Our Principals
Dr Stuart Kewley | Market Access & Globalization Strategies
DPhil and MPhil, MSc, BA Hons
Dr Stuart Kewley is an academic practitioner. A graduate of the University of Cambridge (MPhil and DPhil (PhD), Dr Kewley’s first academic role was as a Director of Studies at the University of Oxford.
In 2009, Dr Kewley founded and became the CEO of the strategy consulting company The Eurasia Global Group. The company’s core competencies lie in the area of strategic innovation, market access strategies and international business development. In 2015, the group was short-listed for the Queen’s Award in International Business and by 2023, the consulting division, now based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, manages other organization’s market access strategies, brand visibility and sales objectives in numerous markets. In 2022, Dr Kewley led the sale of one of these businesses Eurasia had developed to a larger European distributor.
In 2010, Dr Kewley created Eurasia Educational Dynamics (EED) Ltd, one of the Group’s companies tasked with delivery of its Continual Professional and Leadership Development business in its Oxford and Cambridge facilities as well as other centres across the globe.
In November 2020, Dr Kewley joined the US investment group, The Hamilton White Group Switzerland (HWGS) as the Senior Vice President of Partnerships and the Director of the DBA at one of the group’s Universities. He led the reworking of the DBA program making it that University's highest grossing award.
In January 2023, Dr Kewley was appointed Vice President of the IDM private education group as well as its Head of Strategy and International Development. By January 2024, Dr Kewley had added three new UK University partnerships to the group’s partnership portfolio. He was also instrumental in supporting the extension of the University of Gloucestershire’s franchise with IDM and led the conclusion of the Leeds Trinity University partnership with IDM.
The Eurasia Global Group has offices in the UK, the UAE, Malaysia, and Brazil.
Dr Sean Jasso | Global Strategy & Emergent Markets
Ph.D., MBA, BA
Dr Sean Jasso holds a Ph.D. in political economy and a master’s degree in public policy from Claremont Graduate University. Additionally, he holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.
Dr Jasso is commencing his twentieth-year teaching and writing in two distinct fields – management and political economy. His management portfolio includes expertise in leadership development, strategic management, strategic marketing, corporate governance, entrepreneurship and ethics. His political economy portfolio includes expertise in international relations, competition, global politics, American politics and institutions, micro and macroeconomics, and public policy analysis. Recently, his research centers on the many complexities of globalization combined with political and economic risk. He is a professor of practice in management at UCR joining in 2003 and he is professor of economics and public policy at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School joining in 2002. Dr Jasso was also instrumental in doubling student numbers on the University of Business, Innovation and Sustainability’s DBA when he was the Director of the UBIS DBA.
His teaching career is supported by working for many years in hospitality management for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, in healthcare as a marketing director for a national hospital corporation, and in management consultancy serving clients in multiple industries from healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, education to wealth management. Dr Jasso serves on corporate and advisory boards, most recently for a global agriculture corporation and currently for higher education institutions in Mexico and the UK. He works regularly with education clientele from China, Vietnam, Japan, India, Mexico and the UK. Dr Jasso lectures throughout the world and remains passionate about bringing his students to the world and the real world to his classroom.
Ms Kubi Springer | International Brand Management
MSc, BA
Ms Kubi Springer is an award-winning International Brand Consultant and Speaker with 26 years experience in brand marketing. Starting her career in 1996, she has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world including Nike, L'Oreal, Facebook, TikTok, MTV, Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Rio Ferdinand, Rolls Royce Motor Cars and Aston Martin. Ms Springer was responsible for securing over £1 million in sponsorship for the MOBO Awards, broadcasting on the BBC.
>A dynamic and well respected brand expert, her training clients include Facebook, Vogue, The Guardian, Stylist Lux, Labour Party Annual Business Dinner, NatWest Bank, Deloitte, Santander, Jamaica National Bank, New York University, London College of Fashion and Oxford University.
Since 1996, Ms Springer has used her branding knowledge and lifelong passion for fashion, entertainment, technology and beauty, to spearhead projects that focus on global brand diversity.
One of her most recent consultancy projects was with Aston Martin overseeing their ‘London Fashion Week Campaign’. As part of the campaign Ms Springer launched eight international female designers within the Mayfair car dealership. With designers from Dubai, Turkey, Nigeria and the UK, this campaign created synergy between fashion, female empowerment and luxury.
Since 2012, Ms Springer has delivered personal brand and leadership training to enable executives to be better brand ambassadors for the organisations they serve. As a result, Ms Springer has taught brand marketing and personal brand leadership in London, New York, Shanghai, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Accra Ghana, Mauritius, Marbella Spain and Morocco.
In 2018, Ms Springer won the BWB 'Best Marketeer of the Year' Award and became a regular contributor for BBC Radio 5 'Business Hour’. She has delivered brand commentary for Red Magazine, Forbes and Business Insider.
Ms Springer sits on the board of the Veuve Clicquot 'Bold Woman Awards', have a regular column in Harper's Bazaar and work as Director of Brand Marketing for Avantgarde MEA, currently working in Dubai.
In 2019, Ms Springer secured a book deal with Bloomsbury Publishers (same publishers as J.K Rowling - Harry Potter). Her 'I AM MY BRAND’ book sold over 10,000 copies in the first year, and in February 2020 she was shortlisted for the Business Book Awards, ‘Best Marketing Book of the Year' category.
"Ms Kubi Springer is one of the top five brand specialists in the UK" Paola Lucktung, Former Senior Manager Fashion Group, Adidas.
Summer of 2023, she was shortlisted as the ‘Marketer of the Year’ by the Performance Marketing Awards, UK.
Mr Kelvin Au| Raising Venture Capital
M.Sc.
A geek at heart, Mr Kelvin Au has over 18 years of experience in technology investment banking, venture capital and managing high-growth operations.
He is currently Partner at Cell Capital, a thematically focused investor primarily in Seed and Series A technology companies, with a particular interest in Agrifood, Sustainability & Impact and National Security. Prior to Cell Capital, Mr Kelvin Au was Head of Venture at Founders Factory, an early stage technology investor backed by industry-leading corporates, providing start-ups with the unfair advantage of early access to partnership opportunities as well as support from a team of operating specialists.
Prior to Founders Factory, Mr Kelvin Au was interim COO at Qumin, a next generation marketing company with a sole focus on opening the world to China. Before that, he was MD at Metail, a deep tech scale-up harvesting the power of computer vision, fashion and consumer data to make the apparel supply chain more efficient. At Metail, he was responsible for finance & operations and international business, and led the fundraising process leading to its Series B and the eventual exit to one of the largest global supply chain players.
Prior to getting his hands dirty as a start-up operator, Mr Kelvin Au was a venture investor at DFJ (Draper Esprit) and worked at Credit Suisse and HSBC where he provided M&A and financing advice to technology corporates and SMEs globally.
Mr Kelvin Au is an active angel investor in the technology space and an LP in the Creator Fund, a VC fund dedicated to uncovering and investing in the best technology talent and ideas from universities.
He holds a first class Master's degree in Computer Science from Imperial College London.
Dr Antonina Santalova | Emergent Market Specialists: Russian and Central Asia
DPhil and MPhil, MA, BA
Dr Antonina Santalova holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the University of Oxford, UK, an MPhil in Comparative Social Policy from the same university, and a MA in Marketing from the National State University, Kyrgyzstan as well as BA in Linguistics from the same university.
Dr Santalova has over 20 years of experience in governmental and non-governmental agencies, along with a firm grounding in research and teaching. She has been teaching Social Policy at Oxford University for over ten years, was an instructor for a number of courses at the American University in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) and has led numerous seminars and workshops in institutions in China, Russia, and Switzerland. She has also launched a start-up educational consultancy company endorsed by the University of Oxford in 2015.
Dr Santalova took an active part in formulating and implementing educational policy in Central Asia. Working in the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, she participated in the transformation of the public sector that was taking place after the collapse of the USSR. As a project officer responsible for textbook publication, designing teacher training programmes and the development of an Education Management Information System, Dr Santalova was instrumental in lobbying the Asian Development Bank to invest an additional $6 million for regional educational development.
Dr Santalova has worked as a Country Director for the Academy for Educational Development (USA) in Kyrgyzstan, managing a team of experts from international organisations and national state departments, which piloted a series of policy initiatives including: Per capita funding of school education (in cooperation with Abt Associates); community participation in school management (with Save the Children, UK); school infrastructure development (with Save the Children, USA) and INTERACTIVE methods of teaching (with Open Society Foundation spin-offs). Her contribution to the development of the educational sector in Kyrgyzstan was awarded with a Diploma of Excellence.
In 2021, Dr Santalova joined The University of Business, Innovation and Sustainability (Geneva) as first a professor on, then the Director of its DBA. Dr Santalova has not only facilitated the growth of the UBIS DBA, but also was instrumental in creating the University’s Research Institute, allowing DBA students to spin out aspects of their doctoral research into academic journals. Currently, Dr Santalova serves as the Academic Dean at Glion Institute of Higher Education.
Dr Sérgio Oliveira | Emergent Market Specialists: Brazil and Latin America
PhD, MSc, BSc
Dr Sergio Ricardo de Jesus Oliveira is an electronic engineer and professor at the Federal University of Uberlândia, specializing in Biomedical Engineering. His work primarily focuses on the monitoring, capture, and processing of biomedical signals, as well as the development of radio frequency communication and protocols for wireless sensor networks. With a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Federal University of Uberlândia, Sergio has a strong background in the practical implementation of estimators for nonlinear dynamic systems using artificial neural networks. His research interests also extend to the development of integrated systems for electricity quality analysis equipment and the acquisition and analysis of physiological signals. His dedication to advancing the field of Biomedical Engineering is evident through his contributions to various research projects and publications, making him a valuable asset to the academic and scientific community.
Nurul Farhana Ab Halim | International Client Relationship Manager
B.Adm.Sci.
Farhana Halim, a professional with a strong background in client relationship management, has demonstrated over 6 years of expertise in driving excellence in client relations. Graduating with honors in Administrative Science from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 2013, Farhana began her career as a Customer Service Representative at The Sellbytel Group, where she was recognized as 'Malaysia's Best Performer' within three months. Her passion for serving global clients led her to Google, where she excelled as an Email Specialist, managing and resolving client inquiries. In 2016, she joined The Eurasia Consortium Malaysia Sdn Bhd, now Eurasia Global, and was appointed as the International Client Relationship Manager in 2018. In 2021, she was promoted to the position of Director at The Eurasia Consortium Malaysia Sdn Bhd, based in the Malaysia office. In her current role, Farhana oversees international clients from various countries and is known for her dedication to delivering exceptional service and fostering enduring partnerships.