Global Education Recruitment Standards Authority (GERSA), UK. Birgit Hirst has joined GERSA as a founding director. Birgit is a leader in international education with a career spanning strategy, partnerships and organisational transformation. Most recently chief commercial officer at StudyLink Connect, she led the EdTech platform’s global expansion. Earlier, as director of strategy and business development at Navitas, she established and grew university partnerships across Europe. Birgit’s wider career includes senior roles beyond education: as change manager at the World Gold Council, she helped transform a not-for-profit association into a commercially disciplined organisation managing a $120m budget, and as head of portfolio operations at Telemos Capital (a mid-cap private equity fund) where she supported the performance of portfolio companies. Birgit holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BA in Psychology and Economics from NYU. As an international student herself, she is acutely aware of the unique opportunities and vulnerabilities studying abroad entails, and is therefore committed to transparency and ethical practice in the sector.