The most senior, inspiring, diverse and truly global range of voices to be featured at any event in 2021.
Sundar Pichai
Chief Executive Officer
Google and Alphabet
Chief Executive Officer, Google and Alphabet
Sundar is the CEO of Google and Alphabet and serves on Alphabetâs Board of Directors.
He joined Google in 2004 and helped lead the development of Google Toolbar and then Google Chrome, which grew to become the worldâs most popular internet browser. In 2014 he was appointed to lead product and engineering for all of Googleâs products and platforms - including popular products such as Search, Maps, Play, Android, Chrome, Gmail and Google Apps (now GSuite). Sundar became Googleâs CEO in August 2015. He joined the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Google's parent company, in July 2017.
Under his leadership as CEO, Google has been focused on developing products and services, powered by the latest advances in AI, that offer help in moments big and small. It has invested in new opportunities such as Google Cloud and YouTube and has continued to be a leader in advanced technologies, including machine learning and quantum computing.
In December 2019, in addition to his role as CEO of Google, Sundar became the CEO of Googleâs parent company, Alphabet.
Sundar grew up in Chennai, India and studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology where he was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He holds a master's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
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Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer
Facebook
Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
Sheryl Sandberg is chief operating officer at Facebook, overseeing the firmâs business operations. Prior to Facebook, Sheryl was vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, chief of staff for the United States Treasury Department under President Clinton, a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and an economist with the World Bank.
Sheryl received a BA summa cum laude from Harvard University and an MBA with highest distinction from Harvard Business School.
Sheryl is the co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy with Wharton professor and bestselling author Adam Grant. She is also the author of the bestsellers Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and Lean In for Graduates. She is the founder of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to build a more equal and resilient world through two key initiatives, LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org. Sheryl serves on the boards of Facebook, Women for Women International, ONE, and SurveyMonkey.
Sheryl lives in Menlo Park, California, with her son and daughter.
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Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
Justin Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is Canadaâs 23rd Prime Minister.
Justinâs vision of Canada is a country where everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed. His experiences as a teacher, father, leader, and advocate for youth have shaped his dedication to Canadians â and his commitment to make Canada a place where everyone has the opportunities they need to thrive.
The oldest of three boys, Justin grew up with the profound influence of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and his mother, Margaret Trudeau. He was raised speaking both French and English and has family roots in both Eastern and Western Canada. This background helped spark his passion for public service and shaped his conviction that diversity is Canadaâs strength.
Justin studied literature at McGill University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1994. He went on to complete the University of British Columbiaâs education program, and spent several years teaching French, math, and other subjects in Vancouver. Teaching allowed him to make a positive impact in the lives of young people. He remains committed to hearing the voices of young Canadians, from the classroom to Parliament Hill.
In 2002, Justin returned home to Montréal, where he met Sophie Grégoire, a Quebec TV and radio host. They married in 2005 and are now the proud parents of Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien.
Before entering politics, Justin served as the Chair of Katimavik, on the board for the Canadian Avalanche Foundation, and as an advocate for young people and the environment. As a speaker at events and conferences around the country, he encouraged young people to engage with the issues important to them and participate as active citizens. These experiences made it increasingly clear to him that the issues young Canadians care about â education, the environment, and their generation's economic prospects â needed a stronger voice.
Justin entered politics to make change that would better serve all Canadians. In 2007, he built a community-based, grassroots campaign to win the Liberal Party nomination in the Montréal riding of Papineau. He was elected in 2008, and re-elected in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Justin was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in April 2013. His leadership campaign focused on building a new, truly national movement of progressive Canadians, bringing hundreds of thousands of Canadians into politics, most for the first time. He worked closely with his team to build a plan to create jobs, grow the economy, protect the environment, and strengthen the middle class. With Justinâs leadership, the Liberal plan emphasized fair economic opportunity for everyone, respect for and promotion of freedom and diversity, and a more democratic government that truly represents Canadians.
On October 19, 2015, Justin led his party to victory, winning a majority government with seats in every province and territory across the country. He was sworn in on November 4, 2015.
On October 21, 2019, Justin led the Liberal Party to re-election, earning a second mandate from Canadians.
As Prime Minister, Justin leads a government that works hard every day to continue moving Canada forward. His team is focused on creating good middle class jobs, making life more affordable, keeping Canadaâs communities safe, fighting climate change, and moving forward on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. A proud feminist, Justin appointed Canadaâs first gender balanced Cabinet.
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Christine Lagarde
President
European Central Bank
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.
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Brian Chesky
Chief Executive Officer
AirBnB
Chief Executive Officer, AirBnB
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Airbnb and sets the vision and strategy for the company. In 2007, Brian and Joe Gebbia became Airbnbâs first hosts. Since then, Brian has overseen Airbnbâs growth to become a community of over four million hosts who have welcomed more than 800 million guests across 220+ countries and regions.
A graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, Brian has embedded his creative roots in Airbnbâs culture, product and community. This design-driven approach has enabled a system of trust that allows strangers to live together, and created a unique business model that facilitates connection and belonging.
Brian is a signatory to the Giving Pledge and has committed to donating the net proceeds of his CEO equity compensation to community, philanthropic and charitable causes. Originally from Niskayuna, New York, Brian is an Airbnb Experience host in San Francisco.
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Vera Daves de Sousa
Finance Minister
Ministry of Finance of Angola
Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance of Angola
Vera Daves de Sousa, is currently the Finance Minister of the Republic of Angola, after having been State Secretary for Finance and Treasury, Chairwomen of the Capital Market Commission and Director of the Products and Research Office of Atlantic Private Bank. Vera Daves de Sousa had earlier been lecturer of Financial Markets in the Executive MBA promoted by the Catholic Business School Alliance. As an encouraging person of an education of excellence for the younger generation, she was the co-author of a book on Public Finance.
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Inventor of World Wide Web and
CTO, Inrupt
Inventor of World Wide Web and CTO, Inrupt
Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 and was named one of Time Magazineâs â100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.â Tim is CTO of Inrupt, the company he co-founded to ensure the success of Solid, the open-source project born from his research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyâs (MIT) Computer Science and AI Lab (CSAIL). Tim is also the Founder and Director of the Web Foundation, whose mission is to ensure the World Wide Web serves Humanity, and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In 2017, Tim won the Turing Award, computingâs highest honor. A professor at Oxford University and MIT, Tim is a long-time defender of Net Neutrality and the open web.
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IvĂĄn Duque MĂĄrquez
President of the Republic of Colombia
President of the Republic of Colombia
Born in BogotĂĄ on August 1st, 1976. He received his Lawyer Degree from the Universidad Sergio Arboleda, where he majored in philosophy and humanities. He is an expert in economic affairs, with executive studies in Harvard, and a Masters in Public Policy and Public Management from Georgetown University and a Masters Degree in Economic Law from the American University.
He has worked as a columnist and professor. He was Head of the Culture, Creativity, and Solidarity Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he worked on social innovation, entrepreneurship, youth, and creative economies. He acted as consultant to the IDB presidency and as senior advisor for Colombia.
As a Senator he put forward several Laws of the Republic: the Orange Law that promotes creative industries and culture as an engine for development; the Law on Severance Funds, that permits parents use their severance funds to pre-pay their childrenâs education and that of their dependent persons; the Law on Defibrillators, that provides that all public places and emergency transport be equipped with resuscitation equipment in Colombia; the Law on âB Companiesâ that provides the conditions for creating and establishing commercial companies of Collective Benefit and Interest; and, is co-author of the law that extended maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.
He is the author of several books: IndignAcciĂłn, ideas para el future de Colombia (âIndignAcciĂłn: ideas for the Colombia of the futureâ); Pecados Monetarios (âMonetary Sinsâ); Maquiavelo en Colombia (âMachiavelli in Colombiaâ); Efecto Naranja (âOrange Effectâ); El Futuro EstĂĄ en el Centro (âThe Future Lies in the Centerâ) ; ArqueologĂa de mi Padre (âArcheology of My Fatherâ); and, coauthored with Felipe Buitrago the book EconomĂa Naranaja (âOrange Economyâ).
Ivan Duque, besides his legislative activity, has stood out in several of the countryâs political developments. He drafted, submitted, and defended the suit against the Legislative Act for Peace, before the Constitutional Court, that limited the fast track and allowed Congress to make changes to the implementation of the peace agreements with the FARC. In 2016 the Semana magazine and the FundaciĂłn Colombia LĂder (âColombia Leader Foundationâ) elected him as one of the most outstanding leaders of the country and during his three years as congressman he was elected best Senator by his peers and by several local organizations that spotlight and measure the work of Colombian legislators.
The President is married to Ms. MarĂa Juliana Ruiz, and is the father of three children: Luciana, MatĂas, and EloĂsa.
On June 17, 2018, Ivan Duque was elected President of Colombia for the 2018-2022 constitutional term with 10â339,689 votes and a government program based on Legality, Entrepreneurship, and Equality.
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Christiane Amanpour
CNN's Chief International Anchor, Host of Amanpour
CNNi and Amanpour & Co., PBS in the US
CNN's Chief International Anchor, Host of Amanpour, CNNi and Amanpour & Co., PBS in the US
Christiane Amanpour is CNN's chief international anchor and host of the network's award-winning, flagship global affairs program "Amanpour," on CNN International in London and "Amanpour & Co." on PBS in the United States.
Her illustrious career in journalism spans over three decades joining CNN in 1983. Amanpour rose through the organization becoming the network's leading international correspondent reporting on international crisisâ and interviewed most of the top world leaders. She has received every major broadcast award, including fourteen News and Documentary Emmys, four Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, the Courage in Journalism Award, and ten honorary degrees.
She was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame, Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame and The Atlanta Press Clubâs Hall of Fame. She is a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and an honorary citizen of Sarajevo. Amanpour is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
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Dr. S. Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister of India
External Affairs Minister of India
Earlier Dr S. Jaishankar was President â Global Corporate Affairs at Tata Sons Private Limited from May 2018.
He was Foreign Secretary from 2015-18, Ambassador to United States from 2013-15, Ambassador to China from 2009-2013, High Commissioner to Singapore from 2007-2009 and Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2000-2004.
He has also served in other diplomatic assignments in Embassies in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest and Tokyo, as well in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Presidentâs Secretariat.
Dr S. Jaishankar is a graduate of St. Stephenâs College at the University of Delhi. He has a Masters in Political Science and an M. Phil and Ph.D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
He is a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2019.
He is married to Kyoko Jaishankar and has two sons & and a daughter.
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Michael Wirth
Chief Executive Officer
Chevron
Chief Executive Officer, Chevron
Michael K. (Mike) Wirth, 60, is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Chevron Corporation. He was elected to these positions by Chevronâs board of directors in September 2017 and assumed the roles on February 1, 2018.
Prior to his current role, Wirth served as vice chairman of the board in 2017 and executive vice president of Midstream & Development for Chevron Corporation from 2016 â 2018. In that role, he was responsible for supply and trading, shipping, pipeline and power operating units, as well as corporate strategy; business development; and policy, government and public affairs.
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Sama Bilbao y Leon
Director General
World Nuclear Association
Director General, World Nuclear Association
Sama Bilbao y LeĂłn became the Director General of World Nuclear Association in October 2020.
Previously, and since June 2018, she was Head of the Division of Nuclear Technology Development and Economics at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. In her role at the NEA, she led a team of analysts responsible for providing Member Countries with authoritative studies in the intersection of technology, innovation and economics in support of their energy policy decision-making. Since January 2020, she was also Head of the Technical Secretariat for the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).
From 2011, she was the Director of Nuclear Engineering Programs and Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She was one of the key individuals involved in the creation and development of this thriving new Nuclear Engineering program. Sama was responsible for the academic and research aspects of the new VCU nuclear engineering program, including student and faculty recruitment, curriculum development, accreditation, funding, research collaborations, industrial partnerships, marketing, outreach, etc. She also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in areas such as thermal-hydraulics, heat transfer, multi-phase flow, nuclear reactor design, energy and environmental policy, economics of electricity production, etc. At VCU, she led an active research group including post-doctoral research associates, PhD, MS and undergraduate students, and was the principal investigator in several research and development, as well as educational grants, totalling about $4M.
At her departure from VCU in May 2018, Sama was also a member of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) National Accreditation Board, and the Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium (VNEC).
From 2008, Sama was the Technical Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Water Cooled Reactors Technology Development Unit and she was responsible for IAEA activities in support of the development and near term deployment of advanced water cooled reactors and their associated fuels.
From February 2001 until March 2008, Sama was a Nuclear Safety Analysis Engineer at Dominion Energy, where she worked on the development and licensing of new methodologies in core thermal-hydraulics and nuclear safety analysis in support of Dominionâs nuclear power stations.
Sama is one of the seven founders of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN), and served as Public Information Chair since its creation in 1999 until May 2005. Sama is also an active member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) since 1995, both nationally and locally (VCU student section and Virginia local section). Her dedication to spreading the good news about nuclear earned her the ANS 2002 Public Communications Award. In 2007 she received the NA-YGN Founder Award, the highest award given to an NA-YGN member, which rewards leadership, vision and dedication. In 2007, and again in 2010, Sama was elected to the national Board of Directors of the American Nuclear Society. In 2011, she received the ANS Mary Jane Oestmann Womenâs Achievement Award. In 2014 she received an ANS Presidential Citation for her continuous dedication to ANS. In 2018 she was presented with the W. Reed Johnson Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Virginia Section of the ANS. Sama is also a member of SNE, ASME, ASEE, SWE and WiN.
Sama, who is originally from Spain, holds a bachelorâs degree in Mechanical Engineering and a masterâs degree in Energy Technologies from the Polytechnic University of Madrid; a master's degree and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin â Madison; and an MBA from Averett University.
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Ann Daniels
Polar Explorer
Polar ExplorerÂ
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Patricia Espinosa
Executive Secretary
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Osprey Orielle Lake
Founder and Executive Director
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International
Founder and Executive Director, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, working nationally and internationally with grassroots and frontline women leaders, policy-makers, and diverse coalitions to build women's leadership, climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized clean energy future. Osprey is the Co-Director of the Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegations, and actively leads WECAN International's projects â from various trainings and work to shift the narrative on climate justice using a feminist lens, to engagements at United Nations climate conferences â from frontline delegations and direct actions, to campaigns such as the 'Women for Forests' program. Osprey was the visionary behind the International Womenâs Earth and Climate Summit, which brought together 100 global women leaders to draft and implement a 'Womenâs Climate Action Agenda', and co-founded the International Womenâs Earth and Climate Initiative (IWECI), the precursor initiative of WECAN International. Osprey is honored to serve on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, and has been a core organizer of various International Rights of Nature Tribunals. She has served on the board of the Praxis Peace Institute and on the Steering Committee for The UN Womenâs Major Group for the Rio+20 Earth Summit. Awards include National Womenâs History Project Honoree, Taking The Lead To Save Our Planet, the Woman Of The Year Outstanding Achievement Award from the California Federation Of Business And Professional Women, and the Be the Dream Lifetime Achievement award. Osprey's writing has been featured in publications including The Guardian, Common Dreams, Earth Island Journal, The Ecologist, OpenDemocracy, and EcoWatch, and she is the author of the award-winning book,'Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature'.
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Professor Jeffrey Sachs
Economist & Director
Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University
Economist & Director, Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. He is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including debt crises, hyperinflations, the transition from central planning to market economies, the control of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, the escape from extreme poverty, and the battle against human-induced climate change. He has been advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General, Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, and Antonio Guterres.
Professor Sachs was the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. He was twice named among Time magazineâs 100 most influential world leaders and has received 28 honorary degrees. The New York Times called Sachs âprobably the most important economist in the world,â and Time magazine called Sachs âthe worldâs best known economist.â A survey by The Economist ranked Sachs as among the three most influential living economists.
Professor Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He is University Professor at Columbia University, the universityâs highest academic rank. Sachs is the Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. Sachs was Director of the Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016. He is author of many books including the recent The Ages of Globalization (2020).
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Ilarion Merculieff
President
Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways (GCILL)
President, Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways (GCILL)
Ilarion (Larry Merculieff) was raised in a traditional Unangan (Aleut) way and received his Unangan name Kuuyux. The name is given to one person in each lifetime amongst his people. Kuuyux means an arm extending out from the body, a carrier of ancient knowledge into modern times, a messenger. Today he is living the legacy of his name.
Merculieff is co-founder and former chairman of the Alaska Indigenous Council on Marine Mammals; former chairman of the Nature Conservancy, Alaska chapter; former co-director of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, Alaska chapter; as well as co-founder of the International Bering Sea Forum, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, and the Alaska Oceans Network. Merculieff served on the National Research Council Committee on the Bering Sea Ecosystem and presented at numerous scientific conferences. He chaired the Indigenous knowledge sessions (that involved representatives from 80 nations) at the Global Summit of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change, chaired the scientific working group for Snowchange that involved representatives from 8 Arctic nations focused on climate change, and served as the U.S. chair for the 2008 North American Gathering of Indigenous Peoples for the Healing of Mother Earth in Merida, Mexico.
He has authored Wisdom Keeper: One Manâs Journey to Honor the Untold Story of the Unangan People, and co-authored Stop Talking, and several other books and articles.
Close to Merculieffâs heart are issues related to cultural and community wellness, traditional ways of living, Elder wisdom, climate change and the environment. Having had a traditional upbringing, Merculieff has been, and continues to be, a strong voice and activist calling for the meaningful application of traditional knowledge and wisdom obtained from Elders in Alaska and throughout the world in dealing with modern day challenges. He currently heads GCILL (- Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways) , and is the co-founder of the Wisdom Weavers of the World, focused on bringing messages of Indigenous Elders from throughout the world to global attention, via social media and a short film that was launched by Reuters for Earth-day's 50th anniversary in 2020.
Website:Â http://gcill.world/
Online course:Â https://restorativepractices.com/product/becoming-a-real-human-being-with-ilarion-merculieff/
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Mohamed Adow
Director
Power Shift Africa
Director, Power Shift Africa
Mohamed Adow is the Director of Power Shift Africa, a climate and energy think tank based in Nairobi.
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Olivier Tichit
Leader of Sustainability
Musim Mas
Leader of Sustainability, Musim Mas
Olivier Tichit is the Director of Sustainable Supply Chain with the Musim Mas Group.
Olivier oversees the implementation of Musim Mas Sustainability plan, for third-party suppliers, including independent smallholders. His role includes reviewing the Groupâs sustainability policy and strategy, as well as working with the Groupâs key customers to identify synergies for enhancing palm oilâs sustainability proposition in the world commodity sector.
A tropical agronomist by training, Olivier has worked in South-East Asia for the past twenty years. Olivier was formerly the Commercial and Sustainability Director of the Indonesian subsidiaries of SIPEF, a Belgian plantations group.
Before joining SIPEF, Olivier was the Indonesia Country Manager for a major commodities merchant group, Ecom Agroindustrial, and spearheaded sustainable certifications for coffee smallholders.
Olivier is active in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), and Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG).
About Musim Mas Group
Headquartered in Singapore, our business is involved with every part of the palm oil supply chain: From managing plantations and mills to refining crude palm oil and manufacturing palm-based products, supported by an extensive fleet of ship tankers and barges that enhances our logistical capabilities. We employ 37,000 employees in 13 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, committed to meeting global demand for Palm oil and its derivative products in an environmentally, socially and economically viable manner
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Ravi Muthayah
Secretary-General
Malaysia Plantation & Commodities Ministry
Secretary-General, Malaysia Plantation & Commodities Ministry
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Neil Roberts
Head of Marine & Aviation
Lloyd's of London Market Association
Head of Marine & Aviation, Lloyd's of London Market Association
Joined the market in 1985. Responsible for the marine and aviation activity at the LMA. Member of the IUMI Political Forum.
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Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad
Managing Director
Sime Darby Oils
Managing Director, Sime Darby Oils
Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad, 48, a Malaysian, is the Managing Director of Sime Darby Oils.
He began his career in 1995 as a trader with Cargill in Malaysia and later moved to the Philippines where he was involved in, among others, hedging activities in order to establish trading positions and ensuring uninterrupted supply of feedstock into refineries, and assisted with the companyâs lauric oil merchandising.
In 2001, he joined Nestle initially based in Kuala Lumpur before moving to London in 2004 to join the companyâs global cocoa procurement and price risk management desk. In 2006, he relocated to Singapore to establish Nestleâs Commodity Procurement Centre for Asia, Oceania and Africa regions regions and he was appointed as the General Manager and Head of Global Oils and Fats. Under these capacities, he was responsible for leading supplier development works as well as regions regional oils and fats procurement initiatives.
In 2010, he joined Unilever Plc (Singapore) as Director of Commodity Risk Management where he was in charge of managing Unileverâs global oils and fats price exposure within the companyâs annual spend budget, developing market analysis and price forecasting, and introduced the use of optimal and appropriate hedging tools.
In 2014, he joined SDPB as the Head of Global Trading and Marketing (GTM)/Downstream Manufacturing (DM) where he oversees the growth contribution of both GTM and DM to the overall revenue stream of SDPB. He was the Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, leading the Downstream businesses of the SDPB Group prior to the rebranding of Downstream Businesses to Sime Darby Oils.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Arizona, The United States and attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2019.
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Nick Stansbury
Head of Climate Solutions
Legal & General Investment Management
Head of Climate Solutions, Legal & General Investment Management
Nick co-ordinates Legal & General Investment Managementâs research into the investment implications of climate change and the energy transition. Alongside his research activities, he also manages a portfolio focused on the energy transition. Prior to joining LGIM, Nick worked for Standard Life Investments as an Investment Director in their Asia and Global Emerging Markets team.
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Yash Lohia
Chief Sustainability Officer
Indorama Ventures
Chief Sustainability Officer, Indorama Ventures
Born in New Delhi, Yash Lohia is the elder son of Aloke Lohia, Founder and Group CEO of Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL). His career in IVL started in the Packaging division, and oversees the companyâs operations across seven countries, after setting up the first Philippines Packaging division in 2013. Prior to joining the Packaging business, Yash trained in various business functions and segments within IVL. Since 2018, Yash has also helped guide the Fibers business which is a strong growth area for IVL.
Since 2019, Yash has been appointed as an Executive Director on the IVLâs Board of Directors and member of the Sustainability and Risk Management Committee. He had also been Chief Recycling Officer until 2020 when he was appointed a new position as Chief Sustainability Officer. He is now contributing and playing an important role to define IVL's path to Sustainability.
Yash likes to travel, hike, water sports, and snowboarding. He is married to Saanjali Lohia and lives in Bangkok.
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Sean Kidney
Chief Executive Officer
Climate Bonds Initiative
Chief Executive Officer, Climate Bonds Initiative
Sean Kidney is CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO, working to mobilize global capital for climate action. Projects include a green bond definitions and certification scheme with $34 trillion of assets represented on its Board; working with the Chinese central bank on how to grow green bonds in China; market development programs in Brazil, Mexico, ASEAN and Africa; and market tracking services for the green bonds industry. He is a member of the European Commission's Platform on Sustainable Finance, and was a member of its predecessors, the 2017 EU High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance. He is also a member of green finance committees in China, India, Mexico and Khazakhstan. Sean is also a Professor in Practice at SOAS University of London.
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Dan Poneman
President & Chief Executive Officer
Centrus Energy Corp.
President & Chief Executive Officer, Centrus Energy Corp.
Daniel B. Poneman, author of Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change, is president and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp., and a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy Schoolâs Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His public service under Presidents Obama, Clinton, and George H.W. Bush included over five years as Deputy Secretary of Energy and nearly four years as Special Assistant to the President on the National Security Council staff. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, received 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. Mr. Poneman was educated at Harvard and Oxford University.
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John Flint
Former Group Chief Executive
HSBC
Former Group Chief Executive, HSBC
John is the former Group Chief Executive of HSBC.
During his 30 year career with HSBC he built a range of skills in wholesale banking, retail banking, and Treasury and risk management. He represented HSBC in 9 countries, spending much of his career in Asia.
He progressed through the roles of Group Treasurer, Deputy of Global Markets, Chief Executive of HSBC Asset Management, and Chief Executive of Retail Banking and Wealth Management before being appointed Group Chief Executive, and Chairman of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
John was a member of the International Business Council and Climate Finance Leadership Initiative of the World Economic Forum. He also served as a member of the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and was a Global Commissioner of the New Climate Economy.
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Lorenzo Simonelli
Chief Executive Officer
Baker Hughes
Chief Executive Officer, Baker Hughes
Lorenzo Simonelli is Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR). Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that combines innovation, expertise and scale to provide solutions for energy and industrial customers worldwide.
Simonelli was named Chairman of the Board in October 2017 and has been President and CEO since the Companyâs creation in 2017, where he oversaw the successful merger of GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes Inc. Since 2013, he served as President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas.
Previously, Simonelli served as President and CEO of GE Transportation, a global transportation leader in the rail, mining, marine and energy storage industries. During his five-year tenure, he expanded and diversified GE Transportation by focusing on advanced technology manufacturing, intelligent control systems, and a diverse approach to new propulsion solutions.
He has also served as CFO Americas for GE Consumer & Industrial, as well as General Manager, Product Management for GE Appliances, Lighting, Electrical Distribution and Motors.
Simonelli joined GEâs Financial Management Program in 1994, where he worked on assignments in GE International, GE Shared Services, GE Oil & Gas, and Consolidated Financial Insurance.
He currently serves on the Boards of CNH Industrial and C3.ai, Inc.
Originally from Tuscany, Italy, Simonelli is a Business & Economics Graduate from Cardiff University in South Wales.
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Steve Fisher
President and Chief Executive Officer
Novelis
President and Chief Executive Officer, Novelis
Steve Fisher is President and Chief Executive Officer of Novelis, the global leader in flat-rolled aluminum products and the worldâs largest recycler of aluminum. Novelis partners with its customers in the aerospace, automotive, beverage can and specialties industries to deliver solutions that maximize the benefits of sustainable lightweight aluminum throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operates 33 facilities in 9 countries, and has approximately 15,000 employees. Novelis is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, an industry leader in aluminum and copper, and metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.
Since joining the company in 2006, Fisher has served in a number of executive positions, most recently as Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure as CFO, Novelis invested approximately $2 billion to transform and grow its business. In 2020, under Fisherâs leadership, Novelis acquired Aleris Corporation, another global aluminum supplier, for $2.8 billion, further extending the companyâs global footprint and capabilities.
Fisher is a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of leading U.S. companies working to promote sound public policy. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Atlanta Committee for Progress, helping to accelerate Atlantaâs competitiveness for residents, businesses and investment. Fisher received a bachelorâs degree in finance and accounting from the University of Iowa and is a certified public accountant.
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JoĂŁo Paulo Ferreira
Chief Executive Officer
Natura & Co Latin America
Chief Executive Officer, Natura &Co Latin America
Joao Paulo Ferreira is CEO of Natura &Co Latin America, encompassing responsibility for Natura, Avon and The Body Shop in the region and Aesop in Brazil. In this role, he is also responsible for innovation and global stewardship of Naturaâs brand.
Ferreira joined Natura in 2009 as Vice President of Operations and Logistics. Other roles at Natura included leading the International Operations and Sustainability areas. Since 2013, he worked as Commercial Vice President, overseeing Sales, Activation Marketing, CRM, New Channels and Commercial Innovation in the company's Brazilian operation. In October 2016, he took over as CEO of Natura.
Previously, he worked at Unilever for 20 years, where the last position he occupied was Vice President of Supply Chain.
JoĂŁo Paulo graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of SĂŁo Paulo (USP) and has an executive MBA from the University of Michigan, in the United States.
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Sven Reinke
Senior Vice President
Moodyâs Investors Service
Senior Vice President, Moodyâs Investors Service
Sven Reinke is a Senior Vice President in Moodyâs Corporate Finance Group. Sven covers the Integrated Oil and Gas, Metals & Mining and Chemical sectors and Moodyâs lead analyst for Shell, BP and Equinor. Sven joined Moodyâs in the autumn of 2013 with 12 yearsâ experience in a number of different corporate credit roles.
Prior to joining Moodyâs, Sven spent six years as a Senior Corporate Credit Officer at UBS Investment Bank in London responsible for a portfolio of corporate in different industries including the Retail and Consumer Services sectors. Prior to UBS, Sven was the Lead Credit Analyst for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishiâs German and Benelux blue chip counterparties. At the start of his career, Sven spent four years as a Credit Analyst at Deutsche Bankâs German mid-cap credit risk department.
Sven has a Masters Degree in Economics with focus on finance and banking from The Berlin School of Economics and Law.
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Adam Matthews
Director of Ethics and Engagement
Church of England Pensions Board
Director of Ethics and Engagement, Church of England Pensions Board
Adam is the Director of Ethics and Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, as well as Co-Chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative and a Board Member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, (IIGCC). He is also the co-lead, on behalf of CA100+, for engagement with Royal Dutch Shell that led to the 2018 joint statement on climate targets agreed between Shell and institutional investors.
Following the Brumadinho Tailings Dam disaster, Adam is co â lead of the Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative with John Howchin, from the Swedish Ethics Council. He also represents the Principles for Responsible Investment as a co â convenor of the Global Tailings Review.
Adam founded and now Co-Chairs the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) an asset owner-led and asset manager-supported global initiative which assess companiesâ preparedness for the transition to the low carbon economy (and publishes this through the London School of Economics). Adam is also the lead for the Church of England on the Mining and Faith Reflections Initiative (MFRI) a forum that convenes dialogue between mining company CEOâs and Church leaders.
Adam also serves as a member of the Royal College of Physicians Investment Advisory Board and on the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Stewardship Advisory Group.
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Eric Norris
President - Lithium GBU
Albemarle Corporation
President - Lithium GBU, Albemarle Corporation
Eric Norris is President of the Lithium global business unit of Albemarle, a diversified global specialty chemicals company and industry leader enabling clean and efficient mobility.
He joined Albemarle in January 2018 as Chief Strategy Officer. In this role, he managed the companyâs strategic planning, M&A, and corporate business development programs as well as its investor relations efforts.
Prior to joining Albemarle, Eric served as President of Health and Nutrition for FMC Corporation. Following FMCâs announcement to acquire DuPont Agricultural Chemical assets, he led the divestiture of FMC Health and Nutrition to DuPont. Previously, Eric served as Vice President and Global Business Director for FMC Health and Nutrition, and Vice President and Global Business Director for FMC Lithium. During his 16-year FMC career, he served in additional leadership roles including Investor Relations, Corporate Development and Director of FMC Healthcare Ventures.
Prior to FMC, Eric founded and led an internet-based firm offering formulation and design tools to the chemical industry. Previously, he served in series of operating and corporate roles for Rohm and Haas Company.
Eric earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University and a bachelorâs degree in chemistry and German from Colgate University.
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George Borovas
Head of Nuclear and Tokyo Office Managing Partner
Hunton Andrews Kurth
Head of Nuclear and Tokyo Office Managing Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
George advises governments, lenders and sponsors on the development of civilian nuclear power programs and the financing and construction of nuclear power plants. He has worked on nuclear power projects and transactions in the UK, the US, Russia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, Australia and South Africa. George is a Board Member of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and has been recognized as a nuclear industry leader by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC), as well as the US government as an appointee to the US Secretary of Commerceâs Civilian Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC). He has written numerous articles and is a frequent commentator on matters relating to the global nuclear industry. Before becoming a nuclear energy lawyer, George worked as an engineer for a nuclear power plant engineering firm.
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Peter Erickson
Senior Scientist
Stockholm Environment Institute
Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute
Peter Erickson is the climate policy director at the US Center of the Stockholm Environment Institute. His research focuses on oil markets and climate change, and has been published in scientific journals including Nature, Nature Climate Change, and Environmental Research Letters.
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Janet Redman
Climate Campaign Director
Greenpeace USA
Climate Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA
Janet Redman is the Director of Greenpeace USAâs Climate Campaign, where she sets the strategic direction of the organizationâs work to end the era of fossil fuels and create a more green, just and peaceful world.
For more than a decade Ms. Redman's work has supported the transition from an extractive, fossil fueled economy to equitable, democratic and local living economies. To that end, Ms. Redman has prioritized building deep relationships with grassroots organizations and networks in the global South and North in order to align public pressure and policy advocacy campaigns with the goals of social, economic and environmental justice movements. She is powered by the belief that together, we can develop bold ideas and take meaningful action that redefines what is politically possible.
Ms. Redman is the former U.S. Policy Director at Oil Change International, and former Director of the Climate Policy Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, where she currently serves as an Associate Fellow. Ms. Redman holds a Masterâs Degree from Clark University in International Development and Social Change, where she focused her graduate research on regional trade integration and social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont.
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Jay Wileman
President & Chief Executive Officer
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
President & Chief Executive Officer, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Jay Wileman is President & CEO of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a world-leading provider of advanced reactors, fuel and services, with manufacturing, service and sales facilities around the globe.
Since joining GE in 1994, Jay has held several senior leadership positions in various GE businesses, including energy, mining, rail and oil and gas in the U.S., Japan, Italy, Australia and South Africa. He began his career as a nuclear fuel engineer.
Jay earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Masterâs Degree in Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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Kassie Siegel
Director
Center for Biological Diversityâs Climate Law Institute
Director, Center for Biological Diversityâs Climate Law Institute
Kassie Siegel develops and implements campaigns for the reduction of greenhouse gases and other air pollution and for the protection of wildlife and communities threatened by climate disruption. She authored the petition and litigated the cases leading to Endangered Species Act protection for the polar bear, and she has been a leader in the fight to ban fracking and keep fossil fuels in the ground.
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David Hone
Chief Climate Change Adviser
Shell
Chief Climate Change Adviser, Shell
David Hone works for Shell International Ltd. and is the Chief Climate Change Adviser in the Shell Scenarios team.
He joined Shell in 1980 after graduating as a Chemical Engineer from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. He initially worked for Shell as a refinery engineer in Australia and The Netherlands, before becoming the supply economist at the Shell refinery in Sydney. In 1989 David transferred to London to work as an oil trader in Shell Trading and held a number of senior positions in that organisation until 2001. In that year David took up the role of Group Climate Change Adviser.
David was Chairman of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) from 2011-2013, a global business organisation of some 140 companies and remains a Board member. The Association focuses on the development of carbon markets. He is also on the Board of the Washington based Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the Board of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) in Melbourne, Australia.
David posts regular stories on his energy & climate change blog, which can be found at http://blogs.shell.com/. He is the author of a 2017 book on climate change, âPutting the Genie Back: Solving the Climate and Energy Dilemmaâ.
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Marina Silva
Former Environment Minister and Senator
Brazil
Former Environment Minister and Senator, Brazil
Marina Silva is one of Brazilâs leading political figures and environmentalists. She was minister of environment of Brazil from 2003 to 2008 and was a member of Brazilâs National Assembly from 1994 to 2011. Silva grew up as one of twelve siblings in a poor rubber tapper family in the province of Acre, in Western Brazil. When she was 16 years old, she contracted Hepatitis and was sent to Rio Branco for treatment. She worked as a maid, learned to read, was enrolled at a public school, studied for exams and started history studies. Along the way she was inspired by liberation theology and the ideas of the environmental activist Chico Mendes. She became politically active, and an ardent proponent of negotiation, non-violence, and innovative solutions.Â
In 1994, Silva was the first rubber tapper ever elected to Brazilâs Federal Senate. As a native Amazonian and a senator, she built support for environmental protection of the reserves as well as for social justice and sustainable development in the Amazon region. As minister of environment, she took drastic measures to protect the Amazon forest, clamping down on illegal activity, and managed to reduce deforestation by almost 60 percent from 2004 to 2007.
Another result of Silvaâs work is the Amazon Fund, established to prevent greenhouse gas emissions through rainforest conservation. The Fund is financed by national and international contributions. In 2008, Silva resigned as Minister of the Environment, citing âthe increasing resistance in central parts of government and the society.â After resigning, she switched parties to the Green Party and ran for president first in 2010, 2014 and then in 2018. She remains one of the most visible public figures in Brazil.
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Dean Berry
Global Head of Trading
Refinitiv
Global Head of Trading, Refinitiv
Bio coming soon.
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Juan Carlos Jobet
Ministry of Energy and Mining
Chile
Ministry of Energy and Mining, Chile
Juan Carlos Jobet holds a degree in Business Management from the Universidad CatĂłlica de Chile, as well as Masterâs Degrees in Business Administration and in Public Administration from Harvard University.
His professional career began at the corporate finance consulting firm Asset Chile from 2000 to 2010.
In 2010, he joined the first governmental administration of President Sebastiån Piñera as Chief of Staff of the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter. There, he played a leading role in the Emergency Committee, created to face the country's reconstruction after the earthquake of February 2010.
On July 29th, 2011, he assumed the position of Undersecretary of Housing, where he continued the work of reconstruction, enhancing the Ministry's role in urban development.
Subsequently, on July 24th, 2013, he became Minister of Labor and Social Welfare. During this appointment, he focused on extending access to childcare to all working women, a mission that he defined at that time as a project that "levels the playing field for all children".
After holding various positions in the private sector, in January 2019 he took on the responsibility of managing the Infrastructure Fund, a new state-owned company with the objective of developing new public infrastructure such as highways, trains and ports.
He now takes on an even greater challenge: to head the Ministry of Energy, whose mission is to lead Chile towards a new, greener, decarbonized energy matrix, with an emphasis on renewable energy and the objective of setting Chile on the path to become neutral in carbon emissions.
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Dr. Friederike Otto
Associate Director, Environmental Change Institute
University of Oxford
Associate Director, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Friederike (Fredi) is the acting director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and an Associate Professor in the Global Climate Science Programme.
Her main research interest is on extreme weather events such as droughts, heat waves and storms, and understanding whether and to what extent these are made more likely or intense due to climate change. She leads several projects understanding the impacts of man-made climate change on natural and social systems with a particular focus on Africa and India.
Fredi is the co-lead of World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international effort to analyse and communicate the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events, hosted at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Through rapid attribution studies, which provide timely scientific evidence showing the extent to which climate change influenced a given event, WWA has helped to change the global conversation around climate change, influencing adaptation strategies and paving the way for new sustainability litigation.
In 2019 Fredi was named one of New Scientist's 'Ones to Watch' and in 2020 climate change attribution was named one of MIT Tech Review's top ten breakthrough technologies. In 2020, Fredi became one of just 10 international climate scientists to join the core writing team of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) - the document that will integrate all the IPCC reports in the current assessment cycle.
Fredi's work has been featured extensively in global Media & Free Speech including the FT, Economist, Times of India, the Sun, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, BBC, and CNN.
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Darren Walker
President
Ford Foundation
President, Ford Foundation
Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, a $13 billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation recently became the first nonprofit foundation in US history to issue a $1 billion social bond in the US taxable bond market to increase grant making to stabilize and strengthen nonprofit organizations in the wake of COVID-19. He is a member of Governor Cuomoâs Reimagining New York Commission and co-chair of NYC Census 2020. He also chaired the philanthropy committee that brought a resolution to the city of Detroitâs historic bankruptcy.
Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlemâs largest community development organization.
Darren co-chairs New York Cityâs Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and has served on the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform and the UN International Labour Organization Global Commission on the Future of Work. He co-founded both the US Impact Investing Alliance and the Presidentsâ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy. He serves on many boards, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. In the summer of 2020, he was appointed to the boards of Square and Ralph Lauren. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the recipient of 16 honorary degrees and university awards, including Harvard Universityâs W.E.B. Du Bois Medal.
Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren was a member of the first Head Start class in 1965 and received BA, BS, and JD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been included on numerous leadership lists: Timeâs annual 100 Most Influential People, Rolling Stoneâs 25 People Shaping the Future, Fast Companyâs Most Creative People in Business, Ebony's Power 100, and Out magazineâs Power 50.
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Inventor of World Wide Web and
CTO, Inrupt
Inventor of World Wide Web and CTO, Inrupt
Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 and was named one of Time Magazineâs â100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.â Tim is CTO of Inrupt, the company he co-founded to ensure the success of Solid, the open-source project born from his research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyâs (MIT) Computer Science and AI Lab (CSAIL). Tim is also the Founder and Director of the Web Foundation, whose mission is to ensure the World Wide Web serves Humanity, and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In 2017, Tim won the Turing Award, computingâs highest honor. A professor at Oxford University and MIT, Tim is a long-time defender of Net Neutrality and the open web.
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John Bruce
Co-founder & CEO
Inrupt
Co-founder & CEO, Inrupt
With a background as both a founder and an executive at global tech firms, John is uniquely qualified to help engineer the next phase of the web alongside his co-founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He brings to bear decades of successful business leadership and experience creating new markets around innovative software. Prior to partnering with Tim, he was the co-founder and CEO of Resilient, now an IBM company, that developed a new approach to cybersecurity.
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Najwa Shihab
Journalist & Founder
Narasi
Journalist & Founder, Narasi
Najwa Shihab is the founder of Narasi, a media company that creates and manages multiple brands and contents. She is a seasoned news anchor in the country and has become a household name in Indonesian television landscape.
She anchors Mata Najwa, an influential and award-winning talk-show that takes a smart look at politics and current issues. Najwa has received a number of national and international awards for her works. She tops 2020âs and 2019âs list of Indonesiaâs Most Admired Woman, a global independent survey by YouGov. She was named as The Best News and Current Affairs Presenter in Panasonic Gobel Awards from 2019 to 2015.
Before establishing Narasi in 2017, Najwa builds her career in Metro TV starting in 2000 as a reporter and continued to become Deputy Editor in Chief until 2016.
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Maria Ressa
Founder
Rappler
Founder, Rappler
A journalist in Asia for nearly 35 years, Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rapplerâs executive editor and CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail eight times to stay free. Rapplerâs battle for truth and democracy is the subject of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A Thousand Cuts.
For her courage and work on disinformation and âfake news,â Maria was named Time Magazineâs 2018 Person of the Year, was among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019, and has also been named one of Timeâs Most Influential Women of the Century. She was also part of BBCâs 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 and Prospect magazineâs worldâs top 50 thinkers. Among many awards, she received the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Shorenstein Journalism Award from Stanford University, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Institute, and the Sergei Magnitsky Award for Investigative Journalism.
Before founding Rappler, Maria focused on investigating terrorism in Southeast Asia. She opened and ran CNNâs Manila Bureau for nearly a decade before opening the networkâs Jakarta Bureau, which she ran from 1995 to 2005. She wrote Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of al-Qaedaâs Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism.
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Tim Davie
Director General
BBC
Director General, Tim Davie
Tim Davie became Director-General of the BBC on 1 September 2020. He is the 17th Director-General of the Corporation.
Prior to this, Tim was Chief Executive of BBC Studios, the BBCâs principal commercial subsidiary. Responsible for creating and distributing leading British content globally; Tim led BBC Studios from April 2013. Whilst in the role, he oversaw the merger between the BBCâs production arm and BBC Worldwide, the Corporationâs distribution company, and was responsible for an annual turnover of over ÂŁ1.4bn.
Tim was acting BBC Director-General between November 2012 and April 2013. During his time at the BBC, he has previously held the role of Director of Audio and Music, with overall responsibility for the BBCâs national radio output, its digital services and performing groups, and Director of the Marketing, Communications and Audiences division.
Before joining the BBC, he was Vice President of Marketing and Franchise at PepsiCo Europe. Before this, Tim worked for Procter and Gamble after leaving Cambridge University where he read English.
Tim is a Trustee of the Tate, a Trustee of the Royal Television Society and co-chairman of the Creative Industries Council; he is a former chair of Comic Relief.
Tim was appointed CBE in 2018 for services to International Trade.
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Waad al-Kateab
Filmmaker
Activist & Founder
Action For Sama
Filmmaker, Activist & Founder, Action For Sama
Waad al-Kateab is a Syrian activist and award-winning filmmaker. She became a citizen journalist in 2011, after protests broke out across Syria against the Assad regime, and in January 2016 she began documenting the horrors of Aleppo for Channel 4 News in a series titled, âInside Aleppo.â which received an International Emmy for breaking news coverage.
Waadâs first feature documentary, For Sama, documented her life over five years in
Aleppo. The film, directed with Edward Watts, received worldwide critical acclaim, winning
numerous awards, including the Prix L'Ćil d'or for best documentary at Cannes Film
Festival, Best Documentary at the BAFTAs and a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 2020
Academy Awards. Waad has also received several personal recognitions for her work as an activist
and filmmaker, including the IDA Courage Under Fire Award and a place in the 2020 Time100 List of
Most Influential People.
December 2016, Waad, her husband, and their two daughters now reside in London, United Kingdom.
Waad continues to work with Channel 4 News, is a mentor for the Marie Colvin Journalist Network
and the International Center for Journalists, and dedicates time to her advocacy campaign, Action For Sama
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Michael Friedenberg
President
Reuters
President, Reuters
Michael joined Thomson Reuters as president of Reuters News in December 2018. In this role, he leads all aspects of the companyâs media business and operations.
Michael possesses deep background in advancing digital transformations and driving both business-to-business and business-to-consumer growth in the media industry. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, he served as global CEO of technology, media, and advertising firm International Data Group (IDG) Communications, leading the company across 147 countries. Other positions he held there included CEO of IDG Communications U.S. and CEO and President of IDG Enterprise.
Michael holds a BA in business finance from the University of Delawareâs Lerner College of Business and Economics.
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Steven Gan
Editor-in-chief
Malaysiakini.com
Editor-in-chief, Malaysiakini.com
Steven Gan is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini (Malaysia Now). Since it went live
in 1999, Malaysiakini has become one of the most influential political news websites in the
country.
Malaysiakini received the Free Media Pioneer 2001 award from Vienna-based International Press
Institute, and Gan is recipient of New York-based Committee to Protect Journalistsâ International
Press Freedom Award 2000. The website was ranked 18 on Asiaweekâs Power 50 in 2001, and Gan
was also selected as one of 50 most influential individuals in Business Weekâs âStars of
Asiaâ.
Malaysiakini won the bronze prize (for top media brand) at the Putra Brand Awards twice - in 2010
and 2014 â and the silver in 2015.
In 2015, Malaysiakini won the editorial excellence in investigative reporting award from Hong
Kong-based Society of Publishers in Asia (Sopa) for its four-part investigative report titled âThe
rise of the Johor royal family's business empireâ. Last year, Malaysiakini again won the Sopa
award for best in breaking news for its coverage of the 2018 general election.
Gan was arrested a number of times and was adopted Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience in 1996.
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Sonny Swe
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Frontier Myanmar
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Myanmar
Co-Founder and CEO of Frontier Myanmar, a Yangon-based print and online magazine that covers current affairs and business.
Sonny Swe started out as a printer in 1996, and in 2000 co-founded with an Australian partner The Myanmar Times, the first non-government English-language newspaper in the country. At this time, the military régime imposed strict censorship laws, and in 2005 Sonny Swe was sentenced to 14 years in prison for breaching those laws. Released under a government amnesty in 2013, he briefly rejoined the Myanmar Times but moved on to become CEO of Mizzima Media Group and eventually, in 2015, set up publishing company Black Knight Media Group, which runs Frontier Myanmar. The magazine has experimented with new methods of reaching out to the audience and creating a community by launching memberships program in Febuary, 2020.
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Cherian George
Professor of Media Studies
Hong Kong Baptist University
Professor of Media Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University
Cherian George is professor of media studies at Hong Kong Baptist Universityâs School of Communication, where he also serves as associate dean for research. He researches media freedom, censorship and hate propaganda. His books include Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and its Threat to Democracy (MIT Press, 2016). He received his Ph.D. in Communication from Stanford University. Before joining academia, he was a journalist with The Straits Times in Singapore.
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Nellwyn Thomas
Chief Technology Officer
Democratic National Committee
Chief Technology Officer, Democratic National Committee
Nellwyn Thomas is the Chief Technology Officer of the Democratic National Committee, where she runs the technology, data, and cybersecurity teams for the Democratic Party. Prior to the DNC, Nell ran data science teams at Facebook, Etsy, and the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign. While she is a technologist by trade, she is a data analyst at heart. Nell holds a bachelor's degree from
Harvard and a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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K Shanmugam
Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Law
Singapore
Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Law, Singapore
Mr K Shanmugam was educated at Raffles Institution from 1972 to 1977. He then read law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he graduated with First Class Honours, at the top of his class, in 1984. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar as an Advocate & Solicitor in 1985.
Mr Shanmugam went into private practice and became one of the Senior Partners and Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution at Allen & Gledhill LLP, which was the largest law firm in Singapore. In 1998, he was appointed a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore at the age of 38, one of the youngest lawyers to be so appointed.
Mr Shanmugam had a successful practice and was consistently recognised in international publications, as one of the top litigation, arbitration and insolvency Counsel in Asia and Singapore. While in practice, he regularly handled trial work in major corporate, commercial and insolvency disputes, malpractice suits and inquiries; and has acted for lawyers in disciplinary inquiries as well as in criminal proceedings. Mr Shanmugam has also acted for senior government leaders in Singapore, including the current and previous Prime Ministers of Singapore, as well as for the Chief Justice of Singapore. More than 100 of the cases handled by Mr Shanmugam have been reported in the Law Reports.
Prior to accepting public office, Mr Shanmugam served in various committees and Boards, including the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law; the Raffles Institution Board of Governors; the Media Development Authority, and Sembawang Corporation Industries Ltd (a company listed on the Singapore Exchange). Mr Shanmugam was also President of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) from March 2002 to March 2009.
On 1 May 2008 Mr Shanmugam was appointed a Cabinet Minister. He is now the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Law. He has also served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
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Claire Wardle, PhD
US Director
First Draft
US Director, First Draft
Claire Wardle is considered one of the worldâs leading experts on misinformation. She leads the strategic direction and research for First Draft, a non-profit she co-founded in 2015. In 2009 she left her academic position at Cardiff University to develop an organization wide training program for the BBC on social media, verification and misinformation and has been obsessed with the topic ever since. In 2017 she co-authored the foundational report, Information Disorder: An interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy for the Council of Europe. Over the past decade she has been a Fellow at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School, the Research Director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and head of social media for the United Nations Refugee Agency. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Graham Brookie
Director and Managing Editor, Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)
Atlantic Council
Director and Managing Editor, Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), Atlantic Council
Graham Brookie is the Director and Managing Editor of the Atlantic Councilâs Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in Washington D.C.
The DFRLab is at the forefront of open-source research with a focus on governance, technology, security, social media, and where each intersect. By publishing what it can prove, or disprove, in real-time, the DFRLab is creating a new model of research and education adapted for impact.
Prior to joining the DFRLab, Brookie served in various positions at the White House and National Security Council. His most recent role was as an adviser for strategic communications with a focus on digital strategy, audience engagement, and coordinating a cohesive record of former US President Barack Obamaâs national security and foreign policy. Previously he served as the adviser to the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism (APHSCT), the presidentâs top aide for cybersecurity, counterterrorism, intelligence, and homeland security issues. He also worked in the East Asia, Middle East, and North Africa directorates at the National Security Council.
Brookie graduated cum laude with degrees from American University in Washington, DC. He also completed the London School of Economicsâ general course.
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Richard Edelman
Chief Executive Officer
Edelman
Chief Executive Officer, Edelman
The firm was named to Advertising Ageâs 2019 A-List and was honored as âPR Agency of the Decadeâ by both Advertising Age and The Holmes Report.
Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs and family businesses. He has advised senior executives through significant disruptions within their organizations, including Samsung and United Airlines. He has counseled countries in every regions region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media and NGOs.
In 2020, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Federationâs Advertising Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publicationâs Hall of Fame; in 2014, he was inducted in the Arthur W. Page Societyâs Hall of Fame. Richard is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004.
He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Atlantic Council, Project HOOD, P33, the Gettysburg Foundation, the 9/11 Museum and the National Committee on U.S. China Relations. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World Economic Forum and PR Seminar.
Richard earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976.
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Hamid Ibrahim
Co-Founder & Head of Creative Operations,
Kugali Media
Co-Founder & Head of Creative Operations, Kugali Media
Hamid is a CG Artist with a strong background in character modelling and years of experience in character rigging. He has worked in the highest levels of visual entertainment on Hollywood Blockbusters like The Lion King (2019), Dumbo (2019), The Predator (2018) and Dolittle (2020). Disappointed by the lack of high-quality visual storytelling in Africa, he stopped working at one of the biggest creative studios to co-found Kugali. His mission was to use his talent to deliver African visual storytelling to the world in the highest possible quality.
Kugali is an entertainment company that focuses on telling stories inspired by African Culture through the mediums of comic books, art, animation and Augmented reality. These are stories that respect the history, embrace the present and imagine a future of Africa.
In just over 2 years, Kugali has rapidly grown to become the largest publisher of African comic books, leading augmented reality experience creator (as an official Snapchat lens creator) and the first company in history to collaborate with Disney Animation studios to create an original animation.
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Christiane Amanpour
CNN's Chief International Anchor, Host of Amanpour
CNNi and Amanpour & Co., PBS in the US
CNN's Chief International Anchor, Host of Amanpour, CNNi and Amanpour & Co., PBS in the US
Christiane Amanpour is CNN's chief international anchor and host of the network's award-winning, flagship global affairs program "Amanpour," on CNN International in London and "Amanpour & Co." on PBS in the United States.
Her illustrious career in journalism spans over three decades joining CNN in 1983. Amanpour rose through the organization becoming the network's leading international correspondent reporting on international crisisâ and interviewed most of the top world leaders. She has received every major broadcast award, including fourteen News and Documentary Emmys, four Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, the Courage in Journalism Award, and ten honorary degrees.
She was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame, Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame and The Atlanta Press Clubâs Hall of Fame. She is a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and an honorary citizen of Sarajevo. Amanpour is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
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Preston Golson
Director
Brunswick Group
Director, Brunswick Group
Preston Golson is a Director in Brunswick Groupâs Washington, D.C. office. Preston served in a variety of national security positions, including as a spokesperson and analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and an aide to the first two Directors of National Intelligence. At Brunswick Preston helps lead the firmâs work supporting companies to be more resilient against disinformation. Preston also counseled State Election officials on strategies to counter disinformation as an author and advisor for the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Defending Digital Democracy Projectâs Election Influence Operations Playbook.
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Camille Francois
Chief Innovation Officer
Graphika
Chief Innovation Officer, Graphika
Camille François works on cyber conflict and digital rights online. She is the Chief Innovation Officer at Graphika, where she leads the companyâs work to detect and mitigate disinformation, media manipulation and harassment. François is a Mozilla Fellow, a Berkman-Klein Center affiliate, and a Fulbright scholar.
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Paula Kerger
President & CEO
PBS
President & CEO, PBS
Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nationâs largest non-commercial media organization, with more than 330-member stations throughout the country. Having joined PBS in March 2006, Kerger is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history.
Under Kergerâs leadership, PBS has grown its audiences across genres and platforms. PBS has moved from the 14th most-watched network in America to number seven in the past decade. Over the course of a year, 83% percent of all U.S. television households watch PBS, and each month, Americans view nearly 300 million videos across PBSâs web, mobile and connected device platforms.
Since Kergerâs arrival, PBS has consistently presented high-quality, groundbreaking content that delivers on the founding mission of public television - to educate, inspire and entertain the American people. Among her accomplishments are the pop culture phenomenon âDownton Abbeyâ on MASTERPIECE; Ken Burnsâs and Lynn Novickâs critically acclaimed THE VIETNAM WAR; the documentary âHamiltonâs America,â about the Broadway smash hit musical, on GREAT PERFORMANCES; âFreedom Ridersâ on AMERICAN EXPERIENCE; and award-winning childrenâs programs such as DANIEL TIGERâS NEIGHBORHOOD.
In the past year, PBS and its producing partners have been recognized with several prestigious honors, including seven Peabody Awards, six Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards and nine News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
Kerger has made particularly strong commitments to PBSâs work in childrenâs education. She led the historic launch of the PBS KIDS 24/7 broadcast and streaming channel, ensuring that PBSâs educational programming can reach children anytime and anywhere through local stations. In addition, Kerger oversaw the development of PBS LearningMedia, which empowers teachers across America to engage and inspire their students with high-quality digital content.
Kerger also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, an independent organization that raises private sector funding - a significant source of revenue for new projects at PBS.
Kerger is regularly included in the Hollywood Reporterâs âWomen in Entertainment Power 100,â an annual survey of the nationâs top women executives in media, as well as Washingtonian Magazineâs Most Powerful Women in Washington. She has been honored with the Woman of Achievement Award from Women in Development, New York; the National Education Association Friend of Education Award; the Giants of Broadcasting Award; the Realscreen Hall of Fame Award; and Promax/BDA, B&C and Multichannel News Brand Builder Award. In 2017, she received the Advancing American Democracy Award from the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
Prior to joining PBS, Kerger served for more than a decade at Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the parent company of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York, where her ultimate position was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Her tenure boasts many achievements, including WNETâs completion in 1997 of the largest successful endowment campaign ever undertaken by a public television station.
Kerger received her bachelorâs degree from the University of Baltimore, where she serves on the Merrick School of Business Deanâs Advisory Council. She has received honorary doctorates from Washington University in St. Louis, Grand Valley State University, Allegheny College, Northeastern University and the University of North Carolina Asheville. She is a member of the Womenâs Forum, director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a member of Meredith Corporationâs Board of Directors and chair of the board of the Smithsonian Institutionâs National Museum of Natural History.
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Rod Sims
Chair
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Rod Sims was appointed Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in August 2011 for a five-year term, reappointed for a further three years in August 2016, and now a further three years until July 22.
Rod has extensive business and public sector experience. Immediately prior to his appointment to the ACCC he was, for example, the Chairman of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales, Commissioner on the National Competition Council and was also a Director of Port Jacksonâs Partners Limited where he advised the CEOs and Boards of some of Australiaâs top 50 companies on commercial corporate strategy over many years.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rod worked as the Deputy Secretary in the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible for economic, infrastructure and social policy and the Cabinet Office. He also worked as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Transport and Communications. From 1988 â 90 he was the Economic Adviser to Australiaâs Prime Minister.
Rod Sims holds a first class honours degree in Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Economics from the Australian National University.
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N Chandrasekaran
Chairman
Tata Group
Chairman, Tata Group
Natarajan Chandrasekaran is Chairman of the Board at Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of all Tata Group companies. The Tata Group companies, across 10 business verticals, have aggregate annual revenues over US $110 billion and a market capitalization of over US$ 165 billion.
Chandra joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. He also chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) â of which he was Chief Executive from 2009-17.
In addition to his professional career at Tata, Chandra is a Director on the Board of Indiaâs central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, since 2016. Chandra is on the International Advisory Council of Singaporeâs Economic Development Board. He is the Chairman of Indian Institute of Management Lucknow as well as the President of the Court at Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru. He is also the Co-Chair of India US CEO Forum.
Chandra has been awarded several honorary doctorates by leading Universities in India and internationally. Chandra is also the author of Bridgital Nation, a groundbreaking book on harnessing technological disruptions to bring Indians closer to their dreams.
Chandra is an avid photographer, and a passionate long-distance marathon runner. Born in 1963, Chandra lives in Mumbai, with his wife Lalitha. Their son, Pranav, is at university.
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Shan Weijian
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
PAG
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PAG
Bestselling author of Money Games and Out of the Gobi
Weijian Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a leading Asia-focused private equity firm. Prior to PAG, he was a partner of the private equity firm TPG, and co-managing partner of TPG Asia (formerly known as Newbridge Capital). Over two decades, Weijian Shan has led a number of landmark transactions that have returned billions of dollars in profit to his firms' investors. Previously, Shan was a managing director of JP Morgan, and an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In his youth, he spent several years working as a laborer in the Gobi Desert of China. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco. Shan is the author of "Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank" (2020) and "Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America" (2019). His articles and commentary have been published in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and many other publications.
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Peter Wennink
President & Chief Executive Officer
ASML
President & Chief Executive Officer, ASML
Peter Wennink was appointed President and CEO of ASML on July 1, 2013. He joined the company in 1999 as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and as a member of the Board of Management.
Peter has an extensive background in business and finance. Prior to ASML, he worked as a partner at Deloitte Accountants where he specialized in high technology with an emphasis on the semiconductor equipment industry.
In addition to his position at ASML, Peter is a member of the Netherlands Institute of Registered Accountants. He is Board Member of the Captains of Industry Eindhoven regions region, Board Member of FME (Federatie Voor de Metaal-nl Electrotechnische Industrie), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Technical University Eindhoven, Member of the Exchange Council of Euronext, Council member of Topconsortium voor âKennis en Innovatieâ (High Tech Systems & Materialen) TKI HTS&M, Member of the Circle of Influence of Startup Delta.
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Takeshi Niinami
Chief Executive Officer
Suntory
Chief Executive Officer, Suntory
MBA, Harvard Business School. Chief Executive Officer, Suntory Holdings, one of the world's leading consumer products companies with operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Prior to that, started career at Mitsubishi Corporation before becoming Chief Executive Officer, Lawson. Senior Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a member of Japanâs Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. Vice-Chair of the Board of Councillors, Keidanren (Japan Business Foundation). Member of the Global Board of Advisors, Council on Foreign Relations. Member of the Business Council (US). Member of the International Business Council, World Economic Forum. Founding Partner and Member of the Advisory Board, World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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Bahren Shaari
Chief, Executive Officer
Bank of Singapore
Chief, Executive Officer, Bank of Singapore
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Dr. Fred Hu
Chairman
Primavera Capital Group
Chairman, Primavera Capital Group
Fred is the founder and Chairman of Primavera Capital Group, a private investment firm focused on innovative industries.
As an economist Fredâs research interests include entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and international development. Fred served as the co-director of the National Center for Economic Research and a professor at Tsinghua University, and he is currently an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University. He served at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, and has advised the Chinese government on financial market reforms and economic policies. Fred also served on the Hong Kong SAR Government's Strategic Development Committee and the Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
Fred is the non-executive chairman of Yum China Holdings Inc.,and is a director of several corporate boards including Ant Group, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, ICBC, and UBS Group AG. Fred is also the cochair of the Nature Conservancyâs Asia Pacific Council, a trustee of the China Medical Board, a member of the Council of Foreign Relationsâ Global Advisory Board, a member of Harvard Universityâs Global Advisory Council, and a member of the Advisory Committees of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School, and the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business at Columbia University. Previously Fred was Chairman of Greater China and a Partner at Goldman Sachs, where he was instrumental in building the firm's franchise in the Asia Pacific regions region.
Fred holds a Master in Engineering Science from Tsinghua University, and a Master and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.
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Fola Fagbule
Senior Vice President
Africa Finance Corporation
Senior Vice President, Africa Finance Corporation
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Adar Poonawalla
Chief Executive Officer
Indiaâs Serum Institute
Chief Executive Officer, Indiaâs Serum Institute
Adar Poonawalla (born on 14 January 1981), is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Executive Director of Serum Institute of India. Founded in 1966 by his father Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, it is the worldâs largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced, as of 2017.
Adar Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001, after graduating from the University of Westminster in London. Then exporting its products to 35 countries, Poonawalla concentrated on the companyâs international market and on getting new products licensed and pre-qualified by the World Health Organization, for supply to United Nations Agencies including UNICEF and PAHO. As of 2015, the company now exports its products to over 140 countries worldwide, out of which 85 percent of its revenues are from the overseas.
In 2011, he became the CEO of Serum Institute with complete control of the day-to-day operations of the company. In 2012, he played a major role in the acquisition of Bilthoven Biologicals, a Netherlands-based government vaccine manufacturing company. Poonawalla is also associated as a board member of the GAVI Alliance, which is the global Vaccine Alliance.
He initiated and launched Serum Instituteâs Oral Polio Vaccine in 2014, which addressed a global shortage of Polio vaccines at that time, and every year plans to launch a new vaccine for public health starting 2017. In 2014, it was reported that he also planned to expand the product portfolio to include vaccines for dengue, flu and cervical cancer.
He is the recipient of many business and philanthropy awards from CNBC TV18, CNN TV18, Economic Times, Hurun and many others, to name a few in the recent past.
In 2013, he hosted His Royal Highness, Prince Charles of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, during a private visit to Serum Instituteâs manufacturing facility in India.
He was also listed as one of the 50 most influential young Indians by the GQ Magazine and also was awarded Philanthropist of the year in 2016.
In 2011, he founded the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation, in memory of his late mother Mrs. Villoo Poonawalla, which today comprises of 6 schools, 1 hospital, 25 water plants at different locations, 250 trucks and machinery picking up and processing waste in and around the city of Pune. His vision is to help address the inequality that exists in India, and around the world, in the focused areas of: Healthcare, Education, Water, Sanitation and the Environment.
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Hugh Young
Managing Director
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Managing Director, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Hugh is responsible for leading Aberdeen Standard Investmentsâ business in Asia Pacific. He is a director of a number of group subsidiary companies and group-managed investment trusts and funds.
Hugh was previously a main board director and Head of Investments for Aberdeen Asset Management. He joined Aberdeen Asset Management in 1985 to manage Asian equities from London. He founded Singapore-based Aberdeen Asia in 1992 and built the company into one of the largest and most well-respected managers of such assets globally.
Hugh started his investment management career in 1980. Before joining Aberdeen, he held posts at Fidelity International and MGM Assurance.
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Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
Tech Entrepreneur Co-Founder
Andela
Tech Entrepreneur Co-Founder, Andela
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Jihan Abass
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Lami
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Lami
Jihan is the Founder and CEO of Lami, a B2B2C Insurance-as-a-Service platform and API that aims to break the 3% insurance penetration barrier in Africa. Prior to starting Lami she worked as a sugar trader in the City of London, trading on the New York and London sugar markets. She has an MBA from the University of Oxford and an undergraduate degree in Finance from CASS Business School, London.
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Michael Seibel
Group Partner and Managing Director
Y-Combinator
Group Partner and Managing Director, Y-Combinator
Michael Seibel is a Group Partner and Managing Director, Early Stage at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO Justin.tv and Socialcam. Socialcam sold to Autodesk in 2012 and under the leadership of Emmett Shear, Justin.tv became Twitch.tv and sold to Amazon in 2014. Before getting into startups, he spent a year as the finance director for a US Senate campaign and in 2005, Michael graduated from Yale University with a BA in political science.
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Jared Friedman
Group Partner
Y-Combinator
Group Partner, Y-Combinator
Jared Friedman is a Group Partner at YC. He was cofounder of Scribd, which was funded by Y Combinator in 2006 and grew to be one of the top 100 sites on the web. Jared previously worked at a pioneering AI company and studied computer science at Harvard.
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Joe Kaeser
President & Chief Executive Officer,
Siemens AG
President & Chief Executive Officer, Siemens AG
Joe Kaeser is President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG, a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering. Immediately prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer in August 2013, he served as Siemensâ Chief Financial Officer for seven years.
Mr. Kaeser has over 40 years of experience at Siemens, where he has held a variety of leading management positions in finance and strategy, both within and outside Germany. He began his career at Siemens in 1980 in the field of components and semiconductors, where he also worked in Malaysia and the United States. In 1999 he joined the Corporate Finance department. In 2001 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Information and Communication Mobile Group. From 2004 to 2006, he served as Siemensâ Chief Strategy Officer.
Mr. Kaeser is a member of the supervisory boards of Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz AG and NXP Semiconductors N.V., and Chairman of Siemens Energy AG and Siemens Energy Management GmbH. He is also Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA).
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Dr. Dambisa Moyo
Global Economist, Author and
Co-Principal, Versaca Investments
Global Economist, Author and Co-Principal, Versaca Investments
Dr. Moyo is a pre-eminent thinker, who influences key decision-makers in strategic investment and public policy. She is a top-tier opinion former and trusted advisor on Macroeconomics, Geopolitics and Technology themes. She serves on a number of global corporate boards including: 3M Corporation, Chevron and Conde Nast. She worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs for nearly a decade. She is the author of four New York Times bestselling books, most recently, âEdge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth â and How to Fix It,â(2018).
Dr. Moyo's newest book, "How Boards Work - And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World" is scheduled to be published in Spring of 2021.
Dambisa holds a PhD in economics from Oxford University and a Masterâs degree from Harvard University.
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Juliana Rotich
Venture Partner
Atlantica Ventures
Venture Partner, Atlantica Ventures
Juliana Rotich is a tech entrepreneur and strategic advisor based in Nairobi, Kenya. Juliana is a venture partner at Atlantica Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in African startups. She is Co-founder of Boya, a FinTech company based in Nairobi.
Juliana was previously the Managing Director and Country Cluster Head for BASF East Africa Ltd.
She Co-founded BRCK Inc, a hardware and services technology company formed to realize a vision for enabling communication in low infrastructure environments by developing useful, innovative, hardware-centered technologies in Kenya.
Juliana co-founded Ushahidi Inc., a non-profit tech company, which specializes in developing free and open-source software for changing how information flows in the world.
She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, TED Senior Fellow and serves on the boards of Standard Media Group, Safaricom Money Transfer Service Ltd, Mookh Africa, Blue Consulting, and Kenyaâs Vision 2030.
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Steve Pagliuca
Co-Chairman
Bain Capital
Co-Chairman, Bain Capital
Steve Pagliuca is co-chairman of Bain Capital, a leading global investment firm based in Boston with approximately $105 billion in assets under management. He also serves as the global head of Bain Capital Private Equityâs technology, media, and telecommunications vertical and financial services vertical.
Since joining the firm in 1989, Mr. Pagliuca has played a leading role in a wide spectrum of prominent technology, media, telecommunications, financial services and healthcare businesses in which Bain Capital Private Equity has made investments.
Mr. Pagliuca received the Ron Burton Humanitarian Award in 2019. In 2018 he received the Harvard Business School Association of Boston's 2018 Business and Community Leader of the Year Award in recognition of his contributions to leadership and dedication and commitment to numerous nonprofits in Boston and beyond. He received the American Dream Award from Habitat for Humanity in 2010 for his outstanding contributions to enhancing the Greater Boston Community and in 2005 he received the Bright Star Award for recognition of his community charitable activities.
Mr. Pagliuca is a managing general partner and co-owner of the World Champion Boston Celtics. As a managing partner and chairman of the Basketball Committee, he has focused on the development and improvement of the basketball operations. Mr. Pagliuca is also president of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. The Shamrock Fund helps children gain access to housing, healthcare and other services in partnership with local charities. He is also a Trustee of Bain Capital Children's Charity.
Mr. Pagliuca is a member of the HBS Board of Deanâs Advisors, the Harvard University Board of Overseersâ Committee on University Resources (COUR), and the HBS Healthcare Initiative Advisory Board. He also serves on the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Presidentâs Council and is a member of the Eisenhower Fellowships and Duke University Board of Trustees.
Mr. Pagliuca has been active in the area of public policy and is a former candidate for the U.S. Senate. He is a frequent contributor on television, radio and print media to provide commentary focusing on global economic issues.
Mr. Pagliuca received a B.A. from Duke University in 1977 and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1982.
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Silver Ojakol
Commissioner External Trade
Uganda
Commissioner External Trade, Uganda
Bio coming soon.
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Elizabeth Allen
Head of Asian Fixed Income
HSBC Global Asset Management
Head of Asian Fixed Income, HSBC Global Asset Management
Bio coming soon.
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Calvin McDonald
Chief Executive Officer
Lululemon
Chief Executive Officer, Lululemon
Calvin McDonald is the Chief Executive Officer of lululemon athletica inc., an athletic apparel company, and serves as a member of the companyâs Board of Directors. Mr. McDonald is a growth-oriented leader who has a proven track record helping large organizations scale by integrating how brands engage with customers where they shop â in stores, across digital channels, and from their home. Prior to joining lululemon in August 2018, Mr. McDonald served for five years as president and CEO of Sephora Americaâs, a division of the LVMH group of luxury brands, during a period of double-digit growth. Earlier in his career, Calvin spent two years as President and CEO of Sears Canada and 17 years at Loblaw Companies Limited, the largest retailer in Canada. He earned his MBA from the University of Toronto, and Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Western Ontario. Born and raised in Canada, Mr. McDonald is an endurance athlete who frequently competes in ironman distance triathlons and marathons. He and his wife enjoy spending time with their four children.
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Alan Jope
Chief Executive Officer
Unilever
Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
Alan was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2019. As CEO of Unilever, Alan is responsible for leading one of the worldâs largest and most geographically diverse consumer goods businesses, with presence in 190 countries.
Alan joined Unilever in the UK in 1985. Before being appointed as CEO, he served as President of Unileverâs Beauty & Personal Care Division from 2014. He also worked in leadership roles in North America for 14 years and Asia for 13 years. When leading Unilever's business in China, Alan doubled its size and laid important foundations for future success.
Alan is a Vice Chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Executive Committee, a member of the World Economic Forumâs International Business Council, and on the Board of Directors of the Consumer Goods Forum and FCLT Global (Focusing Capital on the Long Term). He is Chair of the Generation Unlimited Board of Trustees, a Vice Chair of the Unstereotype Alliance and a private sector Steering Committee member of the UNâs Generation Equality campaign.
Alan holds a BA Hons in Commerce from Edinburgh University and graduated from Harvard Business School's General Management Program in 2001. Alan is married and has three adult children.
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Kristin Peck
Chief Executive Officer
Zoetis
Chief Executive Officer, Zoetis
Kristin Peck was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Zoetis in January 2020. In this role, she leads the worldâs leading animal health company, a Fortune 500 organization with approximately $6 billion in annual revenue and 10,000 employees worldwide. Ms. Peck is also a member of the Zoetis Board of Directors.
Prior to becoming CEO, Ms. Peck was executive vice president and group president, U.S. Operations, Business Development and Strategy at Zoetis. Ms. Peck helped usher Zoetis through its Initial Public Offering in 2013 and has been a driving force of change in many roles at the company including Global Manufacturing and Supply, Global Poultry, Global Diagnostics, Corporate Development, and New Product Marketing and Global Market Research. Â
Before joining Zoetis, Ms. Peck served as executive vice president, Worldwide Business Development and Innovation at Pfizer Inc. and as a member of Pfizer's Executive Leadership Team. In this role, she was responsible for the evaluation of strategic alternatives for Pfizer's Animal Health and Nutrition businesses â paving the way for a public animal health company and attractive investment opportunity. Â
Prior to joining Pfizer, Ms. Peck held roles at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as well as in private equity and real estate finance at The Prudential Realty Group, The O'Connor Group and J.P. Morgan. Â
Ms. Peck is a member of the Business Roundtable, and also serves on the Advisory Board for the Deming Center for Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness at Columbia Business School. She previously served as a member of the Thomson Reutersâ Board of Directors. As a recipient of the 2019 Feather in Her Cap Award, Ms. Peck has been recognized for her leadership and contributions to the animal health industry, and her work in mentoring women and helping them advance their careers in animal health.Â
Ms. Peck holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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Sasja Beslik
Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Business Development
J. Safra Sarasin
Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Business Development, J. Safra Sarasin
Sasja Beslik is a Swedish and international financial expert known for promoting financial sustainability across the world. He has been employed by J. Safra Sarasin since 2019. Beslik won the Swedish Banking Profile of the Year award in 2016.
In 2013, he received the H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size with the ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden for outstanding contributions within Swedish environmental and sustainability development within financial sector
He was chosen as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in 2011.
Stars Fund, the Nordea sustainable fund launched by Beslik in 2011, was chosen as Sweden's best overall equity fund in 2017. It was the first sustainable fund to receive the award.
His work for Nordea started in 2009, when he became head of responsible investments and corporate governance. He was named CEO of Nordea Investment Funds Sweden in 2011 and head of responsible investments and identity at Nordea Asset Management in 2013. Finally, at the beginning of 2017, Nordea placed Beslik at the head of a new unit, Sustainable Finance, tasked with implementing the decisions made by the company's corporate responsibility unit.
He is the author of the book "Guld och gröna skogar" (2019).
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Carine Smith Ihenacho
Chief Governance and Compliance Officer
Norges Bank Investment Management (Norwegian SWF)
Chief Governance and Compliance Officer, Norges Bank Investment Management (Norwegian SWF)
Carine Smith Ihenacho is responsible for the governance and compliance area, which includes ownership and responsible investment activities, control and operational risk, compliance and legal services.
Carine Smith Ihenacho was appointed Chief Governance and Compliance Officer 6 October 2020. She joined Norges Bank Investment Management in August 2017 as Global Head of Ownership Strategies and was promoted to Chief Corporate Governance Officer on 1 January 2018.
Prior to joining Norges Bank Investment Management, Ms Ihenacho was Vice President Legal and Chief Compliance Officer in Statoil ASA. She has more than 20 yearsâ experience as a lawyer, working in both financials and the oil and gas industry, as well as in law firms. She also has extensive board experience.
Ihenacho holds a law degree from the University of Oslo, a Master of Law from Harvard Law School and a Master of Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).
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Kirill Dmitriev
CEO
Russian Direct Investment Fund
CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund
Kirill Dmitriev heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund - one of the world's leading sovereign funds with a reserved capital of $10 billion under management. RDIF was established in 2011 on the initiative of the President and the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. In all transactions, RDIF acts as a co-investor alongside major international investors, playing the role of a catalyst in attracting direct investment into Russia. RDIF has successfully invested with foreign partners in more than 80 projects totaling more than 1.7 trillion rubles and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 15 countries totaling more than $40 billion.
Prior to becoming CEO of RDIF in 2011, Kirill Dmitriev headed a number of large private equity funds and completed a series of landmark transactions for Russia, including the sale of Delta Bank to General Electric, Delta Credit Bank to Société Générale, CTC Media to Fidelity Investments, among others. Mr. Dmitriev began his career at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company.
He was appointed by the President of Russia as a member of the BRICS and APEC Business Councils. He serves as a member of the supervisory board of ALROSA, and of the boards of directors of Transneft, Rostelecom, Gazprombank, MDMG, Russian Railways and Rosseti. Mr. Dmitriev is also on the boards of trustees of the Mariinsky Theatre, Lomonosov Moscow State University and National History Fund. He is Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
In 2011 he was the only Russian representative on the list of â100 most influential private equity professionals of the decadeâ (Private Equity International); in 2009 he was selected by the World Economic Forum as a âYoung Global Leaderâ. He holds a BA in Economics with Honors and Distinction from Stanford University and an MBA with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from the Harvard Business School.
By the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Dmitriev was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Order of Honour for his valuable contribution to international investment projects and the socio-economic development of Russia.
By the decree of the President of France, Mr. Dmitriev was awarded the title of Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor for his paramount contribution to strengthening cooperation between Russia and France.
By the order of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Kirill Dmitriev received the highest award of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulaziz Second-Class Order of Merit, in recognition of his contribution to strengthening cooperation between the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia.
By the decree of the President of Italy, Kirill Dmitriev was awarded the title of the Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy for his special achievements in the development of friendly relations and cooperation between Italy and Russia.
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Carmen Reinhart
Vice President and Chief Economist
World Bank Group
Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank Group
Carmen M. Reinhart is the Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. Assuming this role on June 15, 2020, Reinhart provides thought leadership for the institution at an unprecedented time of crisis. She also manages the Bankâs Development Economics Department.
Reinhartâs areas of expertise are in international finance, and macroeconomics. Her work has helped to inform the understanding of financial crises in both advanced economies and emerging markets. She has published extensively on capital flows, exchange rate policy, banking and sovereign debt crises, and contagion.
She comes to this position on public service leave from Harvard Kennedy School where she is the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System. Previously, she was the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for International Economics at the University of Maryland.
During her career, Reinhart has worked in numerous roles to address policy challenges including most recently, the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact. She serves in the Advisory Panels of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, she was the Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund and held positions as Chief Economist and Vice President at the investment bank Bear Stearns.
Ranked among the top Economists worldwide based on publications and scholarly citations, Reinhart has been listed among Bloomberg Markets Most Influential 50 in Finance, Foreign Policyâs Top 100 Global Thinkers, and Thomson Reuters' The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds. In 2018 she was awarded the King Juan Carlos Prize in Economics and NABEâs Adam Smith Award, among others. Her book (with Kenneth S. Rogoff) entitled This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly has been translated to over 20 languages and won the Paul A. Samuelson Award. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
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Sundar Pichai
Chief Executive Officer
Google and Alphabet
Chief Executive Officer, Google and Alphabet
Sundar is the CEO of Google and Alphabet and serves on Alphabetâs Board of Directors.
He joined Google in 2004 and helped lead the development of Google Toolbar and then Google Chrome, which grew to become the worldâs most popular internet browser. In 2014 he was appointed to lead product and engineering for all of Googleâs products and platforms - including popular products such as Search, Maps, Play, Android, Chrome, Gmail and Google Apps (now GSuite). Sundar became Googleâs CEO in August 2015. He joined the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Google's parent company, in July 2017.
Under his leadership as CEO, Google has been focused on developing products and services, powered by the latest advances in AI, that offer help in moments big and small. It has invested in new opportunities such as Google Cloud and YouTube and has continued to be a leader in advanced technologies, including machine learning and quantum computing.
In December 2019, in addition to his role as CEO of Google, Sundar became the CEO of Googleâs parent company, Alphabet.
Sundar grew up in Chennai, India and studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology where he was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He holds a master's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
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Jitse Groen
Chief Executive Officer
JustEat
Chief Executive Officer, JustEat
Jitse studied Business & IT at the University of Twente. He started his career during his studies when he launched a business in web development. In 2000, Jitse founded and launched Takeaway.com (at that time still named Thuisbezorgd.nl). Jitse is also a member of the advisory board of Suitsupply B.V. In addition, Jitse was a member of the supervisory board of Funda B.V. until May 2018 and a member of the advisory board of Hotel Booker B.V. until 2017.
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Alan Joyce
Chief Executive Officer
Qantas
Chief Executive Officer, Qantas
Alan Joyce was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Qantas in November 2008.
He is a Member of the Safety, Health, Environment and Security Committee.
Mr Joyce is a Director of the Business Council of Australia, a Member of the International Air Transport Associationâs Board of Governors, having served as Chairman from 2012 to 2013 and a Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. He is also a Director of a number of controlled entities of the Qantas Group.
Mr Joyce was the Chief Executive Officer of Jetstar from 2003 to 2008. Before that, he spent over 15 years in leadership positions with Qantas, Ansett and Aer Lingus.
At both Qantas and Ansett, he led the network planning, schedules planning and network strategy functions. Mr Joyce spent eight years at Aer Lingus, where he held roles in sales, marketing, IT, network planning, operations research, revenue management and fleet planning.
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Rajesh Magow
Founder & Group CEO
MakeMyTrip Limited
Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited
Rajesh Magow is the Co-Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited that runs and operates Indiaâs leading travel brands MakeMyTrip, goibibo and redBus. A part of the founding team that built MakeMyTrip ground up, Rajesh is a believer of Indiaâs digital opportunity and a backer of many young Indian tech companies that are raring to make their mark.
An internet industry veteran with a demonstrated history of working at the intersection of Indiaâs booming consumer technology and tourism sector, Rajesh is passionate about transforming business using tech and creating disproportionate value for customers.
He has steered the company to cement MakeMyTripâs market leadership position in Indian online travel space by supporting business units cross-leverage critical company investments. Rajesh played a key role in executing a successful merger between MakeMyTrip and Naspers-owned Ibibio group which is considered as one of the biggest consolidations in the Indian consumer internet space.
Previously, Rajesh led the successful transition of MakeMyTrip into a public listed company and drove its successful listing on the NASDAQ in the US in 2010.
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Sandeep Mathrani
Chief Executive Officer
WeWork
Chief Executive Officer, WeWork
Sandeep Mathrani is the Chief Executive Officer of WeWork, where he also serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to WeWork, Sandeep most recently served as CEO of Brookfield Properties Retail Group and as Vice Chairman, Brookfield Properties. Prior to that, he served as CEO of GGP Inc. for eight years, during which the company was recapitalized in November 2010, experienced eight years of growth, and in August 2018 was sold to Brookfield Property Partners. Prior to joining GGP in 2010, Sandeep was President of Retail for Vornado Realty Trust, where he oversaw the firmâs U.S. retail real estate division and operations in India comprised principally of office properties. Before that, he spent nearly a decade as Executive Vice President at Forest City Ratner, where he was tasked with starting and growing a new platform of retail properties across the five boroughs of New York City. Sandeep holds a Master of Engineering, Master of Management Science and Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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Sebastian Thrun
Founder, President & Executive Chairman
Udacity
Founder, President & Executive Chairman, Udacity
Sebastian Thrun is a scientist, educator, inventor, and entrepreneur. As the
Founder, President, and Executive Chairman of Udacity, Sebastianâs mission is to democratize
education by providing lifelong learning to millions of students worldwide. He is also the founder
of Google X, where he led projects including the Self-Driving Car, Google Glass, and
more.
Previously, he led the Stanford Racing Team whose robot âStanleyâ won the DARPA Grand
Challenge. Sebastian has been named the 5th Most Creative Person in Business (Fast Company), among
the 50 Smartest People in Tech (Fortune), and highlighted in 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (Time). He
is the first recipient of the inaugural Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Education, and is
also featured in the recent film Lo & Behold: Reveries of the Connected World by award-winning
writer and director Werner Herzog.
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Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Paytm
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Paytm
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu
Director General
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and was until January 2018, the Acting Director of the regions regional Centre for Disease Control for West Africa. Dr Ihekweazu trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has over 20 yearsâ experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several National Public Health Institutes, including the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the UK's Health Protection Agency, and Germanyâs Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Dr Ihekweazu has led several short- term engagements for WHO, mainly in response
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Dwayne Matthews
Education Strategist & Founder
TomorrowNow Learning Labs
Education Strategist & Founder, TomorrowNow Learning Labs
Dwayne Matthews is an innovation evangelist and âfuture of educationâ consultant. He converges and shares knowledge on the future of education, disruptive technology, and the evolution of work.
Dwayne is the founder of TomorrowNow Learning Labs, which offers a future focused approach to personalized learning and assessment.
Matthews is also an advisory board member for XPRIZE Connect, Future of Learning Lab, a new
learning initiative that focuses on the democratization of access to learning through technology
that empowers the next generation of innovators
Dwayne is the former president of NeuroEdX, a company that uses neurotechnology to prepare students for the exponential growth of the 4th industrial revolution.
Matthews also served as the Senior Education Lead for the Faubert Applied Research Centre. The Faubert Applied Research brings together researchers and experts in cognitive human performance from industry, government, and academia to bridge the gap between research and unmet real life applications. Matthews recently addressed the UN on issues and opportunities around digital literacy, cognitive abilities and the 54 countries of Africa.
In addition Matthews was the Canadian Executive Director of an intelligence firm and focused on finding disruptive and future looking technologies for the Fortune 500. Some of his clients included senior and executive leaders from Barrick Gold, Suncor, P&G, GSK, Magna and DuPont.
Before that Matthews was an international educator at one of the top 5 private schools in South America and the junior chairperson at a TDSB school in Toronto, Canada. He was also a member of the core strategic planning team at The FDR International School, in Lima, Peru.
Dwayne can be seen on national Canadian television on CTVâs Your Morning and The Marlyn Denis show. Over the last 24 months Matthews has had over 1.6 million views on his collective social media posts focused on the relationship between the future of work and education.
Dwayne works to review future trends in education that are driven by technological advancement. Dwayneâs career path over almost two decades has afforded him an incredibly unique perspective on future technologies and its fundamental impact on education and work.
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Salman Khan
Founder and CEO
Khan Academy
Founder and CEO, Khan Academy
Sal Khan is the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, a nonprofit educational organization that offers free lessons in math, science and humanities in multiple languages, as well as tools for parents, teachers and districts to track student progress.
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Dominic Price
Work Futurist
Atlassian
Work Futurist, Atlassian
Born to Joy in the harsh Manchester Winter of 77, Dominic has a career that has reached far and wide through Europe, US and Asia PAC.
Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, the home of the most intelligent t-shirt wearers in business. As our resident Work Futurist. Dom is our in house âTeam Doctorâ helping Atlassian scale by being ruthlessly efficient and effective, and spends over half his time helping our customers navigate transformation, agility, and the future of work.
Dom helped pioneer our Team Playbook and has a deep passion for understanding of teamwork and the changes we need to make today to build thriving businesses.
He has previously been the GM Program Management for a global gaming company and a Director of Deloitte.
A keen traveller, Dom has traversed over 50 countries so far, but after 17 years on these shores, he calls Australia home.
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Mo Abudu
Chief Executive Officer
Ebonylife Media & Ebonylife Place
Chief Executive Officer, Ebonylife Media & Ebonylife Place
Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Media has made her mark through various endeavors in the corporate
world; she has been described by Forbes as "Africa's Most Successful Woman". Abudu oversees all
five divisions of EbonyLife Media which include EbonyLife TV, EbonyLife Films, EbonyLife Studios,
EbonyLife ON and EbonyLife Productions Limited (UK) and EbonyLife Place, Nigeriaâs first luxury
entertainment resort.
One of the most prolific producers in Africa, Abudu launched Nigerian broadcaster and producer
EbonyLife TV in 2013, producing over 1000 hours of original programming each year. The channel
broadcasts in Africa on the DStv and StarTimes networks, and across the Caribbean on the Flow
network.
Abudu took the plunge into filmmaking, with the creation of EbonyLife Films. Her first film as
executive producer was âFiftyâ, Nigeriaâs highest-grossing drama and the top film of 2015. Teaming
up with The ELFIKE Collective in 2016, she produced The Wedding Party and its sequel, âThe
Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubaiâ (2017), which became the highest-grossing franchise of all
time
in the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood). The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2018), a romantic comedy, has
been viewed by more than 100,000 people on Amazon Prime Video. Chief Daddy (2018) was
the âOfficial Number 1 Nollywood film of 2018â and third-highest-grossing Nollywood movie of all
time.
In March 2018 Sony Pictures Television (SPT) announced a three-project deal with EbonyLifeTV, the
first of its kind between SPT and a Nigerian television company, which will include co-production
of a
TV series inspired by the Dahomey Warriors.
Abudu is highly sought after for her knowledge of the African and global creative industry. She
has
spoken at the Wharton School of Business, Cambridge University Judge School of Business and
Harvard
University, and has received many international recognitions. Forbes has described Abudu as
âAfrica's
Most Successful Woman,â while CNN announced her as âAfricaâs Queen of Media who conquered the
continent.â Abudu was listed in Hollywood Reporter's 25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television
in 2013 and 2017.
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Ma Baoli
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
BlueCity
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, BlueCity
Mr. Ma Baoli, the founder, chairman and CEO of BlueCity (NASDAQ: BLCT) is a world-leading online LGBTQ platform that provides a full suite of services to foster connections and enhance the wellbeing of the LGBTQ community.
In 2000, Baoli, then a closeted policeman by the alias âGeng Leâ, founded one of Chinaâs first and most influential LGBTQ online forums, Danlan.org., the predecessor of BlueCity.
After resigning as a policeman in 2011, he was determined to fully devote himself to social awareness activities for the LGBTQ community. BlueCity was officially founded in the same year with the launch of our mobile app Blued the year after, in 2012.
On July 8, 2020, BlueCity debuted on Nasdaq, becoming the worldâs LGBTQ-focused company to be listed in the era of mobile internet.
Ma has been selected as one of theâTop Global Thinkersâby the U.S. magazine Foreign Policy in 2017. He was also named among Business Insider's 100 People Transforming Business in Asia in 2020.
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Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer
Facebook
Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
Sheryl Sandberg is chief operating officer at Facebook, overseeing the firmâs business operations. Prior to Facebook, Sheryl was vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, chief of staff for the United States Treasury Department under President Clinton, a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and an economist with the World Bank.
Sheryl received a BA summa cum laude from Harvard University and an MBA with highest distinction from Harvard Business School.
Sheryl is the co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy with Wharton professor and bestselling author Adam Grant. She is also the author of the bestsellers Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and Lean In for Graduates. She is the founder of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to build a more equal and resilient world through two key initiatives, LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org. Sheryl serves on the boards of Facebook, Women for Women International, ONE, and SurveyMonkey.
Sheryl lives in Menlo Park, California, with her son and daughter.
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Dev Stahlkopf
Corporate Vice President and General Counsel, Legal Affairs
Microsoft
Corporate Vice President and General Counsel, Legal Affairs, Microsoft
Microsoft Responsibilities/Contributions â Stahlkopf leads the companyâs Legal Affairs group, consisting of more than 500 professionals supporting the companyâs legal function. Prior to becoming General Counsel, Stahlkopf was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for the HR Legal Group within the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs organization. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the companyâs immigration, employment law, EEO investigations and employment compliance teams.
Stahlkopf joined Microsoft in 2007, and before becoming Deputy General Counsel for HR Legal, she was Associate General Counsel responsible for U.S. and global employment law teams.
Pre-Microsoft Work Experience - Prior to joining Microsoft, she practiced law at Perkins Coie in Seattle, specializing in labor and employment law. Prior to her time at Perkins Coie, she practiced law at Cooley Godward in the Seattle area.
Education â Stahlkopf received her undergraduate degrees in English and Philosophy from University of Washington. She received her MA in Philosophy from Duke University. She earned her JD from the University of Arizona, where she met her husband, Bill (also a lawyer), and where she was the Managing Editor of the Arizona Law Review.
Affiliations â She currently sits on the Board of Directors for BSA, a software industry group promotes legal software use and advocates for public policies that foster technology innovation and drive growth in the digital economy. She previously sat on the Board for the Center for Workplace Compliance, an employer association focused on workplace compliance.
Other Interests â Stahlkopf lives in the Seattle area with her husband, two sons and dog. Â When not at work, she can be found on the water, as she is an avid stand-up paddleboarder.
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John Rice
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Management Leadership for Tomorrow
John Rice is the Founder and CEO of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a national non-profit organization that is transforming the leadership pipelines of our most influential organizations by driving breakthrough results for individuals and institutions. MLT prepares men and women of color for high-trajectory, post-college jobs that deliver economic mobility for their families. Through MLT, our Rising Leaders tap into the social capital they need to become senior leaders who can transform our vulnerable communities. MLT also provides a comprehensive solution for corporate and social sector organizations that combines best-in-class recruitment, retention and diversity strategy offerings.
Serving 8,000+ students and professionals nationwide, MLT is a leading source of minority talent at its blue-chip partner companies, including Citi, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Google, PepsiCo and Target, as well as at the nationâs top MBA programs. John has been featured on CNN, the cover of Fortune, and was named one of Forbes Top 30 social entrepreneurs in the world.
Prior to MLT, John was an executive with the National Basketball Association, where he served as managing director of NBA Japan, and as director of marketing for Latin America. Before joining the NBA, John spent four years with the Walt Disney Company in new business development and marketing.
John serves on the Board of Trustees of Yale University, and he is a Director of Walker & Dunlop, a NYSE-traded real estate finance company. He was appointed to President Obamaâs Advisory Commissions on Educational Excellence for African Americans and on Historically Black Colleges. He is an advisor to Northeastern Universityâs Center for Inclusive Computing. John also serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and venture philanthropy fund New Profit.
John received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA with honors from Yale, where he was a three-year starter on the basketball team. He resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife Andrea and their two children, Mateo and Kiki.
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Justice Goodwin Liu
Associate Justice
California Supreme Court
Associate Justice, California Supreme Court
Justice Goodwin Liu is an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Nominated by Governor Jerry Brown, Justice Liu was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and sworn into office on September 1, 2011. He was retained by the electorate in 2014. Before joining the stateâs highest court, Justice Liu was Professor of Law and Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. His primary areas of expertise are constitutional law, education law and policy, and diversity in the legal profession.
The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Justice Liu grew up in Sacramento, where he attended public schools. He went to Stanford University and earned a bachelorâs degree in biology in 1991. He attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a masters degree in philosophy and physiology. Upon returning to the United States, he went to Washington D.C. to help launch the AmeriCorps national service program and worked for two years as a senior program officer at the Corporation for National Service.
Justice Liu graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, becoming the first in his family to earn a law degree. He clerked for Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then worked as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He went on to clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the October 2000 Term. From 2001 to 2003, he worked in the litigation practice of OâMelveny & Myers in Washington, D.C.
Justice Liu continues to teach constitutional law as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and Stanford Law School. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. He serves on the Council of the American Law Institute, on the Board of Directors of the James Irvine Foundation, and on the Yale University Council. He has previously served on the California Commission on Access to Justice, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology, and Law, the Board of Trustees of Stanford University, and the governing boards of the American Constitution Society, the National Womenâs Law Center, and the Public Welfare Foundation.
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Gloria Guevara
President & CEO
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
President & CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
Gloria joined WTTC in August 2017, following a varied career in Travel & Tourism. Recognised as one of the most influential women in Mexico by CNN and Expansion, Gloria began her professional career in 1989 at NCR Corporation working in the Latin America, Middle East, and Africa regions. Since 1995 she has worked for the travel industry, starting at the Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Holdings, she was later CEO of JV Sabre Mexico reporting to a board of directors from Aeromexico, Mexicana, and Sabre. In March 2010 President Calderon appointed her as Minister of Tourism and two weeks after she was given in addition the full responsibility of the Mexican Tourism board. Under her leadership the âNational Agreement for Tourismâ in Mexico was created and signed on 28 February 2011. Gloria received the Good Neighbour Award from the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and Virtuoso awarded Mexico the best tourism board in the world due to her successful branding and repositioning efforts. In addition, Gloria has been Special Advisor on Government Affairs to Harvard University, and part of the Future for Travel, Tourism and Aviation Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
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Tony Fernandes
Chief Executive Officer
AirAsia
Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia
One of Asiaâs most recognisable entrepreneurs, Tony Fernandes is best known for co-founding low-cost carrier AirAsia with Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and democratising air travel in the region.
Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin famously bought the ailing airline for a token MYR1 (approximately USD0.25) and MYR40 million in debt, turning it around within two years and growing it from a Malaysian domestic carrier into Asiaâs largest low-cost carrier by passengers carried.
Fernandes studied in the UK, and qualified as an Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 1991 and Fellow Member in 1996. An accountant by training, Fernandes began his career in Richard Bransonâs Virgin Group before returning to Malaysia as Warner Music Groupâs Vice President for Southeast Asia before venturing into the airline business.
Fernandes has received numerous honours and awards over the course of his career. These include the Honour of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, conferred by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2011, and the Commander of the Legion dâHonneur, awarded by the French government for his outstanding contributions towards the economy of France through the aviation industry.
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Louise Richardson
Vice-Chancellor
University of Oxford
Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford
Professor Louise Richardson became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford on 1 January 2016, having previously served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, Scotland, for seven years.
A political scientist by training, Professor Richardson received a BA in History from Trinity College Dublin in her native Ireland. She then studied in the USA, graduating with an MA in Political Science from UCLA, and subsequently an MA and PhD in Government from Harvard University.
Professor Richardsonâs research specialises in international security with a particular emphasis on terrorist movements. She has written widely on international terrorism, British foreign and defence policy, security institutions, and international relations. Her publications include Democracy and Counterterrorism: Lessons from the Past (2007), What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat (2006), The Roots of Terrorism (2006), and When Allies Differ (1996).
Professor Richardsonâs commitment to teaching won her both the Levenson Prize and the Abramson Prize during her time at Harvard University where she was Assistant and Associate Professor in the Harvard Government Department from 1989 to 2001, serving as Head Tutor for several of those years. As Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard 2001-8, she was instrumental in its transformation into an interdisciplinary centre promoting scholarship across academic fields and the creative arts. In 2016 she was awarded the Emily Dickson Award from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and in 2019 The Freedom of the City and County of Waterford.
Professor Richardson has lectured on the subject of terrorism and counter-terrorism to public, professional, media and education groups across the world, and served on the editorial boards of a number of journals and presses. Her work has been widely recognised through the awarding of prizes such as the Sumner Prize for work towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace and with Harvardâs Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal. She also holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews in Scotland; Trinity College Dublin and Queenâs University Belfast in Ireland; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Russia; the University of the West Indies; and Notre Dame University in the United States. She is Senior Fellow, Center for European Studies, Harvard and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Waterford Institute of Technology and Kellogg College, Oxford.
The Vice-Chancellor currently serves as a trustee on a number of non-profit groups, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Booker Prize Foundation, the Central European University and The Sutton Trust. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom, an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao
President & CEO
VietJet
President & CEO, VietJet
Bio coming soon.
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Lanaya Irvin
President
Coqual
President, Coqual
Lanaya Irvin is a global business executive and president of Coqual (formerly Center for Talent Innovation), a 16-year-old think tank that conducts research on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion and advises the worldâs largest corporations. Irvin spent more than a decade at BofA Securities where she led strategic initiatives in global equities, managed client relationships, and led multinational teams. Irvin is a founding executive member of OPEN Finance, a consortium of LGBTQ leaders advancing inclusion across Wall Street. In 2015, she mobilized over 30 ïŹnancial services ïŹrms to sign onto a US Supreme Court amicus brief in support of federal marriage equality. Since 2013, she has co-chaired the Human Rights Campaignâs Business Advisory Council. Irvin also sits on the board of Outright Action International, an LGBTQ advocacy organization with permanent presence at the UN. In 2020, she was named to the Yahoo Finance HERoes Women Role Model Executives list. Her thought leadership has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Newsweek, Bloomberg, Forbes, NPR Marketplace, and the BBC.
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Dr. Anders Tegnell
State Epidemiologist
Sweden
State Epidemiologist, Sweden
Bio coming soon.
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John Pearson
Chief Executive Officer
DHL Express
Chief Executive Officer, DHL Express
John Pearson has been appointed as CEO for DHL Express and as such was appointed to the Board of Management of Deutsche Post AG on January 1, 2019, responsible for the EXPRESS division.
Before starting his current role, John held the position of CEO DHL Express Europe, Head of Global Marketing Express, as well as Head of Global Customer Service Express. In this capacity, he was a member of the DHL Express Global Management Board and the Global Commercial Board of Deutsche Post DHL Group, representing Express.
John is a veteran of the express industry, having joined DHL in the Middle East in 1986. In 2009, he was appointed CEO DHL Express APEM (Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa) after contributing to the region from 2008 as CEO EEMEA. Prior to this, John spent three years serving as Commercial Director for DHL Express Asia Pacific, based in Singapore, a posting which followed a successful tenure as Executive Vice President Commercial at DHL Express USA.
He has held senior positions in sales, marketing and general management in various regions, including General Manager for DHL Express Saudi Arabia and Global Sales Manager for Financial Institutions at DHL's global headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. He was Area Director of DHL Express Oceania, responsible for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands; and General Manager DHL Express United Arab Emirates, based in Dubai.
John Pearson is a British citizen born in 1963.
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Brian Niccol
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Chipotle
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Chipotle
Brian Niccol is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), which has over 2,700 company-owned restaurants and employs more than 94,000 people. He assumed the role of Chairman in March 2020, and under his leadership as Chief Executive Officer, a role heâs held since March 2018, Chipotle has seen accelerated comparable sales growth. Driving the brandâs purpose to Cultivate a Better World, Mr. Niccol has focused Chipotleâs growth strategy on increasing visibility, expanding access, fostering innovation and encouraging engagement with employees and consumers.
A leader and innovator in the food industry, Chipotle has received global recognition and honors during Mr. Niccolâs tenure including Newsweek magazineâs Americaâs Most Responsible Companies (2020), Fortune magazine Worldâs Most Admired Companies (2020), Forbes magazine Best Employers for Diversity (2019-2020), one of Comparablyâs Best Companies for Culture, Diversity and for Women (2019).
Mr. Niccol has been placed on notable lists including Reuters Responsible Business Awards - Leader of the Year (2020), Barronâs âWorldâs Best CEOsâ (2020), Fortuneâs âBusinessperson of the Yearâ (2019), Bloombergâs âPeople who Defined 2019â (The Bloomberg 50), Comparablyâs Best CEOs for Women (2020), Comparablyâs Best CEOs for Diversity (2020), Comparablyâs Best CEOs (2019), Orange County Business Journalâs âBusiness People of the Yearâ (2020), as well as named âLeader of the Yearâ by Restaurant Business magazine (2020) and a âDistinguished Alumniâ by University of Chicagoâs Booth School of Business (2020).
Prior to his current role, Mr. Niccol served as Chief Executive Officer of Taco Bell, a division of Yum! Brands. During his tenure at Taco Bell, Mr. Niccol was Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer and President. Mr. Niccol also held several executive positions at Pizza Hut, another division of Yum! Brands, including General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer. Before joining Yum! Brands, Mr. Niccol spent 10 years at Procter & Gamble, serving in various brand management positions.
Mr. Niccol currently serves on the board of Harley-Davidson in addition to the board of directors of The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, Chipotleâs nonprofit organization. Mr. Niccol holds an undergraduate degree from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
Founder & Publisher
Cassava Republic Press
Founder & Publisher, Cassava Republic Press
Bibi is co-founder and publishing director of one of Africaâs leading publishing houses, Cassava Republic Press www.cassavarepublic.biz. She has worked as a gender and research consultant in the public, private and development sectors for the BBC, UniFem, ActionAid, eShekels, Central Bank of Nigeria, the European Union and others. She has a Ph.D in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Warwick. She has published many academic papers and regularly presents papers at academic conferences. She sits on the editorial board of a number of influential journals. Bibi is also a Yale World Fellow, a Desmond Tutu Fellow and a Frankfurt Book Fair Fellow. The Chair of The Initiative for Equal Rights, the largest organisation in West Africa devoted to LGBT advocacy.
Bibi is co-founder and publishing director of Cassava Republic Press. She has worked as a research and gender consultant as well as in academia. She sits on the editorial board of a number of influential journals. Bibi is also a Yale World Fellow, a Desmond Tutu Fellow and a Frankfurt Book Fair Fellow. The Chair of The Initiative for Equal Rights, the largest organisation in West Africa devoted to LGBT advocacy.
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Brian Chesky
Chief Executive Officer
AirBnB
Chief Executive Officer, AirBnB
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Airbnb and sets the vision and strategy for the company. In 2007, Brian and Joe Gebbia became Airbnbâs first hosts. Since then, Brian has overseen Airbnbâs growth to become a community of over four million hosts who have welcomed more than 800 million guests across 220+ countries and regions.
A graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, Brian has embedded his creative roots in Airbnbâs culture, product and community. This design-driven approach has enabled a system of trust that allows strangers to live together, and created a unique business model that facilitates connection and belonging.
Brian is a signatory to the Giving Pledge and has committed to donating the net proceeds of his CEO equity compensation to community, philanthropic and charitable causes. Originally from Niskayuna, New York, Brian is an Airbnb Experience host in San Francisco.
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Laura Storm
Founder
Regenerators
Founder, Regenerators
Laura is the Founder of Regenerators and has spent her entire career working in the intersection of sustainability, organizational development, climate change policy and the intelligence of nature. She has started and led multiple international organizations focused on the global transformation to sustainability - including Copenhagen Climate Council and Sustainia. She has been awarded the title "Worldchanger" by Greenbiz, named one of the 30 leading women within sustainability and regeneration by Sustainable Brands, is selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a World Economic Forum Sustainability Expert and serves on many Boards. She runs regenerative transformation processes for individuals and organisations and is the co-author of the much-praised book Regenerative Leadership - the DNA of life-affirming 21st century organisations.
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Chris Hyams
Chief Executive Officer
Indeed
Chief Executive Officer, Indeed
Chris Hyams is President of Indeed. As President, Chris is responsible for innovation and product growth, as well as managing the Product, Engineering, Search Quality, Corporate Development and Client Success teams.
Previously, Chris served as Senior Vice President of Product at Indeed and was responsible for Indeedâs product offerings and operations. During his tenure, Chris helped build and grow a global team of product and technology experts. Prior to Indeed, Chris was founder of B-Side, a film market research, marketing and distribution company. He was also Vice President of Engineering at Trilogy Software. Chris holds a Masters in Computer Science from Rice University, and an A.B. in Architecture from Princeton University.
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Alicia Tillman
Global Chief Marketing Officer
SAP
Global Chief Marketing Officer, SAP
Alicia Tillman has served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer at SAPÂ since 2017. She is responsible for building and accelerating the companyâs worldwide marketing strategy, including building its demand generation strategy and elevating its brand recognition. As CMO, Alicia has spearheaded a number of initiatives and campaigns designed to tell the deeply human story of SAP. As the COVID-19 pandemic upended businesses across the globe, Alicia led the effort to curate innovations and thought leadership to support customers in the most impactful ways.
These efforts, among others under Aliciaâs stewardship, have resulted in SAPâs ranking as the 17th most valuable brand by Brand Z, and continued growth of SAPâs brand value by over $18.5B since 2017. Alicia is currently named the 11th most influential CMO by Forbes and serves on the Global Board of Directors for the Ad Council and the MMA.Â
Prior to her role as global CMO, Alicia was the Chief Marketing Officer of SAP Ariba, the worldâs largest business to business commerce network. She was accountable for the development of the marketing strategy across the globe and rebuilt the companyâs 18-year-old brand within her first seven months in the role. During her tenure, the business achieved double-digit revenue growth for eight consecutive quarters. She also spent 11 years at American Express, serving as the head of Marketing and Business Services after leading Public Affairs, Corporate Communications and Media Relations for the Global Business Travel division.
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Cristina Junqueira
Co-Founder
Nubank
Co-Founder, Nubank
Cristina is the co-founder of Nubank, the largest independent digital bank in the world. After working in strategic consulting and at traditional banks she saw the opportunity for large scale financial disruption and collaborated with David VĂ©lez and Edward Wible to set about reinventing an archaic and oppressive industry. As a beacon for diversity, Junqueira was the first woman to be featured pregnant on the cover of a Brazilian business magazine. She was also the only Brazilian to be featured on the 2020 edition of Fortune 40 under 40, which recognizes the young leaders who are transforming the world of business. Only a few days before giving birth to her second daughter, she was recognized as one of Forbesâ Most Powerful Women 2020 in Brazil. Junqueira was also nominated for the same ranking in 2016 and 2017. In 2019, she was granted the Visionary Entrepreneurs of the Year Award by BRAVO. Junqueira holds an Engineering Bachelorâs degree and a Masterâs degree from Universidade de SĂŁo Paulo (USP), and also an MBA from Northwestern Universityâs Kellogg School of Management.
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Sara Schapiro
Vice President, Education
PBS
Vice President, Education, PBS
Sara Schapiro leads PBSâ efforts to deepen partnerships across the education sector by engaging directly with educator communities and launching new initiatives that empower and support students, educators, parents and member stations. With a focus on teachers, a large part of her efforts are focused on expanding PBSâ educational impact through content, community and professional development. This includes such tools as PBS LearningMedia, a digital platform of free, classroom-ready resources from PBS stations and partners, and initiatives like PBS KIDS Edcamps, a partnership with the Edcamp Foundation to provide peer-led professional learning opportunities to early childhood educators, and the PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification by KQED, which recognizes educators who excel in creating and implementing instruction with media, and provides support to help all teachers accelerate these skills.
Schapiro has emerged as a prominent voice in the transformation of American education through innovation and technology. She helped found Digital Promise, an independent, bipartisan nonprofit whose mission is to spur innovation and improve all Americansâ opportunity to learn. Schapiro launched and led Digital Promiseâs flagship initiative, the League of Innovative Schools, a national coalition of public school districts that fosters collaboration among educators, entrepreneurs, researchers and thought partners.
Prior to Digital Promise, Schapiro worked for the New York City Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools, the New Jersey Department of Education and Pearson on pioneering teaching and learning projects, educational technology initiatives and teacher and student engagement efforts. She holds a B.A. from Duke University and a Masterâs of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies.
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Prof. Neil Ferguson
Director, J-IDEA
Imperial College London
Director, J-IDEA, Imperial College London
Neil Ferguson is founding director of the Jameel Institute of Disease and Emergency Analytics (J-IDEA) and the  MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London. He also heads the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Modelling and Health Economics. He is an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
Neil Ferguson uses mathematical and statistical models to investigate the processes shaping infectious disease pathogenesis, evolution and transmission. In addition to basic theoretical work, Professor Ferguson has applied models to study the transmission and control of COVID-19, Ebola, influenza, SARS, BSE/vCJD, HIV, dengue, foot-and-mouth disease and bioterrorist threats. He was educated at Oxford University where he also undertook postdoctoral research, before he moved to Imperial College.
He is best known for the real-time modelling of emerging infectious disease outbreaks, having worked on the transmission dynamics and control of SARS, avian (H5N1) and pandemic (H1N1) influenza, MERS-coronavirus, Ebola, Zika and now COVID-19. His other major research interest is in vector-borne diseases â he has worked on dengue throughout his career and more recently has expanded his research to include Yellow fever, Zika and malaria.
Neil Ferguson has always worked at the interface of science and policy, and advises governments, the World Health Organisation and multiple other bodies on emerging infections and infectious disease epidemiology and modelling.
http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/neil.ferguson/ Â
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Helen Fulson
Chief Product Officer
Twinkl
Chief Product Officer, Twinkl
Helen Fulson is Chief Product Officer at the global educational publisher Twinkl. She oversees the production of the company's wide range of educational resources and tools, with over 690,000 available from activity sheets and assessments to educational games and much more. Helen supports all stages of product development at Twinkl, from initial idea and innovation through to creation, all whilst keeping up to date with the latest developments in the world of education, Ed Tech, and global curricula. Before joining Twinkl in 2013, Helen spent 14 years teaching Key Stage One and Key Stage Two in schools across the UK.
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Ralph Mupita
CEO
MTN
CEO, MTN
Bio coming soon.
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Tia Counts
Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Bio coming soon.
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Mudassir Sheikha
Chief Executive Officer
Careem
Chief Executive Officer, Careem
He started his career with Trilogy Software before joining San Francisco-based mobile experience startup Brience at the height of the dot-com bubble in March 2000. Mudassir then joined the founding team of mobile testing and monitoring startup, DeviceAnywhere, where among other things, he led its offshore development center in Pakistan. DeviceAnywhere was acquired by Keynote Systems, and Mudassir joined management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Dubai.
In 2012, he left to build something big and meaningful with ex-McKinsey colleague Magnus Olsson. Their mission was to simplify and improve the lives of people in the Middle East regions region and build an awesome organisation that inspires. They founded Careem in 2012 and today, it is the leading technology platform for the regions region, operating in more than 100 cities in 14 countries, with 3000+ colleagues and more than one million Captains (drivers).
Mudassir graduated from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Economics and Computer Science, and obtained his Masters in Computer Science with a specialization in Databases from Stanford University.
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Hephzi Pemberton
CEO
Equality Group
CEO, Equality Group
Hephzi is a business founder and angel investor, who believes in the power of good business to transform society. After completing an undergraduate degree at Oxford University, Hephzi began her career in Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers. In 2009, she co-founded Kea Consultants, a financial headhunting firm that specialises in investment and high-growth organisations, which she quickly grew into a profitable and sustainable business. Hephzi helped multiple investment firms, including KKR, Blackstone, Och Ziff and Elliott hire and retain high performing investment professionals. At the end of 2015, Hephzi exited Kea Consultants to pursue her next ventures.
In 2016, Hephzi founded Kiteka to enable female entrepreneurs in Uganda and beyond to access digital opportunities through mobile technology. The vision for Kiteka is to create an all-female, all-mobile network across Africa that is connected to the digital economy and enabled through mobile technology.
In 2018, Hephzi founded Equality Group to harness the power of diverse leaders across the Finance, Technology and Social Impact sectors. The consultancy service helps companies attract, retain and develop diverse talent, which the Executive Search service headhunts. Equality change the business landscape by widening the range of exceptional candidates and offering them unique leadership opportunities.
Hephzi has been angel investing since 2010 and has invested in technology start-ups across AI, Logistics, Health and Beauty, E-Commerce and Education. She has also advised a number of businesses on their hiring practices, board composition, compensation structure, strategic and fundraising plans.
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Benjamin F. Wilson
Chairman
Beveridge & Diamond P.C.
Chairman, Beveridge & Diamond P.C.
Benjamin F. Wilson is the Chairman of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., a top-ranked law firm focused on environmental and natural resource law and litigation. He represents major corporations, developers, and municipalities in complex litigation matters involving Clean Water Act enforcement, wetlands development, Superfund and environmental justice matters. He served as the Deputy Monitor for Emissions & Environmental in the Volkswagen AG emissions proceedings and served as the Court-Appointed Monitor for the Duke Energy coal ash spill remediation project.
A tireless advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, in 2020, Mr. Wilson was elected to the American Law Institute, inducted into the Washington Bar Associationâs Hall of Fame, awarded the Cora T. Walker Award from the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section, and featured in the National Law Journalâs cover story "The Vanguard and the Vision." In 2019, he received the National Bar Associationâs Presidential Award, and in 2018, NAWLâs Lead by Example Award and the UNCFâs MASKED Award. He founded and leads the African American General Counsel and Managing Partner Networks and Diverse Partners Network.
Mr. Wilson graduated from Dartmouth College and from Harvard Law School. He has served as Chairman of the Environmental Law Institute since 2016. Mr. Wilson serves on the Judicial Nomination Commission for the District of Columbia and the D.C. Bar Foundation Board, Board of Directors of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and of PG&E Corporation. He previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and the Board of Governors of the District of Columbia Bar. Mr. Wilson is also an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Law at the Howard University School of Law.
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Obed Louissaint
Senior Vice President, Transformation and Culture
IBM
Senior Vice President, Transformation and Culture, IBM
Obed Louissaint is Senior Vice President, Transformation and Culture.
In this role, Obed leads the areas of Leadership, Learning, Diversity & Inclusion and Transformation for IBM. He is responsible for reinventing people systems and culture to enable innovations to the marketplace quickly, ensure IBM clients succeed, and identify new areas for growth.Â
Obed has experience in multiple HR and operational specialties and business units, as well as geographies from developed to emerging markets. He has held positions in the areas of leadership development and competency models, global site selection, HR generalist, and talent management and delivery.
Obed holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
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Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
Justin Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is Canadaâs 23rd Prime Minister.
Justinâs vision of Canada is a country where everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed. His experiences as a teacher, father, leader, and advocate for youth have shaped his dedication to Canadians â and his commitment to make Canada a place where everyone has the opportunities they need to thrive.
The oldest of three boys, Justin grew up with the profound influence of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and his mother, Margaret Trudeau. He was raised speaking both French and English and has family roots in both Eastern and Western Canada. This background helped spark his passion for public service and shaped his conviction that diversity is Canadaâs strength.
Justin studied literature at McGill University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1994. He went on to complete the University of British Columbiaâs education program, and spent several years teaching French, math, and other subjects in Vancouver. Teaching allowed him to make a positive impact in the lives of young people. He remains committed to hearing the voices of young Canadians, from the classroom to Parliament Hill.
In 2002, Justin returned home to Montréal, where he met Sophie Grégoire, a Quebec TV and radio host. They married in 2005 and are now the proud parents of Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien.
Before entering politics, Justin served as the Chair of Katimavik, on the board for the Canadian Avalanche Foundation, and as an advocate for young people and the environment. As a speaker at events and conferences around the country, he encouraged young people to engage with the issues important to them and participate as active citizens. These experiences made it increasingly clear to him that the issues young Canadians care about â education, the environment, and their generation's economic prospects â needed a stronger voice.
Justin entered politics to make change that would better serve all Canadians. In 2007, he built a community-based, grassroots campaign to win the Liberal Party nomination in the Montréal riding of Papineau. He was elected in 2008, and re-elected in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Justin was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in April 2013. His leadership campaign focused on building a new, truly national movement of progressive Canadians, bringing hundreds of thousands of Canadians into politics, most for the first time. He worked closely with his team to build a plan to create jobs, grow the economy, protect the environment, and strengthen the middle class. With Justinâs leadership, the Liberal plan emphasized fair economic opportunity for everyone, respect for and promotion of freedom and diversity, and a more democratic government that truly represents Canadians.
On October 19, 2015, Justin led his party to victory, winning a majority government with seats in every province and territory across the country. He was sworn in on November 4, 2015.
On October 21, 2019, Justin led the Liberal Party to re-election, earning a second mandate from Canadians.
As Prime Minister, Justin leads a government that works hard every day to continue moving Canada forward. His team is focused on creating good middle class jobs, making life more affordable, keeping Canadaâs communities safe, fighting climate change, and moving forward on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. A proud feminist, Justin appointed Canadaâs first gender balanced Cabinet.
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Christine Lagarde
President
European Central Bank
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.
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Vera Daves de Sousa
Finance Minister
Ministry of Finance of Angola
Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance of Angola
Vera Daves de Sousa, is currently the Finance Minister of the Republic of Angola, after having been State Secretary for Finance and Treasury, Chairwomen of the Capital Market Commission and Director of the Products and Research Office of Atlantic Private Bank. Vera Daves de Sousa had earlier been lecturer of Financial Markets in the Executive MBA promoted by the Catholic Business School Alliance. As an encouraging person of an education of excellence for the younger generation, she was the co-author of a book on Public Finance.
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IvĂĄn Duque MĂĄrquez
President of the Republic of Colombia
President of the Republic of Colombia
Born in BogotĂĄ on August 1st, 1976. He received his Lawyer Degree from the Universidad Sergio Arboleda, where he majored in philosophy and humanities. He is an expert in economic affairs, with executive studies in Harvard, and a Masters in Public Policy and Public Management from Georgetown University and a Masters Degree in Economic Law from the American University.
He has worked as a columnist and professor. He was Head of the Culture, Creativity, and Solidarity Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he worked on social innovation, entrepreneurship, youth, and creative economies. He acted as consultant to the IDB presidency and as senior advisor for Colombia.
As a Senator he put forward several Laws of the Republic: the Orange Law that promotes creative industries and culture as an engine for development; the Law on Severance Funds, that permits parents use their severance funds to pre-pay their childrenâs education and that of their dependent persons; the Law on Defibrillators, that provides that all public places and emergency transport be equipped with resuscitation equipment in Colombia; the Law on âB Companiesâ that provides the conditions for creating and establishing commercial companies of Collective Benefit and Interest; and, is co-author of the law that extended maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.
He is the author of several books: IndignAcciĂłn, ideas para el future de Colombia (âIndignAcciĂłn: ideas for the Colombia of the futureâ); Pecados Monetarios (âMonetary Sinsâ); Maquiavelo en Colombia (âMachiavelli in Colombiaâ); Efecto Naranja (âOrange Effectâ); El Futuro EstĂĄ en el Centro (âThe Future Lies in the Centerâ) ; ArqueologĂa de mi Padre (âArcheology of My Fatherâ); and, coauthored with Felipe Buitrago the book EconomĂa Naranaja (âOrange Economyâ).
Ivan Duque, besides his legislative activity, has stood out in several of the countryâs political developments. He drafted, submitted, and defended the suit against the Legislative Act for Peace, before the Constitutional Court, that limited the fast track and allowed Congress to make changes to the implementation of the peace agreements with the FARC. In 2016 the Semana magazine and the FundaciĂłn Colombia LĂder (âColombia Leader Foundationâ) elected him as one of the most outstanding leaders of the country and during his three years as congressman he was elected best Senator by his peers and by several local organizations that spotlight and measure the work of Colombian legislators.
The President is married to Ms. MarĂa Juliana Ruiz, and is the father of three children: Luciana, MatĂas, and EloĂsa.
On June 17, 2018, Ivan Duque was elected President of Colombia for the 2018-2022 constitutional term with 10â339,689 votes and a government program based on Legality, Entrepreneurship, and Equality.
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Mahathir Mohamad
Former Prime Minister
Malaysia
Former Prime Minister, Malaysia
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Dr. Reza Baqir
Governor
State Bank of Pakistan
Governor, State Bank of Pakistan
Dr. Reza Baqir was appointed as the Governor of Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, by the President of Pakistan on May 04, 2019. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Baqir had eighteen years of experience with the IMF and two years of experience with the World Bank. He was the Head of the IMF's Office in Egypt and Senior Resident Representative since August 2017. He has also held positions as IMFâs Mission Chief for Romania and Bulgaria, Division Chief of the IMF's Debt Policy Division overseeing IMFâs work on debt relief and sovereign debt restructuring, Head of the IMF delegation to the Paris Club, Deputy Division Chief of the IMF's Emerging Markets Division overseeing IMFâs loans and policies in emerging markets, IMF Resident Representative to the Philippines, and numerous other positions.
Dr. Baqir's academic research has been published in top journals of the economics profession, including the Journal of Political Economy and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Dr. Baqir holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and an A.B. (Magna cum Laude) in Economics from Harvard University.
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Benjamin Diokno
Governor
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Benjamin E. Diokno is the current Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Prior to his appointment as Governor, he served 3 Administrationsâas Budget Secretary from 2016 to 2019, Budget Secretary from 1998 to 2001, and as Budget Undersecretary from 1986 to 1991.
Some of his major policy reform contributions include: providing technical assistance to the 1986 Tax Reform Program to simplify the income tax system and introduce the value-added tax, initiating a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get policy to streamline the release of funds, sponsoring the internationally-lauded Government Procurement Reform Act to modernize, regulate, and standardize government procurement activities in the Philippines, among others.
He holds a Bachelorâs Degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines, a Masterâs Degree in Public Administration and Economics from the same university, a Master of Arts in Political Economy from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, USA.
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Tae Yongho
Member of the National Assembly of The Republic of Korea
Member of the National Assembly of The Republic of Korea
Tae Yongho is a South Korean Politician, defector from North Korea, and former diplomat who is a member of the National Assembly for the Gangnam district of Seoul.
He was North Koreaâs deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, prior to defecting with his family to South Korea in 2016. Mr. Tae was one of the highest-ranking North Korean officials to ever defect. Mr. Tae was elected to the National Assembly in the 2020 South Korean legislative election as a member of the People Power Party.
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Dr. S. Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister of India
External Affairs Minister of India
Earlier Dr S. Jaishankar was President â Global Corporate Affairs at Tata Sons Private Limited from May 2018.
He was Foreign Secretary from 2015-18, Ambassador to United States from 2013-15, Ambassador to China from 2009-2013, High Commissioner to Singapore from 2007-2009 and Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2000-2004.
He has also served in other diplomatic assignments in Embassies in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest and Tokyo, as well in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Presidentâs Secretariat.
Dr S. Jaishankar is a graduate of St. Stephenâs College at the University of Delhi. He has a Masters in Political Science and an M. Phil and Ph.D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
He is a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2019.
He is married to Kyoko Jaishankar and has two sons & and a daughter.
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Thant Myint-U
Writer, Historian, and Former Presidential Adviser
Writer, Historian, and Former Presidential Adviser
Dr Thant Myint-U was educated at Harvard and Cambridge universities and taught history for several years as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations (in Cambodia and in the Balkans) and was the Chief of Policy Planning at the UN's Department of Political Affairs. Over the past ten years he has lived and worked in Myanmar, including as a presidential adviser and a special adviser to the government on the peace process.  He has also authored four books, most recently The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century (selected by the New York Times and Foreign Affairs as one of their top books of the year). He is the chairman of U Thant House, the founding chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, a founding Partner of the Ava Advisory Group, and an Affiliated Scholar at the Cambridge University Centre for South Asian Studies.
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Taro Kono
Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform
Japanese Government
Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform, Japanese Government
KONO Taro, 57, is an eight-term Member of the House of Representatives. He has been Minister of Defense in the Abe Government since September 11, 2019.
Among positions he has held are Foreign Minister; Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, or Minister in charge of the National Police Organization; Minister for Administrative Reform; Minister for Civil Service Reform; Minister for Regulatory Reform; Minister in Charge of Consumer Affairs and Food Safety; and Minister in Charge of Disaster Management in the Abe Government, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Management and Senior Vice-Minister of Justice in the Koizumi Government, and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. Taro is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He was Chairman of the Japan Race Horse Association and Chairman of the Shonan Bellmare Football Club, the 1995 Asia Champion Soccer Club. He is married to Kaori and has a son, Ippei.
(Photo & Bio provided by the Prime Ministerâs office)
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Olaf Scholz
Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor
Germany
Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor, Germany
Olaf Scholz was born in OsnabrĂŒck in 1958, from early childhood he grew up in Hamburg. His grandparents were railway officials, his parents were merchants in the textile industry. Following his school education he studied law in Hamburg as part of the one-stage legal training. Since 1985 Olaf Scholz has been a partner at the Hamburger law firm "Zimmermann, Scholz und Partner". In 1975 he joined the SPD and has since assumed numerous leading positions within the party and public offices. From 2011 to 2018 he was first mayor of Hamburg. As of march 2018, Olaf Scholz is Federal Minister of Finance and lives with his wife, politician Britta Ernst, in Potsdam.
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Edward Yau Tang-wah
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Hong Kong Special Administrative regions region Government
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Hong Kong Special Administrative regions region Government
Mr Yau assumed the post of the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development on July 1, 2017. His portfolio covers policy areas from trade, commerce to telecommunications and broadcasting, and from promotion of creative industries, intellectual property and consumer protection to boosting inward investment and tourism development.
Mr Yau has his full career in the public service. Before taking up the current post, Mr Yau was the Director of the Chief Executive's Office from 2012 to 2017, assisting the Chief Executive in formulating policies and setting policy goals and priorities. He was the Secretary for the Environment from 2007 to 2012, overseeing policies on environmental protection, energy, nature conservation and sustainable development.
Mr Yau started his civil service career as an Administrative Officer in 1981. During his long service as a civil servant, he held various positions, including Director of Information Services, Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower, Deputy Director-General of Trade and Industry as well as Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC, USA.
Mr Yau graduated from the University of Hong Kong. He received further education at Oxford University and at Harvard University.
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Irma Hidayana
Co-Founder & Co-Leader
LaporCovid19
Co-Founder & Co-Leader, LaporCovid19
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Dr. Pandu Riono
Epidemiologist & Senior Staff
University of Indonesia, Faculty of Public Health
Epidemiologist & Senior Staff, University of Indonesia, Faculty of Public Health
Dr. Pandu Riono is a Senior Staff at University of Indonesia,
Faculty of Public Health. He was the recipient of Fogarty/NIH
Fellowship to finishing his PhD (Epidemiology) in UCLA, 2001
with dissertation title is âSexual Network among Men and
STD/HIV Epidemic in Indonesiaâ.
He was involving in HIV/STI Surveillance at MOH. He was
involved in building and strengthening Integrated Behaviour &
Biological Surveillance at MOH since 2002.
Since 2010, He was also appointed as Technical Consultant
National TB Program, Developing National TB Estimation
Methods. He is also a member of Indonesia TB Research
Network (JetSet-TB) . Previous Chairperson of Jet-Set TB 2017-
2020.
He has prior experience as an International Consultant for
UNICEF Bangkok and WHO Geneva. He is currently still active
as TB and HIV member of Experts Commission â MOH. He is
still active as a senior consultant for some on going projects
with World-Bank, UNICEF, USAID, ADB, and AusAID.
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Dale Fisher
Professor of Medicine
National University of Singapore
Professor of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Professor Dale Fisher is an Australian infectious diseases physician who first moved to the National University Hospital, Singapore in March 2003 during the SARS outbreak. He is heavily involved in international outbreak response including influenza and ebola outbreaks and now the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the current Chair of the steering committee of WHOâs Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network. He holds many leadership positions nationally and internationally in Infection prevention and control and was one of 12 international technical experts who visited China in February to investigate the COVID-19 outbreak. He has authored around 200 peer-reviewed publications and given over 100 invited and plenary presentations at international conferences.
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Professor Michelle Williams
Dean of the Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Michelle A. Williams, SM â88, ScD â91, is Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, a joint faculty appointment at the Harvard Chan School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvardâs Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. Dean Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her scientific work places special emphasis in the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. Dean Williams has published over 450 scientific articles. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. The Dean has a masterâs in civil engineering from Tufts University and masterâs and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.
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Heidi J Larson
Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and Founding Director, Vaccine Confidence Project
London School of Tropical Medicine
Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and Founding Director, Vaccine Confidence Project, London School of Tropical Medicine
Heidi J. Larson, PhD, is Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and is the Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She is also Clinical Professor of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and Guest Professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Dr. Larson previously headed Global Immunisation Communication at UNICEF, chaired GAVIâs Advocacy Task Force, and served on the WHO SAGE Working Group on vaccine hesitancy. The VCP is a WHO Centre of Excellence on addressing Vaccine Hesitancy.
Professor Larsonâs research focuses on the analysis of social and political factors that can affect uptake of health interventions and influence policies. Her particular interest is on risk and rumour management from clinical trials to delivery â and building public trust. She served on the FDA Medical Countermeasure (MCM) Emergency Communication Expert Working Group, and is currently Principal Investigator for a global study on acceptance of vaccination during pregnancy; an EU-funded (EBODAC) project on the deployment, acceptance and compliance of an Ebola vaccine trial in Sierra Leone; and a global study on Public Sentiments and Emotions Around Current and Potential Measures to Contain and Treat COVID-19.
She is author of STUCK: How Vaccine Rumors Start â and Why They Donât Go Away (Oxford U Press, 2020)
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David R. Malpass
President
The World Bank
President, The World Bank
David R. Malpass was selected as 13th President of the World Bank Group by its Board of Executive Directors on April 5, 2019. His five-year term began on April 9.
Mr. Malpass previously served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, representing the United States in international settings.
In 2018, Mr. Malpass advocated for the capital increase for the IBRD and IFC as part of a reform agenda. He was also instrumental in advancing the Bank Group and IMFâs Debt Transparency Initiative.
Before joining the U.S. Treasury, he was an international economist and founder of a macroeconomics research firm. As chief economist of Bear Stearns, he conducted financial analyses of countries around the world.
Previously, Mr. Malpass served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Developing Nations and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Economic Affairs. He also served as Senior Analyst for Taxes and Trade at the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and as Staff Director of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
Mr. Malpass has served on boards of the Council of the Americas, Economic Club of New York, National Committee on U.S.âChina Relations, Manhattan Institute, and Gary Klinsky Childrenâs Centers, as well as various for-profit entities. He is author of numerous articles on economic development.
A graduate of Colorado College with an MBA from the University of Denver, Mr. Malpass has also worked as a CPA. He and wife Adele Malpass live in Washington, D.C.
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Rafael Mariano Grossi
Director General
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Since December 2019, Rafael Mariano Grossi has been the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A diplomat with over 35 years of experience in non-proliferation and disarmament, Mr Grossi has held several senior positions at the Argentinian foreign service since joining in 1985. From 2013 to 2019, he was the Ambassador of Argentina to Austria and Argentinian Representative to the IAEA and other international organizations in Vienna. He also served as Chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group from 2014 to 2016. Previously, Mr Grossi served as IAEA Assistant Director General for Policy and Chief of Cabinet from 2010 to 2013, and as Chief of Cabinet at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from 2002 to 2007. Mr Grossi has been an International Gender Champion since 2017, promoting gender balance in the nuclear field.
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Dr. Naveen Rao
Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative
The Rockefeller Foundation
Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation
Dr. Naveen Rao is Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. He leads a team focused on advancing Precision Public Health, empowering community health workers with actionable insights from data and analytic tools to accelerate progress on health outcomes in their communities.
For decades, Dr. Rao has led efforts to equip health care providers with the skills, tools, and technologies necessary for success. He joins the Foundation after 25 years with Merck & Co., Inc., where he led Merck for Mothers, a 10-year, $500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality globally and worked as Head of Medical Affairs for Merckâs Asia-Pacific region and Managing Director of Merckâs subsidiary in India.
Dr. Rao is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, an American College of Physicians Fellow, and sits on the Medic Mobile Board of Directors. He represents The Rockefeller Foundation on Global Fund ATMâs Private Foundation constituency.
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Brian Deese
Director-Designate, National Economic Council
Biden Harris Transition
Director-Designate, National Economic Council, Biden Harris Transition
Brian Deese will serve as Director of the National Economic Council, advising President-elect Biden on domestic and international economic policy and coordinating the economic agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration. A former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama who was instrumental both in engineering the rescue of the U.S. auto industry and in negotiating the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, Deese is a crisis-tested advisor with broad experience in accelerating economic prosperity, empowering working Americans, and harnessing the economic opportunities that come from building a clean energy economy and combating the climate crisis.
Deese has held a variety of key roles helping national leaders navigate some of the biggest challenges of this generation. During the Obama-Biden Administration, he served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy after the 2008 financial crisis, as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, and as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In his role as Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, Deese has worked to drive greater focus on climate and sustainability risk in investment portfolios and create investment strategies to help accelerate the low-carbon transition. Deese received his bachelor of arts from Middlebury College, and his JD from Yale Law School.
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James Bullard
President
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Bio coming soon.
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Wale Lawal
Founder, Editor-in-Chief
The Republic
Founder, Editor-in-Chief, The Republic
Wale Lawal is a researcher based in Lagos, and was recently named to the Quartz list of top African innovators. Educated at the University of Bath, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford, Wale is a co-founder of GatePass, and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Republic, a journal of Nigerian and African affairs.
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Tsitsi Dangarembga
Award-winning Zimbabwean Author
Award-winning Zimbabwean author
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Alexandra Renison
Head of Europe and Trade Policy
Institute of Directors
Head of Europe and Trade Policy, Institute of Directors
Allie Renison is Head of EU and Trade Policy, and leads on devising recommendations and representing the voice of members on EU policy matters both to Westminster and Whitehall and with European institutions. She provides the link between business and Government on increasing international trade and has authored a number of reports on trends in both trade and trade policy, as well as running a number of trade missions for IoD members around the world every year. She also routinely provides advocacy for the IoD on a range of regulatory issues in Brussels.
Allie joined the IoD in April 2014. Prior to this, she was Research Director at Business for Britain, the campaign focused on renegotiating the UK's relationship with the EU. Allie has previously advised a number of parliamentarians in both Houses on EU legislative issues, with particular focus on trade and employment policy areas. She holds a Masters Degree in the political economy of emerging economies in the post-Soviet space.
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Bruno Le Maire
Minister of the Economy
France
Minister of the Economy, France
Speaker bio coming soon.
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Stephen J. Adler
Editor-in-Chief
Reuters
Editor-in-Chief, Reuters
Stephen J. Adler is Editor-in-Chief of Reuters, the worldâs largest international news provider, where he oversees all editorial functions. Under his leadership, Reuters has received scores of top journalism awards, including six Pulitzer Prizes, while reaching billions of people daily with trusted video, text, pictures, and graphics.
Adler joined Thomson Reuters in 2010 as Senior Vice President and Editorial Director of the companyâs Professional Division and was named Editor-in-Chief of Reuters the following year. Previously, he was Editor-in-Chief of BusinessWeek and a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal. There, in addition to managing investigative reporting teams and overseeing the Wall Street Journal Online, he co-taught the ethics and standards course required of all news employees. He was editor of The American Lawyer from 1983 to 1988 and began his career as a reporter at local newspapers in Florida.
Adler is chairman of Columbia Journalism Reviewâs board of overseers, chairman of the board of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and a member of the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He is a member of the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Gerald R. Loeb Awards board of final judges.
A graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Law School, Adler is author of the book The Jury: Trial and Error in the American Courtroom, which won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. With his wife, the novelist Lisa Grunwald, he was co-editor of three popular historical anthologies. He is a frequent speaker at journalism conferences, universities and public forums.
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Rob Cox
Global Editor
Reuters Breakingviews
Global Editor, Reuters Breakingviews
Rob Cox helped found Breakingviews.com in 2000 in London. From 2004 he spearheaded the startup publication's expansion in the United States and edited daily Breakingviews columns in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Rob, now based in Zurich, has worked as a journalist in London, Paris, Milan, New York, Chicago and Tokyo. Rob was named Global Editor of Breakingviews in December 2012, three years after it was acquired by Thomson Reuters and became the financial commentary arm of one of the largest news organizations in the world. Rob frequently appears on Monocle Radio and CNBC and his columns have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, USA Today, the Globe and Mail, la Repubblica and other publications. Prior to co-founding Breakingviews, Rob worked as European finance editor, South Europe bureau chief, and as a Wall Street reporter at Bloomberg News. Rob graduated from Columbia University's Journalism School and the University of Vermont, which gave him its Alumni Achievement Award in 2014 for his work on gun violence prevention. After the shooting in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his hometown of Newtown, Connecticut, Rob co-founded Sandy Hook Promise with fellow members of the community and some of the victims' families. In his spare time, Rob plays ice hockey, runs slowly and skis aggressively.
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Axel Threlfall
Editor-at-Large
Reuters
Editor-at-Large, Reuters
Axel Threlfall is Editor-at-Large, Reuters, based in London. Alongside his editorial duties, he hosts high-profile engagements and thought leadership events for and on behalf of Reuters and Thomson Reuters, such as the Newsmaker series and the World Economic Forum news programming in Davos. He was previously Lead European Anchor for Reuters Digital Video. Prior to joining Reuters, Axel spent five years as an anchor for CNBC in London. Before that, he was an editor with The Wall Street Journal in New York and a news reporter for Bloomberg in London. He has also advised businesses and NGOs on their dealings with the international media. Axel is frequently asked to moderate events for international organizations, including the United Nations, the IMF and the OECD. He has a BA in History from Durham University and a postgraduate degree in journalism from City University, London.
Twitter handle is:Â @Axelthrelfall
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Alessandra Galloni
Global Managing Editor
Reuters
Global Managing Editor, Reuters
Alessandra Galloni is Global Managing Editor of Reuters, overseeing journalists in Reutersâ 200 locations around the world.
She joined Reuters in September 2013 as Editor of the Southern Europe bureau, after spending 13 years at The Wall Street Journal in various positions as correspondent, economics and business writer and editor in New York, London, Paris and Rome.
Alessandra is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award in the U.S. and a UK Business Journalist of the Year Award. She is co-author of âFrom the End of the Earth to Rome,â an e-book on Pope Francis. Alessandra, an Italian national, is a graduate of Harvard University and has a Masters degree from the London School of Economics.
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Kane Wu
Senior Correspondent M&A, Asia
Reuters
Senior Correspondent M&A, Asia, Reuters
Kane covers M&A, private equity and venture capital for Reuters in Asia. Sheâs written extensively about Asiaâs investment banking and capital markets, with a focus on China. Prior to Reuters, she had worked for The Wall Street Journal and Thomson Reuters Basis Point.
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Ryan Woo
Beijing Bureau Chief
Reuters
Beijing Bureau Chief, Reuters
Ryan Woo has been the Beijing Bureau Chief since 2016, and is primarily responsible for the daily operations and newsplanning in the bureau, working together with the Greater China Bureau Chief and the other bureau chiefs and team leaders in the Greater China region. Ryan, who is Singaporean, is in charge of Reutersâ coverage of the Chinese economy.
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Karen Lema
Bureau Chief Philippines
Reuters
Bureau Chief Philippines, Reuters
Karen is Reuters Bureau Chief for the Philippines, and leads the coverage of Southeast Asiaâs second most populous country.
Karen joined Reuters in 2006 as a contractor before becoming a staff treasury correspondent in 2008. Karenâs stint as acting bureau chief since May was her second. She also led the bureau during a period that saw the fallout from the $81 million Bangladesh Bank cyber heist and the meteoric rise of Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency in the 2016 election.
Karen has been central to the bureauâs coverage during a period for which a Reuters team won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Duterteâs bloody War on Drugs.
Karen was previously a senior reporter at BusinessWorld newspaper. She has a Masters in Journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Bachelor degree major in Communication Arts from the University of Santo Tomas.
Karen is married with two boys, 10 and 6. She is an avid runner who clocked a personal best at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. In her spare time, she also does triathlon.
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Anne Marie Roantree
Bureau Chief, Hong Kong
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Hong Kong, Reuters
Anne Marie joined Reuters in Singapore in 2002 as part of the newly established online desk, having worked at the Irish Times in Dublin and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. She moved to the company news team in 2004, working with regional equities correspondents and writing the Global Markets report on a regular basis. She joined the Hong Kong bureau in 2006 as filing editor, winning the Asia Desker of the Year award in 2007, and rejoined the bureau in 2011 after a stint on the Insider team as assignments editor for China and India. She took up the post in the spring of 2014, having helped run the bureau from mid-2012 as chief correspondent and acting bureau chief. In her first year as bureau chief, she oversaw coverage of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong which won an award in the Breaking News category at the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) for that year. She was also awarded the Reuters Editor of the year award for 2014.
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Jack Kim
Bureau Chief, Korea
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Korea, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Simon Robinson
Global Managing Editor
Reuters
Global Managing Editor, Reuters
Simon Robinson is Reuters Global Managing Editor, Newsroom.
He joined the news service in 2010 and ran investigations and enterprise reporting in Europe, Middle East and Africa for six years, editing award-winning series on Iran, Russia, corporate taxation, Greek banks and migration.
Between 2017 and 2019 he was Regional Editor for EMEA, running our single biggest region and overseeing everything from breaking news to budgets.
Between 1995 and 2010, Simon was a correspondent and then editor for Time magazine, reporting from more than 50 countries in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe. He has published short stories and wrote and produced an award-winning satirical movie about aid workers and journalists in Africa.
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Jane Barrett
Global Editor Media News Strategy
Reuters
Global Editor Media News Strategy, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Ann Saphir
Financial Reporter
Reuters
Economics Reporter, Reuters
Ann covers the US economy and the Federal Reserve for Reuters.Â
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Nina Chestney
Head of EMEA Power, Gas, Coal and Carbon
Reuters
Head of EMEA Power, Gas, Coal and Carbon, Reuters
I am head of EMEA news on power, gas, coal and carbon at Reuters news. What that means is that I write my own stories on those markets and on corporate news in that space but also coordinate a team of journalists across that region.
I have been at Reuters since 2007, working on the energy desk with some stints on world news, the editing desk and the UK political and general news department.
On the energy desk, at first I was the carbon market reporter, then widened by beat to cover climate change and eventually I was then covering power and gas as well.
Before that, I worked in Brussels for Thomson Financial News and covered anti-trust and corporate news.
I have also worked for the Yomiuri Shimbun, the biggest Japanese newspaper in Japan and Press Association.
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Clare Baldwin
Special Correspondent
Reuters
Special Correspondent, Reuters
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for Reuters.Â
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Jennifer Hiller
Energy Reporter
Reuters
Energy Reporter, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Toby Sterling
Senior Correspondent, Amsterdam
Reuters
Senior Correspondent, Amsterdam, Reuters
Born in Palo Alto, California, Toby Sterling has covered business, politics and culture in the Netherlands for nearly two decades for The Associated Press and Reuters. Itâs all in the wrist.
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Ernest Scheyder
Correspondent
Reuters
Correspondent, Reuters
Ernest Scheyder is a correspondent at Reuters, covering lithium, copper, rare earths and other minerals that fuel the electrification trend reshaping our global economy. He also writes regularly on electric vehicle and battery technology, as well as U.S. policy, politics and natural disasters. He previously covered the oil industry, which included a two-year stint living in North Dakotaâs Bakken shale patch. A Maine native, Scheyder is a graduate of the University of Maine and the Columbia Journalism School. Heâs a fan of endurance sports, and has completed seven marathons and ten triathlons. As the chair of the Reuters Talent Council, Scheyder works closely with colleagues to develop, recruit and retain a diverse pool of journalists.
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Anshuman Daga
Senior Financial Correspondent
Reuters
Senior Financial Correspondent, Reuters
Anshuman, a business journalist with over two decades experience with Reuters in Asia and Europe, has managed teams across countries. Based in Asiaâs financial hub of Singapore, he covers M&A, wealth funds, private equity and aviation finance. He has lived in Mumbai, Bangalore and London.
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Mark Bendeich
Europe News Editor
Reuters
Europe News Editor, Reuters
Mark Bendeich is the Europe News Editor at Reuters, responsible for news operations across the European continent and in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Until he was appointed to this role in September 2019, he served as Southern Europe bureau chief, responsible for Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. He was previously Top News Editor for Asia, based in Sydney where he had also managed the Australian and New Zealand news operations. Prior to that, he was the Malaysia bureau chief based in Kuala Lumpur. His specialism is company news, having worked as UK chief equities correspondent in London at the end of the dot-com boom. Mark has also worked in Hong Kong, Singapore and across his native Australia. He was Reuters Editor of the Year for 2011. He is based in London.
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Jane Wardell
Global Desk Editor
Reuters
Global Desk Editor, Reuters
Jane Wardell is a Global Desk Editor, based in Sydney, Australia. Jane was previously Pacific Bureau Chief for three years, during which she oversaw coverage of major political, economic and financial news in the region, reinstituted Newsmaker events with Australian business leaders, and co-developed the Bangalore ASX reporting operation. Jane joined Reuters as Deputy Bureau Chief/Chief Companies Correspondent in Sydney in 2012. Prior to joining Reuters, Jane was based in London for the Associated Press for more than 10 years, during which she covered and broke developments in major company news, decoded numerous G20 summits, travelled with several prime ministers and reported on the start of the global financial crisis from Iceland. Her earlier career included stints at The Financial Times, Complinet and Australian Associated Press. She has a Masters in International Relations and a Bachelor of Communications (Economics).
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Matthew Green
Climate Change Correspondent
Reuters
Climate Change Correspondent, Reuters
Studies, Oxford University, United Kingdom; Master's in Economic Development. Formerly: more than 20 years as Foreign Correspondent, Reuters, with postings in Paris, Hanoi, New Delhi and Brussels; most recently, Political Editor for Asia-Pacific.
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Christina Anagnostopoulos
Senior Producer, Reuters Fact Check
Reuters
Senior Producer, Reuters Fact Check, Reuters
Christina Anagnostopoulos is a senior producer at Reuters News Agency working on the new fact-checking initiative to identify misinformation in partnership with Facebook. She leads a team of producers in Washington D.C. and Mexico City as part of Facebookâs Third-Party Fact-Checking Program. The fact-checking unit at Reuters will work to identify misinformation focusing on the 2020 U.S. election and beyond. Christina brings a passion for U.S. politics, four languages and three years working on verification of user generated content (UGC) at Reuters news agency to this new project. From natural disasters to political violence, the videos rigorously verified and cleared by the UGC desk are a testament to upholding Reutersâ editorial values in the ever-changing digital world, where videos are shared online faster than ever. Christina was born in Greece, grew up in Italy and studied in the UK. Living in Mexico for three years has exposed her to the misinformation trends in Latin America.
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Lauren Silva Laughlin
Global Deals Editor
Reuters Breakingviews
Global Deals Editor, Reuters Breakingviews
Lauren Silva Laughlin has been a journalist for nearly 15 years and was one of the original members of the U.S. Reuters Breakingviews office, which she joined in 2006. Two stints as an investment banker notwithstanding, she was most recently a senior columnist at the Wall Street Journal. She has written on topics from private equity to the global financial collapse to the hipster bubble, has spent much time on M&A sagas and activism, and is currently serving the role of global deals editor. Lauren is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and NYU, and tried out for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team in 1996 and 2000.
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Miyoung Kim
Breaking News Editor, Asia
Reuters
Breaking News Editor, Asia, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Valerie Volcovici
Correspondent
Reuters
Journalist, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Jonathan Weber
Global Automotive Industry Editor, Technology
Reuters
Global Industry Editor, Technology, Reuters
Jonathan is now running the Reuters global tech file from Singapore. Past endeavors include founder of New West, editor in chief of the Industry Standard, reporter at the LA Times. Philosophy degree from Wesleyan University.
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Melanie Burton
Asia Mining Correspondent
Reuters
Asia Mining Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Jamie Freed
Chief Correspondent, Asia Aviation and Defence
Reuters
Chief Correspondent, Asia Aviation and Defence, Reuters
Jamie Freed, based in Sydney, is the Chief Correspondent, Asia Aviation and Defence at Reuters, leading coverage of the industries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
She joined Reuters in 2016 and spent two based years in its Singapore regional head office prior to returning to Sydney in 2019.
Prior to Reuters, she worked as a business journalist at The Australian Financial Review from 2010-2016 and the Sydney Morning Herald from 2005-2009. She is originally from California.
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Khanh Vu
Correspondent
Reuters
Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Poppy McPherson
Bureau Chief, Myanmar
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Myanmar, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Dan Flynn
Latin America News Editor
Reuters
Latin America News Editor, Reuters
Latin America Editor for Thomson Reuters. Former bureau chief in Brazil and West Africa and correspondent in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Venezuela.
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Andrea Shalal
Senior Correspondent
Reuters
Senior Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Maha El Dahan
Bureau Chief, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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April N Joyner
Markets Correspondent
Reuters
Markets Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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John Pullman
Global Managing Editor, Visuals
Reuters
Global Managing Editor, Visuals, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Richa Naidu
Retail and Consumer Reporter
Reuters
Retail and Consumer Reporter, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Susanna Twidale
Correspondent
Reuters
Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Alexis Akwagyiram
Bureau Chief, Nigeria
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Nigeria, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Karin Strohecker
Chief Correspondent, Emerging Markets
Reuters
Chief Correspondent, Emerging Markets, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Francois Murphy
Chief Correspondent, Austria
Reuters
Chief Correspondent, Austria, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams
Editor for Newsroom Diversity
Reuters
Editor for Newsroom Diversity, Reuters
Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams is Editor, Newsroom Diversity, Reuters, appointed in September 2019.
Before this, Adeluwoye-Adams was the Global Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability at Swedish gaming company King, where she signed the company up to the Tech Talent Charter and designed and developed a Games Industry Pledge to push games and tech companies to take measurable steps to increase diversity.
At the BBC from 2015, she designed and implemented a new onscreen and workforce diversity strategy across BBC Content, before becoming the Corporationâs lead on Diamond, a pioneering industry-wide approach to tracking and improving workforce and on-air diversity in UK broadcasting. Adeluwoye-Adams played a pivotal role on the project â which also includes ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and Viacom â defining its reach, dealing with its members, and gaining parliamentary support for its goals.
Between 2009 and 2015 she was Head of Diversity at the Producerâs Alliance for Cinema and TV, a UK trade association that has led efforts to increase diversity, both on- and off-screen, in the broadcasting and production industries. During Adeluwoye-Adamsâs time there, PACT signed up more than 500 organisations to a pledge that committed them to putting diversity at the heart of their businesses.
In 2018, she was awarded an MBE for her services to diversity in the media industry, while the Financial Times named her one of its top 100 influential BAME (Black, Asia and Minority Ethnic) tech leaders.
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Joe White
Global Industry Editor
Reuters
Joe White Global Industry Editor, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Jonathan Leff
Global Editor, Financial News Strategy
Reuters
Global Editor, Financial News Strategy, Reuters
Jonathan Leff is Global Editor, Financial News Strategy at Reuters, responsible for maintaining and deepening the strategic partnership between the Editorial organization and Refinitiv, the financial services firm that is Reutersâ largest customer. He is also responsible for overseeing the strategic newsrooms in Bangalore, India, and Gdansk, Poland, which now produce thousands of alerts and stories a month in a dozen languages. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Jonathan joined Reuters as a local correspondent in Lithuania in 1998; he moved to London two years later, the start of a 15-year career as an oil and commodity markets specialist. After running regional reporting teams from Singapore and New York, he went on to become Reuters global editor for commodities, overseeing coverage by a staff of more than 150 reporters, columnists and editors worldwide. He also raises chickens.
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Amran Abocar
Global Mining Editor & Canada Bureau Chief
Reuters
Global Mining Editor & Canada Bureau Chief, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Gina Chon
Columnist
Reuters Breakingviews
Columnist, Reuters Breakingviews
Gina joined Breakingviews in 2016 from the Financial Times, where she was the enforcement and regulatory correspondent in Washington, most recently focused on white-collar crime and cyber security. Before that, Gina was the corporate reporter for Quartz and spent seven years at the Wall Street Journal in New York, Baghdad and Detroit, covering M&A, war and cars. She also has written a book about the Khmer Rouge, trained journalists in Iraq and written from her native Seoul.
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Kevin Krolicki
Asia News Editor
Reuters
Asia News Editor, Reuters
Kevin has worked for Reuters for 24 years in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington. He is based in Singapore as Reuters Asia news editor overseeing news-gathering operations from Australia to Afghanistan.
Before joining Reuters, Kevin spent six years as a markets and economic policy reporter at Knight Ridder and became Tokyo bureau chief there in 1995. He was part of the team that launched a widely tracked survey of Japanese corporate confidence.
He joined Reuters in 1996 as a producer for what was then Reuters Financial Television and became Asia editor for that service.
In 2000, Kevin was named West Coast business editor for Reuters based in Los Angeles. In 2006, Kevin returned to Detroit, his home town, as bureau chief. In 2008, he was one of the team of reporters who won a SABEW âBest in Businessâ award for coverage of GMâs merger talks with Chrysler. A profile of Bill Ford was selected for âBest Business Writing 2012â by Columbia University Press.
From 2012 to 2015, Kevin oversaw Reuters coverage of Japan as Tokyo bureau chief. During his time there, the team produced investigations on labor conditions in the cleanup after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the use of asylum seekers in Subaruâs supply chain and Takataâs crisis with deadly airbags
Kevin graduated from Harvard University and has a masterâs degree from the University of Michigan.
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Vidya Ranganathan
Breaking News Editor, Finance and Markets
Reuters
Breaking News Editor, Finance and Markets, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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John Geddie
Bureau Chief, Singapore
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Singapore, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Omar Mohammed
East Africa Business Correspondent
Reuters
East Africa Business Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Gary McWilliams
Bureau Chief, Houston
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Houston, Reuters
Houston Bureau Chief for Reuters news service, working with a dedicated team of energy and energy-markets reporters in the ground zero for the shale energy revolution and America's energy capitol. Previously edited and wrote for The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek magazine, two of America's top consumer-focused business publications.Â
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Conway Gittens
Reporter
Reuters
Reporter, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Trevor Hunnicutt
Politics Correspondent
Reuters
Politics Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Leela de Kretser
Global Editor, Media & Consumer News
Reuters
Global Editor, Media & Consumer News, Reuters
Leela de Kretser leads Reuters news coverage for media customers and consumers globally.
She joined Reuters in 2015 as the Managing Editor of Reuters.com after working as a digital consultant for news organizations, tech companies and brands. A veteran journalist, she is an expert in product creation, digital transformation, newsroom set-up and management, media strategy and revenue optimization.
Leela served as the editorial director and publisher at the award-winning neighborhood news site DNAinfo.com. She was part of the original New York launch team in 2009, and served as the cityâs managing editor before building out the marketing, operations and advertising teams. She oversaw the expansion of DNAinfo.com to Chicago in her final year with the company.
Leela previously worked with Michael Wolff on a biography about Rupert Murdoch and the start-up aggregator Newser.com. She has also worked as an adjunct professor at Columbia J-School and a reporter and editor at the New York Post. Leela began her journalism career in Melbourne, Australia on the country's largest daily newspaper, the Herald Sun.
She lives in the East Village with her son.
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Nazanine Moshiri
Senior Producer, East Africa
Reuters
Senior Producer, East Africa, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Rachel Armstrong
Financial Editor, EMEA
Reuters
Financial Editor, EMEA, EMEA, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Jo Mason
Breaking News Editor
Reuters
Breaking News Editor, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Aislinn Laing
Senior Correspondent, Chile
Reuters
Senior Correspondent, Chile, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Doug Busvine
European Technology Correspondent
Reuters
European Technology Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Michele Gershberg
Global Industry Editor, Pharma and Health
Reuters
Global Industry Editor, Pharma and Health, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Howard Schneider
Federal Reserve Correspondent
Reuters
Federal Reserve Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Martinne Geller
Consumer Goods Specialist Correspondent
Reuters
Consumer Goods Specialist Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Vanessa O'Connell
Global Industry Editor
Reuters
Global Industry Editor, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Gina Chua
Global Managing Editor, Operations
Reuters
Global Managing Editor, Operations, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Gavin Maguire
Editor-In-Charge for Commodities, Asia
Reuters
Editor-In-Charge for Commodities, Asia, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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David Dolan
Bureau Chief, Japan
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Japan, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Euan Rocha
Bureau Chief, Mumbai
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Mumbai, Reuters
Our South Asia Bureau Chief Euan Rocha has spent much of his career covering company news for Reuters, before moving to Mumbai in 2016. He was part of a Reuters team that won a SABEW award for its coverage of the Bombardier meltdown in 2015, prior to taking on a leadership role in South Asia. Over his career with Reuters, he has covered the downfall of BlackBerry, the FIFA bribery scandal, the Potash-BHP merger saga, demonetization in India and much more. Euan led our erstwhile hot-seat team in New York and he was a founder-member of Reuters Bangalore newsroom in 2004.
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Okwi Okoh
Senior Producer
Reuters
Senior Producer, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Megan Davies
Editor, Financial Markets
Reuters
Editor, Financial Markets, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Jake Spring
Brazil Environment Correspondent
Reuters
Brazil Environment Correspondent, Reuters
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Jenna Greene
Legal Affairs Columnist
Reuters
Legal Affairs Columnist, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Hilary Russ
Journalist
Reuters
Journalist, Reuters
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Jane Lee
Venture Capital and Startup Reporter
Reuters
Venture Capital and Startup Reporter, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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William Schomberg
Chief UK Economics Correspondent
Reuters
Chief UK Economics Correspondent, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Andrew Osborn
Bureau Chief, Russia & CIS
Reuters
Bureau Chief, Russia & CIS, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Christian Lowe
Bureau Chief, France
Reuters
Bureau Chief, France, Reuters
Bio coming soon.
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Mariana Dumont
Project Director
Asif Naqvi
Head of Partnerships
Henry Payne
Head of Commercial
Conference Organiser