Reuters NEXT

Christine Lagarde

President, European Central Bank

Since November 2019, Christine Lagarde has been the President of the European Central Bank. Between 2011 and 2019, she served as the eleventh Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prior to that she served as French Economic Finance Minister from 2007 to 2011 after having been Trade Secretary from 2005 to 2007. A lawyer by background, she practiced for 20 years with the international law firm Baker McKenzie, of which she became global chairman in 1999. In all such positions, she was the first woman to serve.

Valdis Dombrovskis

Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, European Commission

• Chair the Commissioners’ Group on an Economy that Works for People
• Trade Commissioner and overall lead on building a future-ready economy,
• Support the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the European Semester
• Oversee the launch and the implementation of the InvestEU program
• Lead work on deepening the Economic and Monetary Union and strengthening the international role of the euro
• Coordinate the work on the European Pillar of Social Rights and strengthening the role of social dialogue at European level. [Help prepare the Tripartite Social Summit]
• Represent the Commission in the ‘Economic and Financial Affairs’ Council meetings, the Eurogroup, the economic dialogue with the European Parliament, the Macroeconomic Dialogue and the Governing Council of the European Central Bank
• Enhance the democratic accountability of European economic governance and EU trade policy by actively engaging with the European Parliament
• Lead the EU work on the reform of the World Trade Organization and provide further impetus to WTO negotiations on e-commerce
• Lead the work to strengthen Europe’s global leadership on trade and promoting sustainable trading partnerships with the United States, China, Africa and neighborhood and conclude ongoing negotiations. Where appropriate, open new bilateral or multilateral partnerships
• Oversee the implementation of climate, environmental and labour protections enshrined in our trade agreements and ensure that new trade agreements contain a chapter on sustainable development
• Lead the work on protecting Europe from unfair trade practices by seeking a level playing field in procurement and implementing the new system for screening Foreign Direct Investment
• Contribute to the design and introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
• Co-ordinate the work on the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, which should unlock sustainable investment
• Manage relations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB)
• Co-lead the Commission's work on the implementation of Europe’s Industrial and SME strategies, together with the Executive Vice-President for Europe in a Digital Age

Özlem Türeci

Chief Medical Officer, BioNTech

Özlem Türeci, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist, and cancer researcher with translational and clinical experience. Türeci has helped lead the discovery of cancer antigens, the development of mRNA-based individualized and off-the-shelf vaccine candidates and other types of immunotherapies which are currently in clinical development. Türeci leads the clinical development of BioNTech’s “Project Lightspeed,” the company’s successful effort to develop and distribute an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, a historic achievement completed in less than one year. She currently serves as President of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) in Germany. She is a recent recipient of the German Sustainability Award, among other notable recognitions.

Dan Schulman

President & CEO, PayPal

With extensive corporate experience and a lifelong commitment to social justice, Dan Schulman believes the private sector has a responsibility to serve multiple stakeholders and to improve the state of the world.

In 2021, Dan was ranked third on Fortune’s list of the World’s Greatest Leaders, an honor that recognized individuals for their leadership throughout the pandemic. The New York Urban League presented Dan with the 2021 Frederick Douglass Award, for his commitment, dedication, and influence to advance the rights of generations of underserved Black Americans. In 2020, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights honored Dan with the Ripple of Hope Award, for demonstrating a commitment to social change and a passion for equality, justice and basic human rights. He has frequently been recognized by Fortune as one of the top 20 Businesspersons of the Year, and has received "Visionary Awards" from the Financial Health Network in 2018 and the Council for Economic Education in 2017 for his promotion of economic and financial literacy. Dan received the 2017 Brennan Legacy Award, established to honor the late Supreme Court justice and his career-long commitment to social justice and “common human dignity”.

Dan is dedicated to building a world where everyone has access to economic opportunity, which he advances through his work as a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and co-chair of the World Economic Forum's Steering Committee to promote global financial inclusion. He is also an avid mixed martial arts practitioner.

Kristalina Georgieva

Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Kristalina Georgieva currently serves as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, a position she was selected for on September 25, 2019 and has served as since October 1, 2019.

Before joining the Fund, Ms. Georgieva was CEO of the World Bank from January 2017 to September 2019, during which time she also served as Interim President of the World Bank Group for three months.

Previously, Ms. Georgieva helped shape the agenda of the European Union while serving as European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources. In this capacity she oversaw the EU’s €161 billion (US $175bn) budget and 33,000 staff, as well as the EU’s response to the Euro Area debt crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis. Before that, she was Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, managing one of the world’s largest humanitarian aid budgets.

Ms. Georgieva began her career in public service at the World Bank as an environmental economist in 1993. After serving for 17 years, and in many senior positions, including Director for Sustainable Development, Director for the Russian Federation, Director for Environment, and Director for Environment and Social Development for the East Asia and Pacific Region, her career culminated in her appointment as Vice President and Corporate Secretary in 2008. In this role, she served as the interlocutor between the World Bank Group’s senior management, its Board of Directors, and its shareholder countries.

Ms. Georgieva serves on many international panels including as co-Chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation, and as co-chair of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing. She has authored and co-authored over 100 publications on environmental and economic policy, including textbooks on macro- and microeconomics.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1953, Ms. Georgieva holds a Ph.D in Economic Science and a M.A. in Political Economy and Sociology from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, where she was an Associate Professor between 1977 and 1993. During her academic career, she was visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2010, she was named “European of the Year” and “Commissioner of the Year” by European Voice in recognition for her leadership in the EU’s response to humanitarian crises. In October 2020, she received the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished International Leadership Award in acknowledgement of exceptional and distinctive contributions during her career of public service.

Dr Anthony Fauci

Director, NIAID

Dr Anthony Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he oversees an extensive research portfolio focused on infectious and immune-mediated diseases. He serves as one of the key advisors to the White House and Department of Health and Human Services on global HIV/AIDS issues, and on initiatives to bolster medical and public health preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats. He is the winner of numerous prestigious awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science and the Lasker Award for Public Service.

Falguni Nayar

Founder and CEO, Nykaa

Falguni Nayar is the founder, Executive Chairperson & Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of our Company. She holds a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She has over 26 years of experience in e-commerce, investment banking and broking. Prior to founding our Company, she was associated with Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited for 18 years where she also served as a managing director. She has also served on the boards of various companies, including Tata Motors Limited and Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited Presently, she serves as an independent on the boards of various companies including, Kotak Securities Limited, ACC Limited and Dabur India Limited. She has won many awards, including ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 – Start-up’ by Ernst and Young and ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ at the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, 2019. She was listed as one of Asia’s Power Businesswomen, 2019 by Forbes Asia and named as ‘Business Person of the Year’, 2019 by Vogue India.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski

CEO, Klarna

Degree of Master of Science, M.Sc. (Economics and Business), Stockholm School of Economics, 2007.

Board member since 2005 and CEO since 2010.

Board assignments:

Board member and CEO of Klarna Holding AB
Board chair or board member of other Group companies
Board member in a number of small private holding companies without any operational activities.

Tekedra Mawakana

co-Chief Executive Officer, Waymo

Tekedra N. Mawakana is the co-CEO of Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going.

As co-CEO, Tekedra is responsible for overall company strategy, with her primary focus on ensuring Waymo’s transformational technology — the Waymo Driver — is commercialized and widely adopted.

Tekedra has more than two decades of experience advising consumer technology companies on how to advance their business interests around the world and is an expert in navigating complex high-profile issues. She began her career working with regulated technology and telecom industries, and leading global technology transactions. She has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs managing growth and risk-mitigation strategies.

Tekedra previously served as COO of Waymo. Prior to Waymo, Tekedra led global teams across five continents at eBay, Yahoo, AOL and Startec. She started her career at the DC-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Tekedra is a social impact-focused angel investor, and an LP with Operator Collective. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Intuit, and on the Advisory Board for Lyte. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Saving Promise, a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of partner violence. As a tech industry veteran, Tekedra is on the Board of Industry Leaders for the Consumer Technology Association; and previously, she served as the Chairwoman of the Board of the Internet Association.

She has been recognized by Automotive News in 2020 as among the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry, “Top 20 in 2020 Influential Women in Mobility” by Vulog, and as one of the most influential black leaders in corporate America by Savoy magazine in 2020 and 2019. She was named a Visionary Leader by ALM and InsideCounsel in 2016, and a Tech Titan by Washingtonian magazine in 2015.

Tekedra received her JD from Columbia Law School and her BA with honors from Trinity College.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

CEO, Emirates

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum began his aviation career in 1985, when he was appointed President of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation. In the same year, he became Chairman of the newly founded Emirates, and helmed the launch of the airline with two leased aircraft to two destinations from Dubai. Today, he leads the Emirates Group, which includes dnata.

Emirates is now an award-winning global airline with a network of more than 150 destinations spanning six continents. With more than 270 aircraft, the airline has the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s. Under his leadership, Emirates has been profitable for the last 30 years, a rarity in the airline industry.

dnata is one of the world’s largest air services providers that operates in 127 airports. Offering ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services in 85 countries across six continents, dnata is a trusted partner for over 300 airline customers worldwide.

Sheikh Ahmed has contributed immensely to Dubai’s global stature as a leading business, tourism, trade and transport hub, with aviation now accounting for 28% of its GDP. With several leadership roles in government, his role in the formulation of policies and strategies has helped strengthen Dubai’s vision, economy, communities and culture. He is a patron of many charitable organisations, and has won prestigious national and international accolades.

Sheikh Ahmed has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver, Colorado, USA. The Royal Aeronautical Society honoured his achievements in aviation with a fellowship at the 1994 Farnborough Air Show, UK. In May 2013, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from City University London – Cass Business School.