Karolina is a fashion designer and educator focused on sustainability and circular economy. 2020 she founded her upcycling brand RAJ headwear. She has deep respect both for artisanal handicraft and innovative technologies. Having background in cultural, educational and design studies, Karolina believes in an interdisciplinary approach. Currently, she teaches a course on Sustainable Fashion at HTW Berlin.

Marianne is co-founder of Circularity, a do-tank and professional network to advance the circular economy in Germany, where she organizes round tables, workshops and design sprints with partners from business, science and society to enable practical exchange and to collaboratively develop and implement circular solutions.
Combining her experience from management consulting at McKinsey & Company and organizing design thinking workshops and hackathons, she enjoys creative team work and hands-on approaches to advance the transition to a circular economy.
Marianne is currently pursuing her PhD at the Group for Sustainability & Technology at ETH Zurich, where she focusses on corporate circular innovation strategies and effective industry collaboration for the circular economy.

Nicole is an experienced attorney and nonprofit executive. She co-founded the Material Innovation Initiative after identifying the rich potential of the next-gen materials market through her work catapulting plant-based foods into the mainstream. In her previous role as director of international engagement at the Good Food Institute, Nicole worked with key audiences around the world including companies, entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, and government officials to promote the development of alternatives to animal products. Her expertise in the field and in bringing together stakeholders made her a sought after speaker at conferences and high profile meetings in locations like Israel, Estonia, Poland, London, Brazil, India, and across the U.S.

In 2018 Lukas Neuss founded KitchenTown Berlin together with Eike Kieras. As Co-Founder he is dedicating all his professional attention to startups, venture building and food innovation. Earlier, Lukas lead a Digital Transformation Hub at Bahlsen Group.

I am a Senior Project Manager at Futury GmbH initiating and delivering Sustainable Innovation Projects called The Mission. We bring expert, talents and corporates together to develop new solutions and business models across the most pressing sustainability issues today.

Passionate Sustainability Manager and Political Scientist. Workshop leader, trainer and consultant on various aspects of sustainability, circularity and innovation. Strong focus on sustainable energy, food systems and CO₂ reduction.

Vanessa Weber is considered by many to be the voice of small and medium-sized businesses. She is a blogger and specialist author for well-known media, an influencer on the topics of modern entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership, and a popular and multiple award-winning speaker at major congresses and conferences. She is the managing director of Werkzeug Weber and a passionate entrepreneur. She focuses on innovations and new business areas as well as sustainability – in her company, but also socially in terms of climate protection and education as well as reconciling economy and ecology. She founded the Vanessa Weber Foundation for Education and Sustainability, an activist in various environmental and climate protection movements, and involved in committees of various national and international business and professional associations.

With background in Middle Eastern studies and fashion design, Meike believes in social economy and the power of bottom-up initatives. An activist herself, she engages with the local community wherever she is at and for the last two years she works with a sustainable Berlin fashion label. Currently, she teaches a course on Sustainable Fashion at HTW Berlin.

Foster sustainability through work and workspaces in the 15-min city.

Max is the co-founder of u.emerge eG – a spring for radical change. After some years as a free-lance Trainer and Coach he worked for 14 years in B2B Sales for Management Conferences. He was a Business Development Manager of a Consultancy in the Process Industries, specializing in Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement, before he founded u.emerge.
With u.emerge he brings together his thrive for transforming the business world with 40+ years of experience as an improvising musician and a spiritual seeker. u.emerge states that the current challenges in business and beyond call for a change, that goes beyond the understanding and routines of business as we know it. We need to change perspective, from “ego to eco” as Otto Scharmer (Theory U) says, and that personally as much as socially.

From fishermen to business leaders, Luisa has worked with people from all walks of life to support them in making the best possible use of data and digital decision-making tools. She uses her extensive experience in project management, stakeholder liaison, and strategy definition to help solve complex problems, from coral reef conservation in Mozambique to fighting deforestation in South-East Asia. When it comes to using data and technology to motivate positive change, Luisa believes there’s much more we can do. She mentors researchers and social entrepreneurs to drive positive action for the planet.

Jessie represents the Australian Government’s Global Talent Program in Europe and Israel. Her role is to work with exceptional individuals in future focused industry sectors to help fast-track their pathway to Australia in order to unlock Australian prosperity.
Prior to her current role Jessie worked as a management consultant with KPMG and in strategy for Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO. In her spare time Jessie supports the development of new, sustainably founded, Australian businesses through pro bono consulting.

David Lais is a social entrepreneur and the founder of several innovative start-ups in the area of payments. He started his first company at the age of 16 and by pure chance entered the payments industry. In 2015, a life-changing event sparked his decision to act on climate change. He decided to the purpose of sustainable and socially impactful technology. In the ensuing months, he launched the non-for profit Organization for Sustainable Consumption, and co-founded ecolytiq, leveraging publicly available and payments data to enable sustainable banking. To David, technology is not a means to an end, but when used correctly, it is an indispensable tool. “We need to use the large pool of existing data for positive societal change, and not just for maximizing profit.”

Florian is an expert on the crossroads of sustainability and technological innovation. As an economist, Florian leverages insights from behavioural science, history and monetary theory to understand the implications of technological innovation and works with the public sector and civil society to maximize the positive impact of IOTA´s technology as an open, inclusive digital infrastructure.