Chronicles of Thought Leaders: Yearly Speaker Recap
Edith Aldewereld, born in 1974, co-founded WISF in December 2018. The vision of WISF is to create an inclusive sustainable economy that benefits our society, planet and economy at large. WISF is an international organisation that aims to transform the financial industry into a sustainable industry and leverages the high interest of women in sustainable finance by combining two powerful forces: feminine energy and capital.
Next to her work at WISF, Edith is a partner at Sonnenberg Wealth Management AG since July 2015, where she has created together with the Investment Team sustainable investment solutions next to the already existing classic solutions. In addition to her work at Sonnenberg she co-founded with the University of Zurich the course ‘Sustainable Investments in Wealth Management’. Since January 2019 she is also involved in ACATIS Fair Value Investment AG as a Sustainable Advisor.
She holds Advisory Board positions at Hintsa Performance, Transcendent Media Capital, InnoSource and is part of the founding group 100Women@Davos, a Community of Impact-Driven Women CEOs, Leaders and Changemakers. From 2001 to 2015, Edith Aldewereld served in various positions in asset management and private banking at ABN AMRO Bank (Switzerland) and later at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP Ltd) in Zurich. She started her career in 1996 as an investment advisor private banking at the ING Bank in the Netherlands until she moved to Switzerland in 2001.
Mrs. Aldewereld studied commercial economics at the School of Business Administration and Economics in Venlo and has earned a degree as Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA) at the VU University in Amsterdam. She is fluent in Dutch, German and English.
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Katalin Andreides is a Rome-based EU art lawyer who advises HNW clients, art dealers, galleries, financial institutions, artists and artists‘ studios and estates in a number of regions including Italy, France, Monaco and Hungary. Her practice includes the full spectrum of transactional, advisory and dispute resolution services pertaining to art. Katalin’s focus has been the contemporary art market in Europe, but she has also advised her clients on legal issues surrounding antiquities, old masters and modern works of art. She has particular experience in navigating the European export license regime and cross-border inheritance management involving art and other collectible chattels.
Katalin is a CAfA-appointed (Court of Arbitration for Art) Arbitrator. She is a member of the Institute of Art and Law, London, TIAMSA (the International Art Market Studies Association) and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. She serves as an Officer on the Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Committee of the International Bar Association.
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Shankar is currently working at Insight Investment Management Limited (Insight) as Head of Farmland Investments. He has nearly three decades of corporate and institutional investment experience with specific emphasis on the global food and agribusiness sector. Prior to joining Insight in 2015, Shankar was the head of Strategic Investments at Olam International Limited in Singapore, where he led approximately US$4bn worth of investments in the global food and agriculture sector. His experience includes developing investment strategies and overseeing all elements of investment management with alignment of sustainability and value creation.
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John is Co-Founder and CEO of Toonstar which is an animation tech startup that makes snackable + interactive content and experiences for mobile audiences and partners with diverse + emerging creators to bring their stories to life.
Prior to launching Toonstar, he spent almost fifteen years developing franchise properties and driving innovation at Warner Bros. and DreamWorks where he held roles in marketing, business development, digital content creation and tech commercialization.
John is also a self-confessed media junkie and child of Saturday morning cartoons who’s on a mission to blend creativity + tech to transform the way stories are produced, shared and experienced.
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As Vice President of International Programs, Kriss oversees Population Media Center (PMC)’s field offices, with responsibilities ranging from selecting and training administrative and creative teams to monitoring research results. Kriss has trained writers and producers for over 50 TV or radio programs and has authored numerous chapters and articles. She has over 30 years of experience in health development and communications. She holds a BA from Stanford University, a Master of Public Health from the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town.
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Esther is a Managing Director at State Street Global Advisors. She works as a Portfolio Manager in Active Equities and co-manages the Global Select Equity portfolio.
Esther joined SSGA in July 2016 through its acquisition of GE Asset Management. She joined GEAM in London in 1996 as a Senior International Fixed Income Analyst and moved to International Equities in 2001. Analyst assignments included covering Emerging Markets and the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Sector ex-US. She also managed a focused Europe portfolio from 2006 to 2012. Esther started her career at Credit Lyonnais Capital Markets in 1988, becoming a Senior Economist for the firm and working out of their Paris Headquarters.
Esther has a BA Honours in Economics from Leicester University and an M. Phil in Economics from Cambridge University. She earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2000 and is a member of the CFA Institute.
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2021
Colinne S. Bartel is the owner of Truffle Time, a subsidiary of AC Innovation GmbH. AC Innovation serves as a marketing and business development catalyst for entrepreneurs. As chief project manager, Ms. Bartel was responsible for capital expenditures and acquisition integration for an Advent International portfolio company that executed one of the fastest growing telecommunications buy & build projects in Europe.
After finalizing her MBA and a research trip in East Africa in 2002, Colinne joined McKinsey & Company. Ms. Bartel holds a B.A. in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles, an M.A. in International Relations from the Claremont Graduate School and a dual MBA in Strategy and Finance from The Peter F. Drucker School of Management and the EDHEC Business School. Her passions are sports, the arts and cultural exchange.
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Ryan possesses 12+ years of diversified industry experience in the government, healthcare, communication, retail, and energy sectors.
As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and one of the first 500 industry practitioners to become a Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP™), he is an expert at managing both the technical side and people side of change. He has consulted on international and domestic projects for a broad spectrum of NGOs and Fortune 500 companies—e.g., RGP, Accenture, Walmart, Target, Comcast, Phillips 66, and others—on a variety of corporate and social entrepreneurship initiatives from $10K – $300M.
His industry roles have ranged from implementing new product launches and international market entries to creating training programs for prison inmates and managing correspondence with missionaries in 100+ nations. Accordingly, his research interests seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice regarding how firms and entrepreneurs can enact positive change through a variety of perspectives including social/commercial entrepreneurship, civic wealth creation, and value consumption.
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Dr. Julia Bistrova, CFA, is head of financial analysis and research centre at Herens Quality Asset Management AG. Julia manages development of analytical tools focusing on in-depth corporate financial and ESG analysis, aiming to enhance alpha of equity portfolios.
Julia is also senior researcher and associated Professor at Riga Technical University, author of scientific publications on the corporate governance, on equity investments, and earnings plausibility. Julia received her Doctoral degree in Economic Sciences from Riga Technical university in 2014 and CFA certificate in 2016.
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Sona Blessing is the author of „Alternative Alternatives: Risk, Returns and Investment Strategy“ – Wiley Finance, Feb. 2011. She is also a contributing author, in German, on real assets for „Alternative Investments: Analyse und Due Diligence” – NZZ Libro Dec. 2013; and has been a previewer of CAIA textbook chapters on real assets.
Prior to, Sona has been a moderator of Opalesque Podcasts her on start-up venture. She also served as the platform’s Director of Research and is accredited with solely conceiving, launching and authoring A SQUARE (Alternative Alternatives), the research portal.
Sona has served as a guest lecturer on ‘Alternative Alternatives’ at the Zurich School of Management and Law and also gained experience at Swiss banks in the roles of a hedge fund research strategist and a global market strategist.
She has extensive experience in business journalism in India, Indonesia, U.K, Taiwan and Switzerland.
She serves on the Global Advisory Council of 100 Women in Finance; whilst continuing in her role as the organisation’s ambassador in Switzerland.
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Evrard Bordier is chief executive officer of Bordier & Cie, Singapore. He has been managing partner of Bordier & Cie Group since 2011, and president of the board of Bordier Bank (TCI) since 2000. Prior to his current role in Singapore, he served as managing director of Bordier International in London for 10 years. Evrard has been in the financial industry for more than 20 years, during which he has garnered extensive international experience holding diverse positions in Singapore, Hong Kong, Geneva, Zurich, and London. Between 1997 and 2000, he served as chief of staff for the Financial Planning and Wealth Management Business Division of UBS in Zurich, overseeing all of its asset management business units across the world. Prior to that, he was a client adviser in the private banking department of Swiss Bank Corporation in Singapore where he covered the markets of Indonesia and Taiwan. He first moved to Asia in 1994 and joined Nomura International in Hong Kong as a broker. Evrard began his professional career as a lawyer at Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva, specialising in the banking and finance practice. Evrard is a direct descendant and fifth generation of the bank’s founding family, along with brothers Grégoire and Gaetan who are based in the Geneva headquarters. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the Turks and Caicos Islands Bankers Association, the Financial Industry Association, and the Swiss Financial Planner Organisation.
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Asante Bradford is Senior Engagement Manager with the Center of Innovation for Digital Entertainment and Emerging Media for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the sales and marketing arm for the State of Georgia. His area of concentration with the Center of Innovation is to increase the impact of interactive entertainment for the State of Georgia as well as being a dedicated liaison to assist with promotions, logistics and business development for attracting digital media companies outside the state to relocate in Georgia.
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James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.
Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organize 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenure from 66 to 164 corporate entities.
James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association as well as serving on CAIA’s Exam Council and as a grader for the Level II portion of the exam. He also had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).
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María Magdalena Campos-Pons is an artist and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University. She is the founder for the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice (EADJ) program at Vanderbilt University, and she is the founder for Intermittent Rivers, a biennial project in Matanzas, Cuba. Campos-Pons has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Canada, among other distinguished institutions. She has participated in the 49th Venice Biennial, the 55th Venice Biennial, and Documenta 14.
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Image is Everything Series
EADJ Ambassador
Kayla Colon is a visual artist and an Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice (EADJ) ambassador. She is from Brooklyn, New York, and is passionate about using creativity to heal, educate, and uplift communities rising above the challenges of oppressive systemic inequality. Kayla enjoys exploring a variety of creative outlets as her form of storytelling, from painting to poetry, dancing, creative directing, and more. She will continue using art as a tool for transforming harmful social structures into ones that empower and evolve our collective spirit.
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President University of Richmond
During this time of intense polarization, Ronald Crutcher’s life as a Black leader successfully bridging America’s cultural divides offers a compelling story with important lessons for today’s thinkers. Born to two parents who never graduated high school, Dr. Crutcher grew up to become a leader at the highest levels of academia and the arts. As a child musician, he met with Coretta Scott King. As an adult educator, he sat at Maya Angelou’s holiday table.
But it is Dr. Crutcher’s success as a Black intellectual navigating highly charged social issues that makes his story both unforgettable and urgently important. Whether navigating cancel culture at the University of Richmond, where he serves as President in the heart of the former Confederacy, or teaching Northeast liberals the true meaning of functional diversity, Dr. Crutcher offers lessons on life and leadership that none of us can afford to ignore.
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Daudy is a London-based visual artist recognised for her work exploring and re-evaluating the human experience in the context of the natural world. Known for her written interventions in public and private spaces, Daudy’s work is based on an ancient Chinese literati practice. Although disruptive, her work is full of optimism; current world circumstances seem dire, but the future remains in our hands. Previous highlights include exhibitions for Saatchi Gallery, South Bank Centre and St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Globally, Daudy has exhibited in Granada, Madrid, New York, Palermo, Paris and Jordan.
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Image is Everything Series
Andreas Degen has been part of the Anime & Japan fan culture since his early youth. After growing up with it, he wanted to give back to that thriving community and founded DoKomi with a few friends, which turned over the years into Germanys‘ largest Anime and Japan Expo. Born and raised in Germany, his educational background is in philosophy and real estate economics. He founded his first business with 19 years old and has been self employed ever since for the last 15 years. At this point he was able to turn his passion into a profession, which enabled him to stay focused on the development of the Anime & Japan community.
Founded in 2008, DoKomi grew into one of the key pillars of the German Anime & Japan pop culture fan community. With a focus on innovation DoKomi offers a platform for the diverse variety of related subcultures, such as cosplay, manga illustration artists, anime enthusiasts and many more. What started in a school in Düsseldorf, has since long migrated into the tradefair Düsseldorf and occupies several halls and the whole Congress Center there. Pre pandemic DoKomi attracted up to 55.000 visitors over two days, 750 artist booths and 150 commercial exhibitors.
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Valbona Dhjaku has been involved in the technology aspects of banking since 2001. Valbona joined the Credins Bank, the first private bank in Albania, in 2005 where she led the modernization and digitalization of the banks information systems and services. Currently, Ms. Dhjaku is responsible for the infrastructure, information systems and the online channel for Credins Bank, the second largest bank in Albania. Since more than 20 years, in addition to her professional career, Prof. Dhjaku teaches both Information Systems and Computer Science at the University of Tirana. Prof. Valbona Dhjaku holds both a Ph.D and Master’s degree from the University of Tirana and speaks Albanian, English and Italian.
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Chris DiGiovanni earned his production stripes at MTV in the fast pace of New York City’s live action scene before moving west to join the then upstart CG house Pixar. He spent almost a decade at Pixar, which included 7 features, 3 as animation manager and 8 short films. His crews’ efforts yielded 22 Academy Award Nominations, 7 Oscars and 7 Golden Globes for Pixar.
After his career at Pixar, Chris returned home to New York where he was named Production Manager at Blue Sky Animation Studios, working with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey on Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who” (20th Century Fox). In 2008, Chris joined the team of Starz Animation in Toronto, to work along side Tim Burton on “9” (Focus Features), and Elton John on “Gnomeo and Juliet” (Touchstone). Chris reunited with Director Jimmy Hayward in 2011, as First Assistant Director on the 2013 release of “FREE BIRDS” (Relativity) at Reel FX Studios and went on to produce Golden Globe nominated “Book of Life” with Jorge R. Gutierrez, Guillermo Del Toro and Aron Warner.
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Michael Dobbs was born and educated in Britain, but is now a U.S. citizen. He was a long-time reporter for The Washington Post, covering the collapse of communism as a foreign correspondent. He has taught at leading American universities, including Princeton, the University of Michigan, and Georgetown, and is currently on the staff of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His previous books include the best-selling One Minute to Midnight on the Cuban missile crisis, which was part of an acclaimed “Cold War trilogy.” He lives outside Washington D.C.
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Teni joined the FAIRR Initiative in March 2020 and has oversight of the UK and Northern European investment community. She is responsible for raising awareness of FAIRR’s efforts with a focus on educating investors of the potential risks and rewards in the global protein industry as it relates to their investment universe.
Teni further expands FAIRR’s client servicing capabilities and financial markets knowledge – prior to joining the Initiative, she worked in private wealth management as an Executive Director at Hassium Asset Management and in institutional asset management as a Vice President on the Pan-European Equities desks at both Lehman Brothers and ING Group.
Teni holds a BSc Hons in Economics & Accounting from the University of Bristol and is IMC qualified as well as a CFA Charterholder.
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Mr. El Hachem joined Edmond de Rothschild Group in 2002 where he initiated and developed resilient investment strategies with a forward-looking approach. As current CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, he has led the development of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity into a leading Private Equity firm. With about 2.7 billion CHF under management in 2020, Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity has accompanied over 170 global companies and entrepreneurs. It offers a diversified portfolio of 13 differentiating strategies across a variety of geographical zones and sectors:
o Direct mid-market minority and majority buyout deals in Europe and the US
o Real estate – hospitality, value-added strategies, Soil remediation and sustainable urban development – in Europe
o Transport and social infrastructure
o Agro-industry in Latin America and Africa
o Energy transition in Europe
o SMEs in Africa
o Growth Technology in Europe and the US
Mr. El Hachem holds a master degree in Financial Engineering from ESSEC business School (France), and a Bachelor of Science in Banking & Finance and Political Science from the Lebanese American University. Mr. El Hachem intervenes regularly in international seminars as a speaker on topics related to private equity and impact investments.
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Art Historian and Provenance Researcher
Lauren Farrington is a Provenance Researcher and Art Historian with global experience, currently working at the Art Loss Register in London [as a Recovery and Restitution Specialist]. Before moving to London, Lauren worked at the Städel Museum and Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany [in Education].
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Established in 2006 by Michael Favelle, Odin’s Eye Entertainment (OEE) is a vertically integrated Production, Distribution and International Sales Agency that specializes in working with both emerging and established filmmakers across a wide variety of genres. As a Sales Agency, OEE represents Feature-Length Motion Pictures and Television content worldwide, hosting its own sales booth at every major festival including, but not limited to, CANNES, AFM, MIPCOM, BERLIN & FILMART. Sister company, Odin’s Eye Animation, creates and sources original animation content for developing and producing theatrical animation content for international sale.
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Gareth Fletcher lectures on a range of subjects across Art Logistics and Art Business. As well as his role as Programme Director for MA in Art Logistics, he is Leader of the Art Crime online intensive course. He also lectures the application and adoption of blockchain systems within the art market for the Art & Tech: Data, Market Analysis and Blockchain online intensive programme. He has received a TECHNE AHRC scholarship to pursue his PhD examining the semiotics of provenance information in the establishment of cultural and economic value in the market for Near Eastern antiquities. His current research explores the interface between the contextual information of cultural objects and technology, and the integration of traditional art market processes within Web 3.0 applications. He sits on the Advisory Board for the Responsible Art Market (RAM) London Committee.
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Diego Föllmi ist seit 2013 Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung, seit 2014 im Investment-Komitee und seit fast zwei Jahren Partner bei Hérens Quality Asset Management, einer auf „Quality Investing“ spezialisierten Asset Management Boutique in Pfäffikon SZ. Seine Hauptverantwortlichkeiten sind nebst der Unternehmensführung das CRM (Client Relationship Management) und der Sales-Bereich. Vor seinem Wechsel zu Hérens Quality AM war er mehrere Jahre in verschiedenen Positionen bei der Credit Suisse tätig. Er hat einen Master-Abschluss in Banking & Finance von der Universität Zürich und bringt 18 Jahre Arbeitserfahrung in der Finanz-Branche mit.
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Zachary Samuel Gottesman is currently researching the history of Korean animation and has published articles in Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal, The Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, and Settler Colonial Studies and has presented research at conferences including Mechademia, The Association of Asian Studies Conference (AAS), and the World Congress of Korean Studies.
His current research is centered around three things: the relationship between Korean animation outsourcing for Japanese and American companies; the history of national development and the animation industry as part of Korea’s economic “miracle;” and the place of animation within the contemporary “Korean wave” of popular culture. Specifically, he is interested in the failure of Korean animation outsourcing to turn into an independent national industry and what the story of Korean animation’s failure says about the potential and limitations of outsourcing in globalized commodity production for every country and working population.
Zachary Samuel Gottesman has a Masters degree from Korea University in Korean Studies and does research in both English and Korean and is a PhD Candidate in East Asian Studies at the University of California, Irvine.
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Jason Grode started his animation career as a producer on the hit show FUTURAMA and worked on several productions before starting his independent talent and management agency. Over the years, he has helped to facilitate hundreds of deals and today represents a wide variety of animation professionals, from writers, directors to producers and artists.
His network has deep roots in the US entertainment industry and around the globe. He tracks trends, identifies needs, helps with negotiations, and keeps an overall track of projects in production.
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Jimmy Hayward gained early directorial prominence as a commercial director. He was one of the original animators of the pioneering computer-animated television series “Reboot” in the nascent years of CG animation.
Pixar Animation quickly recruited him to work on the groundbreaking film “Toy Story” (1995). Jimmy continued working with Pixar for over a decade, during which time he animated on such beloved films as “Toy Story 2“, “A Bug’s Life”, “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo”.
Following his years at Pixar, Jimmy joined 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios as a writer and sequence director on the hit film “Robots“. His feature animation directorial debut “Horton Hears A Who!” was a huge success, earning nearly $300 million worldwide. He returned to feature directing and added screenwriter to his credits with “Free Birds”, an animated comedy produced by Reel FX and distributed by Relativity, which also turned out to be a wide success international box-office of $110 million.
With 25 years of involvement in feature film animation, Jimmy is currently preparing „Echo Location“, an animated feature with a strong environmental message, among other projects.
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Sasha Havlicek is Co-Founder and CEO of ISD, having spearheaded ISD’s pioneering research and data analysis, digital education, policy advisory, training, tech and communications programmes. With a background in conflict resolution and an expertise in extremism, digital information operations and electoral interference, she has advised a range of governments at the highest levels and has spearheaded partnerships with the UN, EU Commission and Global Counter-Terrorism Forum. She has also worked with the private and civil society sectors to promote innovation, including developing major programmes run in partnership with Google, FB and Microsoft.
Sasha serves as an expert advisor to the UK Counter-Extremism Commission and the Mayor of London’s counter-extremism programme, and is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Sasha previously served as Senior Director at the EastWest Institute where she led conflict resolution programming. Sasha has testified before US Congress, the UK Parliament and is a regular commentator in the media (CNN, BBC, Channel 4 News and other networks).
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Susan D. Hyde is a Professor of Political Science at University of California, Berkeley, and the Avice M. Saint Chair in Public Policy. She studies international influences on domestic politics, teaches courses on international relations and comparative politics, and is active in promoting policy-relevant research.
She is an expert on international election observation, election fraud, and democracy promotion. Her research on election observation included serving on missions with several organizations in Afghanistan, Albania, Indonesia, Liberia, Nicaragua, Pakistan and Venezuela, and she has worked with the Carter Center, the National Democratic Institute, Democracy International, the International Republican Institute, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems on democracy promotion issues and researching how democracy promoting organizations can evaluate the effects of their work.
She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2006, was a professor at Yale University from 2006-2016, and held residential fellowships at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and Princeton University’s Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance. She was recognized with the Karl Deutch Award from the International Studies Association in 2018 and delivered the 2017 Linfield College commencement address, where she received her BA in 2000. From 2016-2018 she served a three year elected term as the Executive Director of the Evidence in Governance and Politics network. She currently serves on the editorial boards of International Organization, American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Experimental Political Science, and the Journal of Politics.
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Audun Wickstrand Iversen is a portfolio manager who covers multiple sectors searching for companies with a disruptive approach to existing business models.
Before rejoining us in 2019 he started several companies and sat as a board member, chairman, and CEO in unlisted and listed companies at Oslo Stock Exchange. In his previous career with us during 2001-2007 he was Portfolio Manager in several top-rated mutual funds. Before that, he was a top-ranked Financial Analyst in DNB Markets (1996-2001).
Audun has a four-year program in economics and business administration consisting of three years at the bachelor/undergraduate level and one year at the master level (Siviløkonom). He also holds a two-year degree in Strategy from Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH) and a Master of Art from the University of Oslo.
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Jackson Janes is senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and president emeritus of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, where he has been affiliated since 1989.
Dr. Janes has been engaged in German-American affairs in numerous capacities over many years. He has studied and taught in German universities in Freiburg, Giessen, and Tübingen. He was the director of the German-American Institute in Tübingen (1977-1980) and then directed the European office of The German Marshall Fund of the United States in Bonn (1980-1985). Before joining AICGS, he served as director of Program Development at the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh (1986-1988). He was also chair of the German Speaking Areas in Europe Program at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, DC, from 1999-2000 and president of the International Association for the Study of German Politics from 2005-2010.
Dr. Janes is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Atlantic Council of the United States. He serves on the advisory boards of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee, Beirat der Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (ZfAS), the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association, and the American Bundestag Intern Network (ABIN) in Washington, DC. He is a member of the board of the German American Fulbright Commission and serves on the Selection Committee for the Bundeskanzler Fellowships for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He is a member of the Cosmos Club in Washington DC.
Dr. Janes has lectured throughout Europe and the United States and has published extensively on issues dealing with Germany, German-American relations, and transatlantic affairs. In addition to regular commentary given to European and American news radio, he has appeared on CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, CBC, and is a frequent commentator on German television. Dr. Janes is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Education.
In 2005, Dr. Janes was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany’s highest civilian award.
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Dr. Jenkins holds a doctorate in medicine from Harvard University, where he became interested in computational models of human vision, leading to his interest in computer graphics, and how a 2D image is constructed from a known 3D representation.
Dr. Jenkins developed 3D geometry processing and translation software that has been licensed to entertainment and industrial clients including Lucas Arts, Blur Studios, and Northrop Grumman. Subsequently, Barry developed the conceptual and technical framework underlying the GPEG visibility event protocol and has implemented the core components of the GPEG encoder in C/C++.
Dr. Jenkins has been awarded 11 patents related to the GPEG technology, assigned to Instant Interactive.
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David has been named one of the world’s most compassionate entrepreneurs by Salt magazine. He is the recipient of the United Nations Lighthouse award for Planetary Health, recipient of the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia community award, recipient of the Earnst and Young Lifetime Achievement award, is the Past President of the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and named the Entrepreneur Organizations, Global Citizen.
David is the founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, an internationally recognized solution to ocean plastic. The Plastic Bank is a global network of micro recycling markets that empower the poor to transcend poverty by cleaning the environment. The Plastic Bank is an eco-system that provides an opportunity for the world to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. Global partners include IBM, Shell Energy, SC Johnson, Aldi, Henkel and more.
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UCLA’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, Nurit Katz is working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to facilitate creating a world-class living laboratory for sustainability at UCLA. Nurit has also served as Executive Officer for UCLA Facilities Management for five years and is an Instructor for UCLA Extension’s Sustainability Certificate Program. Nurit holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a Masters in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University.
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Rebecca Keeble’s two-decade career has taken her from indigenous communities to international conventions. She has travelled across the region to set up companion animal support programmes, develop conservation strategies for marine animals and advocate for endangered species at every level of government.
Because of her wide-ranging expertise, Rebecca has advised the Australian Government on a host of conservation issues. As a member of the Australian delegation, she has advocated for animals in a variety of international forums, including CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) and UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
Today, Rebecca oversees all of IFAW’s programmes in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Most recently, this included IFAW’s disaster response and animal rescue work during the Australian bushfires and the rehabilitation and recovery work in the aftermath. Rebecca has also led our efforts to promote animal welfare and protect animal habitats. In particular, she has focused on reducing the demand for products made from ivory and rhino horn, as well as protecting whales by reducing the risk of ship strikes.
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Courtesy of CAIA
Thomas H. Kjaergaard is an ESG pioneer and veteran who headed Danske Bank Group’s Responsible Investment programme from 2008-2017. After leaving Danske Bank Kjaergaard teamed up with Nordea Life & Pension Denmark in 2018, as Head of Investment Governance and ESG. The company that in 2018 spun out of the Nordea Group to become Velliv Pension, the third largest commercial pensions company in Denmark with appr. 350.000 customers and EUR 40 bn AuM.
Kjaergaard has been engaged in many UN PRI and IIGCC working groups, and founded Dansif in 2009 where he also served two terms as chairman of the board. He currently works as an investor and independent advisor to professional investors and as external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School. Finally, he is a columnist at Finans.dk, one of the largest business media outlets in Denmark.
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Sascha spend significant parts of his career investing and allocating capital across all Alternative Investment asset classes for a prominent family office, institutional investors and in his private capacity.
As part of his investment process, he specialized on due diligence working across the globe often working with translators and local experts.
In 2020, as part of a self-reflection emerging from the pandemic, Sascha shifted his focus on image and film making. He recently produced and directed a self-funded social justice documentary (short film, release 2022) in the aftermath of the Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020 with an emphasis on border villages in Armenia.
Sascha holds an MBA from Bayes Business School and a LLM from King’s College, London. He is a Founding Member of the CAIA designation.
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Serge Krancenblum is the co-founder of IQ-EQ and now chairs the Supervisory Board of the Group.
Serge is an international entrepreneur who has created and managed a number of successful companies over the course of his career. He also sits as an Independent Director on the boards of several real estate and private equity funds, and is also a Director of a few private companies.
Serge represents the industry as Chairman of three professional associations: Luxembourg Alternative Assets Administrators Association (L3A), Investment Facilitation Forum and Luxembourg Association of Family Offices (LAFO). He is also a member of the Luxembourg High Committee of the Financial Sector.
In 2018, Serge was voted as the European Personality of the Year at the Funds Europe Awards.
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Solveig Langeland is managing director of Stuttgart-based film sales company Sola Media, which specializes in family entertainment and animation since 2004; bringing some of the most beloved children and family films to a global marketplace, and specializing in high-quality animated features for the big screen.
Sola Media’s passionate and experienced team is based in Stuttgart and Munich. We devote a lot of individual attention to our films, developing customized strategies and presenting them prominently at markets and festivals. In cooperation with our distributors, we coordinate release and marketing strategies on a pan-European and global level, often operating in long-term partnerships. In 2019, Sola Media was honored for its accomplishments and won the prestigious „Distributor of the Year“ Award at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux.
Additionally acting as an Executive Producer on titles like DREAMBUILDERS, CAPTAIN SABRETOOTH and THE ELFKINS, Sola Media prides itself to provide a 360° service for its collaborators as a Boutique Agency with a strong setup in film and script development, advice on character design and visuals, financing, matchmaking, marketing and after-sales services.
In 2020, Sola Media was acquired by Koch Media, an Embracer Group company, with strategic business areas in film, interactive and online entertainment. In times of rapid digital change and economic challenges, Koch Media and Sola Media are well-positioned, combining synergy effects and bringing together the world of new technologies and the classical film business. Sola Media remains independent, headed by industry veterans Solveig Langeland & Moritz Peters as Managing Directors.
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Studied Business Administration in Saarbrücken Germany), St. Gallen (Switzerland), Syracuse and Berkeley (USA). Before founding ACATIS in 1994, he worked for Bankhaus Metzler from 1989 to 1994 and for the management consultancy McKinsey from 1984 to 1989.
Dr. Leber is the speaker of the management board and portfolio manager.
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Prof. Dr. Peter Lorange is founder, Chairman and CEO of the Lorange Network, where he is currently active in cutting edge, digital business knowledge transfer for business owners, entrepreneurial families and larger private investors. He was formerly owner and President of the Lorange Institute of Business. The Lorange Network was transferred to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in late 2021.
Prof. Dr. Lorange is a successful entrepreneur and owner of a highly diversified family office, S. Ugelsatd Invest, after having sold his shipping company in 2006. He
is also regarded as one of the world’s foremost business school academics. For 15 years, Lorange was the President of IMD, Lausanne, one of Europe’s leading business schools. He was Professor of Strategy at IMD and held the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Chair of International Shipping. In recognition of Peter Lorange’s incredible achievements, he has been named IMD Honorary President. Additionally, IMD is establishing a Peter Lorange Chair, with the purpose of pursuing IMD’s global
legacy in supporting entrepreneurial families.
In addition to his academic background, he has gained extensive shipping know-how as director on several shipping company boards (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines,
Kvaerner, Seaspan). He also has board experience from ISS, Keystone Solutions(Oslo), Globalpraxis, Copenhagen Business School and many others.
Lorange was educated at the Norwegian School of Economics, Yale University (MA in Operations Management) and Harvard Business School (DBA). In addition, he is the recipient of 6 honorary doctorates. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Lorange has written or edited over twenty books and more than 120 articles. His areas of special interest are global strategic management, strategic planning and entrepreneurship for growth. He has conducted extensive research on multinational management, strategic planning processes, and internally generated growth processes.
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Andrew is an award winning director and co-owner at Lucan – an animation studio based in Cape Town. He’s worked in animation for ten years, servicing the advertising industry both locally and abroad. Andrew’s work tends to be narrative with layered, lush, visuals that incorporate various animation styles. He has helmed many successful advertising campaigns and has turned his sights to long form storytelling & development.
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Eliézer leads the research department at 21Shares, a $2 billion digital asset management firm. He provides insights into crypto markets and patterns associated with the global economy and geopolitics. His research is often featured in Bloomberg, Business Insider, and other leading news outlets to build crypto products and tokens ahead of market trends and help financial institutions, journalists, regulators, and the community navigate the cryptoasset industry. Experienced as a Venture Capital Associate in New York investing in seed and early-stage companies, including a billion-dollar Fintech startup, Eliézer’s experience in crypto started in 2014. He obtained his master’s degree in International Business and wrote his master’s thesis on how the Bitcoin network could improve financial inclusion in developing economies.
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Heiko Nemmert has over 20 years of experience in the media industry. He co-managed several studios in past years and helped produce TV programs and films for international audiences, the German public-service television broadcasters, and the RTL Group. He gained valuable knowledge in the online sector during his early career days, producing content for Coca Cola, Kellogg’s, and Motorola.
In the past five years, Heiko Nemmert, with four partners, founded the international entertainment studio Baby Giant Hollyberg. As its CEO, he is also responsible for overseeing the studio’s foreign affairs and co-managing its North-American business. On the content side,
Heiko is used to guide the process in all production stages, from development to financing, managing productions, and handling distribution. As a speaker, panelist, and consultant, he helps audiences understand markets, financing, the power of storytelling, and current and future media technologies.
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William “Bill” Noonan is the Business Development Director at Choose New Jersey, New Jersey’s leading nonprofit economic development organization.
Bill manages a team of business development officers and oversees the Technology, Financial Services, Film & Television, and Gaming sectors to identify growth opportunities, nurture client relationships and develop strategies to promote interest in New Jersey as an ideal business location.
Bill has deep connections within New Jersey’s technology ecosystem including the Jersey City/Hoboken startup community. Prior to joining Choose New Jersey, Bill served as the Senior Director of SPHERE Technology Solutions – an IT company specializing in cybersecurity – responsible for marketing, sales and business development.
Bill’s extensive experience in the financial services industry includes leadership roles at HSBC Bank, TASC, Gevity and NeoVision Hypersystems, Inc.
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Paulina is a young, inspiring entrepreneur with a strong vision to change the educational system for children to go beyond ABC and 123 and focus on the whole child. She holds a MSc. in International Business from Copenhagen Business School.
Only at the age of 22 she was named Sweden’s Top 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs, and just recently, Paulina was awarded by the Swedish King for her work with Peppy Pals and her value-based leadership skills.
Paulina is also a member of Six Seconds Advisory Board, one of the largest EQ-organization in the world working for children’s wellbeing.
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Dr. Jonah M. Otto is an assistant professor at Universität Augsburg in Germany, where he specializes in international relations, globalization, higher education, public policy, and economic development. He earned his undergraduate degree in international political science and European history from the University of Southern Indiana and completed study programs in the UK and Ghana. His early career included work at the U.S. Department of State in Scotland, focusing on the Scottish independence referendum. He then earned a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University, gaining experience in nonprofit consultancy and economic development. At Indiana University, he served as assistant director of international programs, managing international relations and developing educational initiatives. After completing his PhD in economic sciences at Universität Augsburg, he became an assistant professor and director of internationalization development for the Faculty of Business and Economics. He also frequently lectures on American politics and higher education internationalization.
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Katie Packer Beeson is Founding Partner at Burning Glass Consulting, a first of its kind, all-female consulting firm, which does public relations, political consulting and issue management with an emphasis on messaging to women. Katie has worked on political campaigns across the country since 1990 and has managed campaigns at every level from state legislature and Governor to U.S. Senate and Presidential. In 2012, she was the Deputy Campaign Manager of Governor Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign.
Katie’s experience also includes working in the Michigan State Senate and in the administration of Michigan Governor John Engler as Chief of Staff to the Lt. Governor. She served in the administration of President George W. Bush as Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham. She also worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to then U.S. Senator Spence Abraham (R-MI). In 2008 Katie started the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) an organization dedicated to grassroots education and mobilization on workplace fairness issues. WFI succeeded in mobilizing opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (card check). WFI continues to be a leading voice in opposing Big Labor’s antibusiness agenda in workplace matters.
Katie was an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School for Political Management, located in Washington, DC and was a 2017 Spring Fellow at the Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service. Prior to stepping away from partisan politics, Katie spent several years as an MSNBC political commentator and prior to that could frequently be seen and heard offering political commentary on National Public Radio, CNN and Fox News. In addition, she also published a weekly column for U.S. News and World Report from 2014-2017.
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Bruce lives in central Cambridge and works from a studio nearby. As a professional artist for over 45 years he has travelled widely in search of subjects — from the Arctic and Antarctica, to Africa, much of Europe, and the Americas. The essential element in his practice is fieldwork observing the rhythm and restlessness of wildlife and elemental landscapes, as well as when people sometimes interact with both, creating powerful images and dramatic themes. The result can be a few small sketches — or a larger more considered and ambitious drawing or painting. Or it can be a range of snatched ideas, fragments and incomplete work that is taken back to the studio where the accumulation of creative debris provides new inspiration and fresh starting points for new work, sometimes in a completely new medium.
As well as exhibiting in UK galleries and overseas, Bruce has also written and illustrated a number of books. Among them An Artist on Migration (1991) a personal interpretation of the annual journeys make flowing with the seasons between Europe and Africa, and Troubled Waters — Trailing the Albatross, an Artist’s Journey (2011) that follows the lives and fortunes of countless seabirds that collide with industrial fishing interests on the open ocean.
Bruce was elected an SWLA member in 1978 and served as president of the society 1994 — 2004 and is currently vice president. He is also vice president of the Artists for Nature Foundation.
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Xavier Pierluca is an investment professional with 25 years’ experience, 18 of which are in the field of impact investing managing both private equity and debt funds. He has structured and raised several funds in access to energy, microfinance, fintech, SME finance, and healthcare for over USD 700 mn with family offices, DFIs and Institutional Investors through plain vanilla and blended finance structures.
Prior to launching Enabling Qapital, he was a founding Partner at SIMA where he structured, raised and is managed one of the largest solar off-grid solar debt fund. He also engages in Corporate Finance Advisory and has led the valuation and fundraising of one of the largest global microfinance group.
Xavier holds a Masters in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BsBA from Northeastern University. He is fluent in French, Spanish, and proficient in Romanian and Italian.
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Dr. Andreas M. Rickert is a molecular biologist who cannot be pigeonholed easily: Engagement Manager at McKinsey, Senior Specialist at the World Bank, Director at the Bertelsmann Foundation – and founder and CEO of PHINEO gAG. He has an international orientation through studies at Davis, among others, a doctorate at Stanford, as well as living and working in Bahrain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland and the USA.
Leadership experience in large companies and organizations, successfully building a start-up as well as holding seats in various advisory and supervisory boards of corporates and non-profits complete his diverse activity spectrum bridging gaps between different worlds.
Driven by a deep desire to add significant value to society, he founded PHINEO in 2010. The success of his work is based on a strong network with decision makers in economy, civil society and politics.
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Johanna did her bachelor at McGill and her master at LSE. She started her career at Mulberry in marketing and then worked in real estate before turning to technology. She is now living in Geneva and working in her family office SGFC. They are a Single Family Office based in Nyon (Vaud, Switzerland) originally from pharmaceuticals that now invest in private equity, real estate and financial markets with a passion for hedge funds, especially systematic quantitative ones.
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William N. Ryerson is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC) (www.populationmedia.org), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies. He also serves as Chair of The Population Institute in Washington, DC (www.populationinstitute.org), which works in partnership with Population Media Center. PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience resulting in positive behavior change. The emphasis of the organization’s work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women’s status, prevent exploitation of children, promote avoidance of HIV infection, and promote environmentally sustainable behaviors.
Mr. Ryerson has a half-century history of working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology of social change communications to various cultural settings worldwide.
Ryerson received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). He served as Director of the Population Institute’s Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International before founding Population Media Center in 1998.
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Professor Gretchen Selcke is the Assistant Director of Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include Latinx literature and culture, Afro Hispanic literature, and Latinx entrepreneurship. Currently, she is completing a book-length manuscript on contemporary Latinx narratives. As a Library Dean’s Fellow for the Manuel Zapata Olivella Special Collections Correspondence at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt, she helped create an online exhibit of representative correspondence and documents from four linear feet of Zapata Olivella’s personal archives. Professor Selcke is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Latinx Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). In addition, she serves on the editorial board of the Afro-Hispanic Review.
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Never Again Series
Lisa Sennhauser-Kelly is an experienced corporate leader in a career spanning 3 decades and 3 continents. Now an advisor to corporate as well as FinTech startups, Lisa has previously enjoyed a career as a senior finance professional in Australia, Europe, and North America. She has a proven ability to influence and impact, across complex global organizations. As a result Lisa was promoted to both Executive Director as well as Managing Director in UBS, and later became CFO of a spin-off from UBS, Equatex Global financial services now a part of ComputerShare.
An Aussie, Lisa lives with her Swiss husband and two children in Zurich and is passionate about growing individuals and their organizations. In addition to her financial expertise, Lisa is an accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coach Federation, an EMCC Accredited Coach at Senior Practitioner level, and a Marshall Goldsmith Certified Stakeholder Centred Coach.
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Thomas B. Smith is founding director of UCLA’s Center for Tropical Research, founding co-executive director of the Congo Basin Institute, and is a distinguished professor in the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Smith has more than 35 years of experience working in tropical rainforests. A central focus of his research investigates how biodiversity is generated and maintained in tropical rainforests and the results of Smith’s research point to new and more effective ways of prioritizing regions for conservation. In 2015, he led the effort to create the Congo Basin Institute (CBI), a unique partnership between the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and UCLA. CBI is UCLA’s first foreign affiliate and serves as a regional nexus for interdisciplinary research, education, and training focused on finding solutions to the critical issues facing Africa’s Congo Basin, including those related to climate change, water and food security, biodiversity conservation, and human health. Smith has published over 230 papers, received more than a dozen honors, and served on the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration for 12 years.
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Jackie is a proud band member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. Her childhood was filled with adventure in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, followed by a few years 400 km south of the Arctic Circle, in Yellowknife N.W.T., before finally moving to Vancouver B.C.. Jackie began her animation career at Mainframe Entertainment working in TV and Direct to DVD movies. She then took the leap into feature film. Her early film credits include „Night At The Museum“, and „Happily N’Ever After“ before she packed up and moved across the continent to New York, joining Blue Sky Studios in 2005. Jackie went on to animate 10 feature films with Blue Sky including the“ Ice Age“ franchises, „Horton Hears a Who!“,“ Rio 1″, „Rio 2“, „Epic“, „Ferdinand“, and „Spies and Disguise“. After Blue Sky Jackie worked with Illumination Mac Guff in Paris on an untitled film, and then shifted to Double Negative in Montreal where she is currently a Lead Animator on an unannounced film.
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As executive vice president of creative for Sony Pictures Animation, Karen Toliver is responsible for the creative supervision of a number of upcoming features for the studio, from inception to script, and through production.
In her role, Toliver is also in charge of recruiting key storytelling talent, and discovering and acquiring new creative material and intellectual property aligned with Sony Pictures Animation’s vision including original concepts, books, comics, video games, shorts, websites, and toys.
Toliver is also the producer of the Academy Award®-winning animated short film, „Hair Love,“ directed by Matthew A. Cherry.
Toliver has extensive experience in production and development, including 10 years at Fox Animation where she supervised the production of the “Rio” film franchise and the latest three films in the “Ice Age” series, which grossed a combined $3.1 billion at the worldwide box office. Toliver also spearheaded the original feature “Ferdinand,” which was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature.
Toliver served as a production executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios on films such as “Brother Bear,” “Chicken Little,” and “Meet the Robinsons.”
Toliver began her career as an assistant at Walt Disney Pictures working on the “Mighty Ducks” franchise.
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Jay Tucker is a marketer, educator, and technology leader with over 20 years of experience in the technology, academic and entertainment sectors. At UCLA’s Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports (MEMES), Jay is responsible for the Center’s vision, thought leadership, educational offerings and major events – including the annual PULSE conference. In this role, Jay has forged powerful partnerships with Hollywood studios, technology innovators, and executives from the sports and music industries in order to identify the trends and opportunities that will shape the industry. Most recently, Jay has launched a partnership with Real Madrid University (created by Real Madrid C.F. and Universidad Europea de Madrid) to deliver jointly produced educational programs for senior executives and rising leaders.
Jay has also worked to connect underserved communities to career pathways in technology and entertainment. He advises a number of non-profit organizations focused on skills and leadership development, and launched a partnership with Howard University that provides fellowships for students interested in participating in the MEMES Summer Institutes – a series of courses focused on the business of entertainment. Jay is also passionate about helping executives and entrepreneurs embrace disruption, drive innovation, and build powerful solutions. He founded Silicon Beach @ USC, a two-day event featuring a venture competition and a conference focused on innovation, investment, and new ventures related to technology and digital content. He also serves as an advisor to Versus Systems and The Hollywood Post and actively supports the Silicon Beach community in Southern California.
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Dr. Louise Tumchewics is a senior Research Fellow at the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR). She received her PhD in War Studies from King’s College London; her research focuses on technology and the future of conflict. Louise’s forthcoming book on urban warfare will be published by Lynne Rienner Publishers later this year.
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Till Vere-Hodge is a Partner at Payne Hicks Beach LLP specialising in Art and Cultural Heritage Law. Till advises international private collectors, art dealers and auction houses, galleries and museums, as well as art investors and advisors, in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters.
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Joshua W. Walker, PhD became President & CEO of Japan Society in December 2019. Previously, he worked at Eurasia Group, the world’s leading political risk analysis firm, where he served as global head of strategic initiatives and Japan in the Office of the President. Prior to that, he was CEO and president of the USA Pavilion of the 2017 World Expo in Astana, Kazakhstan; founding dean of the APCO Institute; and senior vice president of global programs at APCO Worldwide, a leading global strategic communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the private sector, he worked in numerous roles at various U.S. government agencies, including the State Department and the Defense Department. He is Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and professor of Leadership and the American presidency at George Mason University and the Reagan Foundation. He was also Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and co-founded the Yale Journal of International Affairs. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from Princeton University. Dr. Walker grew up in Japan where his parents still serve as missionaries, came to the United States when he was 18, and is bicultural and bilingual
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Dr. Karina L. Walters (MSW, Ph.D) is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is a Katherine Hall Chambers University Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, an adjunct Professor in the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, and the Co-Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) at the University of Washington. Dr. Walters has over 25 years of experience in social epidemiological research on the social determinants of Native American and Two-Spirit health well as expertise in designing culturally derived chronic disease prevention studies (substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, obesity, and diabetes prevention). She has written landmark papers in the field of traumatic stress and health, historical and intergenerational trauma, and developed the Indigenist Stress-Coping model.
Methodologically, she has expertise in Indigenist methodologies and in designing community and land-based, culturally derived interventions. Dr. Walters has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on over 34 NIH studies (22 as PI) from diverse NIH institutes. Dr. Walters received her B.A. (sociology) in 1987, her M.S.W. in 1990, and her Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to UW, Dr. Walters served on faculty at Columbia University School of Social Work (1995-2001).
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Sylvia Wisniwski is a Managing Director at Finance in Motion, one of the world’s leading impact asset managers with around EUR 2.4 billion in assets under advisory/management. At Finance in Motion, Sylvia oversees the company’s initiatives for conservation, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Her expertise in conceptualizing and structuring blended finance funds has proven instrumental in the creation of the eco.business Fund for Latin America and its expansion to Sub-Saharan Africa. She has close to 30 years of experience in impact investing in over 40 countries and started her career at the German International Cooperation (GIZ) working on agri-finance projects across the globe, after which she worked as a consultant for multilateral development banks and held various management positions at consulting companies and asset managers. Sylvia holds both an M.A. in Political Science and Sociology and an MBA from Tübingen University as well as an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Miami, Florida.
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Based in Tauranga, Peter Withers is an independent strategist, executive coach, business lecturer and business / community mentor.
His current activities include strategy facilitation, governance and management coaching, teaching strategy and international business in the Massey University Executive MBA programme, and executive education consulting. In addition, he provides coaching input for the Fonterra Governance Development Programme and community mentoring for Tauranga non-profits. He is a trustee of two Tauranga non-profit organisations.
As a strategy facilitator, he has worked internationally with a wide range of business, tertiary education, and non-profit entities including Latino business groups in California and Māori enterprise in New Zealand. This experience includes facilitation for international trade, broadcasting, conservation tourism, SME development, private banking, low decile healthcare, community trust, executive education, food production, and business development projects. His expertise in facilitation and strategic thinking follows 20 years of trade policy negotiation and trade promotion experience as a New Zealand diplomat. His international postings included Washington, D.C., Athens, Ankara, and as New Zealand’s first regional trade director for North & South America, based in Los Angeles.
Peter has taught applied strategy and international business at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School, Pepperdine University Graziadio Graduate School (as Associate Dean), the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management and La Verne University in California, Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, and programmes in Singapore as well as Toi Ohomai, Massey University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
He is a former Chair of the Executive MBA Council, a global organisation involving 240 leading business schools worldwide, is a longtime advocate of applied learning in executive education, and pioneered leadership coaching in New Zealand MBA programmes.
Peter Withers graduated M.A. Hons from the University of Canterbury and completed the Advanced Executive Leadership programme at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. He holds a certificate in Coaching, Leadership & Change from Case Western University, USA and is a member of the N.Z. Institute of Directors.
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Jan Martin Witte is Director of the Global Equity and Funds department of KfW Development Bank. As such, he oversees the Bank´s impact investment portfolio globally, with equity investments across ~60 funds and ~25 financial institutions, and a total investment volume exceeding EUR 3 billion in climate finance, SME funding, capital market development and biodiversity protection.
Prior to his current appointment, Jan served in different roles at KfW Development Bank, including as Director of the Central Africa and Regional Funds department; as Director of the Pretoria Office in South Africa; as Head of Division for Infrastructure in Southern Africa); as well as Senior Project Manager for Energy in East Africa (based in Kampala, Uganda). Before joining KfW in 2009, Jan Martin was co-founder and Associate Director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, Germany. Jan Martin has published widely on issues of energy policy, international development, UN reform, global governance, and transatlantic relations.
Jan Martin holds a PhD and MA in international relations and international economics from the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.
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Mr. Yamadera has been serving the Secretariat of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) of ASEAN+3 since 2014.
He has vast experiences in capital market development, payment systems, fintech, cybersecurity, and regional financial cooperation.
Currently, he leads the ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum (ABMF), a common platform to foster standardization and harmonization of the bond markets. He also leads the Cross-border Settlement Infrastructure Forum (CSIF) to create cross-border linkages among the central banks and central securities depositories.
Mr. Yamadera has over 25 years of professional experience in central banking including research, banking supervision, and financial cooperation at the Bank of Japan.
Mr. Yamadera obtained his BA in Law, Keio University, Japan; M.Sc in Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom; and M.Sc in Systems Management from Tsukuba University, Japan.
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A well-known figure in the media and entertainment industry, Bruno heads the content distribution
arm of Toonz. With over 20 years of experience in the industry at the senior management level,
Bruno has expertise in entertainment production and broadcast. His portfolio includes some very
impressive credits, including international hits like Masha and the Bear, Zafari, and Naruto. Before
joining Toonz, Bruno held the position of CEO at London-based Nucleus Media Rights. Before that,
he has also held senior positions such as Senior Vice President – media at Ink Group and Senior
Manager – Distribution Acquisitions & Co-productions at Panini Media.
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