Sheila Jagannathan

Biography

Sheila Jagannathan is a lifelong learner and Head of the Open Learning Campus at the World Bank in Washington D.C..

She is an internationally recognised thought leader, advisor, author, and forward-thinking senior education leader with over 35 years of experience in leading capacity building, knowledge management, data, social learning, and transformation change across public and private organisations.

A recent MOOC designed under her leadership on Future of Work (WDR 2019) was nominated for the prestigious EDX prize for 2020.

Her seminal book, ‘Reimagining Digital Learning for Sustainable Development: How Upskilling, Data Analytics, and Educational Technologies Close the Skills Gap’, by Routledge, New York (2021) is recognised as a landmark in the field of digital capability building and sustainable development, a topic that has now taken centre stage in promoting alternative pathways for jobs and employment among millions of low-income youths in different parts of the developing world.

Sheila Jagannathan was invited to join 15 global leaders for a UN Executive Leadership Programme for Sustainable Development and is currently a UN Master Mind for providing leadership advice to the organisation on sustainable development issues.

At eLearning Africa 2023 Sheila Jagannathan will share her thoughts on the Metaverse as a revolutionary technology that has the power to make education personalised, engaging, and user-centric. For her, the Metaverse entails the future of eLearning as it enhances real-world skilling and improves accessibility for people with disability or for people living in remote areas.