GREENTECH FESTIVAL SPEAKERS 2022

Alan was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Unilever in January 2019. Prior to this, he served as President of the Beauty & Personal Care Division. He also worked in leadership roles in North America for 14 years and Asia for 13 years. As CEO he has overseen the unification of Unilever’s legal structure under a single parent company; acceleration of the company’s Prestige and Functional Nutrition product portfolios, and has consolidated Unilever’s sustainability and business strategies into one – known as the Compass. Alan holds a BA Hons in Commerce from Edinburgh University and graduated from Harvard Business School's General Management Program in 2001. Recently, he was appointed Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. Alan is married and has three adult children.

Alexander Vlaskamp was born in 1971. He graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Automotive Engineering before he joined Scania in 1997 as Manager Pre-Sales at Scania Deutschland GmbH. From 2002 to 2012, Alexander Vlaskamp worked for Scania in various management positions in Austria, Poland and Germany. In 2017 he moved to Sweden and took over the position as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Trucks. In 2020 he was appointed member of the Executive Board at Scania, responsible for Sales and Marketing. Since November 2021 Alexander Vlaskamp has taken over the responsibility as Chairman of the Executive Board of MAN Truck & Bus SE. In addition, Alexander Vlaskamp was appointed to the Executive Board of TRATON SE.

Since 1st of March 2022 Annette Mann has been a Member of the Management Board of Austrian Airlines as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Annette Mann has extensive management experience gained within the Lufthansa Group, serving in various strategic, conceptional and operational positions over the last 18 years. Before joining Austrian Airlines, she had the position as Head of Corporate Responsibility at the Lufthansa Group, with responsibility for the further development, management and implementation of a holistic and Group-wide sustainability program. Before then, she held various management positions in the Lufthansa Group. For example, she served as VP Product Management at SWISS in Zurich. At the same time, she was responsible for Inflight & Customer Services of Network Airlines.

Since 1 May 2014, Carsten Spohr has been Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. He manages the Lufthansa Group with all its business segments. Carsten Spohr became a member of the Executive Board in January 2011. Prior to this, he held various management positions within the Group, including Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Airline and Lufthansa Cargo AG. Carsten Spohr holds a degree in industrial engineering and the Lufthansa Captain’s license for the Airbus A320.

Christian Klein is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. In his role as CEO, Klein holds the overall responsibility for the corporate strategic direction, management, and performance of SAP.

In addition to the role of CEO, until July 2021, Klein was also SAP’s Chief Operating Officer, leading SAP’s transformation into an Intelligent Enterprise to the benefit of both customers and employees.

Christoph Schweizer is CEO of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), elected May 2021. Prior to his role, he was BCG’s chairman for Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He has also served on the firm’s Executive and Operating Committees since 2014. Christoph is a member of several leading organizations, including the Business Roundtable and the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) International Business Council. Throughout his career, Christoph has supported clients across industries in major transformational programs. He is a passionate supporter of social impact activities, in particular related to sustainability.
Christoph joined BCG in 1997. He received an MBA from University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and holds a BA from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz.

After holding various positions at McKinsey Leonhard Birnbaum joined RWE AG in 2008 and was appointed to the Board of Management the same year. In 2013, Leonhard Birnbaum became member of the Board of Management of E.ON SE and took on a variety of responsibilities within the Board. From 2018 until 2021 he was responsible for the integration of Innogy SE and from 2019 to 2020 also Chairman of the Board of Management. In 2021, Leonhard Birnbaum was appointed to his current role as CEO of E.ON SE. Leonhard Birnbaum is Vice-President of the Presidium of BDEW, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, Vice-President of Eurelectric, the European Electricity Association, and Vice Chair of the World Energy Council.

He began his career in 1992 as a design engineer for a V12 series-production engine at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. In 1995, he moved to the development service provider FEV GmbH in Aachen, where he held various positions, the last of which was head of the engine mechanics division.

In 2004, he took over the position of main department manager for new diesel engines at DaimlerChrysler AG in Stuttgart, and in 2005 became head of Formula 1 development at Mercedes-Benz in Brixworth in the United Kingdom.

In 2007, Markus Duesmann moved to BMW AG as head of Formula 1 powertrain. Markus Duesmann is  now Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG effective April 1, 2020. Since then, he has also had Board of Management responsibility for Volkswagen Group Research and Development. Additionally he is entrusted with responsibility for the China business of the AUDI AG and with Board of Management responsibility for Product Lines at AUDI AG.

Matteo is CEO and MD of Poste Italiane since April 2017. He studied Economics at Bocconi University and attended specialization courses in international financial markets at NYU Stern School of Business. He started his career at JPM in 1991 and became MD in 1999. In 2004 he joined the newly privatized Cassa depositi e prestiti as Head of Finance and M&A, becoming CEO of the Group’s asset management company in 2009, and, then, President until 2014. From 2010 to 2014 he was MD of CDP and from 2014 to 2017 CEO and MD of Terna. He was CEO of Poste Vita from 2017 to 2020. He is Vice-Chairman of ASSONIME since September 2021. In 2021 the Bocconi Alumni Community awarded him the 2021 Alumnus Award.

Timotheus Höttges is CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG since 2014. From 2009 until his appointment as CEO, he has been member of the Group Board of Management responsible for Finance and Controlling. From 2006 to 2009 he was member of the Board of Management responsible for the T-Home unit. In this position, he was in charge of fixed-network and broadband business, as well as integrated sales and service in Germany. Under his leadership, T-Home became the market leader in terms of new DSL customers and developed its Internet TV service, Entertain, into a mass-market product while at the same time stabilizing its profitability. He studied business administration at Cologne University and started his career at a business consulting company.

As Head of Sustainability for Google Europe, Middle East and Africa, Adam works at the meeting point of physical, digital and natural worlds. He coordinates with Google’s real world and digital infrastructure teams – from real estate and supply chains, to data centers and products – to ensure the company is leveraging opportunities to strategically advance sustainability. He draws on over 15 years of experience driving sustainability at organisations including Amazon and Marks & Spencer. A Chartered Environmentalist, Adam works as a catalyst for change, building partnerships, and identifying the practical transformations and decisions required for sustainability business in the 21st century.

Ailin Huang is the Head of Sustainability at TIER Mobility AG, where she leads TIER’s sustainability initiatives, from strategy development, over research and partnerships to supporting departments in implementation. Ailin has devoted her career to sustainability from the start: She previously advised governments on clean energy policy and decarbonisation strategies at the International Energy Agency/ OECD and worked at EPEA GmbH on circular economy solutions. As a member of the European Commission’s expert group on Economic and Social Impact of Research, Ailin also supports transformative research and innovation policy in the EU.

An enthusiastic, committed, highly motived CEO, with long term expertise in managing business in B2B companies.
With an extensive experience of 20+ years mainly in commercial and Industrial Boilers production, with multinational sales. Passioned in product innovation & development, lean manufacturing. Involved in expanding research in the field of Energy Savings, Heat and Power based on Hydrogen and coordinating R&D with external relations through business networks and partnerships with Universities.  Public role in Confindustria as UCC President.
UCC is the steel boiler and pressure equipment manufacturing association representing the Italian industrial sector from over 70 years. We manage heat, pressure and energy processes in many different industries, from food to laundries, from chemical to textile or even power and oil and gas.

Specialized in Additive Manufacturing, MBA and mechanical engineer with a focus on customer centricity and communication. Her passion for technology and innovation has led her to look for efficient ways to solve problems and guide customers toward the digital and green transition.

The graduate engineer (FH) for electrical engineering and trained radio and television technician started his career classically as a technical sales representative. His knowledge of the many unanswered questions about inductive components combined with his practical experience in power management, recognized the need for standardized power inductors and interference suppression ferrites. Which became the starting point for today's product range of the eiSos Group. He has been instrumental in establishing the company's research and development, product, quality and supply chain management divisions. Alexander Gerfer is a technical book author, lecturer and sought-after keynote speaker. With his experience and creed, he has helped shape the development and direction of Würth Elektronik eiSos as a service-oriented manufacturer and technology promoter.

Allison Dring is CEO and Founder of Made of Air, a company that produces carbon negative materials to actively reverse climate change. Made of Air was named the Falling Walls 2020 Science Start Up Breakthrough of the Year and listed in Cleantech’s 50 to Watch. She is the 2022 recipient of AmCham Germany’s Female Founder Award. Previously, as Founder of Elegant Embellishments, she helped invent and manufacture proslve370e, an award winning facade module that reduces urban air pollution. She is a veteran speaker on topics involving technology and the environment, including a foundational TEDx Berlin talk entitled ‘Ornament &Climate’, which launched the idea of storing carbon in buildings. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, and serves as Advisory Board Member for the Falling Walls Foundation, Creating Urban Tech Berlin and the The Lifeboat Foundation.

Andreas Krengel is a Member of the Management Board of the WEPA Group – a future-oriented family business that leads the market in the production of hygiene paper products from recycled fibres.
As Chief Strategy Officer, he is responsible for the Group’s strategy and transformation process and the New Business Areas business unit.
In line with the WEPA purpose “Together for a better life”, he is also responsible for the non-profit and company-related WEPA foundation which is active in non-profit initiatives concerning hygiene, sustainability, life-long learning and family entrepreneurship.

Dr. Andreas Mündel has been in various strategic roles in the consulting and logistics industry for 20 years. After studying physics, he initially worked for the management consultancy McKinsey and moved to Deutsche Post DHL in 2004 as Head of Strategy of DHL Express Europe. He is now SVP of Group Strategy and responsible for strategic projects in the area of production. This includes the Clean OPS teams, the lead of the Sustainable Fuel project, the Center of Excellence Automation of Operations, the Group OHS team and Patent Management. In addition, Mr. Mündel coordinates the agenda of the Operations Board, which includes the divisional board members for Operations in addition to the CEO.

Andreas Wade is Head of Sustainability a Viessmann since September 2021. Focus areas include the implementation and evolution of the companies sustainability strategy towards decarbonisation of heating and cooling, circularity and product stewardship as well as sector coupling at all scales to achieve a just transformation. Andreas brings fifteen years of experience in the photovoltaic industry, where he has helped to enable a global sustainability framework in his roles as Global Sustainability Director for First Solar, president of PVthin and long standing chair of the sustainability workstream of SolarPower Europe. Leading the industry through the Product Environmental Footprint pilot phase, he helped to establish the industries first sustainability leadership standard.

Anja Brachmüller has been a member of the Executive Board of Veganz Group AG since 2019. She holds a degree in International Business Administration and has 15 years of purchasing experience in the national and international sustainable and organic food sector as a manager and later in leading positions. At one of Germany’s Fairtrade pioneers – El Puente – and later at Rausch Schokolade, she was responsible for the purchase and import of raw materials and products from mostly third world countries and for processing and marketing them in Europe. Before joining Veganz, Anja Brachmüller was in charge of the purchasing department of Ökofrost, a wholesaler of organic and frozen food in Berlin, for several years. She became Head of Purchasing at Veganz in February 2017 and is now Chief Operations Officer. In the future, she will also be responsible for the second Veganz production site in Werder (Havel).

Andini Makosinski is a 24 year old inventor, speaker, writer, and 2022 Renaissance Woman. She is best known for her invention the Hollow Flashlight, a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand. Andini is currently writing a book on the Inventing Mindset, and how we are all innately inventors built to solve problems. Andini is also pitching a television show about Futurism that she hopes to host.

In 2020 Anna Franziska Michel founded YOONA Technology, a cutting-edge design software solution. Her goal was to digitally transform the fashion industry by helping the fashion market players produce customer-centric designs and shorten the overall design process.
A designer herself, she had realized, that fashion processes are slow and inefficient, the majority of all processes are still manual. Trend research, drawings, paper patterns, all these processes remained the same as 50 years ago and require a lot of time and energy.
These led her to create the award winning YOONA.AI software solution; the deep tech innovation and analytics tool that provides companies in the textile industry with suitable means in the transformation process to more ecologically sustainable production of garments while increasing profit margins.

Anna lives in London and leads solutions for Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) in Europe, Middle East and Africa. In this role, she works with cities and partners to support their climate action goals with EIE data and insights.

Bart Oor is the strategic business developer for the Climate Foundation, where he helps establish long-term collaboration with the for-profit agricultural sector to mitigate climate-change induced stress to European crops. Working in Europe, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, Bart has gained experience in product development in the consumer goods industry, IoT-services and bicycle industry. He holds a BSc of mechanical engineering from Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen University of Applied Science and an MBA from Maastricht University, with a specialty in Sustainability and Responsible leadership. He is based in the Netherlands.

A chemical/materials engineer by training, and a former student of the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, Brice André joined L’Oréal in 1999 after completing his studies. He has held various positions within the Group's Operations: packaging-formula compatibility qualification, product development, manufacturing supply chain, product innovation. His various positions led him to work with each of the 4 Divisions of the group, as well as to live in France, Germany, China, and South Korea. In South Korea, he set up Operations for the Korea Innovation Center and led the implementation of the Group’s sustainability program L’Oréal for the Future. Since March 2021, he is in charge of the Sustainability Packaging & Development team at Group level.

Carmen is Head Corporate Communication at Synhelion and holds a degree in Multilingual Communication. Before joining Synhelion in 2020, she worked in the language industry. At Synhelion, Carmen combines her professional experience with her passion for clean technologies and sustainability.
Synhelion is a Swiss clean energy company that produces solar fuels to decarbonize transportation. The technology developed by Synhelion uses high-temperature solar heat for the production of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The synthetic fuels produced by Synhelion – such as solar gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel – are sustainable and fully compatible with conventional internal combustion engines and aircraft engines.

After five years in the automotive industry, where Carolin was in charge of negotiations with a Chinese joint venture partner, she found her way into the startup scene. At all her stages, in corporate incubation as well as in venture building, her focus has always been creating new business models that deliver real value.

Having founded Footprint in 2019, she is now the one building a strong brand around and taking care of all people and culture related matters in her own startup.

Born in Madrid and graduated from ICADE / European School of Business with a degree in International Business, I continued in NY at Parsons with an Associate´s Degree in Fashion Marketing before starting my professional career at Estee Lauder Companies. A fantastic product needs to have a story, but above all needs to have a positive impact. In 2017, I joined Ecoalf to lead the Marketing and Communication team – today I’m proud to be part a storydoing team, where we are cleaning the ocean every day, we are fighting every day to stop using natural resources in a careless way and we are educating and inspiring people sharing our knowledge and to do things in a different way, in a better way.

Carsten Menke is the head of Bank Julius Baer’s Next Generation Research team, which strives to provide thought leading insights into the long-term structural trends which are shaping the world around us. He has a special focus on the future of cities, analysing the economical, societal and environmental impact of urbanisation and related themes. Carsten joined Julius Baer in 2009 as a commodity strategist with a focus on industrial and precious metals. Prior to that, he was with Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. in Cologne, where he was a member of the Alternative Investments Group and set up the Commodity Research unit.

Charles Vaillant serves as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Digital Officer of the MANN+HUMMEL Group, where he is responsible for new technologies, corporate ventures capital (CVC), digital ventures, Big Data analytics and the governance of the company’s digital strategy. He joined MANN+HUMMEL in 1997 and has held a variety of positions in the areas of program management, product engineering, strategy, M&A and corporate development. Charles earned an Automotive Engineering degree from LTR Eiffel (France), a Master’s degree in Industrial Marketing from ESIDEC (France) and an M.B.A from the University of Michigan Ross Business School (USA). He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Chris Adams is the executive director of the Green Web Foundation, a organisation focussed on a reaching fossil free internet by 2030.

He is a contributing editor to the Ars Electronica award winning Branch Magazine, is the policy chair of the Green Software Foundation, an industry body comprised of nonprofits and some of the largest names in the tech world, including, Microsoft, Thoughtworks, Github and others.

He has spent the last 15 years as an environmentally focussed tech generalist, working as a user researcher, product manager, developer, sysadmin and UX designer. He lives and works in Berlin.

Christian and his team are initiating, leading, and monitoring prioritized company-wide activities ensuring DB’s climate neutrality by 2040. They are establishing climate targets and are responsible for strategy development.

Prior to his work at Deutsche Bahn, Christian worked as an entrepreneurial scientist and was featured on Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list. He has done research on renewable energy technologies and advanced nanostructures in Switzerland, the US, and the UK. Christian obtained his Ph.D. in Engineering with focus on Nanotechnology from the University of Cambridge.

Studied Applied Geography, for 25 yrs in the Media Industry, running Strategy & Innovation at Ströer.

Christian is the founder of C1 Green Chemicals AG, developing high-speed climate chemistry. Before that, he built nebenan.de into Germany’s leading social neighbourhood network. Christian has made more than 75 angel investments since 2005 and was named Germany’s Business Angel of the Year in 2017.
He sits on the board of Allego, Europe’s largest electric vehical charging network.
Christian serves as an advisor to the German Federal Ministry of Economics on digitalization, technology, and startups.

Cordelia Thielitz is Schneider Electric’s Europe Operations Strategy Vice President from January 2022.
Cordelia has 15+ years of experience in corporate strategy, sales, marketing, and business development. Since 2019 Cordelia has been leading Microgrid solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems as a VP, and previously has held multiple leadership positions at Bosch, working with automotive, security systems, and energy storage.
Cordelia holds master’s degrees in economics and in Japanese studies from Freie University Berlin. She also studied at Keio University Tokyo and University Dauphine in Paris.

Enel X is the Enel Group’s global business line for advanced energy solutions to drive decarbonization through electrification and digitalization. Enel X Global Retail and Enel X Way – a new global provider of integrated solutions for e-mobility – support people, communities, institutions and companies in this energy transformation. As a Regional Managing Director, Dirk has been leading the Enel X business in several countries across Europe since 2017 with a focus on supporting companies in their pathways to decarbonize and to make cost efficient use of energy.

Dorothee Ingwersen has been working in the fashion industry as a designer, manager, and creative director since 1991. Her heart has always belonged to stylish, classy, iconic, and beautiful products made mainly by women from disadvantaged world regions. Great talents who know traditional craftsmanship but do not have access to the global trading system. People who take better care of our planet’s resources than corporations do.

Back in 2007, when “CSR” was not a household word yet, she launched the sustainable collection “Double Happiness” with the NGO Plan International and the then international big fashion brand Olsen. This collection came out four times, was internationally recognized, and won the Canadian Sustainability Award in 2010 against big competitors like “The Body Shop” and “Walmart CSR.”

From 2007 to 2015, she supported Plan International on a pro bono basis to establish women’s empowerment projects in Asia, South America, and Africa. Since 2015, she has been CEO of Plan Shop GmbH and has turned her passion into her profession.

Fabian Ziegler joined Shell in Switzerland in 1996 after working for a Management Consulting firm and graduating from University in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Economics. After joining Shell in Finance, he held several executive positions in Retail, Strategy & Portfolio, LPG, Marine and Commercial Fuels. Fabian was appointed Country Chair for Shell in Germany on January 1, 2020. In his current role, he is accountable for the effective use of Shell’s Capex and Opex on behalf of the Group – and managing all supply chain challenges associated with our external partners and suppliers. Key challenge is to drive an inspired and thriving organization that spends our money ever-more efficient through effective supply chain transformation, ultimately accelerating Shell’s transformation.

Dr. Johanna Klewitz was born in Marburg in 1983. After qualifying for university entrance, Johanna Klewitz studied International Business and Cultural Studies at the University of Passau and spent time abroad in Canada and Spain. With completion of her studies in 2009 she moved to the Center for Sustainability Management at Leuphana University in Lüneburg as a research associate. Here, she also began her doctorate in 2010, with a focus on sustainability strategies and innovations in businesses. After completing her doctorate as Dr. rer. pol., Johanna Klewitz joined Ball Packaging Europe (Ardagh Group) in 2014 as Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs Manager.

She joined Procurement Strategy at Audi in 2016, and in her role as Head of Supply Chain Sustainability, she works together with her team to further develop and implement the “Responsible Supply Chain Management” strategy of Audi Procurement. The strategic focus areas include ‘People,’ ‘Environment’ and ‘Innovation,’ and are aligned with the goal of generating a positive impact in and along the supply chain.

Jörg joined TÜV NORD in 2017, as Head of International Projects and assumed the role of Managing Director TÜV NORD EnSys and member of the Management Board of TÜV NORD Group Industry Service Division in 2019. With a clear focus on low carbon energy technologies, his responsibilities as MD range from Renewables through Energy Infrastructure Systems to Nuclear technologies. In addition to that, Jörg is responsible to develop and implement the TÜV NORD Group wide Hydrogen Program under the “HydroHub” brand.

Driven by passion for innovative technologies especially in the field of environmental & climate challenges, and subsequent to his dregree in chemistry, Jörg completed his PhD on the enrichment of tritium in the larger context of nuclear fusion. Before joining TÜV NORD, Jörg has been working at Westinghouse Electric Company for several years, where he held various management positions. After his secondment to China in 2010 and his role as leader of a US team working on the management of the reactor disaster in Fukushima, Japan, he became Director DD&R (Decontamination, Dismantling & Remediation) for the EMEA region. Following his role at Westinghouse and before joining TÜV NORD, Jörg took a two-year stint at the Ministry for Energy Transition and Digitization in Germany.

Managing Director Lobbe Industry service GmbH & Co KG since 2018: Managing Director Lobbe Holding GmbH & Co KG

Dr. Tillmann Lang has been working at the intersection of sustainability and technology his entire career. Tillmann is the CEO and a co-founder of Inyova Impact Investing, the leading digital platform for investments with a sustainability impact. Before founding Inyova, Tillmann was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, where he worked with global organisations on sustainability innovation and energy-transition strategies. Tillmann also served as the CFO of Benefiit Impact Investing and was the founding director of the Sustainability-in-Business Lab at ETH Zurich. He is a TEDx speaker and keynote speaker in subjects such as entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and sustainability. As a computer scientist and mathematician, Tillmann holds a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich and studied in Heidelberg and Santiago de Chile. Tillmann lives with his family in Zurich and likes to spend as much time as possible with his feet in hiking or skiing boots.

Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss is cofounder and CEO at Dance. Dance is an ebike subscription service founded with the purpose of having a positive impact on health, sustainability and livable cities. With Dance, you have a state-of-the-art e-bike at your full disposal, without the hassle of buying and owning. The goal of Dance is to spark a global movement built on a connected community of passionate ebike riders, ultimately making cities more bike-friendly
and livable.

Prior to founding Dance, Quidenus-Wahlforss founded SoundCloud in 2007 and served as its Chief Product Officer for 12 years. SoundCloud is the world’s largest open audio platform with over 200 million tracks from 25 million creators heard in 190 countries; what’s next in music is first on SoundCloud.

My mission is to scour the globe for technologies that can transform the Lufthansa Group airlines towards a more sustainable future operation, and then implement them into our organization. The CleanTech Hub focuses on scaling and commercializing homegrown tech from within the group companies and establishing partnerships with startups and corporates in the areas of aircraft retrofits, SAF and alternative fuels, digital solutions, waste and circular economy, and everything between and beyond, comprising new powertrains, hydrogen, electric, hybrid, etc. I have a background in logistics, aviation, IT, and have lived and worked in 6 countries.

Eva-Maria Kirschsieper is Meta’s Policy Director for Sustainability in the EMEA region. She moved into that role in February 2021 after she joined Meta in 2011 as the first public policy manager in Germany. During her ten years at the company, she built Facebook’s policy team for the DACH region and was responsible for the positioning of the company at the interface of politics, technology and civil society. Since 2019 Eva-Maria has continuously advanced Meta’s sustainability policy agenda in EMEA – something that she is now focussing on full time in her Sustainability Policy role. Among others, she is a member of the Leaders for Climate Action, a platform bringing together the world’s leading digital entrepreneurs dedicated to climate affairs.

Operating as civil servant for ITA since 1987. Managing offices by ITA headquarters in Rome and branches abroad (Poland, UAE, Germany).

Frank Koch founded his first company with a focus on “hazardous waste treatment” during his study of physics. He later worked for Microsoft and Samsung in positions of international responsibility and became the national sustainability leader for Microsoft Germany, before he entered the space industry. Since 2018, Frank Koch has been working in Berlin on the “Orbit Recycling” concept to bring sustainability into space. In 2020, Orbit Recycling was granted the “Most Pioneering Aluminium Recycling Company” award by build magazine, UK, and in 2021, Orbit Recycling was awarded the 3rd place at the German INNOSpace Masters Airbus Challenge.

Gabriela Bucher is the Executive Director of Oxfam International, a global network which fights inequality to end poverty and injustice. Ms Bucher is a passionate advocate for social justice and is deeply committed to tackling economic and gender inequality.

Ms Bucher is also a member of the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development and sits on the Advisory Council of the Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion.

Ms Bucher, who grew up in Cali, Colombia, worked alongside children and communities affected by Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict and contributed to peace building efforts. She studied philosophy and literature in Bogotá, and History and Civilizations at EHESS in Paris. Prior to Oxfam, Ms Bucher was the Chief Operating Officer at Plan International, and led Fundación Plan Colombia.

Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as of 10 December 2021, has had various leadership positions from an early stage in his career. Following his tenure as a Member of the European Parliament, he was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in 2005. In 2013, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in the German Government. Gerd Müller has many years of experience in the fields of multilateral cooperation, sustainability, sustainable management and innovative agriculture. Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate action are key focus areas of his work.

Grazia is seven months into her time with Rolls-Royce, leading the transition to net zero power in the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Prior to this she spent almost 20 years at Airbus, where she covered a broad range of operations from commercial aircraft, defence and space to technology and innovation across the company. She was the first woman to be appointed to the Airbus executive committee as CTO. Beyond her expertise in future mobility and sustainable aerospace, Grazia has maintained a forward-thinking interdisciplinary approach, promoting innovation through fields like AI and quantum computing.

Gudrun Sack is a managing director of Tegel Projekt in Berlin. She focuses on sustainable planning and building, combining quality with new standards in construction, and on the implementation of actionable future urban development solutions. She was a board member of the Berlin Chamber of Architects and of Netzwerk Berliner Baugruppen Architekten, and is currently a member of the working group on housing at the German Association of Architects, BDA. Having completed her studies in architecture at the Technical University of Berlin and the HfAK Vienna, Gudrun Sack began her career with Norman Foster in London. Prior to her academic studies, she had already completed an apprenticeship as a restorer. After a stint with Alsop Störmer Architekten in Hamburg, she worked as a research assistant in the Department of Architecture at the University of the Arts, Berlin. For more than 20 years, Gudrun Sack was a partner at NÄGELIARCHITEKTEN with offices in Berlin and Karlsruhe.

Dr. Hamed Beheshti, is the CEO/Co-founder Boreal Light GmbH in Berlin, Dr. Beheshti and his partner have designed and manufactured one of the most simple and highly affordable solar desalination system with great chance of operating safely in the most remote parts of the world. At Boreal Light GmbH, the team developed both technologies of drinking and irrigation water supply for the off-grid parts of the planet. Establishing WaterKiosk Ltd is the other initiative co-founded by Dr. Beheshti in East Africa, securing the access of local communities to products and services offered by Boreal Light GmbH. Apart from the technical/commercial aspect of his works, Dr. Beheshti has recently established OffGrid Water Alliance, as an international arm of representing the sector at the global stage. The rich on-field experiences, along his strong management skill make Dr. Beheshti always a great candidate to give speech in whatever events focusing on development and sustainability of the unprivileged parts of the world.

Holger is the President of BMW Group Designworks, the design consultancy that globally works for clients in diverse industries spanning Mobility and Digital Life. As president he is leading the global design consulting firm and its three studios with 140 employees from its headquarters in California. Prior to his present role, Holger held the in-house position of Head of Design User Experience for BMW Group. He brings extensive experience in Product Design, Creative Consulting, and Interaction Design and Design Management as well as deep insights into the thinking, processes and design culture of the BMW Group.

Holger Köther, Director Market Adoption at the IOTA Foundation, holds a degree in Business Administration. The IT enthusiast spent more than 17 years at multinational corporate IT organizations Siemens and Atos, where he was responsible for several global managed service portfolios before helping to shape the strategic partnership between Atos and Telefonica as Lead Architect and CTO. At the IOTA Foundation, he is responsible for growth with partners and new projects.

Three years ago, she was still building e-commerce platforms for fossil-dependent companies at an agency. Today, Ines Gütt heads a support organization for over 800 volunteers who want to make their community climate neutral. There are already teams in 76 cities and districts – and more are joining every week.

Within the management of Huawei Germany, Ingobert leads the public policy engagement. The focus of his work includes political & regulatory issues regarding digitalization and digital infrastructures. In this context, Ingobert regularly contributes to according platforms, e.g. as chairman of the BITKOM “Communication Technologies” committee, speaks at relevant conferences and attends media events for Huawei. Prior to that, Ingobert was a senior consultant at Prognos AG, accompanying infrastructure projects in the energy and gas industry. He holds a master’s degree in International Politics from the University of Edinburgh and bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Philosophy & Economics. Coming from an educational background dealing with questions on ethics & sustainability, Ingobert is thrilled to share Huawei’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions by technology innovation.

Jacob Beautemps is a German YouTuber and researcher. He completed his Master of Education in Physics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne, where he is now researching the topic of “Learning with Videos” as part of his doctoral thesis.
On his YouTube channel Breaking Lab, he explains scientific topics and new technologies to the masses. With over three million views per month, the channel is one of the largest science channels in Germany. Jacob is also a regular face on 5 gegen Jauch, Stern TV and the Tigerenten Club, where he tries to get the TV audience excited about science.
In 2020, he also founded YouTopia, the largest livestream on the topic of sustainability. Among others, Günther Jauch, Gregor Gysi, Ranga Yogeshwar, over 50 influencers* and more than 20 faces from research took part in the format. YouTopia now takes place annually, and the first edition started in France in 2021.

Since 2016, CEO Jan Dzulko has been building the start-up and phone-as-a-service pioneer everphone GmbH. In 2003, he founded his first company pecumax, a B2B SaaS company that enabled financial advisors and brokers to provide data-driven customer advice. In 2008, he sold the company to CHECK24 and joined CHECK24 Insurance AG as CEO in the same year. In 2012, Jan co-founded the incubator M Cube with the founders of CHECK24, which built local marketplaces. In 2016, M Cube was renamed and became part of CHECK24 under the name Locadi.

Jan Reichel is a passionate marketeer and sales person. While always working from the customer lenses, he believes in innovation as key driver for growth. Jan joined Shell in 2001 and has been holding various sales and marketing roles – mainly in retail. He is keen on leveraging Shell’s potential to provide the right mobility and energy solutions for a sustainable future.

Jaron is Country Manager D/A/CH at Treedom and works with individuals and businesses to create engaging, fun and impactful stories around sustainability. All while growing trees and driving change for communities worldwide.

With a 20 year background in business development, marketing and sustainability across the third sector as well as the business world, Jaron has been dedicated to tree planting 2.0 since 2017. Jaron now leads activities on the D/A/CH market for Treedom.

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, the CEO of LanzaTech has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector including the development and commercialization of fuels and chemicals technologies. Prior to LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. Under her management, UOP technology became instrumental in producing nearly all the initial fuels used by commercial airlines and the military for testing and certification of alternative aviation fuel. She received the 2020 William C. Holmberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Advanced Bioeconomy and in 2021 Jennifer received the Edison Achievement Award. A dog lover and committed greyhound rescuer, Jennifer is the Director and Chair of the LanzaJet Board of Directors.

Jennifer has spent most of her life on stages, in front of the camera or at the microphone. She has been working in Trinidad & Tobago, the UAE and Europe as a performing artist, presenter and voice over artist. Additionally she studied media management and media journalism and is currently doing her master’s in business psychology. Continuously learning and receiving new perspectives is her great passion. In her free time she loves to travel to new places, spend time with friends and family or try out any kind of sport.

Jenny Bofinger-Schuster is globally in charge to drive and shape the company’s sustainability and operational excellence activities. Her passion is to bring the best together in the company to be even more sustainable, digital, and resilient. Always with the purpose to bring innovative solutions to the customer making the world more livable, sustainable and inclusive.

Her responsibility covers the company’s global sustainability program and its implementation, setting strategic ambitions for the benefit of all stakeholders on the key topics of environment, social and governance and ensuring the integration of ESG aspects throughout the company. This for example encompasses resource and energy efficiency, sustainability management and reporting as well as the Siemens’ Business to Society approach.

Product person. Like building things. Ex-Wire, ex-Skype. Hyper Island alumni. Avid sailor and racer. Helping to save the planet at Single.Earth

For the past 20 years, Jens has worked with Fortune 500 companies as Corporate Technology Consultant/Fellow and Global Technology/Production Director to develop, start up, run, and improve world-scale production assets via technical innovation and Operational Excellence across multiple businesses and geographies. He advised on decarbonization strategies for multiple locations and businesses, an expert on the decarbonization of energy and chemical production assets through green hydrogen and CCU, as well as other sustainable production routes for key raw materials. Jens has taken several senior executive positions for Dow Chemicals across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

Jérôme Perez has been with Nespresso since 2008. He and his team are responsible for defining Nespresso’s global sustainability strategy, The Positive Cup, inspired by the company’s vision that coffee can be a force for good and that every cup of Nespresso coffee can have a positive impact on the world. He oversees the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program, Nespresso’s recycling scheme, and the company’s commitment to reaching carbon neutrality. Jérôme is leading projects and extensive dialogues with community leaders, universities, NGOs and farmers to ensure that the company’s approach is creating share value for all those who have a stake in the overall value chain. He has gained broad experience of 20+ years covering operations, finance, sustainability and innovation in the bottled water and coffee sectors.

In 2012, together with CEO Toni Petersson, John began to turn a 30-year-old maker of oat drinks, Oatly, into a global movement focused on the development of a more sustainable, plant-based lifestyle. By eliminating the marketing department and replacing it with the Oatly Department of Mind Control, his team of creatives has created a voice that often questions the role of companies and brands and has become instantly recognisable for its consistently inconsistent approach to encouraging people to take small steps in order to upgrade their lives and the sustainability of the planet.

Julia is the co-founder of Tidal Impact, a global impact management and investment firm catalyzing companies driven by social and environmental performance. In addition to investing, Tidal Impact helps startups, corporations, investors, and foundations integrate impact as a measurement of growth and progress. Before, Julia co-founded an HR-Tech startup that later merged with Vyou, a startup that combines psychology and data science to increase team performance. Julia also serves as an executive board member of the Sigma Squared Society, a global community of 500+ of the world’s most ambitious founders in their early 20s, present in 25+ countries, previously known as the Kairos Society.

Jürgen Kornmann graduated in communications before starting his career as a newspaper and television journalist. He held his first PR position in 1996 at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). From 1998 to 2007, he led several teams at Volkswagen AG as group and brand spokesperson. He then took over the communications department at Bombardier Transportation. In 2008, he moved to Deutsche Bahn. Before taking up the position as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Group-wide PR in October 2019, he headed the communications department of DB Passenger Transport for eleven years.

Jürgen Odszuck has been the first mayor of the city of Heidelberg since October 2016. He is responsible for all areas of urban development and construction. He studied architecture in Munich and Ferrara as well as urban management in Bangkok (M.Sc). After various jobs abroad, he worked as a government architect in Erlangen and Kronberg i. T. in responsible positions. Since 2018 he is a member of the Building Committee of the German Association of Cities, since 2021 member of the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning (DASL) and on the scientific advisory board of the German Institute of Urban Architecture.

Justin Owen is the Chief Financial officer for Pexapark where he manages strategic planning and forecasting along with reporting and operations. Prior to his work with Pexapark, he worked with a series of enterprise SAAS companies in and around San Francisco, CA.

Karsten Schnake is the Board Member for Procurement at ŠKODA AUTO, a.s. (since 1 July 2020). He studied aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig and graduated in graduated 1996. He then went onto start his professional career as an employee in project management and forward sourcing at Volkswagen AG (1996 – 2001).  Coordinator of Interior Procurement at Volkswagen AG (2001 – 2004). Regional Head of Procurement Volkswagen Group Italy (2004 – 2006). Managerial positions in Group Procurement Global Series Coordination (2006 – 2017). Head of Group Procurement Global Series Coordination (2017 – 2018). Executive Vice President of Volkswagen Group China (2018 – 2020). Board Member for Procurement, ŠKODA AUTO, a.s., Mladá Boleslav (since July 2020).

In his current role Lior is leading SAP.iO Rising Stars team, with a mission to secure SAP partnership with cutting edge startups. Before that, Lior has led SAP.iO Foundry in Tel-Aviv, which is part of SAP global network of top-tier startup program. Before joining SAP Lior has led Deloitte Technology Scouting Services in Israel, and spent 11 years at IBM, while in his last role he has led IBM Israel's Startup & Developer Ecosystem team and was responsible for IBM's first startup accelerator (“Alpha Zone”). Lior has an MBA from Tel Aviv University and B.Sc. in Software Engineering.

Lisa Arendt leads E-Mobility Partnerships at Google. She is responsible for product strategy and business development and has many years of experience working on global projects and consumer products related to electric vehicles and mobility.
Alumna from TU Berlin in Industrial/Mechanical Engineering and Tech enthusiast. She builds bridges between external partners and internal engineering and product teams to help people navigate and explore the world in a more sustainable way. She is particularly interested in shaping the future of smart and connected e-mobility.

In Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane since 2010, Lorenzo is Head of Sustainability for the FS Group. He worked, in Italy and abroad, for Telecom Italia, Pirelli and Levi Strauss, covering positions aimed at raising the sustainability profile of the organizations. In particular, Lorenzo has been involved in human rights, environment, health and safety, management systems, sustainability planning & reporting, stakeholder engagement, product safety, responsible supply chain management, corporate governance. Lorenzo holds a degree in Environmental Sciences, specialized in Environmental Law and Health and Safety at Work, studying at the University of Milan, the Bangor University (UK ), University of Bologna and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

My name is Lucas. I am Co-Founder and CEO of LOVR. Together with my co-founders Julian and Montgomery we have developed a truly sustainable alternative to leather. Our material is made from hemp residues, needs minimal carbon emissions and is biodegradable. Originally trained in philosophy, economics and behavioural science I had the initial idea for LOVR after an internship with a fashion company. It was famous for its fair and green products, but much of the alleged sustainability was merely greenwashing. That’s how I began to research agricultural residues and how they could be transformed into next gen circular materials.

Marco Lescher is Customer Care & Services Director of Nespresso Germany since 2019. His focus areas are Supply Chain and Customer Experience Management – all with sustainability in mind. For over six years he has already been involved in Nespresso’s success: Before managing the Customer Care & Services area in the German Market, Marco was Operations Director and Supply Chain & Procurement Director. Before he became part of Nespresso, he was Head of Supply Chain at DMK Eis GmbH and Rosen Eiskrem GmbH and Supply Chain Manager at Henkel Corporation. He has more than ten years of experience in the FMCG / Consumer Good Industry.

Marianne is Head of Sustainability at Grover, the global leader in technology rentals and pioneer in scaling circular business models promoting access over ownership. She is also co-founder and lead of Circularity, a do-tank and professional network to advance the circular economy in Germany.
Previously, she worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company´s Berlin office and was core member of McKinsey & Company´s Sustainability Practice.
Marianne in currently pursuing a PhD at ETH Zurich, in which she focusses on corporate circular innovation strategies and effective industry collaboration for the circular economy. She holds an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Marieke van Doorninck is deputy mayor of Amsterdam since 2018. She is responsible for Spatial Development and Sustainability. She introduced the Amsterdam Donut Economy, made name with sustainable and green city planning and has high ambitions in turning the city towards a circular economy. In a dense city with hardly any free space left the city government needs clever solutions to have a vivid economy, affordable housing and space to breathe. To get the city within the boundaries of what is ecologically sound economics is a daily challenge in her portfolio. Making sure the people of Amsterdam understand and support the policies in place for a sustainable future is key. Van Doorninck is convinced the Energy Transition is only successful if everyone can profit, in particular those who have a hard time making both ends meet. Therefore she puts extra focus on including people with the lowest income in this transition.

Marissa Reiserer is passionate about freeing society from fossil fuels and from our harmful dependence on them. She has been active with Greenpeace for over ten years and works today as their Campaign Expert for Transport & Mobility.

Not only in this role, she fights for climate justice and to establish a human-centred and climate-friendly transport system. As a researcher at the Department of Transport Planning and Systems at the University of Kassel, she is analysing how public transport can recover from the pandemic and become more resilient overall. Marissa Reiserer studied (environmental) psychology and communication design in Magdeburg, Augsburg and Kassel.

Especially in the last few weeks, she has been intensively engaged with the connection between fossil imports, war and climate crisis.

Professor in laser and plasma physics at TU Darmstadt since 2003. Working in laser plasma interaction, ultra-intense lasers and fusion for 30 years. Postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Rosen Scholar award winner of Los Alamos National Laboratory. APS fellow. Founder and Chief Science Officer of Focused Energy Inc.

Graduated for HEC (L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris), Martin Stephan spent his entire career in the chemical industry, first in the chemical branch of Elf/Total and then with Du Pont de Nemours at financial positions as well as head of business units in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Martin joined Carbios in February 2017. He is now Deputy CEO supervising the strategy, the business development, and the investor relations of the Company.

Mathias Wiecher, VP E.ON eMobility, is responsible for all eMobility activities across the E.ON group. Before this he was in leadership positions at E.ON Inhouse Consulting as well as at Kearney in Germany and the US with a focus on Energy and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Graduated in foreign languages and literatures with a specialization in Russian literature and culture in Milan, Università Cattolica. 15 years experience in managing internationalization development programs
for SMEs and trade show services. From 1999 to 2008 he worked for Italian Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Association in international and marketing dept., as project manager taking care of all major promotional events to develop made in Italy wood processing machinery brands on foreign markets. Since 2008 he has been working in ANCI Servizi (the service agency belonging to Assocalzaturifici, Italian Footwear Manufacturers’ Association), first as Head of economic & services unit (2008-2016) and from 2017, as head of the Business Services Unit, where he’s in charge of the strategy implementation for the internationalization supporting footwear mfg. SMEs in their export
businesses.

Environmental engineer and researcher at the Politecnico di Milano, he has gained over 20 years of experience in companies and institutions – public and private – as manager of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, in Italy and abroad. Consultant of the European Commission for the evaluation of funding calls, with ENERSEM adventure he’s discovering every day the professional excitement of entrepreneurship and the social mission of this work. He’s proud to lead a group of brilliant colleagues from the start-up phase to the more established stage.

Michael Hagspihl, SVP Global Strategic Projects and Marketing Partnerships, is responsible for a group-wide program of tasks directly related to the CEO agenda: In addition to coordinating the Group’s communications activities in Germany, he is also responsible for Group-wide strategic partner management in the areas of content, sports and sponsorship. He also coordinates and promotes Telekom’s transatlantic collaboration in Europe and America in the consumer sector as well as the exchange with certain European carriers. With effect from 01 January 2022, he is also responsible for all CR activities of the Group.

Michael Hartmann is the Head of Sales for LiveEO and has 30+ years of progressive experience delivering customer value from big data applications. He is convinced that the insights we can derive from satellite data available today are the key to becoming more sustainable, carbon-conscious, and cost-effective.

Dr. Monika Hauck is a creative economist, entrepreneur, social activist and open innovation researcher. Following her Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, she was a Founder and Managing Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, where she supported startups and corporate innovation initiatives. She is a strong proponent of sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship and is a City Ambassador of the British social enterprise Fashion Revolution in Düsseldorf. A true cosmopolitan, Monika started traveling the world at the age of fifteen working as an international fashion model. Now, she returned to the fashion industry with a purpose to promote more sustainable and inclusive fashion production and consumption practice. Her enthusiasm for Circular Economy business moles, motivated her to found a Digital Craft startup Repair Rebels.

My name is Montgomery. I am one of the three co-founders of LOVR. Within our team, I take on the role of CFO. I have known the other two managing partners of our company, Julian and Lucas, for 16 years. We are old friends from back in school. After my A-levels, I first completed a commercial apprenticeship. Then I studied political science and economics in Germany, Colombia, France and the UK. During this time, I supported Lucas in procurement and development work all of which eventually led to what we do today. Thanks to my work experience – including as a consultant for the German Chamber of Foreign Trade – I was able to acquire the managerial and legal skills necessary to run our business.

Navneet Kapoor has been with A.P. Moeller ‐ Maersk since June 2017 and has held various responsibilities, including holding the roles of Chief Transformation Officer and Head of Global Shared Service Centres, before being appointed to the Company’s Management Board in March 2021 . In February 2020, Mr. Kapoor was appointed Chief Technology and Information officer and since March 2021 serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Information officer. With a career spanning over 25 years , he has assumed diverse leadership roles within the omnichannel retail, financial, manufacturing and engineering research industries across multiple geographies spanning India, North America, Japan and Thailand. Mr. Kapoor holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering.

Nico Rosberg is well-known as the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion. Since leaving the racing series, he is passionately committed to the issue of sustainability. As an entrepreneur and investor in green technologies and mobility startups, he represents visionary innovations that make the world a little better. In numerous projects around the world, he also contributes to the topic of environmental protection, health, equality and justice. In 2019, he co-founded the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform for pioneering sustainable ideas that takes place annually in Berlin. Since 2021, he has been competing with Rosberg X Racing in Extreme E, a racing series that aims to draw attention to the consequences of global climate change.

Living a fulfilling life as well as making this world a better place is my driving force. Being a holistic thinker, I’m engaged in sustainability topics in my private and professional life: As an Associated Partner of Porsche’s subsidiary MHP, I am in charge of both the sustainability business unit and the company-wide sustainability portfolio. For our clients, we holistically embed sustainability across business models, products, processes, data and organisation. Throughout my career, I have led programmes aiming at holistic transformation and digitisation of our customers’ ways of working. In my 12+ years within business I developed teams, operating models, products and portfolios as well as my personality, my knowledge and skills in sustainability and leadership which I apply in various fields of my life.

Nina is the co-founder and CPO at Klim, an impact startup on a mission to scale regenerative agriculture. Klim supports farmers by giving them access to the knowledge and financial support they need to adopt regenerative methods. Previously, she worked at innovation agency AKQA and Airbnb

E.ON Energy Solutions GmbHE.ON Energy Solutions GmbH
4 years 6 months
Head of E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solution Segment Berlin
May 2021-Today – 1 year 2 months
Authorized representative, head of sustainable city solutions
Full-timeFull-time
April. 2020-Today – 2 years 3 months
Berlin
Member of the Management Board E.ON Energy Solutions GmbH

Patricia Espinosa is the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change since 2016. Ambassador of Mexico to Germany since 2012 and from 2001 to 2002, Ms. Espinosa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, bringing more than 30 years of experience at highest levels in international relations, specialized in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights.

Philipp Mayer graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Fontys International Business School. After various professional positions in marketing, sales, controlling, and private equity in corporations and medium-sized companies, he founded the sustainable shoe brand CANO together with Lukas Pünder at the end of 2016. In 2018, the idea for retraced was born due to the realization with CANO that supply chains in the fashion industry lack transparency. One year later in 2019 they founded retraced as an independent company together with their third co-founder and old school friend Peter Merkert.

Rainer Karcher is Global Director IT Sustainability at Siemens AG where he drives sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility within IT and through IT. He helps the global technology group in finding digital solutions to environmental problems and in facilitating sustainability at IT as a business opportunity. Rainer has more than 20 years of experience in IT in various companies like IBM, TeleCash, or arvato systems and gained know-how in different areas such as Support, Infrastructure, DataCenters and Service Operations.

Ralf Kunert has been Managing Director of Naturamus, a wholly owned subsidiary of WALA Heilmittel GmbH, since 2014. He holds a degree in agricultural engineering and has been working in this field for 25 years.

Together with his colleagues, Ralf Kunert discovers and buys high-quality organic raw materials all over the world. For him, quality is not just a question of the properties of the oil, hydrolate or wax itself. It’s about protecting the earth and empowering people. Wherever possible, Ralf and his team support the power of nature, help their partners to become economically independent, and impart knowledge about organic farming. Transparent and fair supply chains are an important prerequisite. Ralf’s thinking is far-sighted, committed and empathetic. He is based in Aichelberg, Germany

Rebecca Hübler is a Principal at Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Zurich office and a core member of the automotive sector. Since joining BCG, Rebecca has worked intensively with global automotive OEMs, tier-one suppliers, and leading mobility service providers. As part of BCG’s Center for Mobility Innovation, Rebecca has specific expertise in urban mobility and its related business models and works with her clients on strategies for the future of mobility, from sharing concepts with them to delving into autonomous vehicles and micromobility. Besides her client work, she is passionate about the latest developments in green technologies and Asian economies.

A registered Architect with 5 years of industrial work experience in different countries (India, Singapore & Dubai). Currently working as a Research Associate in the field of BIM & CAFM post finishing up a dual degree in Construction & Real Estate Management  (Helsinki/Berlin).

Sascha Müller has a finance and banking background and about 20 years of experience in the digital economy. Before he founded PAUL in 2017, he built up successful companies for the digitalization of financial processes of Clean Technology Investments and for safety inspection of electric installations. His enthusiasm for Big Data and AI — as the most important approach towards a CO2-free future without trade-offs — led to the foundation of PAUL. Sascha’s passion is to expand on the massive potential of CO2 reduction by digitalizing various property services in the real estate business.

Sebastian is Head of Business Development at Grover where his teams are responsible for all things retail and partnerships. Prior to Grover, he help grow a 3D-printer startup grow from 30 to 800 people and held positions from Global Head of Services to Head of Operations EMEA. He´s a born Berliner, lived in the US for 10 years but is now back in his hometown.

Silja Pieh holds a degree in business administration and a degree in economic geography from the University of Regensburg. She began her professional career at Bosch in 2001, where she advanced to the position of Head of the Strategic Marketing Department. From 2012 to 2017, she was responsible for various innovation and strategy projects at Audi, including the development of a company-wide strategy for autonomous and connected driving and the VW Group strategy project “Autonomous Driving”. At Audi, she developed and implemented the idea for founding a software company with the aim of developing the “Self-Driving System” for autonomous driving in urban environments. When Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH (AID) was founded, Silja Pieh held the post of commercial managing director (CFO & Head of Product). She then moved to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as Head of Strategy and at the same time took over the responsibility for the newly created function “Strategy and Business Area Development MaaS/TaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service/ Transport-as-a-Service) in the Volkswagen Group”. Silja Pieh has been Chief Strategy Officer at AUDI AG since August 2020.

Simon Aebi is a purpose-driven Fairtrader aiming to bring a bit more justice into the world by promoting fairer trading conditions for farmers and workers in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Simon holds the position of Commercial Director at Fairtrade Max Havelaar Switzerland where he and his department are engaged in connecting disadvantaged producers with Swiss market partners under Fairtrade terms.
Previously, Simon worked as a consultant for a local NGO in Central America in the scope of Organic & Fairtrade certification, supporting coffee and cocoa smallholders. He started his career as a Key Account Manager for one of the first alternative trade organizations in Switzerland. Simon graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Fribourg/CH as a Business Economist.

Stefan has been apart of E.ON for almost 4 years now. He is the Global Director City Energy Solutions & CEO at E.ON Business Solutions.

20 years of experience in the commercial vehicle industry – always heading for sustainable solutions that reduce the impact of transportation on our planet. My expertise goes from bus-based mass-transport solutions to zero-emission technology and beyond. My guiding star: “how can we support our customers to transform their business – regarding efficiency, CO2 footprint or robustness of their operation?”. My team MAN Transport Solutions consults bus & truck operators and support them on their way into eMobility by providing expertise, tailored concepts and value-adding solutions covering the eMobility ecosystem.
# MAN wants to be an active player to achieve a sustainable future by providing support & solutions to our customers and transform their business.

Stefan Schönberger is a Principal at Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Berlin office and a core member of the Climate practice. Stefan advises clients in the private and public sectors on how to prepare for a low-carbon economy and establish profitable business models around decarbonization in sectors such power, oil and gas, steel, cement, chemicals, automotive, shipping, aviation, and industrial goods. He has helped clients to initiate decarbonization projects with a total investment volume of several billion euros and to set up new low-carbon businesses in areas like hydrogen and power-to-X. Stefan has co-authored several landmark BCG publications such as last year’s Climate Paths 2.0, which provides a guideline for companies and German policymakers on how to implement and stimulate the net-zero transition.

Stefanie Berk has been Chief Marketing Officer at DB Fernverkehr AG since March 2020. She is responsible for the offering (Fahrplan), product, service and yield management as well as sales, marketing and communication of DB Fernverkehr AG’s “White Trains” in Frankfurt’s Europa-Allee. She began her career at DER Touristik Group, then moved to Thomas Cook and was CEO of Thomas Cook GmbH from 2015 to 2019. At Deutsche Bahn, she is now setting the course for reliable, sustainable and future-oriented long-distance transport. Business customers, commuters or leisure travelers – Stefanie Berk knows what her customers want and consumers expect from a brand.

Steffen Gerlach is CEO and Co-Founder of EEDEN. Together with Reiner Mantsch, he founded the start-up in 2019, which develops a chemical upcycling process for used textiles. As the team’s business economist, he is responsible for the company’s finances and business model. In this role, he secured liquidity since the founding and ensured independence by acquiring funding. Before becoming a founder, he studied business administration in Hamburg and worked in various roles such as project management, sales and change management.

Steffen Szeidl looks back on several years of experience at the interface between the real estate and construction industries in Europe. His focus is on project management and consulting.Steffen Szeidl has been a member of the Executive Board of Drees & Sommer SE since January 2015 and is responsible for the company's BIM and digitalisation strategy in addition to the areas of finance, corporate communications and IT. Professionally, as well as in his private life, he is enthusiastic about innovation and future topics. Another driving force is sustainability – both in the company and in the entire construction and real estate industry.

Stephanie de Heer is the Rainforest Alliance’s senior director of marketing & communications. She is responsible for developing, managing, and continuously evolving a strong, clear, and consistent brand identity, narrative, and message for the organization. Her team protects and advances the reputation of the Rainforest Alliance and its value to the organization’s key stakeholders, including civil society, companies, donors, farmers, consumers, and staff.

Sudhanshu (Suds) Sarronwala is Chief Impact Officer at Infarm, the world’s fastest-growing vertical farming network. A long time advocate for environmental conservation, Suds leads Infarm’s Impact Division, created within the company to drive understanding of the tremendous health, sustainability and environmental benefits of Infarm’s urban farms and the industry at large. His team works with governments, NGOs, companies and other key partners to multiply Infarm’s impact and create positive change in our society.

Suds has spent more than 30 years in management, communications and as an internet entrepreneur. Prior to Infarm, Suds was Executive Director of Marketing and Communications with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), where he directed brand, media, digital communications and partnership efforts.

Sviatlana Siankevich is the CTO and Co-Founder of Embion technologies. With her 10+ years of experience in Enzymatic and Chemical Biomass Hydrolysis, she is at the core of Embion’s groundbreaking technology and drives it to maturity with her team of experts.

Thomas Brück (*1972) holds a dual B.Sc. and a M.Phil. from Keele University, U.K. In 2002, Thomas obtained his Ph.D. in Protein Biochemistry from Imperial Collegue London and Greenwich University, U.K. In 2006 Thomas Brück returned to Germany and joined Süd-Chemie AG (now Clariant Produkte Deutsch-land GmbH), where he held various management positions. Since 2011 Thomas Brück is a tenured full Professur at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. He holds the Werner Siemens Chair of Synthetic Biotechnology and is Director of the TUM AlgaeTech Cen-ter.

Thomas Saueressig is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. He leads the Board area SAP Product Engineering and has global responsibility for all business software applications.
Before, Saueressig was chief information officer and global head of IT Services at SAP. As CIO, he was responsible for SAP’s IT strategy and execution following a cloud-first approach. Saueressig started his career at SAP in consulting for CRM implementations. He spent several months in SAP Labs Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, California, and was a Board assistant for several years.
Saueressig has a degree in Business Information Technology from the University of Cooperative Education in Mannheim (Germany) and a joint executive MBA from ESSEC Business School (France) and Mannheim Business School (Germany).

1989 – 1995: Hochschule Mannheim
Dipl. Wirtsch. Ing. (FH) Schwerpunkt Maschinenbau

2003: INSEAD (IEP) International Executive Programme

1999 –2000: HeidelbergCement AG, Assistant of Managing Board, Istra Cement International/ Pula HR

1999 – 2006: HeidelbergCement AG, Sales Director Asia, Oceania, Middle East/ Singapore

2006 – 2010: HeidelbergCement AG, Business Development Manager Eastern Europe & Central Asia

2011 – 2013: General Manager TBG Transportbeton Mainfranken GmbH & Co. KG

Since June 2013: Managing Director Heidelberger Sand & Kies GmbH

Since 2020 ESG Coordinator HeidelbergCement Germany

Also responsible for Gypsum Activities and Real Estate Management in Germany

Thorsten Lange has been the Executive Vice President of Neste Corporation’s Renewable Aviation business unit and member of the Executive Committee since January 2020.

Before joining the company, he worked at Lufthansa for two decades in various roles, most recently as the head of Fuel Procurement (global). He has also had various positions in the oil sector.

Thorsten Lange is a member of the IATA Fuel Steering Group. Previously he has also been the Chairman of the IATA Commercial Fuel group, a member of the IATA Fuel Working Group as well as a member of the Star Alliance Fuel Advisory Group.

Tim Christophersen joined Salesforce as VP, Climate Action in May 2022. Within the global Sustainability Team, he is focused on the role of nature-based solutions to climate change.

Before joining Salesforce, Tim was Head of the ‘Nature for Climate’ Branch at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and led a growing global movement backed by all UN Member States and over 120 partner organizations to ‘prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide’: the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

He holds a degree in Forestry and Forest Conservation Engineering from Dresden University of Technology. He previously worked for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), where he led the portfolio on the conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity. From 2017-2019, he was elected Chair of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration.

From 2002-2007 he was Regional Programme Coordinator for Europe, the Caucasus and the Commonwealth of Independent States at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He also worked for the Danish Ministry of the Environment, and for the European Commission.

Verena Ziegler joined the Zurich University of Arts in Switzerland, Department of Interaction Design in 2013, after studying Architecture (Technical University of Stuttgart/G), Master of Arts in Textile Design, (University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen/G), Master of Design (Auckland University of Technology/NZ) and her currently being completed PhD thesis at Linz University of Arts and Design in Austria. In Verena`s general research and various teaching formats, she explores utopianism futures through practical prototyping and building of experimental machines and robots, to explore post-digital, sensory and embodied engagements with technologies. In her female founded fashion tech start-up she explores mobile 3d scanning technologies, avatar systems and artificial intelligence combined with software technologies (SAAS+) to solve the massive waste and Co2 problem in the fashion industry.

Be inspired by Vinisha Umashankar! She is a Grade 10 student, an artist, a TEDx speaker, an innovator, and an environmentalist. She lives in Tiruvannamalai, a rural town in Tamil Nadu, India. She is well-known for her innovation, the Solar Ironing Cart. She was the only school student and the youngest Earthshot Prize 2021 finalist. She spoke along with Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. At the World Leaders' Summit, her 5-minute speech went viral on social media and may have been seen 30 million times. Despite her age, Vinisha advocates change through innovation. Learn how Vinisha took her idea from sketch to prototype and how her innovation could transform the lives of 10 million ironing vendors.

Anna is a creative & disruptive thinker,  constantly looking for futuristic challenges in the  world of digitalization, innovation & technology.  She has vast, international experience in  innovation, entrepreneurship and business concepting at various companies within Lufthansa Group and the external startup landscape. Finally, she is also a startup mentor, concept consultant and has multiple leading roles in mentorship and business model coaching at various (social) organizations. For her, change is exciting and necessary to battle or rethink the status quo, invite fundamentals to be disrupted and courage to occur. 

Claudia has been working as a professional presenter live on stage and in front of the camera for many years. The entrepreneur and investor leads conferences and panels on topics such as digitalization, sustainability, automotive industry and renewable energies. Claudia holds an MSc in Business Psychology from the FOM University of Applied Sciences Berlin and she studied at the University of San Diego.

Dr Olivia Henke holds a degree in geography and did her doctorate in International Environmental Policy at the Freie Universität Berlin on the voluntary offset market in Germany and the anti-poverty impacts of voluntary climate protection projects. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in the fields of sustainable development, including as a consultant for sustainability management and in development education.
She has been working in the field of carbon offsetting since 2011 and has been a board member of the Alliance for Development and Climate Foundation since 2020.

She studied Architecture at UdK Berlin and holds a degree in International Management from Lancaster University and ESB Reutlingen. Eva is a certified systemic coach and is passionate about people development. She worked at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants for energy and high-tech companies as well as in the sales management of her own family business and is a member of the advisory board. She founded and managed the startup accelerator of the Founders Foundation in Bielefeld. As head of Maschinenraum, she is responsible for the network of Mittelstand member companies.

Gillord Pisas is an entertainer, voice actor and presenter from the island of Curaçao, currently based in Berlin, Germany.

Gundula Ullah has been leading the Procurement function at FUNKE Mediengruppe, one of Germany’s largest media companies, since April 2019. She is steadily driving forward the transformation of the entire purchasing organization, which covers the needs of all business units (newspaper, magazines, digital, radio). Sustainability is a matter close to Gundula’s heart. She recognized the importance of this topic early on and is committed to making FUNKE even more sustainable as a company.

Hannah is Program Director at the Open Innovation Platform STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play, a platform connecting the industry and startup world to work together on the future of mobility, sustainability, production, and beyond – with the overall goal to implement them in the products, processes, and services! With our HQ in Silicon Valley, we are the most active early-stage investors globally.
Hannah has vast cross-industry experience in innovation, entrepreneurship, and media in the corporate and startup world like Nestlé, Axel Springer, and Testbirds. Finally, she started as a startup mentor & different jury and moderating various events. For her, open innovation and tech go hand in hand with people: Connecting people with different backgrounds, Teaching the (un)experienced ones, Learning from each other, and creating new things together.

Jennifer believes we will see more disruption in the field of mobility in these next 10 years as compared to the last 100. She is a global investor one of the world’s leading investors in climate tech and responsible for the start-ups in mobility. Previously, she spent over 20 years in the automotive industry, including Ford, BMW, and Porsche. Jennifer also was the director at the Fraunhofer Institute, responsible for Mobility and Smart Cities and established a joint lab with MIT called Ambient Mobility focused on using big data to help revolutionize cities. A regular contributor to Forbes and speaker on the topic of future mobility, she is an expert on sustainability, alternative powertrain technologies, autonomous driving and business models for digital products for the mobility sector and beyond. Jennifer holds an MS in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Chemistry.

Justine is an Industrial Engineer with several years of consulting experience across retail, automotive manufacturing, mining, IT, logistics, oil & gas and utilities industries in the public sector. Her expertise is in providing advisory services to high asset intensive organizations on the optimum maintenance strategies they should employ to improve the life and performance of their physical assets. She is a specialist in performing asset management assessments which evaluate the maturity of organizations in balancing risk, costs and performance of their assets. Her area of interest lies in bringing sustainability to the forefront of asset management.

Justine holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch. She is currently based in the Netherlands completing an MBA at the University of Amsterdam.

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.

Nina Eichinger is a German TV and Radio host, who is well known for her work in various sectors including MTV, German Idol, Echo Klassik and Cinestar.  However her big passion is Ecology and the Environment.  She studied environmental Sciences in California and Rainforest Ecology in Queensland.  She lives in Munich and has spent the last years being active in numerous movements and projects fighting climate change, biodiversity loss and the lack of communication regarding these topics.  Furthermore she strongly believes that an agricultural country like Germany can and must operate sustainably in order to tackle our future biodiversity and climate crisis. After studying permaculture, she just started the “Ways of the Wild” foundation which aims to connect habitats, people and organizations to increase biodiversity.

since October 2020 Managing Director
Research Campus Mobility2Grid

since 2015 Managing Director EQID GmbH
Strategy Consulting for Municipal Energy Providers

since 2005 Lecturer for Strategy and Communication

Master of Science in Communiations and Marketing

Sally is Chief Executive at Forum for the Future with overall responsibility for delivering Forum’s mission to accelerate a big shift towards a sustainable future by catalysing transformational change in global systems. This involves working with leading global organisations, including businesses such as Olam and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Foundations, such as the Laudes Foundation, and membership organisations, such as the United Nations Global Compact, both in one to one partnerships, and also as part of multi-stakeholder collaborations designed to address complex challenges in systems as diverse as food, energy, apparel and shipping.

Sara’s passion for the environment and storytelling was first influenced by her love of the outdoors after living in Canada and New Zealand. Spending a lot of time hiking, backcountry camping and immersing herself in the local cultures, it opened her eyes to the extensive beauty of the planet and the importance of its preservation. Out of curiosity to learn, Sara built one of the largest communities on the audio-platform Clubhouse to over 110,000 members, hosting weekly events discussing different aspects of Climate Change and Sustainability. Sara is also the Co-Producer of TEDxKingsCross and the Producer of Let's Rise Festival. She is working on a new project, at the intersection of social media advertising and philanthropy.

Sascha Pallenberg (潘賞世) is a German Techblogger and Consultant living in Taipei. He was named as one of The NEXT 100 Top Influencers of the European Digital Industry in 2013. During four consecutive years in 2010-2013, Sascha won the „Top 20 Smart Mobile Device Pundit“ Award for the most influential bloggers and journalists in the area of Mobile Computing. Sascha won the “Golden Blogger” award in 2015 for being the blogger of the year in Germany before he joined the corporate communication team at Daimler AG in February of 2017 as the Head of Digital Transformation.

Since 2021 he´s the Chief Awareness Officer for aware_, Germanys first sustainability platform, and helps industries during their sustainable transformation processes.

The Vollpension founder and managing director started his career as an assistant correspondent for CBS News in the White House (and was allowed to stay there longer than some presidents). Where better to acquire communication and social media expertise than in the ultimate shark tank?

Other successful professional positions followed, such as Telekom Germany and Autobahn Tank & Rast, as well as founding and selling companies. What came out of it at the end? A guy who has learned to play every key of the marketing keyboard holistically over the years.

Since Vollpension Medien GmbH was founded in 2013, Sven has been a sought-after expert for all influencer and social media marketing topics and not only inspires full-board customers with his “At the end the duck shits” model and his kind of Golden Circle , but also regularly his audience at panels, conferences and congresses.