Melvyn Lubega is an experienced technology entrepreneur and investor who has built businesses that serve customers around the world. He founded the Baobab Group in 2015, which now employs over 1,000 people. As an entrepreneur, most notably Lubega built and scaled Go1, a leading technology platform used by 17,000 organizations and governments in over 60 countries. Go1 became the first South African unicorn (valued at +$2 billion) attracting over $450 million in investment from Salesforce Ventures and M12 (Microsoft Ventures) among other tier-one international investors. Built through his passion for developing people, every 1.2 seconds someone somewhere in the world starts a course on Go1. Prior to Go1, Lubega built, exited and invested in leading fintech companies across Africa. He is a Partner at Breega, one of the fastest-growing early stage venture capital investors in EMEA, with over $600 million in assets under management, investing in disruptive technologies that solve significant economic and social challenges. Lubega is also a referenced thought leader and invited speaker, both abroad and locally, on digital transformation, the future of work, venture capital, disruptive innovation, corporate governance and business strategy. He has been recognized by Forbes and was the first African recipient of The Lindas in 2021, Endeavor Global’s most prestigious accolade. The award is given by a community of 2,300 leaders from many of the fastest-growing companies in the world to the person who embodies the spirit of “dreaming big, scaling up and paying it forward”. In 2023, given his success in building businesses from Africa that scale globally, Lubega was recognized as a leading business person at the 11th All Africa Business Leadership Awards. He is an actuary by training and a Rhodes Scholar. He completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford, receiving a distinction for his research into disruptive technologies in emerging markets.

Nancy Lublin is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Crisis Text Line. Formally, Nancy was CEO at DoSomething.org, an organization for teens and social change and started a social venture Dress for Success, helping women transition from welfare to work in more than 125 cities in 15 countries. Nancy is a Member of the Board at McGraw Hill Education, an author of four books, a Young Global Leader and was named one of Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Nancy is a graduate at Brown University and New York University.

Julia Luscombe is Vice-President of Strategic Planning and Portfolio Management at Feeding America, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in partnership with a nationwide network. She plays a key role in developing strategies to drive measurable results for individuals experiencing food insecurity and implements systems to monitor progress and enhance organizational effectiveness. Luscombe brings a deep commitment to community-led change and global, cross-sector experiences to her work. She has conducted research on community economic development, including as a Fulbright Grantee in Ecuador. Previously she worked as a strategy consultant at Monitor Deloitte, specializing in customer experience and data/analytics transformation programmes.

She holds a BA/BSc from the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mariana Luz is CEO at Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation. Prior to that, Mariana held the position of President of Embraer Foundation in the US and Embraer Institute in Brazil, as well as Head of Government Affairs, Sustainability and CSR at Embraer. She also worked as a Professor of International Relations at different private universities in Brazil and, between 2003 and 2011, she acted as Institutional Director at the Brazilian Center for International Relations, a major foreign policy think tank in Brazil. In 2015, she was appointed by the World Economic Forum a Young Global Leader; in 2014 she was appointed a Young Leader for the US and Italy International Program; and in 2011 she was part of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), promoted by the US Department of State. In the past decade, Mariana has integrated boards of directors of various businesses associations and non-profit organizations in Brazil, US and Europe. Her education background is international relations, with a MBA on international diplomacy and Masters of Art on History.

Zoya Lytvyn is Founder of the Novopecherska School, which has a unique curriculum that combines national standards with international cutting-edge teaching techniques. All operational profits from the school are reinvested into Osvitoria NGO, a non-profit public organization founded by Lytvyn in 2013 to promote the development and education reform in Ukraine. Other educational initiatives she is involved in includes an online media training centre, which trains and develops teachers from throughout Ukraine for free, and launching the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine Award to enhance the prestige of the teaching profession. Lytvyn received a BA in Economics from the Kyiv Mohyla Academy and an MA in Journalism and Education Management. She is a member of the Aspen Institute Kyiv and the Supervisory Board of the UN Global Compact in Ukraine. In 2019, she was awarded TOP5 Woman Entrepreneur by UN initiative  “WE Empower” to acknowledge social entrepreneurs who are advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

2 Bachelors in Business and Psychology
1 Masters in Insurance and Risk Management
15 years in the insurance industry
International profile, studied in 2 countries, worked in 5 countries
Developed high performing diverse teams

Founder and Chief strategist, Inspired Companies. A purpose led business framework and roadmap to transition business to a force the world can get behind. (www.inspiredcompanies.global)

Former NIKE Inc Vice President, with executive positions (2001-2014) spanning commercial, strategy and brand through to leadership of NIKE’s Corporate Philanthropy and Global Community Investments. Managing Director of the Nike Foundation and co-creator of the multi-award winning girleffect concept (www.girleffect.org).

Founding Chair of the World Sporting Goods Industry’s Physical Activity Commission. Co- author of Designedtomove. A Framework for Action and multi-sector global alliance to tackle global physical inactivity. (www.designedtomove.org)

Co-founder, Business Breakthrough Inc: (1997-2001) Tokyo-based multi-media and broadcasting company.

Global Ambassador for the World Benchmarking Alliance; NED Limeade Ltd (employee experience platform); CSRB Board Committee member British Telecom PLC (2015-2018). NED, Bond University Limited, Australia; KAO Corporation Japan Advisory Board; Commissioner, Knight Foundation and Aspen Institute’s Information Needs of Communities Living in a Democracy (2010)

Early professional career in Accounting, Finance and Consulting with KPMG in both Australia and the USA.

Loves ocean swimming, beach running, kids sports and the best of humanity and the planet.

Leandro Machado is a Brazilian business and civic entrepreneur. In the last five years, cofounded RAPS, Political Action Network for Sustainability; CAUSE, the first issues advocacy firm in Brazil; #TemMeuVoto, a digital platform that helped more than 1.5 million voters to find their best legislative candidates in Brazil's 2018 election; and AGORA!, a new political movement to regenerate local politics.

His previous background includes leadership positions on Institutional Affairs at corporations like IBM, Shell, and Natura Cosméticos. From 2009 to 2011, acted as Chief of Staff and Public Relations of Guilherme Leal, Natura Cosméticos' co-chairman of the Board, and runnig mate of Marina Silva in the Green Party ticket (2010 Brazilian national elections).

Mr. Machado is a political scientist, with a bachelor degree at Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil, with specialization courses on International Communication at Siracuse University/ABERJE and in political management at George Washington University and executive education at Harvard Kennedy School and at the National University of Singapore.

At CAUSE, RAPS, #TemMeuVoto and AGORA!, Leandro continues to combine his great passion for democracy with the certainty that only through the active participation of all citizens and civil society groups will it be possible to build a freer world.

2001, diploma, IEP Paris; 2002-04, studied at ENA (National Administration School); postgraduate diploma (DEA) in Philosophy. 1999-2001, worked for philosopher Paul Ricoeur. Former senior official and 2004-08, Inspecteur des Finances, Ministry of Economy, in charge of the Commission for French Growth (Attali commission) and project leader; 2008, joined the private sector as Investment Banker (Partner), Rothschild. 2012-14, Deputy Secretary-General, Presidency of the French Republic. 2014-16, Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs of France. Since May 2017, President of the Republic of France.

Investment Partner, Omidyar Network; leads the firm's work on digital identity globally; previously worked on governance & citizen engagement efforts in India and on work in Myanmar. Formerly: Founder and Director, PRS Legislative Research, an institution that aims to make India’s legislative process better informed, more transparent, and participatory; with the World Bank in Washington DC. Began career as an Investment Banker, ICICI Securities. Volunteered much time contributing to the growth of Pratham, one of the most recognized non-profit organizations providing basic education in India. In early 2000, co-founded Akshara Foundation and helped establish the Azim Premji Foundation. MPA, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Edward S. Mason Fellow; MBA in Finance, University of Houston; Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering, Bangalore University. Echoing Green Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, and Eisenhower Fellow. Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum.

Deepak is a serial Entrepreneur and Entrepreneur Coach with a global, multicultural background. He's a curious, growth-focused leader, experienced in leadership development, change management and commercialisation. He's founded and still leads businesses in OEM Product development, design, Sourcing, manufacturing and managing supply chains, and the companies help global, market-leading consumer product brands strengthen and grow.
His passion lies in helping his teams and the entrepreneurs he coaches, break through mindset barriers that unlock clarity and growth.
He's operated his companies for over 25 years, based in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Dubai.
While in Hong Kong, he founded Paperclip Entrepreneur Campus where he coached over 2,000 founders. The goals was to quickly improve the journey of early stage entrepreneurs by helping them get to 'plan B' faster, using powerful tools and mentoring, designed in-house and validated with Paperclip's in-house incubator and workshops, and with the Hong Kong government incubators, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park and Cyberport.

Coaching via GrowthEDGE™️ and 'Deepak has Coffee' Podcast. grow@growthede.co

Class of 2013 Young Global Leader World Economic Forum - https://www.weforum.org/communities/forum-young-global-leaders

2016 - Recognised by UBS bank as a Global Visionary - https://www.ubs.com/microsites/global-visionaries/en/visions/deepakmandnani.html

Grew up in HK and Switzerland; graduated Georgetown University, DC, Finance and International Business. Speaks Spanish and conversational Mandarin.

Specialties: Coaching Multi-cultural founders, Product Design, Leadership development, Manufacturing and Supply Chain management.

Larry Madowo is an International Correspondent at CNN based in Nairobi. He is also a regular fill-in anchor who has presented CNN International programs from Atlanta and Dubai. He was previously a North America Correspondent for the BBC based in Washington, DC. He covered the summer of protests following the murder of George Floyd, the 2020 US presidential election and the inauguration of Joe Biden. He also anchored BBC World News America, a flagship program that is also syndicated on PBS stations across the US.

Madowo previously served as the BBC Africa Business Editor, where he oversaw the launch of six syndicated shows in three languages and managed more than two dozen business journalists based in London and four African countries.

Before joining the BBC he worked for NTV Kenya and CNBC Africa, where he anchored the business channel's daily market shows Open Exchange, Power Lunch and Closing Bell in Johannesburg. Madowo has a master's in Business and Economics Journalism from Columbia University in New York, where he was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow.