COB CERTIFIED - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• European Manager With Samantha Smith Leading Customer

Carole Winwood is our European Manager with Samantha Smith leading customer service and sales, with new senior and team regional appointments to follow in 2024.

Job Titles:

• Founder
• President
• President Digital Skills Authority & CXO Congress

Deborah Collier M.Sc. FRSA is an influential strategic & ‘Futurist Leader' with 30-years' experience working across digital, technology, marketing and business. A digital, media and technology entrepreneur, described as a ‘global economic force' as founder and president of industry's global awarding body Digital Skills Authority. She is also a media CEO, and former non-executive director. With 20-years' senior executive and company director experience in the US and UK, in her earlier career she trained and advised leaders of some of the world's best-known brands and government organisations including PwC, Procter & Gamble, Oman Ministry of Information and Technology, South African Post Office, Seagate, Mars, SABIC, Three, Schneider Electric and EY. A Top 10 Global Thought Leader in Business Strategy, Legal & IP according to Thinkers360 and Top 50 in Leadership and Emerging Technology, she was also listed in Richtopia's ‘Top 100 Most Influential Chief Marketing Officers in the World' (2016). Deborah's career began in the 1990s at the UK Ministry of Defence, where she was one of the first women in IT. After nearly 12 years with blue-chip organizations like JPMorgan, Fujitsu ICL, Fidelity Investments, and Quantum Corporation, her blend of analytical and creative skills led her to web development, commerce, and marketing, ultimately running her own agency. From 2002 to 2004, she held a consultative management role at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). After leaving PwC, Deborah focused on brand development, leading the creation, sale, and procurement of digital services and products-including subscriptions, luxury items, and technology-using cutting-edge innovations like early mobile commerce. She later established an educational framework and strategic planning methodologies that are now utilized by organizations worldwide. ​ As a strategic leader and creator, Deborah has extensive industry experience across her various board roles. By 2016, she had led a consultancy and training team, advising leaders from international government ministries and renowned blue-chip companies on e-government, business strategy, digital business, e-commerce, and marketing. I n addition, she has contributed as a columnist for several publications and appeared on Channel 4 News to discuss policy, tech regulation, and the handling of fake news and user-generated content. Notably, she delivered a keynote address to C-suite leaders at the House of Lords on the Future of Governance, having developed the world's first digital governance framework in 2008. The evolving 'Collier Global Governance Framework' has been taught and implemented by leaders around the globe for nearly two decades. Deborah Collier is a distinguished strategic and Futurist Leader® with over 30 years of experience in digital technology, marketing, and business. As the founder and president of the Digital Skills Authority, industry's global awarding body for advanced digital and digital business skills, she is recognized as a "global economic force." Deborah has also served as a non-executive director and is a media CEO, who successfully built a multi-million dollar publishing business and implemented it's sophisticated e-learning and certification platform supported by a high-performing multimedia team.​

Job Titles:

• Senior Associate
• Trainer

Elisa Pogliano is a Digital Transformation veteran with 18+ years of experience, including working for leading Consumer Goods companies, holding senior leadership positions at P&G and Mattel, responsible for E-Commerce, Digital Marketing & Media. She has also consulted for General Mills, Medela & the Lingaro Group. Highlights of her career included setting up Mattel's Digital & Media function across Europe and growing it into a 35-people division, and launching their Direct-to-Consumer E-Commerce business in 5 countries.

Job Titles:

• Head

Mark Furney leads our IT function, with Jimmy Phillips managing production of our e-learning programs.

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer

With four decades of experience in consultancy and operations management across publishing organisations such as Bertelsmann, Hatchett, Harper Collins, Sarah rose through the ranks at Digital Skills Authority to Chief Operating Officer in 2024. Sarah brings a wealth of experience in process reengineering, human resources, finance, technology, organisational transformation and customer service implementation in Canada, USA and Europe.

Job Titles:

• Interim Vice President Northern Eruiope

Sebastian Lange has 30-years business development experience in the technology, recruitment, education and publishing sectors across Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy. He is skilled relationship developer and strategic solutions provider trusted by leading organizations and SMEs across Northern Europe. He is a member of our corporate boards in both the UK and USA.