LanguageCert is governed by a Board of Directors, an Advisory Council and a Management Team. Responsibility for the implementation of the Board of Directors and Advisory Council’s strategy and decisions lies with the Responsible Officer.
- Board of Directors (BoD): Develops and assesses the overall strategy and direction of LanguageCert, oversees the business and provides leadership and guidance.
- Dr Michael Milanovic, Chairman
- Graham Shaw, Member
- Dr Vasile Baltac, Member
- Advisory Council (AC): Offers advice for continuous improvement on LanguageCert’s processes and procedures and scrutinises its regulatory compliance status.
- Roger Johnson, Chairman
- Dr Michael Milanovic, Member
- Dr Sylvia Karastathi, Member
- Management Team (MT): Ensures the development and global delivery of high-quality language qualifications, by partnering with world-class experts and prominent organisations, deploying state-of-the-art, innovative technologies.
- Marios Molfetas, Executive Director
- Nigel Pike, Qualifications Development Manager
Dr Michael Milanovic, Chairman of BoD and Member of AC
Michael Milanovic has worked in English Language learning and assessment for many years and in several countries. Most recently, he was CEO of Cambridge Assessment English (2003-14.) He co-founded ALTE in 1990 and acted as its manager for nearly 25 years. Since 2015, Michael has worked extensively withPeopleCertand is Chairman of LanguageCert and a member of its Advisory Council. He worked closely with the Council of Europe on its Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and with European Commission.
Since 2014, he has held a number of roles including Senior Advisor to the National Educational Examinations Authority (NEEA) in China, Visiting Professor with CRELLA, University of Bedfordshire, Trustee of the Bell Foundation, consultant with University of Cambridge’s Automated Language Teaching and Assessment Institute (ALTA), co-founder of English Language Intelligent Tutoring (ELiT), Advisor to the Malaysian Ministry of Education and member of the Scientific Committee for the ERASMUS+ OLS.
Graham Shaw, Member of BoD
Graham Shaw has experience as CFO and COO of a multi-national publishing company. He has served for 15 years as a board member. He has acted as the President and Managing Director of a US/UK reference publisher, and as a non-executive Director. Graham is specialised in Mergers and Acquisitions, restructuring, strategy and business development and contract negotiation.
Dr Vasile Baltac, Member of BoD
Dr Vasile Baltac has extensive experience as a senior manager, researcher, consultant, educator, and writer in various private companies, as well in the public sector and in Non-Governmental Organisations. Educated both in Romania and the UK (Cambridge University), he has a unique perspective on business and education in Western Europe, Central Europe and the USA, with a sound understanding of cultural differences.
Roger Johnson, Chairman of AC
Roger has a degree in law, a Master's in English teaching from the University of Manchester, and an MA from Cambridge University. He is an educational assessment expert with broad experience of developing strategy and introducing process improvements in the risk-averse environment of high-stakes examinations.
Originally a teacher, trainer, and examiner both in the UK and overseas, Roger worked for Cambridge English Language Assessment for 25 years in a wide range of roles. When he left Cambridge in 2017, he was Chief Operating Officer leading a team of 360 staff, covering assessment design and content, quality assurance and validation, as well as distribution channel management and back-office operations. He has a particular interest in how developments in language teaching and testing can interact to deliver real benefits for learners and teachers.
Dr Sylvia Karastathi, Member of AC
Dr. Sylvia Karastathi is a teacher, educator and lecturer in TESOL at the Department of English Language and Language Teaching at New York College in Athens, Greece. Her PhD thesis was on contemporary literature and visual culture (University of Cambridge) and she holds and MA in Modern Literature and Culture (University of York). In 2015, she completed the Cambridge DELTA. She has previously published in the field of word and image studies in The Museal Turn (2012) and The Handbook of Intermediality (2015). Her current research focuses on visual culture and visual literacy in language education. Sylvia is a member of the Visual Arts Circle, a community of practice with a shared belief in the value of visual arts in education.
Marios Molfetas,Executive Director
Marios Molfetas holds a first degree in Physics, followed by an MSc in Electronic Business Management. He served as Business Consultant and Business Development Manager at the University of Warwick, prior to joining PeopleCert in 2009. Since then, he has served as a Manager in the Marketing and Communications, and Business Development Departments.
Marios was appointed Responsible Officer for LanguageCert by the Board of Directors in 2016 and he has been driving the languages assessment development programmes for PeopleCert since their inception. He is responsible for LanguageCert’s strategy, new qualifications development, partnerships, and contract management.
Suzy Gunn, Director of Compliance
Suzy has been with PeopleCert since 2017. She has extensive experience in UK education, accreditation, government funding, audit, regulatory and risk compliance, with a proven track record of developing, implementing and maintaining process and systems to optimise company and people performance. She previously held the role of Awarding Organisation Responsible Officer for several years and regularly served as a powerful, influential and collective voice on qualification and apprenticeship development. Suzy has spent many years serving on Commercial Boards and held a critical, strategic role as part of a highly successful multi-million-pound company sale and acquisition.
She is dedicated to ensuring LanguageCert’s design, delivery and award of qualifications is of high-quality and value and is fully committed to the growth of the business on a global scale.
Professor David Coniam, Head of Research
David Coniam joined PeopleCert in September 2020, returning to Europe after working in education for almost half a century overseas. Over the past four decades, David has been working in assessment and teacher education in Hong Kong. He was an English language subject officer for the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and headed up the team which developed the Hong Kong English language teachers’ English language standards test. For the last three decades, he has been a Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Chair Professor of Curriculum and Assessment at The Education University of Hong Kong. His main publication and research interests are in language assessment, language teaching methodology and academic writing and publishing.
Nigel Pike, Qualifications Development Manager
Nigel Pike is MBA-qualified and highly experienced in assessment, having over 20 years of experience in English language assessment. He was Director of Assessment at Cambridge Assessment English for 6 years, directing the development, production, and delivery of all Cambridge English examinations, from Young Learners to IELTS and all teaching qualifications.
Nigel has extensive experience with national and local ministries of education around the globe, delivering consultancy, customised examinations and large-scale administration, developing language policy for governments, and working successfully across a variety of cultures and contexts. The fact that he is highly analytical, as well as qualified with soft skills for motivating and organising a high-achieving department, contributes to the development of key interpersonal relationships with both external and internal stakeholders.
Dr Yiannis Papargyris, Language Assessment Development Manager
Language Assessment Development Manager
Yiannis Papargyris is an education management professional with over 15 years’ experience in the fields of English-medium Higher Education, Qualification Development and Educational Assessment. At PeopleCert, he holds the position of Language Assessment Development Manager and is responsible for the development of the LanguageCert exams portfolio.
Yiannis completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham where he also taught for several years. He is also a Chartered Educational Assessor.