Maria del Pilar Murguia was born in Bolivia and raised across Italy and Colombia! Her multicultural life experience allowed her to learn firsthand the challenges that living in different countries entails!  With a business background, Pilar started working in International Higher education since June 2003 at John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. The focus of her work at JCU was and is to establish and maintain an environment that supports learning, encourages a strong sense of community, and promotes student development through active engagement in university life. 

Pilar currently directly supervises the areas of Athletics, Outdoor Education Programs, Performing Arts, Student Activities and Trips, and Student Leadership Programs (OL, OSA, Student Clubs). She is part of the board of the Crisis Management Team of her University, as well as the University strategic planning committee.

Pilar is a certified Student Leadership Challenge practitioner, and her continued interest in intercultural leadership makes her curious about all new trends in the field. She is an active member AACUPI, NASPA, EUCA among other associations.

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.

Lisa studied Business Administration (Bachelor) and International Development Studies (Master) in Germany with a semester abroad in South Africa and a longer research study trip to Tanzania. She started her first job at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) before she joined FS almost 10 years ago as study advisor in the International Office. After that, Lisa took care of the student engagement activities at FS until she became Head of Student Life, taking care of the broader extracurricular student experience at FS. Today, as Director of Student & Alumni Affairs, Lisa is responsible for a team of around 100 people in various sub-teams such as Study Advisory, Examination Office, Career Services, Alumni Management, the library and other support services.

Dr. Kerrie Montgomery Orozco boasts a 25-year career in higher education, specializing in international education, student programming, strategic planning, leadership, and teaching. She's held progressively responsible roles in academic advising, study abroad, and campus life at various institutions. Kerrie is also an accomplished writer, with publications in the peer-reviewed Journal of International Students. 

Kerrie has been an active member of NASPA for more than 20 years. She has held a number of volunteer leadership roles and currently serves as Professional Development Chair for the Global Division, Membership & Engagement Chair for the Mid-Level Administrators Steering Committee, and NASPA-FL Conference Chair. She is a past Chair for the International Symposium, and remains active on the planning committee for the 2024 International Symposium.

Kerrie holds a BA in Classical Studies, dual Masters degrees from the University of Florida in Art History and Higher Education, and a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Denver.