Core Management Team

Charles Cormack

Founder & Chairman UK

Charles started working with universities on the development of international projects over 20 years ago. Over the past two decades, Charles has been involved in the development of university partnerships in over 30 countries.

He has developed the business into a specialist consultancy working exclusively in higher and further education. He works in supporting universities, government ministries and agencies, and private operators in the development of innovative and profitable international projects across many international markets.

Charles’s background is from the private sector, allowing him to bring a different perspective to the Higher Education sector. His background helps him develops new and innovative models for TNE and partnership development. 

His focus is on the opportunities in Europe, with particular expertise in Eastern and Central Europe, and has an excellent understanding of the Higher Education market across these regions. As well as Chairing CCG, Charles is also the founder of Retinent, a specialist consultancy working with universities in the UK and Europe on Student retention and engagement.

Charles’ hobbies are diverse. He bought a cheap and slow (and handsome) racehorse, who keeps his winter weekends busy. He is a slightly obsessive runner, and he gets creative as he is woodcarving.

Dr Barbara McCrory

Associate Director

Barbara has an outstanding career as a professional working with different markets, over 25 years in the field of buying and selling at the Director level. She currently holds several roles including Associate Director with Cormack Consultancy Group.

She holds a Doctorate in Customer Retention, an MBA in Retailing, and a Degree in Marketing. She is a lecturer in International Sales Management, Entrepreneurial Leadership and Professional Selling with Napier University, and is currently writing a new bachelor’s degree “The Science of Selling”. Barbara is an Associate with Teesside University working across the SME agenda focused on local business growth, entrepreneurial leadership and MBA programmes, and a visiting lecturer with the Stockholm School of Economics delivering lectures on Consumer Behaviour, and International Selling.

Her career expanded into other areas such as General Manager, Commercial and Sales Director for many different companies and within different industries.

Barbara is also a mentor with the Scottish Chamber of Commerce.

For Barbara, there are no other hobbies more important than Golf and Walking.

Dr Aziz Boussofiane

Director

Aziz has wide-ranging experience in international education including responsibilities for business development, partnership development, transnational education, quality assurance, developing monitoring mechanisms.

Over the years, he acquired extensive experience in senior leadership roles in a large multidisciplinary UK University. Has impressive experience in setting up and managing partnerships in Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Greece, and Cyprus.

His work showed a successful track record of developing and validating new products and delivering continued partnership growth and in-depth knowledge of international education markets and wide-ranging experience of working with overseas institutions and regulatory bodies.

Hobbies include knitting and crochet.

Kevin Spensley

Director USA

Kevin Spensley has spent over 25 years in international education in higher-ed, non-profit, government, and consulting environments.

Before joining CCG, Kevin was Senior International Officer and Director of International Enrolment at a US liberal arts college responsible for international admission, partnerships, and internationalization strategies. For 12 years, he worked as Business Development Manager and was on the leadership team of an American organization specializing in international education, training, and government assistance programs. Kevin served in the US Department of State (Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs) where he oversaw institutional partnerships and student exchanges such as the Fulbright and Freedom Support Act programs.

He also founded a company that promoted US and Canadian independent schools in Russian-speaking countries. In addition to the U.S., Kevin has lived or studied in several countries including Ukraine, Canada, Russia, and Poland.

Living in a region with four proper seasons, Kevin likes to enjoy each one to the utmost and his favorite pastimes often involve outside activities: swimming, biking, skiing, ice hockey, hiking, etc. Less voluntary hobbies include grass cutting, gardening, snow-shoveling, and home maintenance. Also, sometimes Kevin enjoys just sitting on his porch and observing the nature.

Gintaras Steponavicius

Director (CEE+)

Gintaras studied Law at Vilnius University and the University of Birmingham and the University of Copenhagen and became actively involved in Lithuanian politics during the campaign for independence from the Soviet Union. He started his professional life as an academic at the University of Vilnius, before entering Parliament in 2000.

During his 20 years in Parliament, he focused much of his energy on the reform of the Lithuanian educational system, and became Minister of Education in 2008, and steered through some of the most significant Higher Education reforms Lithuania has seen, including the introduction of a student voucher system, allowing students to take their funding to their preferred university. He also instigated and completed several University mergers aimed at strengthening the sector.  During his time in office, he was also passionate about the internationalisation of Lithuanian Universities and provided government support to universities that wanted to develop dual degree and joint faculty partnerships with UK Universities. He was also a Deputy Speaker of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament).

Gintaras has become active in the past few years in working with governments in the wider region who are keen to reform their education systems. He stood down from Parliament in 2020 and has joined CCG to help us develop our activity across Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Gintaras’s first love is basketball, both watching and playing (despite his advancing years!) as well as watching films and reading.

Sian Thomas

Strategic Partnership Director CEE+

Sian is a specialist in transnational education for vocational and HE partnerships and projects with a background in senior leadership in international vocational and HE pathway education, qualification awarding bodies and charitable organisations working across Europe, Africa and Asia. 

As a development education specialist, the majority of her work is focussed on transformative ‘future skills’ projects for green and digital. She advises stakeholders from the public and private sectors on innovative education solutions, policy, partnerships and programme development to respond to rapidly changing skills demand. She holds an MA in Development Education from UCL and a background in leadership in internationalisation of education, programme and policy reform, employer engagement, teacher training and quality oversight. She has a successful  track record of developing strategic projects and partnerships across green, digital, business and commercialisation, EFL and vocational education projects across the world.

In her free time, Sian likes paddle boarding and travelling in her campervan.

Professor Mark Edwards

Regional Director Australasia

Emeritus Professor Mark Edwards has 20+ years of higher education leadership experience in Australia and the UK, including more than 15 years working in the international sector.

Prior to joining CCG, he worked in the roles of Associate Dean International at an Australian university and, most recently, as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International) at a medium-sized, progressive university in the UK.

Mark has experience of developing internationalisation strategies and for setting and achieving ambitious student recruitment, study abroad and exchange, and TNE and partnership targets.

Mark has a strong global network and has sustained productive partnerships with institutions across China, South East Asia, Southern Asia, Europe, and the US. He has an astute understanding of the global higher education landscape, and of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector. He holds a PhD in Psychological Science from the University of Queensland, and a number of honorary professorships from universities world-wide.

His interests also include cricket, Australian rules football, home renovating, and 4WD adventuring. 

John Bunter

Associate Director India

John has an extensive knowledge of the education sector in India, especially in the Western region; he has worked with and has contacts with senior management of most of the leading education institutes there. He is based in Pune, and has been working on the Education sector in the Western region of India for over 12 years.

John was a Trade & Investment Adviser with the British Deputy High Commission, Mumbai, India. He had led several delegations of Indian Education Institutes to UK where they met with a large number of UK universities. He has also organised a number of delegations of UK Universities to India. Numerous MOUs have been signed between the UK and Indian HE institutes as a result of these delegations.

John also has contacts with many of the leading UK universities with whom he has interacted over the years. John has an excellent rapport with other  Ex DIT colleagues pan India and hence has reach to education institutes across the country.

John is fond of travelling as well as western music, both classical and modern.

Justyna Sadovska

Personal Assistant to Director CEE+ and Information Specialist

Justyna has extensive research and volunteering expertise from working with multiple third-sector organisations across Scotland, England, and Lithuania.

Justyna graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) degree in Social Sciences (Politics with Sociology) from Glasgow Caledonian University, where she also worked as a researcher at the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU). Her work with marginalised groups has instilled a passion for diversity and inclusion and effecting social change.

Justyna firmly believes in the potential of transnational education for shaping leaders and professionals for an increasingly globalised world. Her own experience living, working and studying in Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, and the UK is a true testament to the best that internationalisation can offer early career professionals with the right kind of guidance and support.

For Justyna, there’s no better way to spend her spare time than travelling and exploring nature. She also likes to relax after a busy day by practising yoga, playing the piano, or reading.

Phill Gray

Director of Partners

Phill has worked within UK higher education for almost 20 years being responsible for UK, EU and global student recruitment, and has held senior leadership and director roles at UK universities. Within these he was responsible for developing a number of multifaceted partnerships, developing processes to ensure quality, compliance and growth in the number of partnerships for research, student recruitment, mobility and exchange and study abroad.

His market knowledge covers the UK, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China, the US, and South and South-East Asia. Prior to joining CCG, Phill has worked with several consortia of universities, governmental, NGO, charity and volunteering sector organisations to support not only institutional strategies and growth, but also ensuring best fit and support for students.

Phill is a fan of rugby. He took up rugby union in 2019, years after last playing at school, and helped to co-establish the inclusive rugby team in York, UK. As a big advocate for inclusive rugby, Phill works with his teammates, his club and other inclusive teams to promote the spirit and ethos of inclusive rugby in the city, the region, across the UK and globally. Phill loves nothing more than good company and good conversation, so makes sure he catches up with friends over dinner, drinks, boardgames and putting the world to rights.

Claire Axel-Berg

Head of Study Abroad and Recruitment

With over two decades of experience in international higher education Claire brings exceptional insight in the development of internationalisation in the state and for profit sectors. She directed international development at a leading UK Russell Group university, where she delivered innovative and successful multi-million pound recruitment partnerships and transformed mobility and student support teams.

Claire has worked in many markets and political environments and held strategic responsibility for global student recruitment campaigns for almost 20 years. She is skilled in determining and providing solutions to internal and external impediments that challenge successful recruitment, and brings operational as well as strategic experience in this area. In addition to providing education marketing consultancy Claire is also retained as European adviser to a major Chinese education agency.

On her sparetime, Claire enjoys taking care of her garden (regardless of the weather) with the not-so-useful assistance of her dogs.

Justin Hugo Axel-Berg

Head of Research

Justin is a researcher in higher education policy and governance and scientometrics at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He is an associate researcher on the Métricas public policy project. The project is financed by FAPESP and supported by USP, Unicamp and UNESP, focused on data management, creation and deployment of research indicators for strategic planning and social impact mapping. The project works with 25 universities across Brazil in capacity building, and has two books published on the subject.

He is a member of the International Triple Helix Association, a main researcher on the Global Entrepreneurial University Metrics initiative, and designed the methodology for the Entrepreneurial University Ranking.

As head of research at Sherlock Communications, he has delivered strategy for engagement across Latin America for numerous higher education institutions, governments and education service providers.

Justin has lived in São Paulo for 13 years, with three rescued dogs and three rescued cats. In his spare time he enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu and writes subtitles for independent Latin American films. 

Roger Horam

EU Funding Expert

With over 20 years in economic development and a project manager to trade, Roger works alone or as part of a group of social innovators committed to delivering sustainable social, environmental and economic development and innovation. Roger works with organisations and partnerships, across sectors and borders, to develop ideas and address pressing and emerging issues working together for a fairer world and greater prosperity for us all and with 100% of surpluses re-invested in supporting the further growth and development of voluntary and community organisations.

Roger helps clients to identify, shape and implement major changes that improve their business performance delivering project development, project management, investment and Funding and social innovation development. With offices in Edinburgh and Prague, Roger has become a leading expert on income generation and fundraising:

• Proven track record in successful proposals and tenders that meet customer needs and demonstrate economic, human and social value.

• Identifying funding sources and tenders, and managing all stages of the submission, or facilitating the in-house process and bringing external knowledge and perspective.

• Helping find delivery partners, local or throughout the UK and EU, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Transcaucasia.

• Research and development of potential new income streams.

When not working Roger enjoys food, cooking and eating, listening to music, playing the drums and watching sport.

Priyanka Kalapahad

Partner Manager India

Priyanka was born and raised in India, where she attended the MBA at MIT World Peace University in Pune. At CCG, Priyanka works as a Partner Manager for the Indian market.

Prior to working at CCG, Priyanka worked as a Manager for Runanubandh Private Media, an Indian Newspaper. Now, she is keen to learn more about higher education to enhance the experiences of the next generations.

Priyanka is a sports and arts enthusiast, and she enjoys trying new things and experiences. She also loves helping others, so she lends a hand to her community whenever she can. Indeed, she works as a freelance counsellor for Remand Home (Children Observation Homes), looking after youths in need of care and protection.

Dr Anzhela Stashchak

Director for Projects

Anzhela’s pathway has always been linked to internationalisation, one way or another. She started her career as a volunteer at the international relations office at her Alma Mater, Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine), while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in International Law Enforcement, which with time turned into a full-time role that Anzhela was successfully combining with gaining her master’s degree in Law (Hons).

Anzhela can’t imagine her life without constant development and upskilling, so after some time she also opted for the PhD journey, after obtaining which she was offered a position of the Head of the International Relations Office at Kharkiv National Medical University.

6 years in the position of the Head of the Office have become a highly valuable and irreplaceable experience for Anzhela as there was no functioning international office at the university when she started, so she had to start from scratch. As a result of hard work and exceptional organisational skills of the team, the university has become one of the most internationalised medical schools in Ukraine.

Anzhela has also recently gained her Doctor of Science in Law.

Anzhela’s work and self-development is just a scenary to her family life. She has a beloved husband and 3 bright kids - all sons, so she likes activities that allow her to spend more time with the family: kayaking, hiking, cycling, football, picknicks and games. Anzhela also plays piano and loves to sing.

Lorena Naftanalia

Schedule Manager

Born and bred in the real realm of mythical vampires, Transylvania, Lorena spent the first 19 years of her life only a 20 minutes’ drive away from the mysterious Castle of Vlad the Impaler.

Her novelty-seeking and openness to experience, pushed Lorena to travel to the United Kingdom in 2016 for a chance to build knowledge. Before embarking on the CCG yacht, starting as a part-time project assistant, whilst also studying Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation at UCLan, before following her passion for the subject, to complete a Masters in Forensic Information Technology and Cyber Security at Portsmouth.

There are many things that Lorena enjoys in this life; the moments with the family being most cherished. On most occasions, she prefers to invest her free time into learning and developing more by doing cyber-security challenges and projects, writing, or even studying a new programming language. However, as much as Lorena loves being productive, she also has lazy days when a cop TV show or even a computer game is highly needed.

Katie Cormack

Schedule Manager

Growing up in a small town near the magical Scottish Borders, Katie could not help falling in love with history and archaeology.

Katie’s passion for history encouraged her to do her Bachelors in Archaelogy at Durham University, followed by a Master’s in Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects. After her studies, Katie moved to Devon where she is currently doing a fascinating internship at an historic house.

Katie enjoys reading and walking to take her mind off work. She also likes discovering and visiting historic sites when she has some free time.

Diana Brad

Operations Director

Diana worked for CCG during the first year of her undergraduate degree in Law at Lancaster University, editing documents and later leading the firm’s small Marketing team. She left to take a job in the university’s Careers and Recruitment Service, and after Diana graduated, she worked in the Commercial Litigations Department of a law firm in Leeds and later for an insolvency firm in London.

Diana returned to CCG in 2018 as the first Client Manager, looking after CCG’s clients and setting up CCG’s project management system. A few years later, Diana took on Operations Management for the client + partner work of the company and in 2023 she began reviewing, streamlining and monitoring processes across the entire company.

Dr Ligia Andrei

Senior Client Manager

Ligia was born and raised in Oradea, a city rich in art nouveau, Viennese and Hungarian Secession architecture dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She have always found joy in environments with cultural diversity, and she learned that she has an unquenchable thirst for exploration, and the fact that travelling rekindles the thirst for learning that she once had as a child.

Ligia moved for university studies closer to the heart of Transylvania, and for ten years, Cluj-Napoca became her home. She studied Advertising and Communication Sciences at bachelor’s and master’s level. Ligia has published her first science book early in her academic evolution, and now is working on her PhD thesis in Neuromarketing. 

Previously, Ligia worked as a Project Manager and Creative Copywriter in one of the most important advertising agencies in Transylvania. She is a co-founder and Marketing Director of the first student’s consultancy NGO in Romania that provides socially conscious organizations around the world with very high quality, extremely affordable consulting service. Ligia has now been working for CCG since spring 2020, a beautiful place to be and the best environment to grow as a professional. 

At the end of a busy day, Ligia finds herself relaxing with a good book, or cooking with a piece of good background music. Her mood improvers are travelling and running.

Dr Elena Bozdog 

Club Orizont Manager

Elena was born in the northern part of Romania and raised in a small city in the beautiful heart of Transylvania, only to become a happy-go-lucky ray of sunshine.  

Elena studied the master’s programme in European Affairs and Programme Management at Babeș-Bolyai University, the best ranked Romanian university. Just before finishing the MA, she discovered the wonders of grant writing. That determined her to start working with a consultancy firm focused on writing projects for SMEs that wanted to access European funds. 

After several years, her path guided her back to the Babeș-Bolyai University, within the Department of Public Health, where she focused on grant writing and implementing the awarded projects.  

Elena was no longer working for external beneficiaries of the projects but submitting and implementing the projects her team and she wrote together. For the past ten years, Elena was involved in 20+ grants in the field of Public Health, holding different positions: project manager, financial manager, research assistant, institutional coordinator, lecturer, teaching assistant. During this time, she learned many valuable skills and worked in multidisciplinary teams with great colleagues and partners. Elena has worked in projects funded by different institutions and had the opportunity to work with different partners from different countries in the EU (Spain, Italy, UK, Denmark, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) and outside the EU (Tunisia, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, USA, Canada, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Australia) offered me the opportunity to get familiar with different cultures and different ways of working.

As her quote advises, Elena’s heart and intuition made her turn back to the consultancy field with CCG, where she now could support higher education institutions in the enhancement of their bid writing skills.  

Elena always put a great value on the peace of my mind, and after a busy day, she enjoys running, yoga, or gardening.

Bora Dimitrov

Director of Engagement and Growth (US)

Bora is a passionate advocate for the transformative impact of higher education to inspire learning, drive discovery and enterprise, and cultivate leaders who shape the world.

He has 6 years of higher education experience across four key strategic areas, Athletics, Enrollment Management, Internationalization, and Advancement. Some of Bora’s leadership responsibilities include work with NCAA Division I athletic teams, international and domestic student recruitment, international student services, international academic partnerships, study abroad, alumni engagement, and annual giving programs. Bora brings a panoramic Higher Education and Business Leadership perspective.

As a former water polo player and a coach, Bora enjoys playing water polo recreationally. He is a big fan of long walks with his wife and daughters, as well as watching Disney movies with

Oksana Vavrenchuk

Assistant Director of the Twinning project

Oksana has always been inquisitive and has been interested in exploring uncharted waters. This interest in the wider world led to obtaining a degree in International Relations. It happened to be the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the world’s diversity.

As a student, she worked as a freelance writer which allowed her to satisfy the lust for knowledge and become financially independent at an early age.

Oksana strongly believes in the power of education as she is reassured this is the only type of weapon that can be used, and the only one that can make an actual change. 

In her free time, Oksana adores reading. Apart from that, she is an indomitable spirit of nature seeker, a great fan of mountains, and recently discovered she could not imagine her life without hiking.

Emily Cormack

Partner Support Specialist

Emily has recently discovered an interest for internationalisation of higher education, which is what brought her to join the CCG family in April 2022 to work with the partnership team.

Emily grew up in Scotland, but moved to York to do her Bachelors in Criminology. She also conducted a fascinating internship at a Scottish-based charity to reduce offenders’ community payback hours through arts-based workshops. After her undergraduate, Emily discovered her passion towards internationalisation and higher education which brought her to start a Masters in Marketing at York St John University. She hopes to work in international higher education once she graduates.

A good run or walk are Emily’s favourite hobbies when she is not working or studying. She has also recently taken up embroidery, which she is enjoys very much.

Daria Shliakhova

Executive Assistant to Chairman

Dariia has always had a passion for languages and international experience, which led her to become Student Mobility Manager at Kharkiv National Medical University, where she was responsible for academic mobility, as well as the internationalisation of the institution.

Dariia was born in Kharkiv where she also attended V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University to study Applied Linguistics. During her studies she worked as a Trademark Manager for a private company and this experience allowed her to improve her language and communication skills.

Dariia also spent two years in Poland to get acquainted to a new country. She indeed loved exploring the cultural and linguistic aspects of Poland.

When she is not working, Dariia loves practicing yoga because it helps her destressing. Her love for languages also encourages her to learn new ones, as the activity helps her relaxing.

Vytenis Fuks

Project Manager

Vytenis was born in a remote industrial border town in northern Lithuania. Lack of big city comforts and opportunities always drove him to create something himself. 

He was an active member of the school community, and before graduating, has participated in the school’s debate club as well as various youth NGOs.

Vytenis moved to Vilnius for his bachelor’s studies at the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences (Vilnius University). During his studies, he worked on a civic education project involving multiple schools across the country. Shortly after that, he was invited to join a team of a member of Lithuanian parliament. An interest in education started to grow there.

 During his years at university, Vytenis focused his attention on qualitative research and public policy. He recently defended his bachelor’s thesis on the social effects on the rural community after school closure and now is pursuing his master’s degree in the field of Public Policy analysis. He became a part of the CCG team in April 2021 and instantly felt like he has worked there for a long time.

 A book, a movie or a ride with a bike exploring new routes are Vytenis’s best friends after a busy day.

Teneisha Ellis

US Client Manager and Study Abroad Coordinator

Teneisha is coming to CCG with over 12 years of professional experience in International Education. Studying abroad for the first time herself at the age of 17, she has continued to support the student experience on Education Abroad.

In her last position as Director of Education Abroad in a midsized university in the West of the United States, she was able to help her students and faculty secure funding and support, which was vital for their international programs to be successful. She cannot wait to help assist CCG partners with their collaboration efforts.

In her free time, Teneisha enjoys reading and traveling; even better when she can combine these two activities. Teneisha also loves music and sporting events but of course being from Wisconsin in the US, the Green Bay Packers are the best American football team to her.

Karen Biazzo

Meeting summariser

Karen has joined CCG part time as a meeting summariser. She is also a Global Criminology student at Utrecht University with a strong interest in writing, research and critical thinking.

She is originally from Sicily (Italy), where she grew up learning about Mafia and criminal cases which made her fond of criminal studies. In 2018, she moved to Scotland to study her Bachelor in Criminology at Abertay University.

In 2022, Karen moved to the Netherlands for her MA in Global Criminology to pursue a career as a financial crime analyst and/or an academic. In the meantime, she is interested in enhancing her writing and critical analysis skills which brought her to CCG.

Karen is an avid reader, she can devour a book in the span of a couple of days. Karen plays the guitar, mostly rock or folk/indie music which is a good way of distracting and using her creativity. She is also fond of yoga, which she practices whenever she has the time. Since going to the Netherlands, Karen has found a new love for canoeing (even better if under the rain!).

Yana Sydorenko

Twinning Assistant Manager

Yana was born and raised in Ukraine. Graduated from the State Tax University of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and received a master's degree in law. She worked in the State Tax Service of Ukraine, where she represented the interests of the state in courts. 

For several years, she worked in a state-owned company that developed a web portal for the use of public funds for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, which was and is a key tool in the fight against corruption. She also has experience of working as a lawyer in the private sector.

Yana likes to travel and get to know local culture and traditions. She practices yoga, enjoys long-distance walks and is fond of drawing.