GREENTECH FESTIVAL SPEAKERS

Stephen Dunbar-Johnson is the president, International of The New York Times Company. Dunbar-Johnson is responsible for the oversight and strategic development of the Times Company’s international businesses. Dunbar-Johnson was appointed president, International for The New York Times Company in October 2013 to lead the global expansion of the company.

Sylvie Nicol is member of the Henkel Management Board as Executive Vice President Human Resources, Infrastructure Services and Sustainability. Additionally, Sylvie Nicol is responsible for Henkel’s corporate sustainability strategy and heading the Sustainability Council as Chairwomen. The council is the company’s central decision-making body including all functions and businesses at Henkel. Born in 1973 in Paris, France, she started her career at Henkel early on. In 1996, after graduating from the renowned ESCP Europe business school, Nicol joined Henkel Beauty Care France, where she later became Corporate Vice President and General Manager Beauty Care Retail. In 2013, she moved to Düsseldorf, being responsible for Human Resources at Beauty Care. One year later, she became Corporate Senior Vice President for Beauty Care Retail in Europe as well as Global Sales at Beauty Care. In 2018, she became Corporate Senior Vice President Global Human Resources.

Thomas Dosch is a trained farmer and studied agricultural economics. For more than 10 years, he served as President of Bioland, the largest organic farming association in Germany. He gained valuable experience in agricultural administration as head of department and deputy state secretary in Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Agriculture. Since October 2020, he has held senior responsibility for policy, transformation and sustainability issues at Tönnies Holding. Sein Ziel: eine kreislauforientierte Landwirtschaft His mission: a circular, humane and animal-friendly agriculture for good food.

Mr Harlfinger studied civil engineering at the TU Dresden. He then wrote his doctoral thesis on the redevelopment of existing office properties. He then began his professional career at Drees & Sommer in Munich. He is now a partner and responsible for Drees & Sommer’s property development in Bavaria. His favourite subject is planning and construction in existing buildings.

Thomas Logisch studied mechanical engineering, medical technology and business administration. As a passionate sailor, he is familiar with the challenges of life on the water, and he knows the value of precision, reliability and the selection of the right materials to make reasonable, economical offers in the diverse and sometimes confusing world market of yachting solution providers.

Tina Dreimann is an exceptionally driven impact investor and founder of better ventures. Better ventures is a curated network of likeminded entrepreneurs investing in ambitious impact founders. Aligned with the vision ‘to be the catalyst for a better world, where impact startups thrive and create sustainable solutions for people and planet’, her mission is to empower ambitious founders to succeed. better ventures has already rallied over 70 successful entrepreneurs as strong partners ready to invest far above 50M Euros into the early-stage startup phase. Since 2022, she has been an engaged advisor for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In 2023, she was honored as the ‘Female Investor of the Year’ by the German Startup Awards.

Tina Schlingmann is a materials scientist with a PhD and an experienced additive manufacturing strategist, who is passionate about the potential and new opportunities that can be leveraged through additive manufacturing (AM) technology. Since May 2021, she has been working as Regional Director EMEA at EOS GmbH. In her current role she is responsible for the DACH and Benelux regions, focusing on the further development of the AM market. With a very application-oriented focus, she creates end-to-end solutions and accelerates the growth of the AM market by bringing together AM-designed materials with the appropriate applications.

Tobias Raffel is a Fellow at the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research and at the international business school ESMT Berlin, where he conducts research at the interface between biodiversity and business. He has managed several private foundations in the field of sustainability and was responsible for the development of thought leadership at a global strategy consultancy for over ten years. Most recently, he was Co-Founder and Executive Director of the FUTURE Institute for Sustainable Transformation at ESMT Berlin.

Todd Smith is a former Airbus A320 Pilot turned sustainable aviation activist. He and his colleagues at Safe Landing are determined to ensure the aviation industry changes course through early design, rather than late disaster. This international community of aviation workers have already commissioned the world’s first ‘Aviation Workers’ Assembly’ in the UK and wish to continue to put workers front and centre as we collectively navigate the turbulent skies ahead.

Tony is a land-use specialist with business, scientific and strategic expertise in agriculture, biodiversity and forestry. He obtained his Bachelor’s in NZ, and PhD at Cambridge University. He has published over 160 research papers. Tony’s experience covers public sector, private sector and academia including Shell Forestry, Oxford University and UK Government ODA. From 1995, he worked at ICRAF (Kenya), and from 2011 was Director General until October 2022. He holds honorary positions at Copenhagen University, and is Lifetime Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy. Tony is passionate about the transformative change that the private sector and private investors can bring to development having established partnerships with BNP Paribas, Astanor Ventures, MARS Inc, Danone, CEMOI, Boehringer, Unilever and many institutional investors.

On a mission to make electric mobility accessible to everyone, Toussaint founded Upway in 2021 to offer an unparalleled selection of affordable, thoroughly inspected, and professionally repaired e-bikes, delivered at home under warranty. Upway is available in 7 countries across Europe and the US, and has already refurbished over 20,000 e-bikes across its workshops in Berlin, Paris, New York and Mechelen. Before launching Upway, Toussaint worked at Uber for 8 years, where he led Uber Eats for the UK and Northern Europe markets.

I’m Vikas Garg and I started abillion, a consumer movement for sustainability that’s spread to over 10 million people in 188 countries. I started working on Wall Street when I was a kid and in my 30s I began asking how I could bring my values closer to my work. I became vegan, a choice that meant I could no longer turn my back on animals and the planet. In 2017 I took the leap and resigned from one of the world’s most successful hedge funds to start abillion. I’m a product of NYC and believe in the power of hustle.

Dr. Ruiz-Gutierrez earned her Bachelor’s degree at the National University of Costa Rica in Tropical Biology, and her Doctorate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, with a strong focus on population biology and quantitative ecology. The focus of her research is to work at the interface between science and application to deepen our understanding of the social and environmental factors that shape where and when species occur on a given landscape to improve decision-making and conservation. Her research group works on developing and applying novel quantitative modeling techniques to understand how human drivers of land-use change (e.g. agriculture) affect biodiversity using birds as indicators.

Volker Katschinski is a co-founder of the dan pearlman Group. Within the agency group, he serves as the Creative Director at dan pearlman Markenarchitektur GmbH. His design expertise is reflected in flagship stores, brand shops, pop-up stores, and shop-in-shop areas. In his work for international brands, the focus is on creating brand-specific and consumer-enticing shopping experiences. Sustainability is a crucial driver for Volker Katschinski’s work. The Society for Sustainable Construction e.V. (DNGB) awarded the Marc O’Polo flagship store he designed with the DGNB Gold Certificate. Also highly acclaimed is the Globetrotter RE:THINK Store he developed, the first retail format that relies almost entirely on recycling and was awarded, among others, the Store of the Year 2024.

Vuk Trifkovic serves as Managing Director and Partner at BCG X, Boston Consulting Group’s tech build and design unit since 2016. He specializes in building, launching, and managing digital businesses across various sectors. As part of BCG X’s green tech leadership team, he collaborates with corporate entities globally to invest in, co-build, and scale sustainable ventures, fostering climate innovation. Since 2021, Vuk has spearheaded climate and sustainability initiatives, gaining expertise in green technologies, from direct-air capture to regenerative agriculture. Prior to BCG, he held leadership positions in VC-funded startups and contributed to research on climate change’s historical impact using geospatial computing tools.

Wolfgang Grabher is the founder, owner and CEO of SUN AG, the Swiss producer of SUN Minimeal, using Blockchain technology to provide the world´s first deflationary pricing model. He climbed Mount Vinson in Antarctica and is the owner of the SUN Minimeal Extreme E Racing Team. His mission is to reduce resources for food supply by 90%

Zhamilya, based in Paris, is dedicated to driving impactful innovations in developing countries. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development from Sciences Po Paris, specializing in digital innovations and entrepreneurship for impact. Her work emphasizes the use of technology to foster sustainable growth and inclusivity in underserved regions