Akira Kirton is a purpose & values driven leader, with a huge passion for diversity and sustainability. He has spent his career working in the chemicals & energy manufacturing sectors - in both commercial/operational & business development/innovation roles.

Akira is Vice President of Global Acetyls. In this role, he has full commercial & operational accountability for Acetyls Globally (~$2.5bn business). His business is at the forefront of fighting CV-19, with product sales going into key sectors such as pharmaceuticals (ibuprofen, paracetamol, insulin) and powder detergents. Akira has accountability for 9 operational sites across US, Europe & Asia (Korea, Malaysia, & 6 China JV's).

Prior to this role, Akira was Commercial Director for the European Acetyls business. In this role, Akira led on programmes in sustainability, agile, and digital for the business – particular Zero-Carbon Humber, WEF Low Carbon Chemicals Biomass Group, and Acetylated Wood (Tricoya). Akira is bp's Board Director for Tricoya Technologies (sustainable wood production), having structured & led the investment/spin-out from Accsys plc in 2014/15.

Across 2012-17, Akira was Managing Director for bp Ventures Europe & Asia, growing the portfolio to $500m capital invested, having led a number of game-changing deals in green manufacturing, CO2 to chemicals, mobility & digital. Akira was Portfolio Director & Board Director for the green manufacturing sector, with board roles with Fulcrum Bioenergy (waste to biojet), Solidia (low carbon cement/concrete products), Tricoya (acetylated wood), Liquid Light (CO2 to chemicals), CarbonFree Chemicals (CO2 to bicarbonates), StoreDot (ultra-fast charging batteries); and originated and led the structuring for the OGCI CI ($1bn climate fund).

Akira has experience in the public sector and was seconded to the UK Energy Technologies Institute ($1b UK Gov backed climate change/sustainability fund) for three years. He sat on the UK Chief Scientific Advisor’s Group on Bioenergy and was Director for Strategy for Biomass and Distributed Energy; developing the priorities to 2050 for >$1trn in investment focus.

Prior to this, Akira worked globally in business development roles, engineering, and technology roles in Chemicals, Fuels, and Trading for both bp & Ineos.

External Profile: Akira has been recognised as #4 Rising Star (out of 10,000) by Global Corporate Venturing in 2018; a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2015-20); A Fellow of the Marshall Memorial Foundation 2012; and a 2008 IChemE Award for Innovation.

On a pro-bono basis, Akira is a Trustee of #iamthecode: A UN HCR & WEF YGL backed global charity focussed on providing STEM skills/digital skills to underprivileged young women/girls, targeting 1m by 2030. Akira sits on the board of trustees with Founder/CEO Marieme Jamme (#Truly Inspirational), Kelly Buchanon (YGL), and Patron - Christoper Schlaeffer (YGL) - with strong support from Unilever, UBS, Salesforce, AliBaba, Coursera and more....

Christer Kjos is Chief Executive Officer at Canica International. As CEO, and family member, he has transformed Canica to become a modern family investment company with a strong emphasis on responsible leadership, sustainable investments and purpose. Kjos plays an active role in the development of the company's future strategy and has built trust throughout the organization with his professional leadership and solid values. His systematic approach to the sustainability agenda and the owner-family's willingness and ability to challenge current business models, has yielded strong results for the company and society at large.

Silvana is the President and Founder of Women Political Leaders (WPL), the worldwide network of women politicians. WPL is an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit foundation that aims to increase both the number and influence of women in political leadership.

Silvana served as Vice-President of the European Parliament (2009-2011) and Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014).

Before her time in politics, she founded and ran a public affairs consultancy in Brussels, which later merged with a larger US firm. In addition to her work for WPL, Silvana serves on the board of the Council of Women World Leaders, the network of women Presidents and Prime Ministers. She is also a member of the European Leadership Network (ELN), a member of the Global Advisory Network of Apolitical Academy Global and an advisory board member to PINK!. She also works as Senior Advisor to Binance, and is a Venture Partner at Conny&Co. Previously, she was a senior Special Advisor for EY. 2016-2020 Silvana represented the EU in the Executive Committee of W20, an official engagement group of the G20. In 2018 and 2019, she was ranked as one of the 100 most influential persons in gender equality by Apolitical. Silvana is a Young Global Leader Alumni of the World Economic Forum.

Recognized expert in sustainable investing. Accomplished and dedicated sustainability professional with extensive experience leading initiatives related to enhancing revenue and mitigating risk. Highly skilled at integrating environmental and social considerations into investment decisions to enable detailed evaluation of market risks and opportunities.

Seasoned capital markets veteran (Deutsche Bank, Bank of America), with an MBA in Finance, extensive work in equity derivatives and years of experience consulting with asset managers on integrating ESG into the relevant aspects of their investment process.

Executive Director at PwC - Sustainable Business Solutions practice. Led PwC’s pro bono work with the United Nations CEO Water Mandate. Advises corporate clients on strategy and implementation to improve environmental, social and governance performance. Works with financial institutions to help mitigate the impact of resource scarcity and environmental damage in current and future investments.

Masters in Environmental Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. MBA in Finance. BA in Public Policy. Travel throughout the world viewing sustainability and water scarcity issues first-hand in Africa, India, China/Tibet, the Middle East and the Arctic Circle.

Frank Krings is a Franco-German banker and financial services executive who, over the past two and a half decades, has held executive and non-executive directorships and management roles at banks, asset management and investment companies, industry associations and chambers of commerce in numerous developed and emerging market jurisdictions across Europe and Asia. Today, he is an independent Senior Advisor and Non-Executive Director.
He currently serves, inter alia, as Senior Advisor (since 2024) to Zeotap GmbH, Berlin, a leading European Customer Data Platform (CDP) provider and as Member of the Board of Directors (since 2022) of the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Paris.
In the Republic of Türkiye, Krings was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank A.Ş., Istanbul, from 2019 to 2024. Previously, from 2020 through 2022, he was Deutsche Bank Group’s Chief Executive Officer for Western Europe and, from 2021 through 2022, the President and General Manager of Deutsche Bank in France. There, he also served on the Board of the Association Française des Banques (AFB). Beyond, from 2020 to 2023, he was a Member of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank (Schweiz) AG, Geneva.
From 2016 through 2020, Krings was the Chief Executive Officer, and subsequently, from 2021 to 2024, a Member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. There, he was also a Member of the Supervisory Board of the UCITS management company and alternative investment fund manager DWS Investment S.A. (from 2016 to 2021), served on the Board of Directors of The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), and was an elected member of the plenary assembly of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for the 2019 – 2024 term. Before, from 2011 to early 2016, Krings was the General Manager of Deutsche Bank in Thailand, where he also served as Chairman of the Association of International Banks (AIB), the foreign bankers’ association in the Kingdom, from 2013 through 2015.
Krings had rejoined Deutsche Bank in 2011 after serving as Member of the Management Board of Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Holding and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank from October 2008 through 2010, mandated to assure their restructuring. Previously, he had spent twelve years with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and New York, holding various senior roles and serving on statutory boards of several regulated Deutsche Bank subsidiaries across Europe.
Krings is of German and French nationality and graduated with a combined degree in Business Administration and Electrical Engineering from Brunswick Technical University.

Until November 2019 Michal Krupinski served as Chief Executive Officer of Bank Pekao, 2nd largest universal bank and a leading corporate and investment bank in Poland. Prior to joining the Bank, held number of senior managerial roles in leading financial institutions. Most recently, as Chief Executive Officer, PZU Group, the region’s largest financial group, repositioned the firm for growth and strengthened its presence in banking. Previously, from 2011, was Head of Global Banking and Markets for Central and Eastern Europe at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, responsible for M&A projects, financing and capital advisory. Also has broad-based public sector experience. 2008-11, Alternate Executive Director of the Board of Directors, World Bank Group, Washington. Prior to this, served as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Treasury. Graduate, Warsaw School of Economics, KU Leuven; MBA, Columbia University. Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum (2012).

Umit Kumcuoglu is the Chief Executive Officer of Kare Investments, a fund management company of the family office of Suna and Inan Kirac who are among the leading investors in Turkey. Formerly, he was an investment banker for Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan in New York, London and Istanbul. Kumcuoglu holds Bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master's in Human Rights Law from Istanbul Bilgi University. He is currently working towards a PhD in political science at Istanbul Bilgi University. Kumcuoglu has been active in Turkish economic and financial affairs for over 15 years as researcher and writer, with a particular focus on contemporary Turkish politics and comparative Western and Islamic political philosophy.

Graduate, US Army and Navy Academy; Fellow, Wharton School. Founder, Lee & Partners. Trade & Investment Adviser, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chairman: Six Days of Peace, Israel/Palestine; Samsung Design & Innovation, Denmark; Accura Law Firm Asia Advisory, Denmark. Member, Board: Wharton CEO Global Advisory; Wharton Future of Advertising; Wharton MENA; Mercy Corps Asia Advisory. Exec. Adviser: KPMG M3 Global China Practice; Li & Fung; Zodiac Aerospace; Prizeo.com, US/UK. Affiliated with: Danish Foreign Policy Soc.; Pres. William Jefferson Clinton Fndn; Millennium Network. Founding Curator, Copenhagen Chapter, Global Shapers Community.

Guillaume has more than 15 years in the insurance industry, supporting clients around the world and working across different areas of the value chain: Insurance, Broking: Retail, Wholesale and Reinsurance. He has joined Zurich in 2018 to help shape its profound transformation as a customer centric and digitally integrated organization and is now responsible for our Commercial Insurance Distribution & Customers out of Milan Italy.

Moritz Lehmkuhl is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ClimatePartner, an international consulting and service company in the voluntary climate protection market. Founded in 2006, the vision behind ClimatePartner is to change industries by integrating climate protection and sustainability into their core services and products and thereby make it a unique added value. ClimatePartner has today offices in 12 countries and a wonderful team of more than 650 people support the vision.

Catherine is an investor, board director and executive coach. She is based in London and works globally.

She is an experienced international C-suite executive with a strong track record in the People, DE&I and ESG fields.

She invests in exceptional early-stage tech companies across the UK, US and Israel, and brings in-depth previous board experience as both an executive and non-executive director.

She writes and speaks on topics including the future of work, corporate culture and purpose, diversity and inclusion, and work/life integration.

As part of her coaching practice, she is the first UK-based facilitator to be certified in the Fair Play method.