GREENTECH FESTIVAL SPEAKERS 2023

Bernhard is the Head of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator, which he created in 2015. The Accelerator sources, supports and scales start-ups and nonprofits working to achieve Zero Hunger, as well as running accelerator programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Humanitarian Grand Challenge, and other UN Agencies. Prior to starting the Accelerator, Bernhard co-founded the award-winning ShareTheMeal app that crowdsources funding for WFP, helping to deliver over 167 million meals for hungry children worldwide. ShareTheMeal was named as an App of the Year (2020) by Apple and Google. He gave a TED Talk and is a regular speaker at global conferences and events related to artificial intelligence, blockchain, social impact and entrepreneurship and disrupting global hunger through technology, i.e.‘tech for good.’

Bettina Stark-Watzinger has been Federal Minister of Education and Research since December 2021. She has been member of the German Bundestag since 2017, representing constituency 181 – Main- Taunus. She is Chair of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in Land Hesse and Member of the Federal Executive and Presidium of the FDP.

Christian Lindner is Germany’s Federal Minister of Finance and a member of the German parliament (Bundestag). Lindner was elected party leader of the Free Democrats in December 2013. As chairman of the Free Democrats Parliamentary Group (2017-2021) Christian Lindner established a constructive and successful parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. In the 2021 elections the FDP achieved one of its best results ever. After successful coalition negotiations Christian Lindner became Germany’s Federal Minister of Finance in the first ever three-party coalition on December, 8th 2021.

Constantin is currently CEO of Wirelane, a company he founded in 2017 with a mission to electrify mobility. The company, which has won top awards for its charging station design, is active across Europe and is one of the continent’s leading specialist providers of hardware, software and app solutions. An enterprising business leader, Constantin leverages commercial ventures as a means to better people’s lives. He is focused on building and investing in businesses that are inclusively and transparently governed, that bring beneficial social and environmental impact along with financial return. Companies he has previously founded and run include: Plain Energy, a Europe-wide photovoltaic power producer and power plant operator; Kinoheld, a market-leading ticketing platform, subsequently acquired by CTS Eventim, an international entertainment corporation; and Rebelio Holding, one of Europe’s largest e-commerce sites at its time, which he sold to NYSE Euronext Loyaltouch.

Cyrill is an award-winning designer and brand/product developer. In 1998 he created a method called Cross Intelligence, which brings a culture of collaboration to major organizations. In 2012 he decided to focus on a new client vital to us all: the oceans. He founded Parley for the Oceans as a collaboration network for creators, thinkers and leaders to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to develop and implement strategies that can end their destruction. Parley and their partners won the Grand Prix for Product Design at Cannes Lions, two D&AD Pencils and an ADCN Grand Prix in 2014. Gutsch was named 2017 Environmentalist of the Year by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association for his tireless work for the oceans. In 2018, Parley was named Environmental Organisation of the Year at EARTHx and Gutsch was honored with a Special Recognition Award for Innovation by the British Fashion Council. In 2019, Gutsch was inducted into the UBS Global Visionary community – a select group of leading entrepreneurs and individuals working towards one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

After a banking apprenticeship, Donya-Florence Amer completed the studies of business administration with a focus on Finance and HR at the University of Cologne and Berkeley. She is also an alumna of the Singularity University in Palo Alto. Amer started her career in 1999 at IBM and took over various leadership positions, including in the areas of digital transformation. 2017, she joined Bosch, first as EVP and member of the CIO Management Board, later as co-founder and CEO of Bosch Climate Solutions. Amer has lived and worked in different countries and cultures, including the UK, USA and China. Donya-Florence Amer was appointed to the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG as of 11 November 2021, and she is Chief Information Officer (CIO) since 1 February 2022. From 1 May 2022 she was additionally appointed Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

Dr Eckart von Hirschhausen studied medicine and science journalism in Berlin, London and Heidelberg. For more than twenty-five years, he has been on the road as a moderator, speaker and motivator on stages, podiums and on television. His speciality: conveying medical content in a humorous way and combining it with sustainable messages. Eckart von Hirschhausen is an honorary faculty member of the Berlin Charité. Since 2018 he has been committed to a medically and scientifically based climate policy. He is co-founder of Scientists for Future and a supporter of the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG). In 2020, he founded the Healthy Planet – Healthy People Foundation, which aims to communicate in solution-oriented, humorous, understandable, inspiring, and visionary ways that the climate crisis presents a threat to the health of everybody across the globe.

An expert on global risk arising from the systemic changes occurring in the natural environment Professor Gail Whiteman is the founder of Arctic Basecamp and Professor of Sustainability at the University of Exeter’s Business School (UK). She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Frontier Risk and was a scientific keynote speaker at WEF’s 2020 session at Davos “What’s at Stake: The Arctic” alongside panellists including Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Former US Vice President, Al Gore. Also Professor-in-Residence at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and is actively involved in building science-based targets collective business action, including those for a future low-carbon economy. Her research utilises organisation theory on information flows to analyse how a range of actors (companies, civil society, and local communities) make sense of ecological risk, and how these actors transform and build resilience across scales given environmental pressures and social inequities.

Meet Gillord, a multilingual entertainer from Curaçao who is passionate about bringing joy to people’s lives through entertainment. With fluency in several languages, including Papiamentu, Dutch, English, German, and Spanish, he has the ability to connect with diverse audiences and make them feel at home. Not only that, but Gillord has also worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment, such as Netflix and Disney, as a voice actor, and has hosted several events in different industries. As an entertainer, Gillord is dedicated to using his talents to make the world a brighter place, one event at a time.

Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström is the Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor at the Institute of Earth and Environmental Science at Potsdam University. Rockström is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues, who led the development of the new Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. He is a leading scientist on global water resources, with about 25 years of experience from applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability. Rockström provides strategic scientific guidance as a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group ‘Mission Board for Adaptation to Climate Change, including Societal Transformation’ and the ‘Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ and consults several governments and business networks.

Judith joined Planted in early 2020 with a passion for driving innovation to develop healthy, sustainable products that reduce the footprint of the food value chain and provide consumers with moments of pleasure. She studied food science at ETH Zurich and the University of Singapore alongside two of Planted’s four founders and holds a PhD in food process engineering from ETH Zurich in close industry collaboration. Judith is an expert in process engineering and clean-label product design and has filed several patent applications as part of her PhD. At Planted she is responsible for product development, regulatory and IP and represents Planted in the Swiss Association for Alternative Proteins as Association President. Planted is now the fastest growing alternative protein start-up in Europe.

Katherina Reiche was a member of the German Bundestag for 18 years, including 7 years on the German Federal Cabinet. From 1998 to 2015 she was a member of the German Bundestag, from 2005 to 2009 deputy chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, responsible for education and research policy as well as for the environment, nature conservation and reactor safety. From 2009 to 2013 Katherina Reiche was Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and from 2013 to 2015 Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. Since January 1, 2020 Katherina Reiche has been Chairwoman of the Board of Westenergie AG. Since June 2020 she has been chairwoman of the National Hydrogen Council (Nationaler Wasserstoffrat).

Luca Caracciolo is an tech-journalist based in Hanover. He worked at the tech magazine t3n from 2012 until the end of March 2021, most recently as editor-in-chief for print and online. Since 1 April 2021, he has been editor-in-chief of the german edition of the MIT Technology Review.

Mate Rimac is the founder and CEO of the Rimac Group, which includes Rimac Technology, and Bugatti Rimac. He has been interested in cars and electronics since childhood and was already writing patents at the age of 17. In 2007, he converted his 1984 BMW E30 into an electric vehicle and set several world records. This success motivated him to build his own car from scratch, leading to the creation of Rimac Automobil in 2011. The Rimac Concept_One became the world’s first true electric supercar, and the company has since expanded to become a leading supplier of EV components. In 2021, Rimac Group became the majority shareholder in Bugatti Rimac, a joint company with Porsche as a strategic partner. Rimac’s ambition and innovation have led to the development of the 1,914hp Nevera, and the Rimac Group is building a €200M state-of-the-art global HQ to accommodate its growing team of over 2,000 employees.

Thijs Biersteker creates interactive awareness installations about the world’s most pressing issues of today. By entangling art and environmental scientific data he provokes insight into the ecological challenges ahead and what we might learn from them. Collaborating with top scientists and universities he weaves together their scientific research with new technologies to create empowering art installations that make big environmental challenges accessible and relatable. His immersive installations about topics like climate change, tree communication and the biodiversity crisis, make the invisible impact we have on the world around us visible. He has exhibited his work at renowned museums and climate conferences worldwide. He is also the founder of Woven Studio where science-based artworks are created in a circular and sustainable way.