in the XIX-XX centuries from Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania, Mircea worked as a visa submission officer at VFS in Leipzig and Berlin. During his studies, he spent some time in Riga, Latvia. He speaks Romanian, English, Russian and German.

After graduating from Queen Mary University of London with a BA in German and European Studies, Catherine moved to Düsseldorf, Germany to begin her career in education. With extensive experience working in a private English language school, she has also worked in project management and content marketing. Catherine has a true passion for the education industry and she looks forward to supporting students with career guidance as well as any other non-academic related issues.

Currently pursuing her Global MBA at BSBI, Ankita is also part of the Student Services Team. Among her tasks, she is in charge of helping students with finding suitable accommodation in Berlin and she answers the students’ queries. She also provides students with extra support with various other activities, such as inventory and marketing merchandise management, coordinating for marketing events and photos.

Karimat Hassan-Amoo joins BSBI as the Accommodation Manager where her role is to oversee Accommodation Services and act as the main point of contact for student enquiries. Prior to becoming a member of the BSBI team, Karimat spent time working in the real estate sector in Nigeria, where she is original from, managing rental properties, brokering real estate and processing customer enquiries. Karimat also has training in property management and real estate economics.

Umeda moved to Germany from Tajikistan in 2012 to pursue her master’s studies in European Political Economics holding a DAAD/Soros Foundation scholarship. Throughout her five years working in financial departments of private universities in Germany, she always tried to improve her professionality and often shows empathy to clients and colleagues. Umeda loves reading novels, practicing yoga and bringing joy to her family members and friends.

Rasel works as a finance assistant where his main responsibilities include receiving and checking invoices, regularly tracking company bank statements as well as helping students with payment plans. Before joining the BSBI team, Rasel worked in the hotel industry for five years and also completed an MBA qualification from the University of St Mark and St John in Plymouth. Outside of work, Rasel is interested in football, playing chess and spending time with family and friends.

With over 13 years of experience in business development across Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia, Erik brings a wealth of knowledge to BSBI. Additionally, Erik also has an extensive marketing background and a passion for the education industry. Erik has been involved with international education from a young age having graduated from high school in a student exchange programme in the United States.

Simisola hold an MA in Education, International Development and Health Promotion from UCL as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from King’s College London. Since graduating, Simisola has held a number of positions in international education at institutions such as the University of Sunderland, King’s College London and Lancaster University.

Parrish has spent over 20 years working in the education sector in a variety of roles on both the academic and commercial sides of the industry. He also has regional expertise due to serving a number of global areas in his role as a Business Developer. He has lived in Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Jordan, the UK and currently resides in Mexico City. He is fluent in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and his native language is English.

Having lived and studied in Singapore for four years, overseas education came naturally to Sanjeev. Throughout his 14-year career, Sanjeev has been exposed to all facets of recruitment including sales forecasting, preparing a promotional mix and achieving sales targets. With rich expose to Singapore, US, Canada and Irish education and visa systems, Sanjeev is able to envision future challenges and find a balanced approach in his current role.