Dame Helen Hyde studied at Witwatersrand University South Africa, King’s College London, and the Centre for Holocaust Studies at the Institute of Education London.
A career in teaching culminated in becoming Head teacher of Watford Grammar School for Girls. She has been an External Advisor to School Governors and an Executive Mentor to a number of Head teachers. She continues to advise Headteachers and is a trustee of a Multi Academy Trust She teaches the Kindertransport and Holocaust programs in a number of schools. She leads adult educational visits to Holocaust touched countries.
Helen is a Fellow of the Imperial War Museum. She is a Trustee of the Holocaust Education Trust, and the Foundation for Jewish Heritage. She was appointed a Holocaust commissioner and sat on the Educational Advisory Board of the National Holocaust Commission.
She organises a large annual Holocaust Conference for senior students.
Helen is Patron Director of the Rwandan Sisterhood supporting African Women and works with survivors of the genocide and deprived women in Kigali and Zimbabwe. She is a patron and trustee of the One Vision Charity and spends several days a week working at their HUB organising daily meals for those in need.
In 2012, Helen was made Dame Commander of the British Empire for services to national education and Holocaust education and in 2018 she was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Education by the University of Hertfordshire.
Hannah Lessing has been responsible for the administrative and organizational management of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism since 1995 and the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria since 2010. From 2001, she also managed the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism, which realized an extensive restitution and financial compensation program and was dissolved in 2022 after completing its tasks.
Hannah Lessing oversees the many and varied tasks of the National Fund, which include fostering relations between Austria and victims of the Nazi regime living abroad and in Austria and their descendants as well as providing support and assistance to Holocaust survivors and their families.
Hannah Lessing is Co-Head of the Austrian Delegation to the “International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance”, Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee and Member of the International Auschwitz Council.
She has lectured extensively on the mission of the three Funds, and on international Holocaust remembrance.
Amos Raban is an expert in digital humanities and educational innovation, with over 20 years of experience in the education sector. Amos consults for Holocaust Education institutions in Israel and leads digital history programs and professional development for the Israeli Ministry of Education. He also works with several other institutions and EdTech companies. He is also a member of the Future Hacking program, dedicated to bridging the digital literacy gap for underprivileged youth. His extensive background includes curriculum and course development, educational entrepreneurship, project management, consulting, teacher training, and lecturing. Amos is a former history and civics teacher and held various school leadership positions.
He lives in the UK and holds a B.A. in World History and Political Science, and an M.A. in Education Leadership from Tel Aviv University.
Jakub Nowakowski was born and raised in Kazimierz, the former Jewish district of Kraków. Coming from a non-Jewish family that lived in Kazimierz for generations, from early age he was compelled to research the history of his neighbourhood.
In 2007 he graduated from the Department of Jewish Studies at the Jagiellonian University, where he wrote a thesis on Jewish resistance in Kraków during the Second World War.
In 2005 Nowakowski joined the staff of the newly open (2004) Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków. In 2006 he joined the Museum’s Education Department, and in 2008 he became its manager. In 2010, after an international competition, Nowakowski was appointed as the director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, Poland. He served in this role for 13 years. In 2023 he was appointed as the director of the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre.
Jakub Nowakowski is the co-author of Museum publications (among others): Poland: A Jewish Matter. Proceedings of a symposium exploring contemporary Jewish life in Poland, marking the close of Jewish programming for Polska! Year. He is also a curator of the Museum exhibitions (among other): Fighting for Dignity. Jewish Resistance in Kraków, A City Not Forgotten. Memories of Jewish Lwów and the Holocaust, The Girl in the Diary. Searching for Rywka from Łódź ghetto. The exhibitions he has curated have been presented in Poland and internationally.
Victor Sorenssen is the Director of the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ), where he leads initiatives such as the European Route of Jewish Heritage and the European Days of Jewish Culture. He is also a tutor at the Paideia Project-Incubator, supporting the development of Jewish cultural projects across Europe. He is the founder of Mozaika, a cultural platform dedicated to the promotion of Jewish culture and heritage through educational programs, artistic initiatives, and community engagement.