Presenters
David Shaffer - Financial Affairs Director
David Shaffer, PhD, has years of experience in conference organizing and financial affairs. He has served on two dozen KOTESOL international conference committees in director-level positions, as national conference joint chair, and as chapter conference chair. In addition, he has served as chair of the 2017 ALAK international conference and on the conference committee of a number of AsiaTEFL conferences, among others. Dr. Shaffer has also served as national treasurer for nine years and as a recent president of KOTESOL. He has lived in Gwangju since the main roadway into the province was...
David Shaffer - Invited Speakers Director
David Shaffer, PhD, has been organizing ELT conferences for many years. He has served on two dozen KOTESOL international conference committees in director-level positions, and as invited speakers director for a number of years. He has served as KOTESOL national conference joint chair, and as Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter conference chair for several years. In addition, he has served as chair of the 2017 ALAK conference and on the conference committee of a number of AsiaTEFL conferences. Currently, Dr. Shaffer also serves as KOTESOL Publications Committee chair and as Nominations and Elections...
Gabriela Villafradez - Conference Committee Co-Chair
Gabriela Villafradez holds an MA in applied linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester, complemented by a Trinity College London CertIBET in international business English training and a Trinity College TESOL Certificate from St. George International. She previously completed a BSc (Hons) in psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, providing a strong interdisciplinary foundation for her academic and professional work.
She currently serves as an English communication professor at the University of Ulsan, where she designs and delivers courses in English...
Gabriela Villafradez - Program Director
Gabriela is an English teacher from the UK with over nine years of experience in language education across diverse international settings. She holds a BSc in psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London, and an MA in applied linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester, where she specialised in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and language and culture.
Gabriela is committed to creating supportive and engaging learning environments that empower students to embrace challenges and grow with confidence. Her interest in well-being extends beyond the classroom; she is a...
Julie Ha - Communication Coordinator
I am serving as the Communication Coordinator for the conference. I am responsible for managing the conference headquarters and facilitating smooth communication between the conference team, external vendors, and within the ICC. I also support coordination across different teams to ensure that operations run efficiently and that information is shared clearly and in a timely manner.
Lindsay Herron - Registration Director
Dr. Lindsay N. Herron teaches at Gwangju National University of Education. She has been on the registration team since 2012 and has also served as the international conference chair.
Lisa MacIntyre-Park - Conference Sales Director
Lisa MacIntyre-Park holds a BEd (TESL) and BA (Hons) from Brock University in Canada and has been teaching English in Korea since 1997. Since 2005, she and her husband have run their own academy in Jeonju, which, incidentally, is where the local KOTESOL chapter has been holding workshops since 2022. In her free time, Lisa enjoys reading, playing the ukulele, practicing the art of modern calligraphy, and teaching it to others. She was the national secretary for KOTESOL in 2019-2022 and the KOTESOL Financial Affairs Committee chairperson in 2023. She is currently also the president of the...
Maiah Hollander - Publicity Director
Maiah Hollander is an educator and communications professional with experience in corporate communications, classroom teaching, and international education communities. She holds a BA in Communication and Journalism and an MA in Education and Communication, with a focus on media literacy and learner engagement.
After starting her career in corporate communications, Maiah transitioned into international teaching and has worked in Taiwan, Spain, and now South Korea. These experiences shaped her interest in culturally responsive, learner-centered education. She’s especially interested...
Meerbek Kudaibergenov - Conference Committee Chair
Meerbek Kudaibergenov obtained his PhD from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2021. He serves as an assistant professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea. With a keen focus on Eastern and Central Asian contexts, his research explores various dimensions of ELT, such as student and teacher identity, agency, and teacher education. Dr. Kudaibergenov's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher; International Journal of Educational Development, and Journal of Language, Identity, and Education...
Michael Free - Associate Program Director
Michael is a university lecturer and instructional designer from the United States with over 15 years of experience in English language education and educational technology across South Korea. He holds a Master's degree in TESOL and several related certifications, and is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Technology at Boise State University, where his research focuses on AI literacy frameworks for Korean pre-service elementary teachers.
Michael is committed to designing innovative, student-centered learning experiences that empower future educators to thoughtfully integrate...
Mike Peacock - Guest Services Director
Mike Peacock is originally from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. He has been living in the Daejeon area for 21 years. Mike has been teaching English at Woosong University's Culinary Arts Department for the past 15 years and is currently in my 17th year at Woosong. He has previously served the Daejeon Chapter as 2nd VP, 1st VP, and is currently serving his 10th year as chapter president.
Rob Dickey - Sponsorship Chair
Rob Dickey has been engaged with KOTESOL since his first conference in 1995, is a past-president for this organization, and has been involved with ELT conferences management for over 25 years (and managed his first professional conference aboard the Queen Mary in 1984!). A former NGOs executive in California, Rob has taught a number of subjects, mostly English under a content-based instruction paradigm, for more than 30 years. Now retired from Keimyung University, he resides in Miryang (Gyeongsangnamdo), has been involved with Sponsorship for KOTESOL for nearly 20 years, and teaches...
Sean O'Connor - Logistics Director
Sean O'Connor has been a member of KOTESOL for many years. He has served on the KOTESOL International Conference Committee (ICC) since 2001. For most of those years, he served as director of the Technical Team. His ICC service earned him an Outstanding Service Award from the ICC chair in 2013 and a President's Award in 2015. Sean served as co-chair on the 2016 ICC before moving up to the 2017 ICC chair position.
Wesley Martin - HR Director
Wesley Martin has been living in South Korea off and on for more than six years, and he is currently teaching at a private academy (hagwon). He also has experience teaching ESL and linguistics to a variety of backgrounds at the university level. He has studied several languages, including Spanish and Korean, and is most interested in teaching and learning vocabulary. He has an MA in linguistics from the University of Iowa.