The CEO Magazine EMEA – April 2018

WORLD’S

BEST

TEACHER

Superannuation fund Australian Ethical put up

a billboard in Melbourne, Australia featuring a live

herb garden. Chief Customer Officer Allyson

Lowbridge said people could go up to the herbs

and smell, feel and taste them and then take them

home, hoping it would help them “realise the

power they can have through their super”. The

garden was set up as creative way for Australian

Ethical to reinforce its message of only investing in

companies that adhere to the sustainability cause.

• Learned basic phrases in
  35 languages spoken at the
  school, including Gujarati,
  Hindi, Tamil and Portuguese,
  to better engage with pupils.


• Held extra lessons during the
  day and the weekend, as well
  as giving students who live in
  disruptive households a quiet
  place to work.


• Redesigned the school
  curriculum to make it relevant
  to the student population.


• Established girls-only sports
  clubs for students from
  conservative communities.

At a ceremony in Dubai, the Varkey Foundation awarded

UK arts and textiles teacher Andria Zafirakou the fourth

annual Global Teacher Prize, worth US$1 million.

The judges noted her ability to go above and beyond

at Alperton Community School in the London Borough

of Brent. Ethnically diverse, with around 130 languages

spoken in the area, it is also one of the poorest areas

of the UK, something Zafirakou noted in her speech

when referring to the hardships of many of the students

at the school.

“I was set free because

my greatest fear had been

realised ... I had an old

typewriter and a big idea.

And so rock bottom became

a solid foundation on which

I rebuilt my life.”

• Author JK Rowling on failure

theceomagazine.com | 11

A few ways

Andria

Zafirakou

went above

and beyond:

Compiled by

Adrian Flores

News | INSPIRE