Speakers

Connor holds a JD and LL.M. in Law & Entrepreneurship from Duke University School of Law. He practiced corporate law in San Francisco at the international law firm Morrison & Foerster. After several years at the firm, Connor left to complete his MBA at Harvard Business School. He is now the Co-Founder and COO of Marveri, a legal AI startup.

Sacha Alanoca is an AI Governance researcher, John F. Kennedy Fellow and MPA Candidate at Harvard University. On campus, she advances responsible AI efforts as the Co-Chair of the AI & Emerging Tech Caucus at HKS and AI Leader with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Prior to HKS, Sacha worked as a Senior AI Policy Researcher for the think tank The Future Society. She coordinated the development of Tunisia's AI national strategy, published scientific and policy papers on topics such as responsible AI for pandemic response, and joined the OECD AI Policy Observatory as an AI Expert. This summer, Sacha worked with the EU Commission on the AI Act, considered as the first comprehensive AI regulation. Sacha is Franco-Chilean. She was named one of the “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics” in 2022 and one of the most “Disruptive Women in Tech” in 2023.

Silas Alberti is a PhD student in AI at Stanford. With a long standing passion for mathematics, he won a silver medal at the German National Math Olympiad and graduated as valedictorian from LMU Munich. Besides his research, he interned in Quant Trading at Jane Street and enjoys building projects including PIGEON, the world’s most advanced GeoGuessr AI, and ChatBCG, the world’s first AI slide deck generator with 400,000+ users.

Hilke Marit Berger is the Scientific Lead of the City Science Lab at Hamburg’s HafenCity University, a cooperation with MIT Media Lab in Cambridge/USA. As an urban researcher, her work at the intersection of cultural studies and urban planning includes practices of participation, issues of collective urban design, co-creation in mixed realities and digital art.

Dr. Ulrich Betz, VP of Innovation at Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has 25+ years of pharmaceutical and chemical industry experience. He has held roles in the President's Office at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Biopharma and has reported to Heads of R&D at both Bayer and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In his current role, he designed and implemented a series of highly impactful innovation initiatives across all businesses of the Company, which has earned him multiple awards

Leonie Barker Beyrle is the Research Manager of the Public Interest Tech Lab at Harvard and teaches courses on technology science at HKS and Harvard College. She is a UK-trained lawyer, specializing in international law and legal technology, with a particular interest in designing adaptive governance systems for emerging technologies. She holds a Master in Public Policy from HKS, where she was a McCloy Fellow, as well as undergraduate degrees in Economics, Politics, Philosophy and Law.

Born in Krefeld in 1974, Anastasia Biefang has been an officer in the German Armed Forces since 1994. She holds a masters degree in pedagogy from the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich and, after completing her technical training, she has held various leadership and staff positions within the German Armed Forces. She is a graduate of the Bundeswehr General Staff course of the Command and Staff Academy in Hamburg and then served, among other things, as a desk officer for Strategy and Operations in the Federal Ministry of Defence. In 2017 she was appointed commander of the Information Technology Battalion 381 in Storkow (Mark) until 2020. Since then she is a branch head in the Cyber and Information Domain Service Headquarters in Bonn. She served two tours of duty deployed to Afghanistan (2011/2012 and 2018/2019).

Ben Brake has been head of the new Digital and Data Policy directorate-general at the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) since 1 March 2022. In this position, the sociologist reports directly to State Secretary for Digital, Stefan Schnorr. Before joining the Ministry, Brake spent roughly ten years at the head of the Berlin office of IT service provider IBM, where he represented the company’s policy interests. His early career included positions at the German Bundestag and as private secretary to the then Federal Minister of Justice, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP).

Tobias Brzoskowski studied economics at the University of Göttingen, Nanjing University, China and UPAEP in Puebla, Mexico. He has been working on digitization in the transport industry for the past seven years, with a focus on automated & connected vehicles, digital infrastructures and smart parking. In his current role as Director of New Mobility Solutions Hamburg he and his team are responsible for strategy, portfolio management and project development in the field of digital mobility for the city of Hamburg.

Isabel Cademartori is a Member of the Bundestag and member of the Social Democratic Party. She was directly elected to parliament in the federal elections of 2021, representing her district in Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg). In the Bundestagshe is a member of the Transport Committee and she additionally serves as a Deputy Member in the Health Committee and the Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Building and Local Government.

Ambassador (retired) Piper Campbell is the inaugural chair of the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security at American University's School of International Service. A career diplomat, she retired in 2018 with the rank of Minister Counselor, having served as Head of the U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia, and Consul General in Basrah, Iraq.

Anselm Dannecker’s does research and works with practitioners in the fields of conflict resolution and complex multistakeholder negotiations with a particular focus on climate negotiations and European politics. Dannecker has trained and consulted clients from various sectors, including European legislators and international climate NGOs, he is teaching at Northeastern University and in Executive Education programs at the Harvard Kennedy School. As a coach, Dannecker has worked with individuals in targeted one-on-one settings on understanding default behavioral patterns in negotiation settings and improving their negotiation performance. Dannecker’s prior career has spanned entrepreneurship and public service. He has co-founded a payments venture, has served as an Economist and as an Adviser to the CEO at IFC, has advanced international financial policy working at the German central bank and has designed policy as an economic adviser for the Green Group in the German Parliament. Dannecker holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School, where he had been studying as a McCloy Fellow. He holds a Master’s in Science (MSc, International Political Economy) from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy & Economics from Bayreuth University.

Serena DeBeer is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University. Research in the DeBeer group is focused on the development and application of advanced X-ray spectroscopic tools for understanding key mechanisms in biological, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis.

Knut Dethlefsen serves as the FES Representative to the U.S. and Canada. Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., he led FES offices in Warsaw, Jerusalem, and Shanghai. In between, he also served as the Department Head of the Asia and Pacific Department of the FES in Berlin.

Amra Dumisic is a Senior Information and Alumni Program Officer at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and an active member of the DAAD’s research marketing team. She has presented at various conferences and fairs on studying and researching in Germany. Prior to this position, she was a Lecturer of German Language and Literature at Fordham University in New York. She holds a M.Phil. Degree in German Language and Literature.

Martin Ebers is President of the Robotics & AI Law Society (RAILS) and Professor of IT Law at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Moreover, he is a permanent fellow at the law faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, and Wallenberg Guest Professor in Sweden. His latest books are amongst others Algorithms and Law (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and Contracting and Contract Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Hart Publishing, 2022).

Floris Engelhardt is co-founder and CEO of Kano Therapeutics, a biotech startup spun out of Professor Mark Bathe’s BioNano Lab at MIT, where she worked as postdoctoral researcher after obtaining her Doctoral Degree in Biophysics from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In 2021, she secured a two year founder fellowship from Activate Global to support her mission to build a company for therapeutic replacement genes. In May 2022, Kano Therapeutics closed its Pre-Seed led by a Boston-based fund (The Engine) and followed by a German fund (Amino Collective). Kano is actively piloting their products with multiple public pharma companies and aims to enable drug programs in cancer immunotherapies as well as gene therapies for monogenetic disorders.

Dr. Simon Engelke is the Founder & Chair of Battery Associates. Simon completed his Ph.D. on Lithium-ion batteries at the University of Cambridge. He is the recipient of multiple awards including the Trinity Bradfield Prize and Cambridge University Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Simon has been invited to speak at various events including the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), IAA Mobility, FT Future of the Car Summit, and Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. He served as Co-Curator of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Strategic Intelligence for Future of Energy and Batteries.

Since 2016, Stephan Exo-Kreischer leads the work of ONE Germany in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases as Managing Director. Before that, he was a senior consultant at the development policy consulting agency Seek Development. From 2010 to 2015, he was head of the Berlin office of German humanitarian and development NGO Welthungerhilfe. Exo-Kreischer is an expert on German and international development policy with a focus on global health and development finance. 

Dr. Lars Frølund is a Deep Tech Investment expert and executive. His expertise lies at the intersection of mission-driven innovation (incl. defense and security), grant & venture capital investments into deep tech ventures, and the geopolitical/strategic aspects of technological capacity building at the national and international level. Currently, he is a Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he formerly was a Research Director, Visiting Fellow, and a Fulbright Scholar.

In 2021-2022, he was Special Advisor at NATO HQ for the creation of the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and NATO's One Billion EUR Innovation Fund – the world's first multi-sovereign venture capital fund. He serves on the Board of Directors of the European Innovation Council (Europe’s largest investor into deep tech ventures), the EIC Fund (the 7B EUR equity investment part of the EIC), and the Danish Innovation Fund. Most recently, he was appointed Special Advisor for Digital and Technological Sovereignty to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission.

Prof. Clemens Fuest, born in 1968, is President of the ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Director of CESifo and Professor of Economics at the University of Munich.

Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Furman engages in public policy through research, writing and teaching in a wide range of areas including U.S. and international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, labor markets and competition policy. Previously Furman served eight years as a top economic adviser to President Obama, including serving as the 28th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from August 2013

Laura, an accomplished business psychologist (M.Sc.), is a former General Manager in the fitness industry and a co-author of a book on health management. Renowned as an expert in mental health by Handelsblatt and recognized as one of the top 10 minds in mental health by Strive Magazine, she's also a certified mindfulness teacher (MBSR). Laura is the driving force behind MENTAL HEALTH & HAPPINESS, where she strives to promote well-being and positivity in the digital work sphere, reflecting her mission to create a happier and healthier professional world.

Roman Gaida, a 41-year-old father of twins and C-Level Manager, evolved from a Machine Tool Operator to a Tech Leader in a 'Fortune 500' company, accumulating 24+ years of experience. Starting on the shop floor, he later directed a European Business Unit, including the Middle East and South Africa. Roman holds an MBA from RWTH Aachen and St. Gallen University, and a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering. He's celebrated as a speaker, author, and investor, exploring leadership, digital transformation, and work-life balance.

Jan is a quantum physicist and co-founding CEO of IQM, building next-generation quantum computers. IQM has raised €128 million in Series A2 funding (2022), largest ever funding round raised by a European quantum computing company. Jan did his doctorate on superconducting quantum circuits at TU Munich, is in the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC, and member of the German Federal Economic Senate as well as a Digital Leader and Global Innovator at the WEF

Louisa, a former NCAA champion and national team heptathlete, now excels as a graduate scholar at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Shifting from sports to cancer research, she merges molecular sciences with athletic insights. Fueled by curiosity, her scientific passion drives her. Despite retiring, she's keeping athleticism alive. With Biochemistry studies at the University of Georgia and the University of Cologne, Louisa's drawn to transatlantic collaboration.

Laura is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hanfred HTG GmbH, a pet supplement manufacturer using self-cultivated hemp. Since March 2020, she's led product development, digitalization, and grown a range of over 25 products. Laura is also COO at Vulcano Schinkenmanufaktur GmbH & Co KG, a Prosciutto producer, and has overseen cost-efficiency, online presence, and marketing since June 2015. She previously Co-founded Big Power Fitness Snack GmbH, focusing on high-protein meat snacks, from 2017 to 2020, learning resilience through failure.

Dabney Hailey founded her pioneering consultancy, Hailey Group, in 2014 to cultivate innovation, leadership, and team communication through arts learning. A former museum curator, she is a thought leader in the application of Visual Thinking Strategies within business. She teaches MIT Sloan Executive Education programs and at Harvard Medical School, where she is co-director of the course Training the Eye. Dabney holds a B.A. from Hendrix College and an M.A. from Northwestern University.

Rieke Havertz writes for ZEIT ONLINE about current international developments as well as German foreign policy. She is co-host of the podcast "OK, America?". First from August 2020 to January 2022 and then again from August 2022 to February 2023 she was U.S. correspondent in Washington, D. C.. Joined ZEIT ONLINE in May 2016, initially as editorial director and chief of staff. Further stations: Head of department at "taz.de," graduate in journalism and American studies at the University of Leipzig and Ohio University.

Marina Henke is Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School in Berlin (Germany) and the Director of the Hertie Centre for International Security. During AY 2023-2024, she is the Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS. Marina Henke is an award-winning author and frequent commentator in German and international news media on topics related to European defense and nuclear security.

Rico Herzog is the Lead for Modelling, Simulation, AI and Machine Learning in Germany’s largest smart city project “Connected Urban Twins” and a research associate at the City Science Lab at HafenCity University Hamburg, a cooperation with MIT Media Lab. With a background in spatial planning and in computational modelling and simulation of complex socio-technical systems, his research revolves around digital urban twins and their contribution to sustainable urban transformation.

Ulrich Hoerning (MPA2 / 2005) is the Deputy Mayor for General Services at the City of Leipzig. He is responsible for the modernization of core administrative processes as well as the HR, legal and information technology functions. His previous positions include the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, the City of Mannheim and Booz & Company. Mr. Hoerning is an economist (University of Tübingen).

Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman is a professor in MIT’s Aeronautics and Astronautics Department. He received a BA in Astronomy (summa cum laude) from Amherst College (1966); a PhD in Astrophysics from Harvard University (1971); and an MSc in Materials Science from Rice University (1988). As a NASA astronaut (1978-1997) Dr. Hoffman made five space flights, becoming the first astronaut to log 1000 hours of flight time aboard the Space Shuttle. He was a member of the spacewalking team that repaired the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope. His primary research interests are in improving the technology of space suits and designing innovative space systems for human and robotic space exploration. Dr. Hoffman is director of the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium. He is Deputy Principal Investigator of the Mars2020 MOXIE experiment, which will produce oxygen on the surface of Mars. In 2007, Dr. Hoffman was elected to the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Jon Jachimowicz studies why people struggle in the pursuit of passion and how we can equip employees and organizations to identify how a healthy and beneficial pursuit of passion can be sustained. He received a Ph.D. from Columbia Business School, M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, & M.A. from the University of St Andrews.

Katharina is Co-Founder & CEO of TeleClinic, the No1 platform for online doctor visits including digital prescriptions and sick-notes in Germany. Prior, she has worked in consulting and private and commercial law firm. Currently, Katharina is founding a new startup in the US which focuses on clinical trials.

Catherine Grace Katz is a writer and historian. She holds degrees in history from Harvard (AB ’13) and Cambridge and received her JD from Harvard Law School (’23). Catherine is an associate at the international law firm Freshfields, Bruckhaus, Deringer in Washington, DC. She is the author of The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War (2020) and of the forthcoming book, Shadow Before the Flame, the story of the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster.

Dr. Johannes Keller is a Professional Development Manager at McKinsey & Company in Germany responsible for people in the Public & Social, Healthcare as well as Life Science Sectors. Additionally, he drives wellbeing and mental health initiatives within McKinsey and is a certified trainer who is regularly facilitating workshops and trainings around emotional flexibility, mindfulness, and mental health. Before his current role, Johannes completed a PhD in computational mathematical physics and then worked as a consultant at McKinsey with a focus on advanced analytics and healthcare topics.

Kim is the Managing Director of the initiative "Digital for all" that organises the annual "Digitaltag" to promote digital participation throughout Germany. She gained further work experience at Germany's digital association Bitkom, the German-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco, the German Embassy in Washington DC, and at a political consultancy in Berlin. She studied psychology, economics and politics in Osnabrück, Vancouver and Oxford.

Jens Kleesiek is a full professor at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (IKIM) of the University Medical Center Essen, Germany, where he heads the department of Medical Machine Learning. He is also Associate Director for Data and IT at the West German Cancer Center. His research focuses on methods for self- and weakly-supervised learning to detect clinically relevant patterns in medical data and on the integration of multimodal information for improving decision-making at the point of care.

Martin Klingst, who studied law, was for 27 years a journalist at DIE ZEIT and also served as Head of Strategic Communications for the German president. He published three books: In 2016 “Menschenrechte” (human rights), in 2018 portraits about Trump voters: “Trumps Amerika. Reise in ein weißes Land” (Trump’s America. Journey to a White Country) and in 2021 a biography about Guido Goldman: “Amerikas Mr. Germany” (English version: “Guido Goldman. Transatlantic Bridge Builder”).

Robert is a scientist and founder of HigherEd start-up TwentyOne Skills - the learning hub for science. With a team of 14 researchers, they supports academia in upskilling, networking, and innovating. He is a best-selling author, and a true world citizen, having lived in Vermont, Ireland, Thailand and Japan. Robert is now based in Cologne with his family.

Kerstin Kohlenberg studied Sociology at FU-Berlin and The New School in New York. She worked for the public broadcaster ZDF and is at ZEIT since 2003. She was the deputy head of the Features Section and the Investigative Team before she became the US Correspondent from 2014-2021. She won various journalism prizes, currently she is working on a book about three very different American lifes.

Dr. Joe Lennerz is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS), the Associate Chief of Pathology and the Medical Director of the Center for Integrated Diagnostics (CID) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He oversees all aspects of personalized diagnostics at MGH. CID is performing technology assessments and optimizing care delivery through rapid clinical integration of innovative technologies. Dr. Lennerz studied medicine and molecular medicine in Erlangen Germany and did his residency fellowship at Washington University followed by a postdoc at MGH/HMS. Dr. Lennerz is board certified by the American Board of Pathology and the American Board of Medical Genetics. His interests are regulatory science, molecular-genetic biomarkers, and financial sustainability of high-complexity devices. He is a founder of the Pathology Innovation Collaborative Community, a regulatory science initiative with FDA participation. He is the acting president of the Association of Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology.

Ryan Liu is an attorney and nationally recognized advocate for higher education. He began his higher education journey in community college at Pasadena City College (PCC) as a low-income, first-generation college student. From PCC, he earned his B.A. at Yale College, MSc at the University of Oxford, and J.D. from Yale Law School. Since then, Ryan has worked in politics, on campaigns, and for policy and advocacy organizations to advance affordable access to post-secondary education. He’s running for the school board of his alma mater, PCC, to continue that mission.

In January 2021, Dr. Stormy-Annika Mildner (M.Sc.) became Director of the Aspen Institute Germany in Berlin, a renowned policy-oriented thinktank focusing on transatlantic relations and issues of global importance. As an adjunct professor, she teaches political economy at the Hertie School. From 2014 to 2020, she served as head of the department "External Economic Policy" at the Federation of German Industries (BDI), where she was responsible for international trade and investment issues. As Sherpa, she spearheaded the German Business7 Presidency (2015) and the German Business20 Presidency (2016-2017). Prior to joining BDI, she was Member of the Board of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), worked as a lecturer at the John F. Kennedy Institute of the Free University of Berlin, and headed the program "Globalization and the World Economy" at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). She completed research fellowships at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies and the Transatlantic Academy of the German Marshall Fund in Washington. She earned a Master of Science in international political economy from the London School of Economics and a PhD in economics from Freie Universität Berlin. During her doctoral studies, she conducted a one-year fellowship at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS) at Yale University.

Backtosch Mustafa is a German physician and student at Harvard University, where he is focusing on the study of health and education disparities. He is the founder of ApplicAid, which promotes access to scholarships for underserved students. They received the European Parliament's “European Citizens Prize”, one of Europe's highest honors for social impact. He is also a fellow of the Think Tank 30, focusing on social justice, and a member of the Global Diplomacy Lab.

Stephanie Oestreich is Managing Director of the Investment Fund of the MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation) and serves on the boards of the German American Business Council in Boston and the the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Network and is the chair of the McCloy Alumni Association. She is also on the faculty of MIT, a member of the Launchpad Venture Group, an advisor at grIP Venture Studio, to Biognosys (a Bruker company), Invitris, CART company CelineTx and to the drug development and investment company OrangeGrove Bio and a member of the W20 Entrepreneurship task force, the official engagement group of the G20.
Previously she was Chief Business Officer at Galecto, Vice President at cell therapy company Mnemo Therapeutics, a Venture Partner at RA Capital and Executive Vice President at Evotec where she built its North American investment arm and started an incubator with Samsara BioCapital.
She also worked as International Business Leader at F. Roche Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and for Novartis in Business Development and in Commercial.
Stephanie conducted the research for her Ph.D. in biochemistry in the lab of a Nobel Prize winner at Harvard Medical School and obtained an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
As a semi-professional violinist, she performs with Philharmonic orchestras in Carnegie Hall and other international venues and conducts workshops with live orchestras, demonstrating the similarities between teams and leadership in music and management.

Rohan Patel is a seasoned leader in the field of public policy and business development, currently serving as the Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development at Tesla. Before joining Tesla, he served as a Special Assistant to President Obama, focusing on climate and energy policy where he worked as the liaison to local elected officials. Earlier, he held the role of Associate Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, managing critical climate change initiatives following the 2008 inauguration. Prior to his White House appointments, he contributed to the Obama Presidential Campaign and collaborated with notable political figures such as Governor Chet Culver and Senator Evan Bayh. Rohan holds degrees in music performance and pre-med from Northwestern University.

Kacylia Roy Proulx is a second-year medical student at McGill University. Having a strong interest in global health and health advocacy, she has made it her mission to contribute to improving overall population health and reducing health inequities nationally and globally as part of her medical journey. She is the founder and president of Healthcare Without Borders, an international podcast that addresses Global Health topics to spread awareness and give a voice to medical professionals, students and patients about the realities of healthcare and access in their country. Outside of medical school, her interests range from music to sports to entrepreneurship. In addition to being the founder and CEO of two companies, she is also a full-time student-athlete. Being an adventure lover and a globetrotter with more than 35 countries deep, she spends her free time travelling, skydiving, sailing, mountaineering, surfing, and scuba diving!

Christopher pursued his studies in mathematics at the University of Bonn before co-founding the Corona School. This initiative provided free online tutoring in Germany throughout the pandemic. Post-pandemic, the Corona School transitioned to support socially disadvantaged students, now operating under the name Lern-Fair. Additionally, Christopher played a pivotal role as a project manager for "Digitale Drehtür", a collaborative project spearheaded by various education ministries in Germany.

Colonel (GS) Dr. Markus Reisner, PhD is an accomplished General Staff officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. With extensive experience in Special Operations and deployments in conflict zones, he holds a PhD in history and interdisciplinary legal studies. He's a member of the Military History Advisory Board and serves as the Head of Research and Development at the Theresian Military Academy. Currently, he commands the Austrian Honor Guards Battalion and is a respected military expert on the Ukraine conflict, known for his publications on military history and the future of warfare.

Nik Riesmeier leads EdTech Next, an initiative by the Founders Foundation with support by NRW's Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection, to build an ecosystem for educational technology startups. Formerly, he gained experience in startups such as Trade Republic and achieved an MSc Business in Portugal and Russia. Besides his career, he ventured into politics as a 2021 federal election candidate and serves as a member on a supervisory board.

Paul Ronzheimer was born in 1985 and grew up in East Frisia. After high school, he volunteered at the Emder Zeitung and then worked there as an editor starting in 2005. In 2008 he moved to the Axel Springer Academy. From 2009 to 2011, he worked as the parliamentary correspondent for BILD in Berlin. From 2012, he was chief reporter in the department for politics and appeared primarily as a reporter from war and crisis areas. He reported from Greece, (Eastern) Ukraine, Libya, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2019 he became deputy editor-in-chief with responsibility for reporting. In 2023 he was awarded “Journalist of the Year 2022” by the trade journal Medium Magazin.

In addition to his role as BILD's deputy editor-in-chief, Ronzheimer has been contributing to other national and international media brands of Axel Springer worldwide since 2023. Additionally, in 2018, he published a biography about Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Ronzheimer lives in Berlin, but since the beginning of the war, Ronzheimer has been reporting almost continuously from Ukraine.

Omar Selim is a leading figure in the world of sustainable finance. The Arabesque group is built on the three disruptors of modern finance – ESG, AI and Digital Assets – to deliver data and technology to investors, corporates, and capital markets. He is also documented by Harvard Business School as a case study for sustainable investment practices and leadership. In 2018, Selim inaugurated ‘ESG Book’, a fintech for sustainability and climate data and technology solutions. It closed $35 million in Series B funding last year. ESG Book is disrupting how sustainability is integrated and measured on a global scale by using next-generation technology that makes ESG data accessible, comparable, and transparent. ESG Book has become the world largest independent ESG Data provider with over 10’000 users. His latest innovation is ‘Arabesque AI’, a digital cutting-edge platform using big data, knowledge graphs, and machine learning, to deliver investment advisory and technology solutions at one click. Arabesque AI empowers a new generation of portfolio managers to meet the demands of this changing world and to make an impact to society. It delivers hyper-customised, impact-focused, and affordable investment solutions at scale. Arabesque AI has been recognized as a game-changer in the world of sustainable investing. The platform has won multiple awards, including the 2020 AI Excellence Award for Best AI in Finance. Recently it has received a grant from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to enhance its AI capability. Selim is leading the way in creating a more sustainable future in finance. His innovation and commitment to sustainability and social responsibility are inspiring a new generation in the investment and corporate world to prioritize these factors when making investment and business decisions.

Philipp Schild has been managing director at funk since 2020. Previously, he headed the Content team since its launch in 2016. The trained video journalist worked for many years as a TV writer. From 2011 to 2016, he headed an editorial department in television entertainment. In addition, Schild has been working as a lecturer for various public broadcasters, publishers and the ARD.ZDF Media Academy since 2004.

Antje Schippmann, born in Leipzig, has worked as a senior editor for BILD and Welt before changing careers in 2022 when she started a non-profit organization. With the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, she supports democracy defenders from authoritarian countries through direct funding, training, advocacy, and public campaigns. In November, they are launching a Young Leaders Network, connecting young leading voices from Germany with exiled dissidents and prominent speakers.

Alexander Schmitt is a Partner at Lightspeed, based in Berlin, with a focus on B2B and FinTech investments. He's dedicated to strengthening Europe's entrepreneurial ecosystem and divides his time between Berlin and Munich. Alexander's mission is to support European startups in becoming category leaders. With a background in computer science and finance, he founded his own fintech company to address industry challenges. Having experienced the journey of building and selling a business, he deeply understands the challenges founders face, drawing from his experience as an investor at Cherry Ventures. Alexander holds degrees from Technical University Munich, MIT, and the CDTM. Outside of work, he's passionate about sports, from skiing and climbing to kiting and sailing, always seeking new challenges.

Dr. Fabian Schober is President and CEO at TÜV SÜD America, a global testing, inspection and certification company. He joined TÜV SÜD Group in Munich in 2008, spending his initial years in the Corporate M&A department before holding various management positions. His education led him to Vienna, Madrid, St. Gallen and Boston. Fabian moved to the US in 2017, but he is originally from Austria and married with two kids.

Merle Spellerberg (she/her) has been a Member of the German Parliament for Alliance 90 / The Greens since 2021. She is the deputy spokesperson for Alliance 90 / The Greens on foreign affairs and serves on the Foreign Affairs and the Defense Committee. Additionally, she is the spokesperson on the subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Her works focuses on security, disarmament and feminist foreign policy. Her constituency is Dresden and Bautzen, Saxony.

Stefan Spiegel has been Head of Content ARD for funk since April 2021. He studied economics at and stared his career at PwC, but then worked for the ARD from 2012-2016 as a journalist. He first then started as a partner manager and format developer at funk. After that, he worked for the public broadcasting streaming platform ARD Mediathek, where he and his team developed the content strategy and advised in the content creation.

Cornelius Steele is currently a Member of the Executive Board and President North America of Niedax Group. In his current role, he oversees Accounting, Human Resources, Legal and IT of Niedax GmbH & Co. KG as well as the regions North and Central America and Africa.
Prior to joining Niedax Group, he served as Assistant to the Group Chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG and Assistant Vice President in the bank’s EMEA Public Policy department.
He holds a MBA from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA from Queen Mary, University of London.

Trained as a lawyer from Universities of Heidelberg and Oxford, Trinity College, he started in a law firm in 1999 and worked for the insurance companies Allianz and Generali Group from 2001 till 2018. He served in management functions for Allianz Group in Munich and Paris and later as member of the board of Generali subsidiaries. In 2018, he changed into Asset Management and joined Amundi Germany as a member of the management board. Since the beginning of 2021, he has been responsible for sustainable investing for Amundi Germany. Steinert holds a doctorate in law (Heidelberg), an MPA (University Speyer) and an MBA University of Chicago.

Ana-Maria Trăsnea has been a member of the German Parliament for the SPD since May 2023, where she is representing a district in Berlin (Treptow-Köpenick). In the Bundestag, she is as a member on the Committee for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as well as a deputy member on the Committee on Digital Affairs and Europe. Prior to her current position, she served as as the Plenipotentiary of the State of Berlin to the Federal Government and as State Secretary for Civic Engagement and International Affairs in the Office of Berlin’s Mayor (2021-2023).

Faruk Tuncer is founder and CEO of Polyteia, a Berlin-based GovTech venture revolutionizing the way governments make decisions with data. Further, he is a member of the Digital Summit of the German government and the advisory board for register modernization. Before founding his startup, he worked as a policy advisor to the Christian-Democratic Union during Angela Merkels last election campaign. Faruk studied Public Policy in Berlin and Singapore.

Kristine has been working at the intersection of law and technology for nearly a decade. She is currently Group Lead of the Technical Team at Evisort, where she delivers AI solutions for the world’s largest global companies, including Microsoft and BNY Mellon. Evisort has been at the cutting edge of AI and law since its founding in 2016 by Harvard and MIT researchers at the Harvard Innovation Lab.

Karin Wiedemann is a Leadership and Career Development Specialist with over 25 years of experience coaching and teaching global leaders in over 28 countries. She is an expert in designing and facilitating impactful webinars and courses on career transitions, mindful leadership, change and stress management, and networking across cultures. Karin is a certified leadership coach (Georgetown University, 2007) with fifteen years of full-time experience coaching and teaching global executives, US ambassadors, and graduate students to thrive in the midst of a constantly changing world. Her clients include The World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, U.S. Naval Academy and Georgetown and Princeton universities. Karin also has over 20 years and 2,000 hours of yoga instruction (three YTT certifications since 1999). As The German Marshall Fund’s (GMF) first-ever Managing Director of Alumni Relations since February 2023, she is strengthening alumni engagement for 4,000 European and American leaders who participated in over 10 different GMF fellowships since 1983.

She is a first-generation American, and dual citizen of Germany and the United States. She has commuted to work by bicycle, every year since graduating from college. Her hobbies include: exploring bike trails, cafes, breweries, bookstores and farmers markets with friends, family and her dog Luna. She dreams of one day writing a dramedy for Netflix, about being raised by German parents in suburban New Jersey in the 70s and 80s.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinwiedemann/

Dr. Wiebke Winter MdBB is the youngest member of the national board of the Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU). She is also Member of the Parliament of Bremen and deputy leader of the CDU Group. In 2021, she founded KlimaUnion e.V., an association, which advocates for more ambitious climate policies. Winter has studied law in Hamburg, Germany, and Oxford, UK. She obtained her doctorate in 2022. In her dissertation „Big Data and AI in Health Care“, Winter examined how data protection regulation can be adapted to innovation in the Health Care Sector. (Picture by Tobias Koch)

Helene studied psychology at the University of Lübeck and the Universitat de Barcelona as a fellow of the Foundation of German Economy before she founded the non-profit organization Dare2Care. The initiative aims to establish better mental health literacy in the German educational system. By providing resources for educators on a digital platform and reaching more than 10 000 students directly in the classrooms the award-winning non-profit empowers student's social-emotional learning. Helene is currently a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a Hans-Weisser Fellow with the mission do gain deeper knowledge of equity and systemic impact in education.

Rick Wolthusen, MD, MPP is a highly accomplished physician-scientist certified in Germany, New Zealand, and the US with a multidisciplinary background in psychiatry, global mental health, neurosciences, and public policy. He has more than ten years of extensive work experience in various countries, including Germany, the US, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Ecuador, and Australia. He is the recipient of numerous (inter)national scholarships, awards, and fellowships and recently received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He is an avid conference contributor, podcast guest, founder of NGOs, program director of EU-funded activities, mental health consultant, leader, innovator, change-maker, and advocate.