10 – 12 November 2026
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Dubai World Trade Centre Sheikh Saeed Halls 1, 2 & 3
Maria Vitoratos
Career Educator & Doctoral Student - Western University
Maria Vitoratos is a global career strategist, educator, and changemaker with a mission to empower individuals at every life stage to navigate their careers with clarity, confidence, and purpose. From guiding students exploring their first career steps to coaching senior executives redefining their legacy, she brings a deep understanding of career strategy, industry trends, and human potential to every interaction.
With a background that blends academic expertise, entrepreneurial drive, and international experience, she designs career development programs, coaching initiatives, and educational workshops that create real-world impact. Her work supports schools, corporations, educators, and policymakers in building career strategies that are both future-focused and grounded in personal growth.
In an era of rising youth unemployment and shifting workforce dynamics, she advocates for a new model of lifelong career education—one that values adaptability, intentional decision-making, and continuous learning. Recognized as a trusted career educator, specialist, and speaker, and she brings energy and insight to every conversation, helping individuals and institutions transform how they think about work, career agility, purpose, and success.
Speaker Sessions
GESS Talks Live
1628
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Changing Educational Leader Mindsets for Student Career Preparedness
Session Summary:
As university choices increasingly become the dominant pathway conversations for student career guidance in secondary institutions, career education is at a crossroads. This talk challenges educational leaders to rethink the future of career education, not as a university choice decision but as a strategic process that is essential for student development and career identity.
Career readiness is complex, subjective, and essential, and it should not be left to students to make hurriedly in their final year of secondary schooling. While institutional budget constraints are realistic barriers faced by educational leaders, its growing dominance for career guidance provisions risks undermining the credibility of career education, compromising the quality of guidance students must receive, and contributing to mismatched career choices, rising youth unemployment, and social and economic challenges globally.
This talk will explore the risks of marginalizing career education, youth over-relying on AI caused by the lack of educational support, and the urgent need for educational system-wide investment in high-quality, human-led career guidance. The research findings for this talk will advocate placing trained career professionals at the centre of guidance provision, supported but not replaced by AI technologies.
Educational leaders will walk away with a new understanding of why career education and development are not optional but necessary life skills that their schools should adopt to ensure student's success and to future-proof their careers.
Speakers:
Maria Vitoratos
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Career Educator & Doctoral Student - Western University
Categories:
Leadership and Professional Development
Creative Futures: Education for the Next Economy
1978
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The Credibility Crisis with Creative Careers
Session Summary:
School Councillors / Parents / Teachers / School Leaders
In Collaboration with Maria Vitoratos: Career Specialist
Talk by Maria Vitoratos covering the following:
▪ Myths about creative careers
▪ The power of the creative economy
▪ Changing the narrative
▪ Ways forward for parents, counsellors, and students making career choices
Speakers:
Maria Vitoratos
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Career Educator & Doctoral Student - Western University
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Creative Careers – The 360 ° Conversation
Session Summary:
This panel explores the fundamental questions behind creative career choices, including decision-making, common myths, parental concerns, and strategic guidance. I aim to surface the key perspectives of students, parents, and counsellors as they navigate future-focused, creative career pathways.
Panel Guests:
▪ Creative career professional
▪ Parent of a creative student/professional
▪ Career Counsellor
▪ High school student
Speakers:
Maria Vitoratos
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Career Educator & Doctoral Student - Western University
Areej Areed
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Educational Consultant - American Academy for Girls
Azizah Crane
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Runs speaking business - Speak Onstage
