FINALISTS 2022
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ELSA BARBOSA (Paris, France)
Elsa Barbosa Julien Cordier Kelly Gerber Marion Terrier
EF Salespeople need daily, relevant, and accurate sales information flow to sell our products.
Elsa claims that she has grammatical pedantry syndrome - this attention to detail must’ve surely been handy when she started as Customer Service officer in Paris in 2016. Since then Elsa has excelled in many different roles - managing the Paris office, being General Services Responsible and working as Head of Sales for ILSY. Today Elsa is working in Marketing in Paris.
At EF, we have various information flows and layers. It makes it sometimes difficult to get the correct information in a timely manner. We aim at improving our current sales information flow in order to get the right information, at the right time, at the right person. We will make it more effective, user-friendly and personalized. As a result, we expect to increase both our sales and quality results.
JULIEN CORDIER (Paris, France) In 2018 Julien joined EF working with Business Development for the Paris region. After two successful years his responsibilities expanded to all of France. Julien’s hidden talent is to find bookings anywhere. One example of this is when he went into a bakery to get croissants and in ten minutes convinced the baker to send his daughter on an ILSY trip!
KELLY GERBER (Paris, France) Kelly - the embodiment of customer service combined with impressive sales insight - started EF in 2012 as a Sales Coordinator in Strasbourg. Today she is heading up the French Sales Support team with a big smile and a yescan-do attitude. What you might not know is that she is a passionate foodie and baker!
MARION TERRIER (Lyon, France) Marion started her EF career in Paris and is currently the Customer Service Officer in Lyon. She has a passion for pastry and baking cakes which she generously shares with the team. Dedicated and always available and reliable perfect for customer service.
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ANDRES E.DIAZ (Zürich, Switzerland)
Andres E.Diaz Saskia van den Heuvel Simon Dominitz Torben Arians
The Calling Revolution is here!
After 5 successful years in LSP sales in Düsseldorf, Andres moved to Zürich, joining the Language Technology team in 2019. Today he is a junior product owner working with the sales technology team - always ready to help and is prepared with a suitable GIF for any conversation or situation.
Calling has never been more critical for EF’s success. Now the time has come for a Revolution. With our new intelligent calling tool, the EF world will see an unparalleled increase in conversion, lightning call speed, and astonishing call frequency to our best opportunities. Are you ready to answer the call from the future and become part of the Calling Revolution?
SASKIA VAN DEN HEUVEL (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Saskia is a known team player - always considerate, positive and engaged with people around her. These qualities all come in handy in her role as CPM for the Dutch ILSY team. When she is not busy getting a rush from sales, this ray of sunshine loves taking part in any outdoor activities that gives an adrenaline rush.
SIMON DOMINITZ (Düsseldorf, Germany) Our German Country Manager started his EF career as Sales Coordinator in Munich in 2013. Simon quickly advanced and has since then been Office Manager as well as CPM before taking the German lead seat in 2019. Simon has said “I do” three times in three different countries - to the same woman.
TORBEN ARIANS (Düsseldorf, Germany) Torben started as an EF Language Travel sales coordinator in Germany 2019. Today he is not only the Junior CPM for ILSY but we also find him racing head to head for the No.1 Top Seller position globally. Having mastered the ILSY sales pitch for students and parents alike, Torben is also is a true team player that loves growing people around him. But be aware we hear he is well known for his sarcastic humour. E F
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EMMA WALTON (Zürich, Switzerland)
Emma Walton Jon Oakes Stefanie Smith Virginia Haenni
EF is already working on a wide range of impressive sustainability initiatives across the company, such as our Hello Zero goal. But do our customers - for whom environmental credentials are a major purchasing driver know about this? Our idea is EF Green Ambassadors.
Emma’s EF career is impressive. It has taken her from being Director of Studies in London, School Director in Manchester and London, Senior Operations Manager in the UK to joining the central academics team in Zürich in 2015. We have also seen her in various accreditation inspections and special missions. One very special mission entailed living on a 6 ton school bus for 18 months driving around Europe.
We will equip our sales offices and these green ambassadors with the tools, training, incentives and confidence to best source names and leads by highlighting our sustainability initiatives and using them as leverage in the sales process. Through our green ambassador programme, our customers will be secure in the knowledge that travelling with EF is the green choice.
JON OAKES (London, UK) Jon started his EF career in China in 2012 before joining as Director of Studies in Cambridge. Since then Jon has worked with Academic Management in various roles. Today he is the Director of Academic Management in the UK & Ireland based in London. Even though Jon states he is 99.9% British he feels like a global citizen having visited 112 countries and counting.
STEFANIE SMITH (Zürich, Switzerland) Stef joined EF in Shanghai in 2010, being an Editorial Manager for EF Kids & Teens. In 2014 Stef moved to the central ILC Academic team in Zürich taking on the role to oversee our published academic materials. As Nothing is Impossible, Stef overcame her big fear this winter, learning how to ski.
VIRGINIA HAENNI (Zürich, Switzerland) You might not have met Virginia in person yet, but thousands of our students see the results of her inspirational work every day. Virgina designs our EF teaching material where we see that her passion and love for books clearly shines through. It comes as no surprise that her first ever job was at the local library. E F
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ALICJA SZTARK (Warsaw, Poland)
Alicja Sztark Karolina Rozner Klaudia Zalega Maria Budkova
Teacher engagement is key to generate high-quality leads and to create trust and authority in academic environment. For that we need to get on top of school and teacher databases and we need a system that drives this forward.
A force of energy and creativity - Alicja brings marketing to new heights in Poland. The EF brand is present everywhere under the guidance of this driven Marketing Manager regardless of digital or offline. Born on the 29th of February in a leap year, her birthday only comes around every four years. But she does not celebrate it alone as she has an identical twin sister to share the day with.
Our idea is to develop the app, EF Teacher Circle - to be a referral and incentive system based on the best practices and available tools of the Ambassador Program, including EF Circle app. As a result, we will be able to achieve maximum impact at minimum cost.
KAROLINA ROZNER (Warsaw, Poland) Karolina is part of the dynamic Krakow crew. In the comparebly short time since she joined in 2021 she has quickly proven herself to be a great addition to the Polish team with her passion for teachers, schools and potential partnerships.
KLAUDIA ZALEGA (Warsaw, Poland) In 2016 Klaudia joined EF as a Sales Coordinator in Warsaw, Poland and now, six years later she is leading Poland’s growth as Country Manager. Klaudia loves music and to sing along, regardless if she gets the lyrics right or not.
MARIA BUDKOVA (Krakow, Poland) Maria is another finalist that started her career with EF English First already in 2014 before moving to Poland after two years, where she became Sales Manager in 2016. Today Maria is Office Manager in Krakow. With a dream of visiting Australia (without the spiders), Maria is well travelled and actually just came back from a two weeks course in EF Paris. E F
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CHRISTIAN GROTH (Boston, USA)
Christian Groth Jessie Capote Kate Amante Yousef Afridi
Our idea is a digital yearbook that will capture memories frozen in time, events that happened and snapshots of the special time our APP student shared while being with EF.
What does James Bond, hip-hop and wine have in common? Well, Christian loves them all. With more than twenty years at EF, the list of the roles Christian has held is long. He’s lived and worked for EF in US, Australia, Sweden and Switzerland. Christian has worked in Sales, Operations, Customer Service, Transportation and is still going strong! Today Christian is overseeing our North American schools out of Boston.
The pictures would be generated from students and staff and fun facts would be shared about their time, both inside and outside of the classroom. Students would be able to add comments that will make the digital yearbook a personalized and unique bundle of memories that will last a lifetime.
JESSIE CAPOTE (Boston, USA) Quite fresh to EF but already making a mark. Jessie joined us in 2021 as Administrative Manager at our beautiful Boston school. She loves arts and crafts and has even won awards for her artwork.
KATE AMANTE (Boston, USA) During her seven years with EF, Kate has been busy. She started as an Activity Coordinator, moved on to Housing followed by Student Services in just four years. Today Kate is working in a central support role as Operations Support Manager in Boston helping and coordinating between our North American schools. Fun fact: Kate, her brother and her sister-in-law have together worked more than thirty years for EF. A true EF Family!
YOUSEF AFRIDI (Toronto, Canada) Yousef joined EF Toronto already in 2018 as a part time teacher and much like his climb to the Mount Everest Base Camp, he also climed through the academic roles until he 2021 become the Academic Director.
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ALICIA MELISSAS (Brussels, Belgium)
Alicia Melissas Arthur Boland Nick van den Broeck Pierre Picot
The EF Black Card with a QR code is a nice and trendy way to always be reminded of EF and quickly refer a friend.
Compared to many other of our finalists Alicia is a newbee to EF. She joined the Belgian team in September 2021 as APP Sales Coordinator. Her eagerness and “going the extra mile” attitude is evident both in her sales but also in her passion for playing field hockey.
This personal card will be multifunctional as it can be used at destination as an EF student card. The card as a gadget and the explanation that will be included in every sales pitch will increase the amount of referrals significantly. Who wouldn’t want to show off with their next trip by swaying a sexy black card out of their wallet or e-wallet?
ARTHUR BOLAND (Brussels, Belgium) Arthur’s is a true EF story! In 2017 he attended a language course in EF Auckland and soon became an ambassador. He went on working as summer staff and in 2019 he finally joined the team as Sales Coordinator. Last year he was one of the best sellers and as such got to shine on the stage in Davos. In his spare time Arthur loves to make videos and play music - at the moment he is specifically enjoying playing the ukulele.
NICK VAN DEN BROECK (Brussels, Belgium) Always positive and ready to go - that is Nick! Whether we are talking of him in his capacity as Team leader for BNA or him training for a half triathlon, Nick’s approach is the same: put a goal, stick to it and keep going... oh and most important of all have fun!
PIERRE PICOT (Brussels, Belgium) Pierre is a Global Top Seller and currently one of our best selling CPMs. In a few years he has managed to work in three different EF sales offices: Amsterdam, Paris and now Brussels - where he joined as APP CPM in 2019. He claims to be able to imitate a mosquito to perfection. Let’s hear it Pierre! E F
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