Ana Iglesias, Professor at UPM

 

Ana Iglesias is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the UPM, Spain and previously a Research Scientist at Columbia University, New York. Her research focuses on the interactions between global change, agriculture, and water, with particular emphasis on economic impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. She currently leads several EU projects related to adaptation policy. Her work has been published in over one hundred papers and she is a contributing author to the IPCC since 1995. She is currently Review Editor of the Economics of Climate Change for the IPCC. 

Andy Baker, Founder, Sustainable Reference

 

Andy Bäcker started specializing in the field of sustainable design since the first
year of his BA in Architecture at the University of Manchester (UK) in 1995. After completing his Master´s in Architecture at the University of Michigan in 1999, he started working for "green guru" William McDonough at William McDonough & Partners in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2003 he became Special Assistant to William McDonough and Communications Director at McDonough Consulting. During this time he worked on projects for Ford, IBM, GAP, Herman Miller, among others.
In 2005 he founded AEBdESIGN in Bilbao (Spain) offering services in sustainable design & consulting. He worked on projects for Harvard University, Guggenheim Foundation, ArcelorMittal, University of Libya, WM+P, BBVA, IDOM, Labein, etc.
In 2009 he founded Sustainable Reference, a company focused towards helping jumpstart the transition to a green economy at a global scale. The company's goal is to help reduce >1% of global human induced CO2 emissions thanks to sharing sustainable knowledge in a more effective manner and at an unprecedented broad scale. 
He´s a LEED Accredited Professional since 2002, a Collaborating Professor at ESEUNE (MBA and Exec.-MBA programs) since 2008 and an Associate Professor at IE Business School Masters in Environmental Management and Architecture program since 2009. 

Anne Trumble, Founder and Executive Director of Emerging Terrain

 

Anne Trumble is the founder and executive director of Emerging Terrain, a nonprofit research and design collaborative with a mission to engage the public in factors shaping the built environment. The organization focuses on reviving and reinvigorating spaces, places, and structures in the urban landscape through combining diverse methods and best practices of art, design community engagement, and philanthropy.  After leaving a farm upbringing to earn her undergraduate degree in Horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she went on to earn a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she also practiced at a firm designing and building public landscapes in France, Italy, Russia, and throughout Canada. Anne’s experience ranges from designing and managing streetscapes, parks, and plazas in New York City where she fostered a talent for working with diverse teams towards a common built goal, to recently installing over 44,000 sq. ft. of visual art into a large vacant grain elevator about the factors shaping the contemporary city.

Antonio Martin-Antoli

Media Director, FC Barcelona

Antonio has a long career in sales and sports marketing with previous positions at Nike, PepsiCo, Mattel and Dorna Sport. He is currently the Audiovisual Director at FC Barcelona, where he is responsible for TV Rights and New Media. He joined FC Barcelona in 2006, and worked as the club’s Media Director up until 2009, when he took on the position as Academic Director of the Master in Sports Management at IE Business School. Having helped develop the Sports Management Program at IE into the world’s top-ranked program in its category, he returned to his current position at FC Barcelona in December 2010.

Antonio also has a past as a basketball technician, and knows very well the social impact that sports can have on individuals and communities. As someone who is passionate about CSR and sustainability issues, Antonio is proud to work for FC Barcelona, which has a long and strong tradition of social responsibility initiatives. The club conveys its corporate social responsibility through the FC Barcelona Foundation, which has partnerships with e.g. UNICEF, UNESCO, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Barbara Kong, Investment Associate, D Capital Partners

 

Barbara is an Investment Associate at D. Capital. Her work focuses on advising impact investing clients and family offices on their investment strategy in Africa. Barbara has conducted a number of due diligences on behalf of UK and European family offices, including direct investment opportunities as well as fund investment opportunities in the agro-business and education sectors. Prior to joining D. Capital, Barbara worked at A.T Kearney in Paris and at Veolia Water in China on waste management projects. Barbara holds a MBA from MIT Sloan and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, Paris. She is fluent in French and English.

Carlos Fernández Isoird, Managing Director, DENOKINN

 

Carlos Fernández Isoird is the managing director of DENOKINN and acts as the general coordinator of the HIRIKO project. He promotes the Bilbao Social Innovation Park, the first European social innovation facility. Before coming to DENOKINN he was the associated manager of MIK, the corporative Unit of innovation of the Mondragon Cooperative Group. As a business and social innovator, he has promoted different entities and companies, worked for governments as an advisor on local development and innovation strategies, and led research teams in new management models and innovation at international level.

Carlos Garcia Suarez, Associate Professor at IE Business School & IE University - CEO Tecnoma Energia Sostenible

 

Carlos Garcia-Suarez has some 30 years of international experience in consulting and engineering fields, with focus in the renewable energy and the environment. For 10 years he held technical and executive positions in several large multinational corporations in the space, electronics and environmental industries. During another period of 10 years he co-owned a relevant environmental consulting business which was sold to a large multinational. For the last six years he leads a consulting and engineering firm which provides solar, biomass and wind energy services to large international developers all over the world. He has been a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. His academic interest lies in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility and Renewable Energy, subjects which he both intensively teaches at IE Business School & IE University. He has been a board member in several professional associations in the renewable energy, environmental consulting and engineering services sectors. He has been credited with several awards and distinctions.

Carolina Tocalli, Executive Director, Fundacion DISCAR

 

After obtaining her degree in Business Administration (Universidad Católica Argentina), Carolina joined Citibank as risk analyst. She then developed a consultancy career in Accenture, delivering financial systems services to the main banks in Buenos Aires. Carolina worked in Galicia Bank, the first national bank in Argentina, coordinating its call centre launch. She was involved in the strategic planning and development of the business plans for the call centre’s areas and the career path plans of its job positions. In the public sector, Carolina has experience as consultant to IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) in projects related to the government of Buenos Aires city.

In 2002 Carolina joined Ashoka Innovators for the Public, and for a decade she collaborated in building bridges between social and private sectors. She developed and led an innovative initiative: a network of social investors who devoted time, money, knowledge and contacts to leverage social entrepreneurs´ system changing models. Since then, Carolina advises entrepreneurs to accelerate their social impact and coordinates the scaling of their social models.

Carolina is a member of the WE Alliance, a group of leading social innovators working in women´s empowerment all over the world,  that advocates and supports women´s progress, equality and justice. In 2011 Carolina cofounded ci2iglobal - Co creation, Impact x Innovation - to shape, nurture, and influence change in global contexts. Ci2i global works with bridge builders, changemakers, innovators, connectors, makers, and doers across the globe. Since April 2012, Carolina accepted the challenge to lead Fundación DISCAR as the Executive Director, working for the social and work inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in Argentina and Latin America. Carolina lives in Buenos Aires with her husband and their three sons.

David Rochat

Marketing and Sales director, SOFIES

David graduated with a Master in Environmental Engineering in the Swiss Federal Insititute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) in 2004 with a specialization in LCA and MFA. He began his career as a scientific collaborator in the Industrial Ecology and Life Cycle Group (EPFL), before joining the Traffic and Transport Office of Geneva. In 2005, he started coordinating international cooperation projects for the Swiss Materials Science and Techology Institute (EMPA) on electronic waste management (in India where he stayed for 3 years, Senegal, Morocco). In 2008, he co-founded Sofies, where he conducted several projects related to e-waste worldwide and developed the LCA competences of the company. He has also specialized in cleaner production and resource efficiency projects, and in strategic advice to large companies. At Sofies, in additional to his expert activities, David is head of business development.

Debra Wheat, The Oath Project

 

Debra Wheat believes the successful intersection between business, education, and development is the best way to create sustainable positive change.  She has eleven years of professional experience on three continents focused on getting the necessary stakeholders to the table to better solve complex problems.  She thrives in a growing and dynamic environment, and has made a career out of wearing many hats.  She has been a manager, teacher, curriculum writer, community outreach coordinator, consultant, small business owner, and advocate.  She is poised under pressure, comfortable in high-risk situations and a seasoned navigator of red tape.  She flourishes when able to both think big picture and be on the ground to help execute. Raised in Washington, DC she has been active in civil service since an early age.  She served on the President’s Education Commission where she co-hosted a conference with President Clinton and lobbied for education reform.  In Brazil, she used her Portuguese and ability to cross socio-economic and cultural barriers to develop and pilot an interdisciplinary curriculum and complimentary workshop series to teach favella (slum) residents to advocate for themselves against slumlords. In Uganda, she used her mediation skills to help former child-soldiers transition back into communities while simultaneously working to raise international awareness of the plight of the Night Commuters. During her teaching career, she developed the community-outreach strategy for a charter school, facilitated professional development workshops for high school and university faculty, and has written curriculum for both secondary and higher education in the Humanities and Wellness content areas. While at Thunderbird she facilitated pro-bono consulting work for non-profits and spearheaded a sustainability and ethics conference.  As an Education Pioneers fellow, she served as a link between the business and education sectors while training principals to create and analyze comprehensive stakeholder maps, interpret data, think strategically, and conduct market research.  In Ghana, she worked to mitigate the problems associated with charcoal burning stoves by helping to develop the supply chain for the production of a new cooking stove and alternative fuel while facilitating a full stakeholder engagement process with local and international players. Currently, she helps current and future managers to rethink the purpose and power of business in her role as the Executive Director of The Oath Project.

Dr. Alexander Van de Putte, Senior Director at PFC Energy International

 

Alexander Van de Putte is a Professor of Strategic Foresight at IE Business School, The Founding Director of the Sustainable Foresight Institute, Managing Director and Head of Scenario Processes & Applications at PFC Energy International, the Co-Director of the Executive Master in Oil & Gas Leadership at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, The Chairman of the Academic Board of the Caspian Development Center, and an Associate with the US National Intelligence Council.
Previously, Alexander was Senior Director and Head of Global Practices (Scenario Planning, Global Risks and Competitiveness) with the World Economic Forum, the Senior Strategy and Portfolio Advisor to the Committee of Managing Directors at Shell, a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers and an Engagement Manager at McKinsey.
Alexander was a Visiting Professor of scenario planning at INSEAD, Professor of Strategy & Finance and Dean of the Grande Ecole Programme at the Rouen School of Management and a Teaching Fellow at the University of London. Alexander has been a lecturer in executive education at INSEAD (both France and Singapore), IMD and Wharton and has taught at the Solvay School of Management, Boston University and in company programs at DuPont, Caterpillar, GE, Nuon, Shell, The Kazakhstan Development Bank, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and Statoil. Alexander also teaches as part of the Duke Corporate Education network and is a Visiting Professor at the Medina Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE).
Alexander is an economist and engineer by training. He holds advanced degrees in Management and Decision Sciences from Boston University, was a BAEF Fellow at Harvard University, holds a PhD in Management (Strategy & Finance) from the University of London, a Doctorate in International Relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy, and a PhD in Engineering at Cambridge University. In 2004, he was elected an Honorary Teaching Fellow at Birkbeck College (University of London).

Dr. Mark Esposito

 

Dr. Mark Esposito is a contemporary author, researcher and professor, in the field of Economics of Strategy, Complex Systems, Economic Development, and Sustainability. His work has been widely recognized and featured as “Professor of the week” by the Financial Times, for the FT Lexicon. He has published 8 books, over 25business cases and several academic articles. His academic work appears regularly on the Academy of Management, as well as The Economist and Harvard Business Review. Mark is the Founding Director of the Lab-Center for Competitiveness a research think tank affiliated with the MOC network of Prof. Michael Porter at Harvard Business School. He holds Research Fellowships at Ashridge Business School, as well as, at the Institute of Competitiveness in India. Mark’s teaching experience includes appointments at Harvard University, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Hult International Business School, IE Business School, UMass Amherst.
Dr. Esposito is currently appointed Senior Associate for the University of Cambridge Program for Sustainability Leadership. In 2012 he is being nominated for Young Global Leaders initiative at the World Economic Forum.

Edward Bace, CFA

 

Edward Bace, CFA, is head of education for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Previously, Bace was a professor of finance at BPP Business School. He has more than 20 years of experience in international finance, including roles with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Lehman Brothers, and Standard & Poor’s. Mr. Bace has an MBA in finance and international business from New York University. You can follow Ed on Twitter @EJBace

Elvira Espejo, Investment Associate, Bamboo Finance

 

Elvira Espejo is an Investment Associate with Bamboo Finance. She is responsible for sourcing, developing, and monitoring investments in Africa and Asia. Previously, she worked at Goldman Sachs where she invested for their Principal Strategies Group (GSPS), a proprietary multi-strategy investment fund with a focus on private and public equity investments. At GSPS she was responsible for valuing European large-cap enterprises in order to implement equity long short, relative value and event driven strategies. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Elvira worked as an Investment Banking analyst at Credit Suisse HOLT where she implemented their unique performance measurements and valuation frameworks including CFROI®. She also worked for the Mergers and Acquisitions department of Deloitte Corporate Finance and for a Fund of Hedge Funds, Altex Partners. Elvira holds degrees in International Business, Finance and Insurance from University of Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) and Northeastern University. She also holds a Diploma on violin soloist studies from the Professional Conservatory of Music GNESIN. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Russian.

Eva O´Regan - Journalist

 

Eva is a freelance journalist specialising in Military, Defense and International Affairs. She has covered Afghanistan, the Middle East and security organizations (NATO, UN) for newspapers (La Gaceta, El Mundo, Época, Fax Press, Reuters, USA TODAY, Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Times), Radio (RNE and Radio Inter) and TV (Intereconomía). She was recently awarded the Premio Defensa for the best print story of 2012.

Francisco Polo, Founder Actuable and Director Spain, Change.org

 

Founder of Actuable.es and Change.org Spain Country Director, the world’s largest petition platform. On September 2010, he launched Actuable, what has been the fastest-growing platform ever with more than 2.5 million users in less than one year and a half. He coordinated a chapter of International Amnesty when he was 20 years old and was the leader of “Say No to cluster bombs” campaign in Spain. Francisco has been profiled as one of the 100 most relevant people of the year 2011 by El País.

Guillaume Desclée, Founder & Platform Manager at MyMicroInvest

 

Guillaume Desclée is the Founder and Platform Manager at MyMicroinvest – an investment platform that allows both private and professional investors to select together and invest in the most promising start-ups. By using their combined skills in the selection and funding process, professional and private investors can target the finest investment opportunities in start-ups.

Guillaume holds a Master’s degree in Management from the European School of Management (ESCP-EAP) and a Bachelor's degree in economics from the Brussels School of Management ICHEC.

He started his career at DANONE France as Product Manager and was responsible for the marketing and the development of a 5 DANONE’s brands portfolio. After 3 years in Paris, he moved to Brazil where he co-founded impulso.org.br the first online microcredit organization in the country.

Javier Arpa, Visiting Professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris Belleville

 

Mr. Arpa is Visiting Professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris Belleville (France). He is an architect and focuses his professional activity on urban and architectural publishing, curatorship and research. He is the co-author of numerous internationally renowned publications on contemporary architecture and urban planning (a+t architecture publishers). Prior to his editorial career, he worked for a number of architecture firms in Argentina, The Netherlands, Spain and France, and led several urban planning projects in China.

Jean-Christophe Laugee, Social Innovation and Ecosystem Director of Danone

 

Entered in Danone in 1998 as Industrial Human Resources and Organization Manager within the Baby Food division after 6 years as Business Lawyer in 2 Groups. In 2002 he joined Danone Russia as Human Resources Director and became CIS Zone HR Director in 2007.
In 2007 he took the position of Group Sustainable Integration Director .He was appointed in his present position in 2009. As of today he supported the deployment of 41 ecosystem initiated in more than 20 countries and contributed to the definition of Ecosystem overall strategy and governance.

Jessica Bridger, Bakema Fellow, Independent Researcher and Journalist

 

Jessica Bridger engages with architecture and the built environment as a journalist, researcher and consultant. She is interested in the confluence between the built environment and economic/cultural processes at all scales. She holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Jessica is the 2011/2012 Bakema Fellow through the Netherlands Architecture Institute. She is an editor at Uncube magazine and is on the editorial board of 'scape magazine, and she is a former editor of Topos. Her research, editorial projects, writing and visual work are published internationally in various books, magazines and journals. She was a studio instructor for a studio at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and a guest critic for design studios and seminars at Harvard University, Columbia University, the TU Berlin and the ETH Zurich.

Joe Lovrics, Managing Director, Fixed Income, CIB at BNP Paribas

 

Joe has spent over 26 years of his career working with Capital Markets. His entire professional career has been within Fixed Income. He has undertaken various roles from derivative marketer to trader, debt capital markets originator and european sales manager. Joe moved back to Madrid in 2012 to Head Iberian Sales at BNP Paribas. He was previously responsible for European Credit Sales & Structured Credit and Sponsor to Middle East Region and afterward to Russia CIS.
Joe is a Member of the European Operating Committee. He has worked at BNP Paribas since 2001, and previously spent three years at Goldman Sachs in London and eight years at JP Morgan in London and Madrid. He began his career in Toronto where he worked for four years at CIBC Securities/Wood Gundy. Educated at St Michael's College, University of Toronto where he studied economics and political science, graduated with a Law Degree from University of Ottawa in 1983. Joe was called to the Ontario Bar in 1986.

John Bee

Manager Communication & Public Affairs, Nestle

Currently Public Affairs Communications Manager with Nestlé SA, based in Vevey, Switzerland, John's career in communications began 25 years ago in the UK. Holding a range of positions with both small specialised advertising and public relations agencies; and with UK top 20 communications consultancies, he has broad experience in developing and implementing multi-discipline communications programmes for leading brands and organisations in the food, telecommunications, energy and personal finance industries among others. Having headed the Communications team at UK outsourcing specialist Capita Group, John joined the Consumer Health division of Swiss Pharmaceutical multinational Novartis in 2000 as Worldwide Internal Communications manager. A move to Zurich-based global HR Solutions leader Adecco as Internet and Knowledge Management Director followed, before his appointment to his current role in February 2004. While at Nestlé, he has helped develop the Company’s Creating Shared Value strategy; and is responsible for producing Nestlé's Creating Shared Value reports, together with its annual Global Creating Shared Value Global Forum; and accompanying global communications strategies that comprise physical events and corresponding online programmes.

Josefina Maestu, Coordinator, UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC)

 

Josefina Maestu is the Director of the programme since September 2009. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Maestu served as senior advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs. With an academic background in economics and planning, she has an extended professional career in the field of water, international relations, in national civil servant positions and international advisor consultancies. She has coordinated the preparation of the economic analysis of River Basin Management Plans for implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the economic evaluation of infrastructure investment projects and programmes and European Funded Programmes. Prior to this, she was Secretary-General of the Mediterranean Water Network for several years, and has been technical adviser to the European Commission and UN system organizations including the World Bank.

Katrin Muff, Dean of BSL Business School Lausanne

 

Dr. Katrin Muff was appointed Dean of Business School Lausanne in 2008. Dr. Muff ensures real-life business direction at BSL by merging her entrepreneurial and corporate background with the academic world. Not only does Muff strive to ensure that all BSL participants get the best business education possible, she also represents BSL in the effort to educate business schools worldwide of the importance  to produce ethically and environmentally responsible leaders. In 2000, Muff co-founded Yupango, a coaching consultancy dedicated to developing start-up companies and training management teams. Prior to that, Muff was Director, Strategic Planning EMEA of IAMS Pet Food, a division of Procter & Gamble, in the Netherlands. Throughout the 90’s, Muff held several positions for ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America), working in Moscow, Russia as General Manager for Building Systems International, in the United States as an Industry Analyst for Global Mergers & Acquisitions and in Switzerland as a Business Analyst for Europe. A Swiss native, Muff began her career with Schindler Lifts in Lucerne, then in Australia, and holds both a Doctoral and MBA degree from Business School Lausanne.

Maite Arango, VP and Director of CSR, Grupo Vips

 

Maite Arango was born in Mexico, citizen of Mexico and Spain, where she has her residence. Mother of a son, Juan. Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Scripps College, Claremont, California. Shareholder and Vice-President of the Board of Directors at Grupo Vips (a leading Spanish multi-brand and multi-format restaurant and retail operator).
Vice-President and member of the Board of Trustees of “Fundación Hazloposible”, where she also presides the Advisory Council. “Fundación Hazloposible” is a private non-profit organization set up in November 1999, whose mission is to empower individuals, organizations and institutions making them protagonists of social change, using primarily Internet and Information Technologies. 
Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of “Fundación Seres”, Spanish NGO encompassing more than 86 companies (about 20% of Spanish GPD). “Fundación Seres” strengthens and promotes Corporate Social Responsibility as part of the core strategy of each company.
Member, since its creation in 2003, of Esade’s Professional Council. The role of the Council is to provide the institution with a reference to contemporary business needs and demands, through ongoing advice on the elaboration of Esade course content.
She is member of BBVA’s “Momentum Project” Scientific Committee, and participates in Ashoka’s Board of Advisors.

Major Jacob O. Evans, United States Marine Corps

 

Major Jacob Owen Evans assumed his current assignment in December 2009 as the senior Maritime Staff Officer and senior U.S. Marine officer at NATO’s Allied Forces Command, Madrid, Spain.
Major Evans was born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and graduated from Lindenwood University, St Charles, MO. in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. Following his graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on 3 April 1998. His initial assignment was at Camp Pendleton, California from 1999 to 2002 where he participated in two Asian Pacific deployments based out of Okinawa, Japan.
Following his tour in California, then Captain Evans, was selected to serve as Aide-de-Campe to the Deputy Commanding General, Marine Forces Europe from in Naples, Italy. After completing his tour as an Aide, Captain Evans was assigned to the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. Officer Candidate School is the initial entry training program for civilians desiring to become Marine officers. In 2006, Captain Evans again reported to Camp Pendleton, California and was immediately sent to Habbaniyah, Iraq as the Assistant Operations Officer of an infantry battalion. Upon the battalion’s redeployment to the United States, Captain Evans assumed command of an infantry company. Following company command, Captain Evans was assigned as the Operations Officer for his 1200-person battalion two weeks before they were to deploy to Fallujah, Iraq. Upon return to the U.S. Major Evans was promoted to his current rank.
From 2008 to 2009 Major Evans served as the special advisor to the commanding general of the 28th Iraqi Army Brigade and Team Chief for a ten-man team assigned to advise and train “The Hamza Brigade” in Al Qa’im, Iraq. Major Evans is a 2005 resident graduate of Expeditionary Warfare School and a 2011 graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College Distance Education Program. He is also a 2011 graduate of IE Business School in Madrid, Spain and holds a degree in International Executive Masters of Business Administration.

Manuel Fernandez Garcia de Campo, Sustainability Director, EDPR Europe

 

Manuel has some 25 years of international experience in management fields, with focus in the power sector. Currently he is the executive director of Sustainability in EDP Renewables Europe, with the aim to merge sustainability in the day-to-day business of the company. Previously he held different positions in EDPR, as Country Manager in Romania or Project Management Director in Spain. His involvement in the renewable energy sector started back in 2002 when he joined, as Managing Director, an independent power producer company devoted to greenfield wind farm projects. For 11 years he held several executive positions in the power utility company Union Fenosa, being an active player of its internationalization and diversification. He started his professional career in Arthur Andersen, as a auditor and consultant in the industry practice. His international experience includes 9 years working and living abroad (in the Philippines, China, Uruguay and Romania), leading different start-up projects in renewables, natural gas and consultancy areas.
Provided consultancy to the Asian Development Bank in China. Graduated from Oviedo University (Spain) in 1987 with a degree in Mining Engineering. Passionate for outdoor sports, being regular practitioner of skiing, hiking, mountain bike, swimming, and whatever comes.

 

Marion Descottes, CSR and CRM Manager at Starbucks

 

Marion Descottes has more than 10 years of professional experience in strategic and operational marketing. She is specialized in launching brands and marketing projects.
She gained her MBA at IE Business School in 2007 and since then, has chosen to integrate sustainable development issues to daily business: she provided consulting to social entrepreneurs in Central America and helped a French website specialized in green information to develop.
She is currently working as CSR and CRM Manager at Starbucks Coffee France, proving that corporations can make a difference and have a positive social and environmental impact without disturbing their business objectives.

Mark Weston – Author, The Ringtone and the Drum

 

Mark Weston is a writer, researcher and policy adviser working on international development, public health, human rights, radicalization and other global issues; a blogger at globaldashboard.org; and the author of The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World’s Poorest Countries.
http://www.markweston.net/

Mercedes Gutierrez, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Iberia

 

Mercedes Gutierrez, born in Burgos, 36 years old. Sustainability Manager at IKEA Spain. I have a degree in Chemistry. Master in Corporate Social Responsibility, Accounting and Social Auditing from the Barcelona University. Almost 10 years of experience in business management, quality, excellence and CSR. Today, my main challenge is how to make “sustainability” easier, understandable and affordable for co-workers and consumers.

Pablo Esteves, Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnership, Emzingo

 

Pablo is the Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnership of Emzingo Group. He has been involved in entrepreneurial endeavors for over ten years, ranging from work with a startup media group in Mexico to opening and running a coffee shop to a career as a professional golfer. Born in Mexico, he defines himself as a citizen of the world. Having lived, worked and studied in five cities, across three different continents, has provided him with a global mindset, broader vision and the flexibility to adapt quickly in changing, challenging and uncertain environments. Pablo first came to Madrid to pursue an MBA at IE Business School and joined the Emzingo Group upon graduation. 

Paulo Picca, leading Supply Chain Operations in Tetra Pak Cluster South Europe

 

Currently leading Supply Chain Operations in Tetra Pak Cluster South Europe. The core supply operation in the Cluster consists of the Packaging Material converting Factories of Spain, France and Italy with an annual volume of approximately 15 billion of packs, partially exported all over the world. For the last four years he had the Global responsibility for the Supply Chain Pack Mat World Class Manufacturing Program, one of the most successful TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) implementation worldwide, recognized by Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance with more than 50 Awards. Previously he was Factory Manager in Monte Mor, Tetra Pak Brazil for 5 years and before he worked for Procter and Gamble Company in Brazil as Operations Manager for Pampers Baby Diapers and Feminine Protection Pads (Always).

Peter Sweatman, Chief Executive, Climate Strategy and Partners

 

Peter Sweatman is the Chief Executive of Climate Strategy & Partners (www.climatestrategy.com), a strategic consultant in Clean Energy, Clean Technology, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Strategies.  For 5 years directly prior to this Peter was Managing Director responsible for Iberia and Latin America for Climate Change Capital, one of the world’s leading specialist fund manager and advisors in the low carbon economy.  
Peter holds a Masters degree in Engineering and Management Studies from Cambridge University.  In 1991, he joined JPMorgan in Corporate Finance where he spent 9 years responsible for client business mainly in debt capital markets for Iberia and Latin America from London and then New York.  In the year 2000, Peter became a social entrepreneur joining with other ex-bankers to found and run three NGOs: Charity Technology Trust (www.ctt.org), New Philanthropy Capital and Catalyst Climate Change Trust.
Peter is a visiting professor at IE University in Madrid, an active member of the Ashoka Support Network, a member of the JCI Institute for Energy Efficiency global Expert panel, lecturer at IIT-Comillas University and an advisor to the UK Trade & Industry in Spain.  Peter regularly presents at public forum on the economics, markets and regulatory matters pertaining to climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency.

Peyton Bowman, Consultant and Talent Manager at Axia Value Chain NA

 

Peyton is a value chain consultant at Axia Value Chain in North America. They serve the North American market by delivering performance improvement, business transformation, strategic alignment and other such innovative management consulting services. The North American practice is one of four Axia businesses with the other portion of Peyton’s time spent strategically working with the company’s sustainability practice based in Brazil.
Of recent sustainability projects is the Rio de Janeiro “Sustainable City” project which focused on public-private partnerships aimed at increasing the quality of life in two favelas centered on sustainability. The subsequent project is aimed at creating the most sustainable road in Latin America linking Sao Paulo and Rio using similar methodology as the favela project.

Peyton is a graduate of the dual degree between IE Business School and MIT’s Supply Chain Master’s program.

Rafael Vidaurreta, Marketing, 2014 FIBA World Cup

 

Rafael graduated from Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA) in 2001 with a degree in Communication. That very same year he signed with Club Baloncesto Estudiantes to play professional basketball in Spain. He played for over 9 years retiring at the age of 32. Rafael always showed great interest in the marketing and sponsorship aspects that sports had to offer as well as the CSR initiatives his Clubs were involved in. He played for several teams throughout his athletic career (Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, CAI Zaragoza, CB Granada and Fuenlabrada Baloncesto). Ever since he retired in 2009, Rafael has pursued a career in sports marketing and promotion. He was able to improve his marketing and sales skills during his period at Club Baloncesto Estudiantes as an Account Manager and now in his position as part of the Marketing and Promotion team at the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB).
He is currently involved in the promotion of several activities of FEB being the 2014 FIBA World Cup the most important event. Rafael also leads the Road Show project which will travels all throughout Spain during 2012 reaching other parts of the world until September 2014 promoting the FIBA World Cup. Dealing with events of this magnitude has giving Rafael a clear vision of the Social Impact that sports have on our society. 

Roger Cozens, Greenacres Consultancy

 

Roger Cozens of Greenacres Consultancy has a master’s degree in Agricultural Development, specializing in policy analysis and agricultural economics. He is chair of the International Division of the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants and has provided consultancy in sustainable land use in in over 18 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean over the past 25 years.
He is a member of a number of professional organizations including British Institute of Agricultural Consultants (Chair of International Division), Tropical Agriculture Association (Executive Committee member), Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust (Trustee), International Agriculture and Technology Centre (Industry Advisory Group member) VSO (mentor to volunteers)
His business administration experience is supported by a Certificate in Management which he gained in 1994 in the UK and more recently by attending training in Policy, Programmes and Project management run by Crown Agents in Dubai (2009) and Leadership in Development run by CINFO in Switzerland (2011).

Ross Lohr

Co-Founder, Project Repat

Social entrepreneur from Boston, Massachusetts. Ross grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and received a BA in economics and psychology from Boston University. At age 21, Ross started his first non-profit, NTC (www.NewtonTanzania.org), connecting students in the United States and Tanzania through cultural exchange and improving educational opportunities for children in Tanzania. Amazed by the millions of incredible cast-away American t-shirts that get dumped on lower income countries, Ross co-founded Project Repat (www.ProjectRepat.com), upcycling excess clothing into fun, fashionable, and functional products while creating fair wage employment opportunities in the United States. 

Sarah Djari, Senior Investment Manager – Asia, Bamboo Finance

 

Sarah Djari is a Senior Investment Manager with Bamboo Finance. She is responsible for sourcing, developing, and monitoring investments in Asia. Sarah joined the team of the BlueOrchard Private Equity Fund in February 2008. Previously, she founded and headed the strategy department of the Centre for Microfinance in Chennai, India. She was hired by Nachiket Mor, the Executive Director of ICICI, to work with fast growing Indian Microfinance Institutions to support them in the development and implementation of their growth strategy. In that context, she worked for 3 years with MFIs, training institutes, consultants, banks and equity investors to support the continued growth of those organizations. She also contributed in setting up Grameen Capital India to promote securitization and bond issuance on the mainstream capital markets and in setting up a microfinance incubator to create 200 new MFIsin underserved geographies. Prior to India, Sarah worked with the American strategy consulting firm, Bain & Company for 5 years, advising clients on their growth strategy and operational improvement. She was part of the Private Equity and Telecom practices. Sarah also volunteered in several development projects in France, Chad, India, Nepal and Mongolia. She holds a Master of Science in Engineering from Centrale-Paris and a Master of Science in Theoretical Physics from the Imperial College-London. She speaks French, English and Spanish. She is currently on the Boards of the following portfolio companies: Aavishkaar Goodwell, Asmitha, Svasti, TFG, and Xac Bank.

Stephanie Schmidt, Director, Ashoka’s Full Economic Citizenship initiative Europe

 

Stéphanie Schmidt, Ashoka's Full Economic Citizenship. Stephanie joined Ashoka in 2004 to launch of the global Hybrid Value Chain program from Washington DC and then went to lead this program aiming to tear down the walls between corporate and citizen sectors in Mexico, focusing on key sectors like agriculture, recycling and alternative sales channels for essential goods. She graduated from ESSEC Business School, worked for 5 years in management consulting with Deloitte in Paris then Boston and coordinated the development programs of World Relief in Rwanda where she launched a new economic development program with small farmers. Stephanie is currently based in Paris with her three young children and her German husband.

Sven Verstrepen

Director, Tri-Vizor and Partner, Co3

Sven Verstrepen is co-founder and Business Development Director of TRI-VIZOR (www.trivizor.com), a spin-off company of the University of Antwerp and the world’s first cross supply chain orchestrator. TRI-VIZOR develops solutions for horizontal collaboration, freight flow bundling and network orchestration in transport in logistics. In March 2011, TRI-VIZOR together with Baxter and UCB accomplished the first successful showcase of orchestrated flow bundling in logistics. The company was successively awarded with the European Supply Chain Distinction Award for Innovation (Berlin, June 2011) and the VBO/Belgian Business & Society “Sustainable Company of the Year Award” (Brussels, October 2011). TRI-VIZOR is also responsible for implementing test projects in horizontal collaboration for the EU “Collaborative Concepts for Comodality (CO³)” project (www.co3-project.eu). Sven has published several books and academic papers on collaborative supply chains. He is also a frequent guest speaker at universities and international conferences.

Tom Raftery – Principal Analyst, GreenMonk

 

Tom is the heads up GreenMonk the Energy and Sustainability practice of industry analyst firm RedMonk. He was one of the founders and developers of Cork Internet eXchange (CIX), a hyper energy-efficient data centre and acted as the Technical Editor of the book Green IT for Dummies.

Tomas Conde, Sustainability Director of BBVA

 

Tomas Conde is Sustainability Director of BBVA since 2006. His main area of responsibilities include: sustainability strategic planning, social responsible investment, environmental and social risk assessment. In addition to his role in BBVA, Mr. Conde teaches at IE Business School for International Executive MBAs.

Usman Hayat, Director of Islamic Finance and ESG, CFA Institute

 

Usman Hayat, is director of Islamic Finance and ESG at CFA Institute, where he focuses on Islamic finance and socially responsible investing. Previously, he worked as an independent consultant in the capital market in Pakistan in the areas of market development and risk management for clients, including the securities regulator, stock exchanges, clearing company, and the securities depository. He has been an active columnist on capital market issues. He has earned the Financial Risk Manager designation from the Global Association of Risk Professionals, the Islamic Finance Qualification from the U.K. Securities and Investment Institute, and a Certificate in Islamic Finance from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Mr. Hayat holds an MBA from Lahore University of Management Sciences and an MA in development economics from University of Sussex in the United Kingdom.