SPEAKERS

Immanuel PärtImmanuel Pärt is a pilot and educator. He has been working as a First Officer and Captain on Boeing 737 and CRJ aircraft for Estonian Air and CityJet. He also trains and examines pilots. Born in Estonia, Immanuel has spent most of his childhood in Berlin, Germany and then moved to England where he completed his Higher Education in Music Technology at Colchester Institute. He continued his studies as a commercial pilot and graduated from British Aerospace Flight Training in Prestwick (Scotland) in 2000. Today Immanuel is residing with his family in Tallinn, Estonia. He is a co-founder and a member of the Council of St John’s School and a member of the Council at Arvo Pärt Centre. He maintains health and safety standards at St John’s School and participates in the working group dedicated to the building of the school.

 

img 5249 2Liivika Simmul is one of the founders and the headmaster of St. John’s School. Liivika has studied Pedagogy, Psychology and Theology at universities in Tartu and Tallinn. She has taught at Hugo Treffner Highschool in Tartu before moving to Tallinn in the late 1990s. In 1999 she became a member of the team that set up one of the first private schools in Estonia, Rocca al Mare School, working as a director of the primary school, as the Chair of the cultural studies department. She helped to set up Veskimöldre private kindergarten and Vodja Individual Educational Center. She is a frequent speaker on the radio and television on the subjects concerning education and child development. In 2018 her contribution to Estonian society has been recognized by the Aadu Luukas Mission Award. She is a member of the Council of the Arvo Pärt Centre. She has four children and one grandchild.

 

irina paertIrina Pärt is a historian and educator. She gained her Masters’ degree in History from the Central European University, founded by George Soros, and her PhD from the University of Essex. After her initial academic career in the UK (as a lecturer at the universities of Essex, Manchester and Wales, Bangor) she moved to Estonia with her husband Immanuel Pärt where she now resides with their two children. She is a Senior Researcher at the University of Tartu, publishing articles and books on East European and Estonian history. As one of the founders of St John’s School in Tallinn, Estonia, she is committed to the development of the school through teaching and popularizing the school outside Estonia. She has organized several annual international conferences inviting well-known scholars and educationalists to take part in these conferences. She is currently an executive director of the Foundation of Holistic Education created under the auspices of St John’s School for promotion of inclusive and holistic values and practices in children’s education.

 

oleg photoOleg Shvaikovsky has been in ICT industry over 25 years. He is a senior partner and a member of the board at Nortal AS, which is a software provider for mission-critical solutions in the fields of Government, Enterprise (Telecom, Banking, Industry etc) and Healthcare and has clients across Europe, Middle East and Northern America. His one on major areas of expertise are e-Identity, Telecom and Data Science. Shvaikovsky is frequent speaker on major e-government conferences and seminars, sharing practical experience of building e-government and Seamless Society. Mr. Shvaikovsky holds MSc degree in Theoretical Physics (1992) and MBA on Strategic Management (2008). He is a co-founder and a member of the Board of St John’s School and Physics teacher in 8th Grade.

 

sandorliivecasual 1Sandor Liive is an energy executive and startup entrepreneur. Sandor is a co-founder of the GridiO, a virtual power plant platform where everyone can connect and make money with their existing electric devices, co-founder and Chairman of the Fermi Energia, a project development company for the deployment of the first small modular nuclear reactor in Europe, co-founder of the Callisto Group, a communication agency, Member of the Supervisory board of Nordecon, a publicly listed construction company, Chairman of the Pakri Science and Industrial Park, an advisor for Hepta Airborne&Energy, Member of the Supervisory board of Tuleva, a social startup managing members’ pension assets. Sandor, whose two daughters are students at St John’s has been involved at the School as a volunteer member of several working groups, including the group dedicated to the building of the school.

Aavo Kokk aavokokk 1holds degrees in Journalism from Tartu University (Estonia) and Banking and Finance from Stockholm University (Sweden). He has been editor-in-chief of the national weekly newspaper Eesti Ekspress and the publisher of Eesti Päevaleht newspaper group. In 1990s he has led the team that designed Estonian tax system and was part of the taskforce to turn Estonian Savings Bank into a profitable modern commercial bank. In last 12 years Aavo has worked as a negotiator focusing on large real estate transactions. Recently he has joined one of the leading national real estate developers in Estonia US Invest as Head of Real Estate. Aavo is also a writer and a teacher. He is co-author of best-selling art books (see http://www.maastikumaal.ee) and educator: he taught different audiences, including history to 5th and 6th grade students at St John’s School. Aavo is a reserve officer of Estonian Defence Forces.  At St John’s School Aavo serves as a volunteer member of the working group dedicated to the building of the school.

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