Dr Heidi October serves on Stellenbosch University's Student Affairs management team. Her role entails the oversight and co-design of student leadership programmes for academic transcript recognition. She has extensive international higher education stakeholder relations experience at more than 25 international universities. As a student leader she has been actively involved in student leadership since the 1990s and has been awarded with Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for excellent achievement as student leader and as a staff member, and academic honorary colours from the University of Pretoria where she obtained her PhD in Leadership Studies. She has also been awarded honorary membership of the international Golden Key Society for her contribution to leadership and serves on the NASPA global division board. 

Heidi is passionate about co-creating platforms for global participation on student leadership initiatives to engage critically as active citizen-leaders. The FVZS Institute’s partnerships, local and abroad with more than 1500+ students participating annually in academic recognised leadership programmes, allow her to continue her research on the “born-free student leaders’ identity formation in post-apartheid South Africa”. These global engagements include, having served on the steering committee for the Stellenbosch University & KU Leuven Think Tank for academic top achievers; Co-convenor for the 2024 Nobel Symposia in Africa & International Youth Think Tank; guest lecturing at the Association of Commonwealth Universities’ summer school; a series of guest lectures at MCI Business School in Innsbruck, Austria and KU Leuven, Belgium; transcultural leadership workshop for the Leadership Excellence Institute, Zeppelin University, Germany; and scholarly papers at international conferences. Apart from her research focus area on student leadership identity formation in post-apartheid South Africa, she enjoys long-distance walking and solo traveling with more than 45 countries explored to date.

Dr. Brett Perozzi is Vice President for Student Affairs at Salt Lake Community College in Utah, USA. He previously served as Vice President for Student Affairs at Weber State University (WSU), Executive Director of Student Engagement at Arizona State University, and has worked at Colorado State, Indiana, and Texas Tech Universities.

 Dr. Perozzi holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University and a Master’s degree from the University of Arizona, both in Higher Education Administration; with a bachelor’s degree in Education from the State University of New York. He served as a faculty member in the higher education graduate programs at Indiana, Colorado State, and Arizona State, and is the cofounder of the Higher Education Leadership program at WSU. Brett has authored dozens of publications in journals, textbooks, monographs, and book chapters. He has published three books, two on the topic of international student affairs and services, and one on student employment during college.

 Dr. Perozzi is an active leader with NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, helping coordinate and shape their global agenda, by establishing a Global Advisory Board, culturally relevant educational programming abroad, and advancing intercultural understanding among those doing student affairs work globally. He has been invited to speak and present on higher education topics worldwide, and seeks to give back to the field through his speaking, writing, and research. Brett is a founding member of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services.

Omneya Badr, an educator and student affairs professional, gained a culturally diverse experience studying, teaching, and working in Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, UK and the USA. Omneya is a longtime NASPA volunteer. She was the director of MENASA NASPA area 2022-2024, the 2021 and 2022 MENASA Conference chair, member of NASPA's International Symposium Committee and the International Education Knowledge Community (IEKC). She is a frequent presenter at NASPA conferences and her research interests are culturally based Academic Advising, supporting First-generation students, FYE, and cross-cultural communication. She holds an MBA from the University of Bath – UK, a Certificate of Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operation from the Academy of Arts, California - USA, and a BA in Management from the American University in Cairo - Egypt. She recently acquired a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida - USA. As an educator, Omneya enjoys giving back to the profession and is interested in creating professional development opportunities and encouraging Student Affairs Professionals to research and share knowledge among counterparts around the world.