The Future of Education
Rona Fugaban Puntawe
Institution: FuturePACE Global
Country: Australia
Rona Puntawe is an intercultural leader and transformative consultant, educator, researcher, and coach with over 20 years of global experience across Asia, the United States, Europe, and Australia. Prior to establishing her independent practice, she held senior roles and consulted with leading organisations—including KPMG and Ernst & Young—bringing strategies to life through large-scale change and development initiatives. Her coaching work supports leaders and changemakers to become transformative models and modellers for positive social impact and collective well-being.
Passionate about bringing out the best in people, Rona integrates cutting-edge cognitive and behavioural science with a deep consciousness for social change, equity, and justice. She holds a Magna Cum Laude degree in Psychology as a Presidential Scholar, was named a Fujitsu–Asia Pacific Scholar in Intercultural Management, and received an AusAID Scholarship for her Master of Commerce in Organisation and Management. She is also a trained Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapist. Most recently, as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar, she completed her International Master in Adult Education for Social Change with Distinction. Her groundbreaking thesis—Unlearning: A Grounded Theory for Social Change—received a rare perfect score of 100%, offering a paradigm-shifting framework to reimagine how education can disrupt entrenched systemic misalignments and cultivate flourishing futures in the face of global poly-crises.
In addition to her academic grounding, Rona brings robust managerial acumen to her work. She is a Project Management Professional (PMP), a PROSCI Change Management Practitioner, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), with further training in behavioural economics, risk management, and finance. This unique synthesis of intellectual rigour and operational expertise enables her to navigate complex systems with strategic precision, while maintaining a steadfast commitment to individual emancipation and systemic transformation.
A Distinguished Toastmaster and seasoned presenter, Rona has spoken at professional and academic conferences across the USA, Europe, and Asia. Her work in people and leadership development and management mentorship has been recognised with multiple awards. She has led learning and transformation initiatives with dozens of organisations across public, private, and third sectors, advancing work in technology adoption, organisational effectiveness, culture change, adult education, social well-being, governance, and capacity building including international and community development.
Rona champions a “whole-being” philosophy in education—integrating mind, body, and spirit—while foregrounding interconnectedness with each other and the world to unlock human potential. She is also a passionate advocate for unlearning along with decentralised finance and technology as tools for sovereignty and liberation. A lifelong learner, unlearner, dancer, and foodie, she has lived in seven countries and travelled to over 60, continuously learning from the wisdom of diverse cultures and thought leaders.
Areas of expertise: Adult Education | Learning and Development · Organisational Effectiveness | Development | Change · Transformative Learning · Unlearning · Social Impact and Sustainable Well-being · Governance · Leadership · Management · Coaching
Passionate about bringing out the best in people, Rona integrates cutting-edge cognitive and behavioural science with a deep consciousness for social change, equity, and justice. She holds a Magna Cum Laude degree in Psychology as a Presidential Scholar, was named a Fujitsu–Asia Pacific Scholar in Intercultural Management, and received an AusAID Scholarship for her Master of Commerce in Organisation and Management. She is also a trained Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapist. Most recently, as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar, she completed her International Master in Adult Education for Social Change with Distinction. Her groundbreaking thesis—Unlearning: A Grounded Theory for Social Change—received a rare perfect score of 100%, offering a paradigm-shifting framework to reimagine how education can disrupt entrenched systemic misalignments and cultivate flourishing futures in the face of global poly-crises.
In addition to her academic grounding, Rona brings robust managerial acumen to her work. She is a Project Management Professional (PMP), a PROSCI Change Management Practitioner, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), with further training in behavioural economics, risk management, and finance. This unique synthesis of intellectual rigour and operational expertise enables her to navigate complex systems with strategic precision, while maintaining a steadfast commitment to individual emancipation and systemic transformation.
A Distinguished Toastmaster and seasoned presenter, Rona has spoken at professional and academic conferences across the USA, Europe, and Asia. Her work in people and leadership development and management mentorship has been recognised with multiple awards. She has led learning and transformation initiatives with dozens of organisations across public, private, and third sectors, advancing work in technology adoption, organisational effectiveness, culture change, adult education, social well-being, governance, and capacity building including international and community development.
Rona champions a “whole-being” philosophy in education—integrating mind, body, and spirit—while foregrounding interconnectedness with each other and the world to unlock human potential. She is also a passionate advocate for unlearning along with decentralised finance and technology as tools for sovereignty and liberation. A lifelong learner, unlearner, dancer, and foodie, she has lived in seven countries and travelled to over 60, continuously learning from the wisdom of diverse cultures and thought leaders.
Areas of expertise: Adult Education | Learning and Development · Organisational Effectiveness | Development | Change · Transformative Learning · Unlearning · Social Impact and Sustainable Well-being · Governance · Leadership · Management · Coaching
