Management Team
Giovanni Rottura – Vice President
Department: Operations
MSc
Giovanni has spent his whole career working in the education industry. Although originally from Italy, he has been based in the UK since 1989 and is Vice-President at KKCL. Thanks to his dedication and good-natured sense of humour, he has always received top results. “Once I start running,” says Giovanni, “no one can catch me, except for Reuben, my chocolate Labrador.” Giovanni’s work with teachers across Europe and his support for teacher development projects is legendary.
Janice Cheung – Director of Operations
Department: Operations
BSc
Janice also oversees the International Office, coordinating with department heads to improve operational efficiency, student recruitment and course delivery.
She is always up-to-date with the latest regulations and guidelines, giving support and guidance to our visa dependent students.
As one of the senior management team, she sometimes represents the College at different trade exhibitions and fairs around the world.
Emma Lauson – Director of Studies
Department: Academic
BA, PGCE, DELTA
Emma teaches specialist courses and supports the teaching staff to make sure every day at KKCL is educational, dynamic and runs smoothly.
She has been teaching EFL for over 10 years and has lived in Spain, Portugal and the UK. She can speak Spanish, Portuguese, French and Moroccan Arabic and is a singer-songwriter in her spare time, so watch out for her performing around London!
Her favourite part of the job is meeting people from all around the world and helping them to improve their English.
Emma speaks Spanish, Portuguese, French and a bit of Moroccan Arabic. She can also understand Italian.
Stephen O’Sullivan – Centre Manager
Department: Academic
MA, DELTA
Stephen is responsible for the KKCL Greenwich Centre. He works with our teachers and students to make sure that all our classes are as fun, educational and challenging as they can possibly be.
He has over six years experience in English Language Teaching in Ireland, Spain and the UK, including working for the British Council and as an Academic Manager. Stephen has also worked in the film industry and brings his expertise to our recording studio.
His favourite aspect of the job is the genuine interaction he gets to have with all the students and staff.
Tony Lucas – Centre Manager
Department: Academic
Tony is a teacher/teacher trainer at the British Council Porto. He has managed Summer Courses previously, both in the UK and The USA.
He enjoys the challenges and rewards that summer schools offer. Besides teaching he is also the co-author of course material for EFL students in Portugal.
Ron Mukerji – Deputy Centre Manager
Department: Academic
MA, DELTA
Ron is a teacher / teacher trainer with over twenty years of experience. He has managed summer courses both in-school as well as language camps in Poland, Slovakia, and the UK. He is also the co-author of the ESL series “Speed Up Your English”
He enjoys his role as a solution provider to any and all challenges he faces.
Operations Team
Alexandra Luchian – Client Relationship Manager
Department: Operations
Alexandra takes care of the customer service and knows everything about our programmes and clients, please speak to her if you have enquiries or difficulties.
Alexandra can speak English and Romanian.
Caroline Sjostrom – Digital Media & Academic Assistant
Department: Operations
BA (Hons)
Caroline is specialised in Digital Media & Advertising, as well as academic and admin tasks. She will qualify as a physiotherapist (BSc) in a year’s time. Caroline also holds an Honours degree in Architecture and assisted with design and concept work in a Finnish architectural practice after graduating.
Marco Di Pietra – Operations Assistant
Department: Operations
MA
After obtaining his Master’s degree in Law and Jurisprudence and working in a law firm in Italy, Marco started to travel around Europe, gaining experience in customer service at first in Belgium and then in the UK. Here at KKCL he assists the Operations Manager, and is always willing to help if you have any inquiries or difficulties.
He speaks English, Italian, and French.
Sales & Marketing Team
Umang Gandecha – Sales Manager
Department: Sales & Marketing
BSc
Umang 李浔 comes from an international background having worked in China and Taiwan. Having graduated with a 2:1 from Loughborough University, Umang is eager to develop his market in Asia.
Umang is a native English speaker who is also fluent in Mandarin and Hindi. He has had more than 5 years experience in a sales environment and looks to continue this at KKCL.
Claudia Ferrari – Marketing Manager
BSc, CELTA
Claudia has been in the EFL industry for nearly 20 years. She has covered several roles in the education management and has a full experience in the summer school business. In the last four years she has been promoting language programmes to international clients.
Claudia can speak Italian, English and Spanish.
Ekaterina Martynova – Representative in Russia
Department: Sales & Marketing
BA(Hons)
Ekaterina represents KKCL in Russia. Basically in Moscow and Ekaterinburg.
She was the owner of an English school in Ekaterinburg. Ekaterina has experience in the field of education abroad since 2009.
Now she is living in Moscow and coordinates the work of KKCL in Russia.
Irena Azizova – Representative in Russia
Department: Sales & Marketing
Fabiola Estrada Valtierra – Representative in Mexico
Department: Sales & Marketing
BA
Fabiola was born in a beautiful city called Guanajuato in México. She has participated in cultural exchanges in Italy, the United States, France and India. She speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and a little bit of Italian.
Fabiola holds a Bachelor´s Degree in International Commerce from the Universidad de Guanajuato and a Management and Economy Diploma from the Université de Caen Basse- Normandie in France.
After graduating she worked with a renowned Non-Profit International Education Organization in their office in Guanajuato. Now she is the Founder and Director of Culture and Language Abroad (CLA) and is the Representative in Mexico of KKCL.
Belén Orejas Fernández – Representative in Canary Island
With over 25 years’ experience in different fields in education, Belén Orejas holds both a degree in teaching and a Masters in School Supervision and Administration. She loves to teach and has taught all different ages. She also enjoys travelling, meeting new people and learning about different cultures. She has experience of organizing exchange programmes in Ireland and the USA, internships for university students from the US in Spain, and was given the International Humanism Award by the International Schools Association.
Jay Zhang – Chief Representative in China
Department: Sales & Marketing
MSc
Jay has over 10 years of experience in the field of education management and marketing. After graduation Jay worked in KKCL’s London office before starting his own successful advertising firm. Jay is KKCL’s chief representative in China and is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with partner schools and organisations.
Elaine Li – Deputy Chief Representative in China
Department: Sales & Marketing
Joann Wu – Chief Representative in China
Msc, BA
Jo-Ann gained her undergraduate and master degrees in the U.K. She has four-year work experience in education and training sector after spending three years in finance and banking industry. She has first hand English teaching experience for middle school students. She also started up an education and management consulting company named SCG, which has become one of the most reliable cross-board Executive education module providers for top education institutions in China, such as Fudan University and CKGSB etc. As KKCL’s greater china representative, Jo-Ann has cooperated with KKCL in K12 education for two years, and now is responsible for the marketing and relationship maintaining with customers from China and Japan.
Kira Zhu – Deputy Chief Representative in China
MSc, BA
Kira gained his master degree from the University of Cambridge and studied in the UK for five year since foundation. Besides his passion for education, Kira has in-depth industry experience in investment and high-end service consulting. He also started up a luxury travel consultant company named Evangel and has grew it into one of the most famous brands of central China. As KKCL’s Greater China Representative, Kira is responsible for the marketing and relationship maintaining with customers from China and Japan.
Teaching Staff
Gabriel Currington – Go Create! Coordinator
Department: Academic
BA, TESOL
Gabriel enjoys working at KKCL as a qualified English language teacher and as the Go Create! coordinator working with junior students from all over the world making sure they are studying English in an environment which is both fun and educational. With his background in Film and Music composition, he is well placed to help run the creative part of the programme at the school.
Daniel Zappi – Head of Drama Department
Department: Academic
Daniel Zappi is founder and director of Oxford World Theatre, one of Europe’s leading drama and English language-learning companies. Since graduating from the Oxford School of Drama as an actor, he has written and directed numerous student productions around the world for Oxford World Theatre as well as professionally. He also works extensively around Europe teaching drama CLIL with the Chain Foundation, an EU-funded cultural heritage programme for teachers. As a drama therapist he has worked with the UK’s NHS government health and prisons services, helping patients with psychiatric disorders through drama. Daniel is also a singer-songwriter and has released two albums of his own material and many songs for Oxford World Theatre shows.
Hedvig Ilyes – Teacher
Department: Academic
MSc, CELTA
Hedvig was born in Hungary where she graduated as a biologist and technical translator and later on as a teacher of English Language and Literature. She is also CELTA qualified and has over 10 years of experience of teaching English, both in Hungary and in the UK. She has prepared students for several different language exams, among others, TELC that you can take at KKCL.
Her outside interests are science, energy medicine, reading, sports and travelling.
Zoie Smith – Teacher
Department: Academic
BA, CELTA
Zoié graduated from London Metropolitan University with a BA in Entrepreneurship in 2008. During her degree, she studied subjects such as Economy, Women in Business, Business Ethics, Marketing, Social Enterprise and Accounting.
She went on to teach English but has maintained her business background, having taught Business English in Colombia to employees of the National Bank (Banco de Colombia), in Saudi Arabia ( private classes) and in London.
Zoié also has a background in Human Resources, having worked as a Human resources Assistant for three years so she is well-versed in giving classes to help with C.V’s, applications and interview preparation. Zoié has taught Business English for employment purposes too, which solely concentrates on the language needed to prepare people for future employment.
Zoié is CELTA qualified, and has been teaching English for over 8 years all around the world with students who range from 8 years to 85 years old.
Desmond Caldwell – Teacher
Department: Academic
BA, CELTA
Desmond took a Bachelors of Education, Major in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages, and has been teaching for over 15 years. He has taught in places as far away as Malaysia and also speaks Persian! He enjoys teaching a range of courses at KKCL, from Go Create! to IELTS.
Ketan Mistry – Teacher
Department: Academic
BA, CELTA
Ketan studied Criminology and Social Policy at university and then travelled the world teaching English. He has experience teaching all the way up to proficiency level and is one of our IELTS teachers.
Sam Patel – Teacher
Department: Academic
CELTA
Sam has been teaching for over 7 years in Brazil and the UK. He enjoys teaching young learners and adults and is a TELC examiner at KKCL. He also speaks Gujarati and Hindi!
Jamie Reay – Teacher
Department: Academic
MA, CELTA
Jamie has a wealth of teaching experience, having taught both in the UK and China. He is a qualified CELTA teacher and has jut obtained an MA in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics from King’s College London. He is fluent in Mandarin, and is currently studying Japanese.
Anna Mitchell – Teacher
Department: Academic
CELTA
Anna studied musical theatre at school and college, performing in many shows and watching countless amounts of musicals and plays in the West End. She also has a keen interest in travelling around the world.
She is currently learning Brazilian Portuguese and decided to start teaching English when travelling in Brazil.
She enjoys teaching both children and adults and likes to make her lessons fun and active.
Ciprian Gherghescu – Activity Leader
Department: Academic
Friendly, enthusiastic, love to educate and to discover. I have lived in places like the US, Malta, Luxembourg and Germany and I love to visit new places and share them with others.
Noemí Catalina Hernández – Teaching Assistant
Department: Academic
Noemi is currently doing an English Studies degree in Spain, where she comes from. As part of her university studies she is doing an internship at KKCL with the aim to learn from professional English teachers so she can become one in the future.
Apart from studying and teaching English, she also enjoys reading, sports and travelling around the world and discovering different cultures and languages.
Support Team
Kamila Falkowska – Chef
Department: Operations
Apart from organising the kitchen, cooking delicious European style lunch for KKCL students, Kamila also takes care of the tidiness all around the school.
Iwona Szulkowska – Catering Assistant
Department: Operations
Iwona makes the best cakes, one bite you will never forget!
Management Team
Giovanni Rottura – Vice President
Janice Cheung – Director of Operations
Emma Lauson – Director of Studies
Stephen O’Sullivan – Centre Manager
Tony Lucas – Centre Manager
Ron Mukerji – Deputy Centre Manager
Operations Team
Alexandra Luchian – Client Relationship Manager
Caroline Sjostrom – Digital Media & Academic Assistant
Marco Di Pietra – Operations Assistant
Sales & Marketing Team
Umang Gandecha – Sales Manager
Claudia Ferrari – Marketing Manager
Ekaterina Martynova – Representative in Russia
Irena Azizova – Representative in Russia
Fabiola Estrada Valtierra – Representative in Mexico
Belén Orejas Fernández – Representative in Canary Island
Jay Zhang – Chief Representative in China
Elaine Li – Deputy Chief Representative in China
Joann Wu – Chief Representative in China
Kira Zhu – Deputy Chief Representative in China
Teaching Staff
Gabriel Currington – Go Create! Coordinator
Daniel Zappi – Head of Drama Department
Hedvig Ilyes – Teacher
Zoie Smith – Teacher
Desmond Caldwell – Teacher
Ketan Mistry – Teacher
Sam Patel – Teacher
Jamie Reay – Teacher
Anna Mitchell – Teacher
Ciprian Gherghescu – Activity Leader
Noemí Catalina Hernández – Teaching Assistant
Support Team
Kamila Falkowska – Chef
