Speakers

Since 2014 she has been an inspiring icon of girls and women in tech.

Her daily struggle is to develop programs that promote the inclusion of girls and women in the digital and business world. These programs impact many girls and women in Benin, Africa and internationally. She has been invited to share her professional path with young people of several nationalities in Ivory Coast, Dakar, France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, etc…

In April 2022, she was named one of the 10 young women leading the way to an inclusive digital transformation. #GirlsinD4D of the AU-EU D4D Hub.

Founder and CEO of Women EdTech which is a 1. professional training center for digital skills creation, 2. a support structure for innovative business creation and 3. An accelerator of women’s projects in charge of SMEs focused on ecommerce and international trade.

President of the Women In Tech Benin (WIT Benin) community, a community powered by Enabel in Benin through  digiboost project and funded by the EU.

Marco M. Alemán, studied law at the Javeriana University (J.D., 1991) where he also obtained a Corporate Law Certificate (L.L.M., 1996). He then obtained a Diploma in Advanced Studies (DEA) in Research at the Alcala University (Spain, 2006), and a Ph.D. in Law (2011, Cum Laude).

Mr. Alemán practiced as an IP Attorney from 1991 to 1995. He was then appointed Head of the Colombian Industrial Property Office, from 1995 to 1998, and was invited as a Fellow Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany in 1998.  He joined WIPO in 1999 as Senior Program Officer, Office of Cooperation for Development for Latin America and the Caribbean (from 1999 to 2006).  He was then appointed Deputy Director in the Division for Public Policy and Development (from 2006 to 2009), Deputy Director of the Patent Law Division (from 2009 to 2013), and went on to be Director of the Patent Law Division (2013 – 2020). He currently holds the position of Assistant Director General, leading the IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector (IES).

Mette Azzam holds a position as Lead Origin Expert in the EU-WCO Rules of Origin for Africa Programme, which is an initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by the World Customs Organization to support the African continent to improve its capacity to deal with Rules of Origin and ultimately to support the harmonised and coordinated implementation and application of the Rules of Origin under Annex 2 of the AfCFTA in compliance with other international commitments and best practices.

She has worked as Head of the Origin Sub-Directorate at the WCO for 10 years, as responsible for technical assistance to WCO Members in the area of Origin as well as for the technical part of the WTO negotiations in the Harmonization of Non-Preferential Rules of Origin within the Technical Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO) under the auspices of the WCO. She was the WCO liaison officer in the meetings of the WTO Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) in Geneva.

Mette graduated from the Danish Customs and Tax College in 2000 and has been working in the Danish Customs Administration until February 2008 where she was posted in Brussels as Danish Customs Attaché. From December 2005 to January 2008 she was responsible for origin matters at the Customs Headquarter in Copenhagen, Denmark.

David Bach is Professor of Strategy and Political Economy and Dean of Innovation and Programs. He is a political economy expert with a proven track record of creating impactful learning journeys in a dual role as both Professor and Dean.

Through his award-winning teaching and writing, Bach helps managers and senior executives develop a strategic lens for the nexus of business and politics. This enables them to more effectively navigate the myriad political challenges facing business, from corporate diplomacy and resurgent economic nationalism to stakeholder demands for greater sustainability and shaping policies for a post-COVID-19 world. His course The End of Globalization? – designed in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and the rise of populist leaders across Western democracies – received the 2018 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute.

Dean of Innovation and Programs at IMD, he has led efforts to enhance the school’s global reach and impact through both programmatic and pedagogical innovation.

Bach is one of the main architects of the Global Network for Advanced Management, an alliance of 32 top global business schools from five continents, of which IMD has been a member since 2012. In his previous position at Yale School of Management, where he served as Deputy Dean, he led the successful expansion of the school’s degree program portfolio and the creation of Yale Center Beijing, which he oversaw until joining IMD.

What drew him to IMD was the institution’s outstanding faculty, its innovative, global character, and a relentless focus on real impact.

Bach completed his undergraduate studies at Yale and earned a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Michael is a Director of the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce and for over 30 years was the CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce – New Zealand’s largest Chamber. He has played an active role on issues of Equal Employment and Diversity, developed programs to assist the employment of disadvantaged youth and Chaired a number of Economic Development agencies within NZ.

Michael was awarded a Companion of NZ in this years New Years Honours and will be inducted into the NZ Business Hall of Fame later this year.

Julia Binder is the Director of the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business and Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation at IMD. She specializes in teaching and researching the ways in which companies align social, environmental, and economic impact. Named in the 2022 Thinkers50 Radar List, she was previously Deputy to the Vice President for Innovation at EPFL and led the school’s sustainability initiative Tech4Impact.

Nadine Bla is the founder and CEO of Capital Connect, a business agency that works in the travel, tourism, and events industry. Capital Connect also offers concierge services and organizes economic forums, sporting and cultural events. Additionally, General Commissioner of JNCE (a forum promoting  economic and cultural opportunities Côte d’Ivoire’s Districts).

As an entrepreneur, Nadine also ventured in rubber and food crops and is currently working on a major agri-industrial project.

She is Vice-President at the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Côte d’Ivoire (CCI-CI) and Special Advisor to the President.

She is  a member of the employers association CGECI and in the board of the public company in charge of road maintenance (FER).

She was a member of the National Economic Social Environment and Cultural Council (CESEC) from 2014 to 2022.

Over the years, she has received several awards, among which are: the National Prize of Excellence for Best Business Leader in the Women’s category (2017), Ascom Award for Best Event of the Year – JNCE (2017), National Prize of Excellence for the best travel agency and promotional structure (2018), Top Manager Prize awarded by Reception professionals (2021), Named as Citizen of honor by the Government “Egérie Made in Côte d’Ivoire” (2022) and Special award by Ministry of Tourism and World tourism office as Travel Agency “Sublime Côte d’Ivoire’’ (2022).

She graduated with an Executive-MBA-IFG/IAE/ Paris Sorbonne in 2017, completed a certificate in Management Program for Leader (MPL) – HEC Paris and  achieved a certificate in Advanced Management Program (AMP) – IESE Barcelona/MDE Business School Abidjan back in 2016.

She is the President of the SEMAHE Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting and investing in education and female entrepreneurship in rural areas.

She is the mother of two children.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin took office as Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 1 January 2023.

Ms Bogdan-Martin has held leadership positions in the field of international telecommunications policy for over two decades, with a track-record of brokering innovative partnerships to expand digital inclusion and connectivity for everyone around the world. Following her historic election by ITU Member States in September 2022, she became the first woman ever to head the organization, which was first established in 1865 and became a UN specialized agency in 1947.

As ITU Secretary-General, she aims to drive innovative solutions, maximize ITU’s relevance for its 193 Member States, intensify global cooperation on connecting the unconnected, and strengthen the alignment of ITU’s programmes with the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations. Ms Bogdan-Martin has consistently emphasized the need for digital transformation to achieve economic prosperity, job creation, skills development, gender equality, and socio-economic inclusion, as well as to build circular economies, reduce climate impact, and save lives.

As Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau for a four-year term starting in 2018, she helped put sustainable digital development at the forefront of international cooperation, including with the private sector and civil society. Among other ITU development priorities, she actively promoted the Partner2Connect initiative, which has mobilized unprecedented pledges of funding and support for meaningful Internet connectivity in developing countries.

She was previously instrumental in establishing the ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, serving as its Executive Director for more than a decade; contributed to the success of ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators as the pre-eminent worldwide meeting for digital policy makers; and led ITU’s youth engagement strategy. She also pioneered ITU’s ongoing contribution to the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age and initiated ITU’s collaboration with UNICEF on the Giga project to connect every school worldwide to the Internet.

Within ITU, she has promoted gender equality and encouraged bringing more women into the workforce, as well as helping women grow professionally and contributing to networks of women pursuing gender-balanced participation in conferences and policy making.

From 2008 until 2018, Ms Bogdan-Martin served as Chief of ITU’s Strategic Planning and Membership Department, overseeing corporate communications, external affairs, corporate strategy, and membership. Earlier, she headed the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau’s Regulatory and Market Environment Division and Regulatory Reform Unit.

Before joining ITU in 1994, she worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce as a Telecommunication Policy Specialist in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration.

Ms Bogdan-Martin holds a Master’s in International Communications Policy from American University in Washington, DC, a post-graduate certification in Strategies for Leadership from the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a certification in Accountability and Ethics from the UN Leaders Programme. She is also a qualified amateur radio operator.

Ms Bogdan-Martin is married with four children.

On April 6th, 2017, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was appointed Chairman Emeritus of Nestlé S.A. Previously, he led the Nestlé Group from 1997 to 2008, first as CEO till 2005, and then as Chairman and CEO. In April 2008, he handed over the office of CEO and remained Chairman of the Board of Nestlé S.A. Born in 1944 in Austria, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe graduated from the University of World Trade in Vienna with a degree in Economics. After joining the Nestlé Group in 1968, he spent a significant part of his career in Latin America, before being transferred to Nestlé’s International Headquarter in Vevey as Senior Vice-President. Appointed Executive Vice-President as of 1992 and Member of the Executive Board, he was in charge of the Strategic Business Units, Marketing & Sales, as well as Corporate Communications.

Niall P. Brennan joined SAP in 2020 as the first Global Security Liaison Officer and Head of Strategic Security Partnerships and Engagement, a newly created role within the Global Security organization.  In this capacity, he leads external relationships on a global level with government policymakers, regulators, security and intelligence services, public-private partnerships, industry trade councils, academic and policy research organizations.  Through these engagements, his portfolio addresses issues related to industry security and resilience, threat identification and mitigation, incident response, legislative and regulatory policy development, compliance and enforcement. He has over 30 years of experience in a variety of legal, advisory, security, and investigative roles in both the public and private sectors.

An attorney by education and training, Niall began his professional life as a commercial litigator in private practice.  In 1996, he joined the FBI, where he spent 22-years in a variety of operational and managerial capacities across all investigative and investigative support programs, including transnational organized crime, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber and intelligence.  During his government service, he gained extensive experience in complex investigation, crisis management, information collection and management, policy development and governance and international diplomacy.  In his last position with the FBI, Niall led the office in the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France for over 5 years.  He retired from the FBI in 2018 and joined PwC as a Director in the Cybersecurity & Privacy practice where he led client engagements focused on cyber incident response and mitigation, resiliency-building and organizational transformation.

Niall is married and resides in New York City with his wife and four children.

Richard has been the chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry since February 2020.

Richard has worked in over 55 countries, specialising in Africa, the wider Commonwealth, and conflict-afflicted situations and locations.

He was Chief Executive, Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council from 2017 to 2019. For the previous 8 years, he was Chief Executive of Wilton Park (a Foreign and Commonwealth Office agency for conciliation and dialogue on conflict and crises). He was a Commissioner for Commonwealth Scholarships, and on the Council of Durham University. He is currently a Governor of the National Institute of Social and Economic Research.

He has been CEO of the Countryside Alliance, Director General of the Zoological Society of London, and for ten years served with the British Council in Africa and the Middle East.

He graduated from Durham University (Hatfield College) in 1980 and was a Commonwealth Research Scholar at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (1983-1986). He was born in Hong Kong.

Pamela Coke-Hamilton is a Caribbean lawyer and trade expert who has been serving as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) since 2020.

Early life and education

Coke-Hamilton went to school in Jamaica at Manchester High School in Mandeville, Jamaica. She attended the University of the West Indies where she graduated in Economics and International Relations. She went on to study in Washington, D.C. where she earned Doctor of Law from Georgetown University Law Center.

Mathias Cormann is the 6^th Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

His five-year term commenced on 1 June 2021.

Working with OECD members, his priorities as Secretary-General are:

• Optimising the strength and the quality of the post COVID recovery while responding to the economic and social impacts of the war in Ukraine.
• Leadership on climate action to help secure global net-zero by 2050 in a way that is effective and fair.
• Seizing the opportunities of the digital transformation while better managing some of the associated risks, challenges and disruptions.
• Helping to ensure well-functioning global markets and a global level playing field with a rules-based trading system in good working order.
• Global engagement: advancing OECD standards, through membership and partnerships and a sound approach to development.

Prior to his appointment to the OECD, Mathias served as the Australian Minister for Finance, the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate and as Federal Senator representing the State of Western Australia.

In these roles, he has been a strong advocate for the positive power of open markets, free trade and the importance of a rules-based international trading system.

Mathias was born and raised in the German-speaking part of Belgium.

He migrated to Australia in 1996, attracted by the great lifestyle and opportunities on offer in Western Australia.

Before migrating to Perth, Mathias had graduated in law at the Flemish Catholic University of Louvain (Leuven), following studies at the University of Namur and, as part of the European Erasmus Student Exchange Program, at the University of East Anglia.

Between 1997 and 2003, he worked as Chief of Staff as well as Senior Adviser to various State and Federal Ministers in Australia and for the Premier of Western Australia

Between 2003 and 2007, Mathias worked for major Western Australian health insurer HBF in a range of senior management roles.

Deputy Secretary-General at ISO – International Organization for Standardization

1972, Brazilian / Spanish / Swiss

Business Administration, University of São Paulo. Further education at IESE, IMD and Stanford.

1997-2010, LafargeHolcim, senior executive positions in Switzerland and Brazil; Member of the Board of Directors in invested companies across Latin America.

2010, INYPSA Engineering, Spain, Corporate Director.

2013-2021, World Economic Forum, Member of the Executive Committee in Switzerland, responsible for private sector in Latin America, Europe and Eurasia, global corporate governance insight area and Climate Governance Initiative.

Since August 2021, Deputy Secretary-General at ISO.

Léocadie Ebakissé is an expert moderator and host for international, corporate and institutional events, both in person and online. Creator of the Leadership of Alliances©, her knowledge and expertise in transformation strategies helps leaders to develop their influence on the pan-African and international scene.

Born in Egypt to a Cameroonian father and a Gabonese mother, Léocadie started her career in a large real estate press group and quickly evolved in the fields of recruitment, career management, training, consulting, HR development and facilitation. With 20 years of experience in large corporations, Léocadie founded Talents Awake in 2015, a consulting agency in transformation strategies and influence development.
Executive Coach and certified trainer, Léocadie advises leaders, decision-makers and organisations in Europe, Africa and Canada in order to lead and facilitate their strategic transformations. She also teaches at major schools and international campuses to raise awareness and train the young leaders of tomorrow.

With Talents Awake, Léocadie co-produces and hosts original TV programmes and podcasts, where managers, leaders and allies share their commitment and the way alliances are built and evolve within their ecosystems. She is the author of the book L’Energie de l’Ambition (to be published in 2023).

Businessman and engineer. Graduated from the Special School of Public Works in Paris, the Special School of Mechanics and Electricity in Paris and the Ecole Centrale in Paris. The current president of the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce has worked in large companies in Europe (France and Holland) and in Africa France (Tunisia and Côte d’Ivoire). In Cameroon in 1975, he joined the Air Liquide Cameroon subsidiary, where he was deputy director, then director of Camoa, then director of Saticam before becoming general secretary of the Air Liquide group in Central Africa.

A former member of the National Assembly, he is the promoter of Globauto and the intercity transport company “Centrale voyages”. After a first appointment as President of the Chamber of Commerce in 2008, Christophe Eken was reappointed for the first time on February 24, 2012, four years later, he is still at the head of the oldest consular institution in Cameroon.

Since April 2022 he has been President of the Permanent Conference of African and Francophone Consular Chambers

Simone Wyss Fedele is CEO of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the official Swiss organization for export promotion and location promotion with locations in all parts of Switzerland and in 31 countries. She holds a PhD in international economics and worked for 20 years in the life science, technology and insurance industries. Either in the core business or at the interface with trade associations, authorities and politics: For example, she worked in marketing at Endress+Hauser, was responsible for product launches in over 30 countries at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and was in charge of public affairs at Helvetia. Most recently, Simone Wyss Fedele was Chief Economist at Novartis and was part of the Executive Committee of Novartis Switzerland as Head of Public Affairs. Since 2021, she has also served on the Board of Directors of the biotech company Infors AG and on the Executive Committee of the Swiss Institute for International Swiss Institute of International Studies at the University of St. Gallen.

Alexander G. Fessas is the Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, where he is responsible for the operational management and coordination of the ICC Court’s Secretariat and other dispute resolution services in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Sao Paolo, Singapore and Abu Dhabi Global Market.  

He joined the Secretariat in late 2011 and held consecutive positions in three case management teams, of which two as counsel. Prior to his appointment as Secretary General, he was the Secretariat’s Managing Counsel over a three-year term. He read law at the University of Athens, Greece having specialized in international commercial transactions and conflict of laws. Prior to joining the ICC Court, he practised as counsel out of Athens where he established a sole practice in 2008. He was previously an associate at an Athens-based law firm. He is admitted to the Athens Bar and speaks English, French and Greek. 

Darlan F. Martí is a trade policy specialist at the Market Access Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He has served as Secretary to the WTO Committee on Rules of Origin since 2012 and has, in that capacity, assisted WTO Members during the negotiation of the Bali (2013) and Nairobi (2015) Ministerial Decisions on preferential rules of origin for Least Developed Countries. In that context, he monitors global developments related to origin and also leads the WTO team that examines the linkages between preferential rules of origin and the utilization of trade preferences by LDCs. Before joining the WTO, Mr. Martí worked in the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and in the South Centre. Mr. Martí is a Brazilian national and was educated in the US, UK and France (Master if Laws, LL.M).

Mexican, CEO of Orestia, business leader, strong advocate of business ethics, board member of several business organizations. She was VP of Employers at the 98th Session of the International Labour Organization. She is currently Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce and is part of the group of advisors and leaders of the B20 and the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. 

 Maria Fernanda Garza is a Mexican businesswoman, CEO of Orestia, a manufacturing home improvement- water solutions company, with exports to USMCA region, Latin-America and Asia. 

 Her interest in improving the business environment, made her a prominent business leader at a young age. Board member of Mexico´s leading business organizations such as COPARMEX, CCE, ALIARSE, among others. 

 For ten years, Mexico’s Employer Delegate to the International Labour Organization Conference, where she became appointed Employer’s Vice Chair at the ILO’s 98th Session. 

 Maria Fernanda Garza was Chair of ICC México from 2014 – 2020.  

 Regional Coordinator for the Americas 2012-2020. 

 Member of the Governing Body of the International Court of Arbitration. 

 She is currently, Chairwoman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). 

 Member of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Urbanization of the President of the UN General Assembly’s. 

 Member of the International Advocacy Caucus of Indonesia B20, and 

 She was appointed to serve on the United Nations Secretary-General’s inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel for two years since 2022. 

Arancha González is the third Dean of PSIA at Sciences Po and first woman to lead the world’s third school for Politics and International Studies.  

Prior to joining PSIA, Ms González served as Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (2020-2021). She previously was Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (2013-2020). Between 2005 and 2013 she served as Chief of Staff to the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy. Before that she held senior positions at the European Commission in the areas of international trade and development. Ms González started her career as lawyer in the private sector. 

Ms González has been a member of PSIA’s Strategic Committee since 2017.

A Spanish national, Ms González holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and a Postgraduate Degree in European Law from the University Carlos III of Madrid. 

Shevaun became Director General of BCC at the end of April 2021. She joined BCC from the Cabinet Office where she led Business Partnerships. She joined the Government in 2016 and also ran the Inclusive Economy Partnership for HMG.

Shevaun started her career in consultancy in London and New York. She then moved to the Walt Disney Company in strategic planning before joining Disneyland Paris, opening the second theme park. Shevaun then joined the agency world, running global accounts for Millward Brown, Mindshare and WPP.

Following this, she became a partner in a start-up digital innovation agency and venture builder, Independents United, where she also became an Advisor for the Danson Foundation.

Most recently, Shevaun was the New Ventures Director for Avado, building new businesses in Edtech and founding the Academy of Digital Business Leaders.

Shevaun has a passion for business as a force for good. She is a social impact investor, sits on the Ventures Advisory Board of UnLtd, and is Trustee of Barefoot College International as well as a board member of Women of the World Foundation

In March 2022 Gilbert F. Houngbo was elected by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as its 11th Director-General, becoming the first African to hold the position. He took up the role on 1 October 2022. 

Prior to that post, Mr Houngbo was the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, based in Rome, Italy. First elected in 2017, he was re-elected in 2021.  He previously was Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships at the ILO.   

In 2008, Mr Houngbo was asked to serve as Prime Minister of Togo, a position he held until 2012.  Prior to that he held several posts at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including Chief of Staff and Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Africa, following several years in the private sector and three years serving as Director of Finance at the International Bank of Mali. 

Mr Houngbo is also Chair of UN-Water, the coordination mechanism of the United Nations for water and sanitation, and Chair of the Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute.

Kathleen “Kate” Kallot is a world-class technologist who has received sustained global
acclaim in tech for social impact, most notably for her work advancing technology access
across Africa.
She is the Founder & CEO of Amini, an African-born deep tech startup building the largest
climate data infrastructure solution for Africa.
She was a Co-Founder, Chief Impact & Ecosystem Officer at Mara where she oversaw
community, education and developer relations alongside leading the Mara Foundation, a
non-profit dedicated to accelerating blockchain capacity development in Africa.
Prior to co-founding Mara, she was Head of Global Developer Relations and Emerging
Areas at NVIDIA, where she led their expansion into emerging markets (incl. Africa) and
created the United AI Alliance dedicated to using data to drive environmental and social
progress and the NVIDIA Emerging Chapters program.
While leading AI Ecosystem & Developer Relations at Arm, She was one of the founding
member of the Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) movement which is a fast growing field of
machine learning technologies and applications including hardware, algorithms and
software capable of performing on-device sensor data analytics at extremely low power,
typically in the mW range and below. She was also the chair of the TinyML for Good
Committee in 2021 and 2022.
While at Intel, she led the development of the world’s first AI development kit in a USB
form factor, the Neural Compute Stick (generations 1 & 2), bringing computer vision and Al
to IoT and edge devices for the first time.
She spearheaded many AI4Good initiatives which resulted in many collaborations with
the UN to advance data science and AI capacity building in Africa and other emerging
markets with a goal to train one million African developers to in turn impact a billion lives
over the next five years. She regularly advises international organizations on the power of
tech to drive social impact, speaking at conferences for Gates Foundation WEF, UNECA,
UNICEF and GPSDD.
Kate has won multiple accolades throughout her career, including Business Insider Top
100 and VentureBeat Women in AI Rising Star 2020.

Giuseppe entered the family business in 1991 after finishing his university studies and gaining professional experience in London (Philip Brothers), going on to act as the company’s Strategic Marketing Director from 2005 to 2011. In 2008 he also assumed the role of Vice President of the Board of Directors of Luigi Lavazza S.p.A., a position he holds to this day.

Giuseppe Lavazza is also on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Giuseppe e Pericle Lavazza Foundation-of Finlav S.p.A., a holding company belonging to the Lavazza family; and a member of the Steering Committee of International Coffee Partners, an organisation that promotes programmes dedicated to supporting coffee producers.

In 2019 he was made a knight of the Order of Merit for Labour by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Geraldine Matchett (1972, British; French; Swiss) is Co-Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Managing Board of Royal DSM. She was appointed as Co-CEO on 15 February 2020. Geraldine joined DSM’s Managing Board in August 2014 and became CFO on 1 December 2014. Her current term will end in 2026.

Before joining DSM, Geraldine worked with the SGS Group where she held various positions including Senior Vice President Group Financial Controller, before being appointed Global Chief Financial Officer in March 2010. In this role, she was voted CFO of the year in Switzerland for large companies. Before joining SGS she worked for Deloitte in Switzerland and for KPMG in the UK, obtaining her Chartered Accountant qualification while working in London.

Geraldine holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical & Human Geography from Reading University (UK) and a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from Cambridge University (UK).

María Mendiluce is the CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition and has 25 years of experience in sustainable development, energy and climate action. The Coalition brings together seven leading international organizations: BSR, The B Team, CDP, Ceres, CLG Europe, Climate Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Together, they catalyze business leadership and policy ambition to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

As chief executive of the Coalition, María is leading on flagship net-zero initiatives encompassing companies of all sizes and several sectors. She sits on the Executive Board of The Science Based Targets initiative that has over 4,500 companies engaged. She actively took part in the founding and is a member of the Board of the Mission Possible Partnership that works to develop decarbonization roadmaps for seven hard-to-abate sectors including cement and steel. María also co-founded the SME Climate Hub that is building a one-stop-shop for smaller companies for their net-zero commitments.

Formerly being the Managing Director and member of the Senior Management Team at WBCSD, María established transformative industry projects. These include the Alliance to End Plastic Waste which pledged $1.5 billion to address plastic leakage to the environment; the Transforming Urban Mobility project to drive clean, safe and efficient mobility for all and WBCSD’s flagship Low Carbon Technology Partnership initiative which was recognized as a key contributor to the Paris Agreement.

She has also held senior positions at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, in the CEO’s office of Iberdrola and at the International Energy Agency.

Maria has a PhD in energy economics. She is a Commissioner on the Energy Transitions Commission, a board member of the Centre for International Environmental Studies (CIES) in Geneva and she is part of several companies’ sustainability advisory councils.

Charles Milliard holds a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy, a certificate in Economics from Laval University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from HEC Montréal. He is recognized as an experienced manager with long-standing expertise in public affairs, particularly in the pharmaceutical, health, and life sciences sectors.

Before being appointed President and CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, he served as Executive Vice President at Groupe Uniprix and Vice President, Outreach Strategy – Health at the National Public Relations Cabinet.

In addition to his business accomplishments, Charles Milliard currently serves on several boards of directors in the arts sector, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Cégep de Lévis Foundation and the Lanaudière Festival.

Sergio Mujica joined ISO as Secretary-General in July 2017, having spent 7 years at the World Custom’s Organization (WCO) as Deputy Secretary-General. The WCO aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Custom’s administrations worldwide, and within this role Mr Mujica was responsible for the design and implementation of the WCO’s strategic plan. This included simplification, harmonization and standardization of custom’s procedures in addition to capacity building initiatives aimed at the WCO members. This gave him significant experience in an international setting, building consensus within a large membership-based organization.

Prior to working at the World Customs Organization, Mr Mujica spent 15 years working for the Government of Chile with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and as the Director General of Chile Customs. A Chilean national, he has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and a Master’s degree in International Law from the American University in Washington DC.

Patrick Odier has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Lombard Odier & Co Ltd. since January 1st, 2014. He was Senior Managing Partner of the Lombard Odier Group from 2008 until 2022.

He joined the Lombard Odier Group in 1982 and completed his training in Zurich, New York, and Montreal, before becoming a Managing Partner in 1986. He holds an economics degree from the University of Geneva and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago.

Patrick Odier is president of Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF). He is also Chairman of Building Bridges. He is member of the Board of economiesuisse (Swiss Business Federation). He was Chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association from 2009 to 2016. He is also a board member of several Swiss and international academic institutions and philanthropic organizations.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the first woman and first African to hold the position in the 75-year history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the WTO.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development expert with more than 40 years of experience, whose service includes Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (2016–2020), the African Union’s African Risk Capacity Group (2014–2020), and Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Rockefeller Foundation. She co-chaired the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing for Pandemic Preparedness and was one of the founders of the COVAX Facility, designed to get affordable vaccines to Low and Low Middle-Income Countries. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and is co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. She is a member of the G30 Group of top 30 people in International Finance.

Previously Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, among other duties, served as Senior Advisor at Lazard Ltd. and sat on the boards of Standard Chartered Bank PLC and Twitter Inc. She served in 2020 as African Union COVID-19 Special Envoy as well as World Health Organization COVID 19 Special Envoy.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, a post she held for seven years. She also served briefly as the first female Foreign Affairs Minister. As Finance Minister, she implemented policy and institutional reforms to help fight corruption and she spearheaded the complete write-off by the Paris Club of $30 billion of Nigeria’s debt. She spent a 25-year career at the World Bank, rising to the number two position of Managing Director, Operations.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the recipient of numerous honors and accolades among which are, being named in 2014 and again in 2021, one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world. She was also featured on the TIME magazine cover page in 2021. She has been named six times by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World and in 2020, was named Forbes African of the Year. In 2021 she was named by Financial Times as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in the World. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was ranked by Fortune as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders in 2015. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is the recipient of 19 honorary Doctorate Degrees, some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Amherst College, Brown University, University of Amsterdam, Luiss University, Italy and Trinity College Dublin.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard University, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude, and a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Barbara Ramos is Chief of Research and Strategies for Exports at the International Trade Centre (ITC). Prior to joining ITC, Dr. Ramos was the Team Manager and Knowledge Lead at the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, based at the World Economic Forum, where she managed staff responsible for research, data analysis, and monitoring and evaluation. She previously worked for the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the World Bank and USAID. Dr. Ramos has also been lecturing international trade and investment at The Fletcher School for a number of years. She holds a PhD and a MA in International Trade from The Fletcher School (United States) and a MA and BA in International Relations from Universidade de Brasília (Brazil).

Claudia Salomon is the President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. She is the first woman to lead the world’s most preferred arbitral institution in its almost 100–year history.
Ms Salomon is also an independent arbitrator, specialising in international, investor–state and complex commercial disputes. She is widely recognised as one of the leading arbitration practitioners of her generation.
Ms Salomon has experience as arbitrator and counsel in some of the most complex, high value and significant disputes. Her cases span a broad range of industry sectors, including construction, energy and natural resources (oil and gas, hydroelectric, solar, wind farm), financial services, hospitality, life sciences, technology, and telecommunications. She is particularly adept at multi–party, multi–contract claims involving complex financial agreements, post–M&A disputes and intellectual property rights.
Additionally, Ms Salomon is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is a sought-after speaker and writer on international arbitration and the co–editor of Choice of Venue in International Arbitration, published by Oxford University Press.
Ms Salomon is a member of the New York Bar and a solicitor in England and Wales. She graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, and Brandeis University, summa cum laude with honours. She also studied at Somerville College, Oxford University.

Business administrator with experience in the development and administration of projects for small companies carrying out commercial activities and productive chains with communities, market strategies, distribution channels, marketing, processing of essential oils and transformation of products for the cosmetic industry, company creation, management of communities and management before public and private entities and training under the modality of workshops and conferences. Recently she has been part of the circular economy program of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá.

Has leadership skills and orientation with personnel, works under pressure, conciliation and consultation, creativity and full-time professional commitment.

Professor Klaus Schwab is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

He has championed the multistakeholder concept since the Forum’s inception in 1971. Under his leadership, the Forum has been a driver for reconciliation efforts in different parts of the world, acting as a catalyst of numerous collaborations and international initiatives.

In 1998, with his wife Hilde, he created the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which seeks to identify, recognize and disseminate initiatives in social entrepreneurship that have significantly improved people’s lives and have the potential to be replicated on a global scale.

The Forum employs over 700 people, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and additional offices in New York, San Francisco, Beijing and Tokyo.

An engineer and economist by training, Professor Klaus Schwab holds doctorates in Economics (summa cum laude) from the University of Fribourg, in Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 1972 he became one of the youngest professors on the faculty of the University of Geneva. He has received numerous international and national honours.

His latest books are The Fourth Industrial Revolution (2016), a worldwide bestseller translated into 30 languages,  Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2018), COVID 19: The Great Reset (2020),  Stakeholder Capitalism (2021), and The Great Narrative (2022).

As Director General of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce (CCIG), Vincent Subilia advocates the Geneva business community; he thus promotes and defends the CCIG approx. 2’500 corporate Members, while representing the latter within numerous regional, national and international institutions, including the General Council of the World Chamber’s Federation, as elected Swiss representative. Vincent has equally acted as President of the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution, and is currently acting within the board of approximately 20 different institutions, e.g. the Swiss Arbitration Center, the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ICC Switzerland.

A qualified lawyer with robust expertise gained in Switzerland and abroad (including in Brussels, London, New York, Beijing and Singapore), Vincent has worked within a large international bank in Geneva as Vice President for numerous years, as well as for a major law firm specialised in WTO issues.

An alumnus of the Graduate Institute of Geneva and co-founder of the Genève International Rotary Club, Vincent has further been elected as Member of the Geneva Parliament.

Soren Toft joined MSC as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in December 2020, reporting to Group President Diego Aponte.

In the role, Soren oversees MSC’s global cargo businesses, including all ocean liner and logistics businesses, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of Terminal Investment Ltd (TiL).

Soren has more than 25 years of experience in the shipping industry. Before joining MSC, he was Chief Operating Officer and a Member of the Executive Board at Maersk, previously holding various leadership positions in Europe and Asia after joining Maersk in 1994. Soren was also Chairman of Hamburg Süd, Maersk Oil Trading, Maersk Container Industry and A.P. Moller Singapore, and Board Member at Maersk Line, Limited. He holds an executive MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Tatiana Valovaya is the 13th Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UN Geneva) and the first woman to occupy this position. 

Ms. Valovaya has more than 35 years of experience in public service, diplomacy and journalism.

Mike van der Vijver is a Meeting Designer and Advisor, Trainer and Coach in Intercultural Management.

Since 2003, he operates as a free-lance designer of international meetings for a wide variety of international clients through MindMeeting, a company he co-founded with Eric de Groot. MindMeeting specialises in the design of effective meeting programmes for international organisations, which includes advice on programmes and formats, and the designs of full conference and meeting programmes.

In connection with his design work, but also independently, Mike presents, moderates and facilitates on average about 30-35 meetings a year. His clients say about his moderation style and approach: “clear, quick and approachable; creates a safe environment and easily puts people at ease; yet comes up with original and effective communication solutions; uncommon capability of capturing and responding to important messages, both verbally and non-verbally; high sensitivity to needs of diverse international audiences.”

He is also a speaker at conferences or during workshops on topics such as: meeting effectiveness, innovative meeting formats, and especially Meeting Design, as well as national culture, organizational culture change. He regularly conducts sessions involving the application of structured creative thinking to business environments. He trains professionals on meeting design, creative thinking and public speaking.

Previously, Mike worked as an advisor, trainer and coach in intercultural management for a wide variety of groups and individuals of many nationalities.

Mike is a native of the Netherlands and still spends a fair amount of his time in his home country, working on assignments for Dutch clients. He is fluent in Dutch, English and Italian and has a fair command of German and French.

He is the co-author (together with his MindMeeting colleague Eric de Groot) of Into the Heart of Meetings, allegedly the first book ever on Meeting Design (2013).

Martin Van der Weide is Policy Advisor on Origin at the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the ICC/World Chambers Federation International Certificate of Origin Council.

M. Van der Weide has served more than twenty years in the Chamber network. He started his career at a regional Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands.

Martin is responsible for the system for electronic Certificates of Origin (CO) in the Netherlands.

M. Van der Weide is also Chair of the International CO Accreditation Committee. The Accreditation Chain affirms that chambers are mutually responsible and globally interconnected, assuring businesses, traders, banks and customs administrations that COs are issued in accordance with international best practices.

M. Van der Weide has studied agribusiness management.

Philippe Varin started his career in 1978. He held various R&D, Plant and Business Unit Management roles at Péchiney in France and the USA and he was the Group Executive Vice President for the Aluminum sector when he left Péchiney to become the CEO of the Anglo Dutch steel company, Corus in 2003. The Corus turnaround ended with its acquisition by the Indian Group Tata in 2007. Philippe Varin remained two years with Tata, in Mumbai and in London, and he then moved to the French car making group Peugeot Citroen where he was Chairman of the Managing Board between 2009 and 2014. He has  then  been Chairman of the nuclear energy companies Areva and Orano until 2020. He has also been Chairman of « France Industrie » and Vice Chairman of the “Conseil National de l’Industrie” from 2017 to 2021 . Philippe Varin was on the board of Saint Gobain until 2021. In 2020, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Suez that he left in 2022 after the bid of Veolia. 

Philippe has also chaired The World Materials Forum since 2015. He currently chairs the Critical Raw Materials task force for the French Government. He has been appointed First Vice Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce. 

Philippe graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris. He has been appointed officer of the “Legion d’Honneur” and  knight of the national order of  Merit in France , and Commander of the British Empire in the UK.

Transformative leader with exceptional skills in business development, marketing, project management and business strategy. The wealth of expertise has been garnered over the last fifteen years working with Multinationals in key economic sectors including in business membership organization, ICT and Telecommunications, social enterprise and manufacturing.

Has successfully developed and implemented strategies that led to exponential business growth through the development of innovative products, brand visibility and innovative distribution models.

Consummate marketing and communication professional with a knack for creating and maintaining beneficial networks, partnerships and collaborations that drive business.

Possesses exceptional leadership skills, an efficient and strategic planner, who ensures the customer and entrepreneur needs are at the core of all business undertaking. Thrives in diverse and challenging environments.

Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Nairobi and is an Accredited Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom.

A voracious reader, who is inspired to mentor and coach the next generation of women aspiring to leadership.

Marjorie Yang is the Chairman of Esquel Group, a knowledge-based innovation company that continuously pushes for positive change in the textile and apparel business, expanding into new territory to evolve with the industry and its customers.

As a strong believer in sustainable development and environmental conservation, Marjorie is a member of the High Level Steering Committee of UN Global Compact Action Platform on “Sustainable Infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative to accelerate the SDGs” and the Advisory Council of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).

She is the appointed representative of Hong Kong, China to APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).  She also serves as Chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC) with the purpose of providing advice to the Mayor of Seoul and joins the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Marjorie is dedicated to promoting education and innovative technologies. She is the Co-chairman of the advisory board of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Chairperson of the Steering Committee of CoolThink@JC, which is created and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. She also serves as a member of various advisory boards including Harvard University, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Tsinghua University’s School of Economics & Management, the University of Hong Kong’s Innovation Academy of the Faculty of Engineering and Guilin Tourism University.

Marjorie is an Independent Non-executive Director for Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Limited.

She served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 2003 to 2018 and was the Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for six years until 2015.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mohamed Zoghlami a consultant in development and strategic analysis, specialised in creative and digital industries in Africa. He is co-Founder of Afric’Up, the first African startup summit and of Africa in Colors in Rwanda. He is a member of the Francophone Agency for Artificial Intelligence and Honorary President of CAVIE, the African Center for Economic Intelligence.

He has invested in different projects such as the 3D training school, Netinfo, the innovation center, DigiArt Living Lab, the video game with SaphirProd, EdTech with Sewelo, and more.