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.

Event: Regulating AI (October 28)

Dr. Mridul Agrawal is a physician, scientist, and healthcare entrepreneur dedicated to advancing the care for cancer patients. He is president and co-founder of iuvando Health, a Germany-based innovative digital health and precision oncology company that enables patients with cancer to find and access life-saving treatments within clinical trials. Prior to this, Dr. Agrawal was a research fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard with a focus on blood cancer. Dr. Agrawal studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore), University of Zürich, and Heidelberg University, where he graduated with a doctorate degree. He also obtained a master’s degree in Health Economics from Heidelberg University. Dr. Agrawal was also a former scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes). He has been honored with multiple highly prestigious national and international awards both in his role as a physician-scientist and entrepreneur.

Event: Panel: Why haven't we cured cancer? (October 28)

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.

Event: Regulating AI (October 28)

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.

Event: Young Voices Driving the Change in the World (October 28)

As an influential figure in the entertainment industry, Enissa Amani advocates for the promotion of human rights through her activism. She leverages her influence to raise awareness and shed light on important issues such as discrimination, racism, and social injustice. She uses her popularity to stimulate public discourse and support those who are oppressed or marginalized.

(Photo by Beba Lindhorst)

Events: Empower Her - Feminist Perspectives on Foreign Policy (October 29), Masterclass Comedy and Communications (October 29)

Emily Benson is director of Project on Trade and Technology, and senior fellow of Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she focuses on trade, investment, and technology issues primarily in the transatlantic context. Prior to joining CSIS, she managed transatlantic legislative relations at a European foundation, focusing on trade relations and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. She also worked to combat money laundering via the illicit flow of art from conflict zones and spent several years at an international law firm focused on sanctions and export controls. Her commentary and research have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and Politico. She received her joint BA in international affairs and political science from the University of Colorado and her MA in political science from the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Fluent in French, Emily has lived abroad in France, Indonesia, and Switzerland.

Event: Panel: Trade Technology Council (October 28)

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.

Event: Pixels to Progress (October 28)

Dr. Benedetta Berti is Head of Policy Planning in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO. She is also Associate Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. An Eisenhower Global Fellow and a TED Senior Fellow, in the past decade Benedetta has held research and teaching positions at West Point, The Institute for National Security Studies and Tel Aviv University, among others. Dr. Berti is the author of four books, including "Armed Political Organizations. From Conflict to Integration" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013). Her work and research have appeared, among others, in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times; as well as in Civil Wars, Democratization, Government & Opposition, Mediterranean Politics, the Middle East Journal, Parameters, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence. She holds a BA in Oriental Studies from the University of Bologna, and a MA and PhD in International Relations from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Photo credits to Bret Hartman

Event: Geopolitical Paradigms – how do innovations shape today's security landscape? (October 28)

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.

Event: Having Better Policy Conversations About AI (October 29)

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).

Event: Empower Her – Feminist Perspectives on Foreign Policy (October 29)

Damian Boeselager is a Member of the European Parliament. During his studies in the US and Germany, he co-founded Volt, a pan-European, progressive, and pragmatic movement. In the EP Damian works on advancing European democracy, pushing for a competitive and sustainable European economy, attracting international talent to the EU, setting up a humane asylum system, and budgetary tools. He is the lead candidate for Volt Germany for the 2024 elections.

Event: Career Paths Beyond Sectors - Ways In and Out of the Public Sector (October 28)

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).

Event: Secure Bytes or Creative Flights? Germany's Data Concerns and U.S. Innovation Drive (October 29)

Franziska Brantner currently serves as the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Her political journey includes distinguished roles such as a Member of the European Parliament. Additionally, she held a prominent position as the Parliamentary Secretary and spokesperson for European policy for the ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group, signifying her deep-rooted commitment and expertise in European politics.

Event: Making Industrial Policy Work for Decarbonization (October 28)

Thilo Braun is one of the co-founders of ABA, a Palo Alto based startup developing batteries to electrify aviation. The company is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy ARPA-E. Thilo was previously one of the early employees at Lilium, a German electric aircraft startup. He holds an MBA and MS from Stanford University and a MEng from Imperial College London.

Event: Land of the Free? Home of Bureaucracy? Building Transatlantic Environments for Innovation (October 28)

Carsten Brzeski is the Global Head of Macro for ING Research. Previously, he worked at ABN Amro, the Dutch Ministry of Finance and the European Commission. He is a 2019 JFK Memorial Policy Fellow at Harvard University and member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs for the Dutch government and Parliament. Carsten has studied at the Free University of Berlin, Northeastern University in Boston and Harvard University in Cambridge, USA.

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.

Event: The Need for Speed: Transforming Mobility in Times of Rapid Change (October 28)

Nataliya Bugayova is a non-resident Russia Fellow at ISW and the Director of Strategic Intelligence at US tech firm Vertical Knowledge.  Her work focuses on the Kremlin’s decision-making, information operations, and global campaigns from Ukraine to Africa. Nataliya is also the author of How We Got Here with Russia: The Kremlin’s Worldview. Previously, she led ISW’s Russia open-source intelligence team, and prior to ISW, she worked in several roles around reform efforts in Ukraine after the 2014 EuroMaidan revolution. Nataliya holds a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Nataliya says: "Negotiations, ceasefires, and peace deals are not off-ramps but rather on-ramps for the Kremlin to renew its attack on Ukraine in the future under conditions that advantage Russia. They are means to the same ends—full control of Ukraine and eradication of Ukraine’s statehood and identity."

Event: Conflict and Consequence: Assessing the Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on NATO and the EU (October 28)

Taryn Burns (she/her) is a Yoga for Performance Specialist (eRYT500+) based in Boston, Massachusetts. She has spent the better half of a decade designing progressive programming for high performers, from Division 1 teams and middle school students to Fortune 500 employees and private clients.
Her work explores the intersection between the individual / organization by identifying key performance moments, implementing yoga practices that efficiently and effectively manage stress, reducing risk of burnout and optimizing performance.

Event: Business is Personal (October 29)

Isabel Cademartori is a Member of the Bundestag and of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was directly elected to parliament in the federal elections of 2021, representing her district in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. In the Bundestag, she 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.

Event: The Need for Speed: Transforming Mobility in Times of Rapid Change (October 28)

Former Ambassador 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.

Events: What’s Going On in the Land of the Free? (October 27), Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: A Transatlantic Dialogue on Feminist Foreign and Development Policy (October 29)

Konstantyn Chyzhyk is a partner at British-Ukrainian law and consultancy firm Hillmont Partners, helping international companies develop business in Ukraine and advising the government and the parliament on crucial reforms. Konstantyn worked at the EU Delegation to Ukraine and held various positions in the government including Deputy Minister of Energy and Ecology, Head of the Investment Promotion Office under the President of Ukraine, Head of Communications and International Relations of the Ministry of Finance.

Event: Rebuilding Ukraine, already now? (October 28)

Natalie Colbert is the Belfer Center’s Executive Director. Before coming to the Center, Colbert served in the Central Intelligence Agency for 13 years. Most recently, she was Director of Analytic Resources and Corporate Programs for the Near East Mission Center, where she led strategic management of analytic personnel resources and created a career development seminar for mid-level analysts. Before coming to the Center, Colbert served in the Central Intelligence Agency for 13 years. Prior to this role, Colbert led multiple analytic teams to produce intelligence assessments covering fast-paced issues in the Middle East for the President and other customers in the policymaking, intelligence, and military communities. Colbert previously served as an intelligence analyst covering conflict zones in Africa and Latin America. Across her CIA career, Colbert has earned awards for leadership excellence and in 2021 received the Near East Mission Center Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Colbert is a 2008 graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, where she earned a Master in Public Policy. She graduated in 2006 from New York University, majoring in International Relations and Francophone Studies.

Event: Career Paths Beyond Sectors - Ways In and Out of the Public Sector (October 28)

Ian Condry is a cultural anthropologist at MIT with two books, Hip-Hop Japan and The Soul of Anime. In 2019, he founded the MIT Spatial Sound Lab as a community studio that utilizes the d&b Soundscape from Germany. He makes music as Leftroman and hosts the radio show “Near & Far” on WMBR 88.1 FM Cambridge (Tu, 7-8pm). His current research explores spatial sound for live performance in Tokyo, Boston and Berlin. https://linktr.ee/iancondry

Event: Transatlantic Sounds: The Art and Science of Music Creation (October 28)

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.

Event: Why is making progress so hard? An interactive intro to Climate & Negotiations (October 28)

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.

Event: What’s Going On in the Land of the Free? (October 27)

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 at Örebro University, 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).

Event: Regulating AI (October 28)

Philipp is a senior sustainability expert. He is part of the Audi family since 2009. After several years as a lead project manager within the research and development department he is now part of the Sustainable Supply Chain Team. Amongst various projects, he is responsible for the Circular Economy strategy of the Audi Supply Chain.

Event: Circular Economy in the Automotive Industry (October 29)

Katrin Eigendorf is an international reporter for ZDF covering war in Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan. She is also the author of the book Putins Krieg. Wie die Ukrainer für unsere Freiheit kämpfen and founder of the non-profit Philipp Julius e.V. for families with children with disabilities. For her journalistic coverage, she has received awards such as the Walter Lübcke Demokratiepreis 2023 and the Deutscher Fernsehpreis 2022.

Event: Reporting on War (October 29)

Mark Elliott is Vice Provost of International Affairs at Harvard University and the Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Department of History. Elliott is an authority on the last four centuries of Chinese history, particularly the Qing period (1636-1911). As vice provost, Elliott oversees and works to advance international academic initiatives, extending the global reach of Harvard’s research and teaching activities.

Event: Remarks by Mark Elliott (October 27)

Gudrun Engel is the Washington Bureau Chief and Senior Correspondent for ARD German Television and Radio, one of the world’s largest broadcasters and the most watched news organization in Germany. She has worked in a variety of roles during her 15-year tenure, including as editor, reporter, and correspondent covering Europe, the United States, and Africa. She was a fellow of the RIAS Berlin Commission which promotes excellence in journalism and exchanges between U.S. and German journalists. She was also awarded a fellowship at the Heinz-Kuhn Foundation, where she contributed her on-the-ground research from Laos to the foundation’s annual report on development.

She received dual advanced degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Dortmund. Her studies include formal training in broadcast television from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and multimedia storytelling at the Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania.

Ms. Engel has received multiple recognitions for her roles in the newsroom and in leadership. In 2018, her in-depth reporting merited formal recognition from ARD’s Tagesthemen, with the Best Reportage Award.

Event: Democracy and Journalism in Challenging Times (October 27)

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.

Event: Deeptech Entrepreneurship (October 29)

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.

Event: Policies for Sustainable Innovation: Between Protectionism and Climate Action (October 29)

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. 

Event: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: A Transatlantic Dialogue on Feminist Foreign and Development Policy (October 29)

Fairlee C. Fabrett, PhD, is the director of training and staff development for the child and adolescent division of McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. She oversees and develops psychology training programs across the division. Dr. Fabrett is the coordinator for the child and adolescent tracks of the McLean APA psychology internship. She is also the director of McLean’s post-baccalaureate child and adolescent clinical fellowship, through which she provides supervision and mentorship to recent college graduates. Dr. Fabrett is trained in cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy and has expertise in acceptance and commitment therapy.

As a native of Mexico, Dr. Fabrett has lived experience balancing the expectations placed by her culture and those imposed by her adopted country and culture. She strives to use her own acculturation story as a basis for understanding the stories and experiences of the trainees and patients she works with. Dr. Fabrett believes that race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and the breadth of experiences constitutive of identity are vital elements when providing treatment, creating training programs, and establishing supervision practices.

Event: From All Hell to Oh Well. How to Build Resilience (October 28)

Dr. Ulrike Franke is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), based in Paris. Her areas of focus include German and European security and defence, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence on geopolitics and warfare.
Franke has published widely on these and other topics, and regularly appears as commentator in the media. She co-hosts the Sicherheitshalber Podcast, a German-language podcast on security and defence.

Event: Geopolitical Paradigms – how do innovations shape today's security landscape? (October 28)

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, 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.

Event: Deeptech Entrepreneurship (October 29)

Dr. Fruehauf is a physician-scientist and life-science entrepreneur. He practiced internal medicine and OB/Gyn in Germany before completing his post-doc at BIDMC/HMS. He is President and CEO of Biolabs, the national network for biotech co-working spaces and President of LabCentral, the largest co-working space for life-science companies in the Boston area. Dr. Fruehauf is also a General Partner at Mission BioCapital, an early stage venture capital fund providing capital to start-up companies in the life sciences.

Event: Deeptech Entrepreneurship (October 29)

Irene Fuchs has accumulated international work experience across various sectors. She served as Chief of Staff for a member company of the German Mittelstand and as a Project Manager for a German startup expanding into the US market. In her current role as Director of Business Network, Startups, and Events at the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York, Irene has facilitated over 30 startup programs and fostered transatlantic partnerships with midsize and large companies. Her daily engagement with the chamber's 700+ member companies provides valuable insight into how German companies enter and thrive in the US market. Irene holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and is a certified Project Manager (PMP).

Event: German Mittelstand: from local business to international success

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

Event: Policies for Sustainable Innovation: Between Protectionism and Climate Action (October 29)

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

Event: Inflation – the known, the unknown, and what to do about it (October 28)

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.

Events: Navigating Heights: A Manager’s Journey in Career, Parenthood, and Leadership (October 28), Innovations in Work: A Glimpse into the Future (October 29)

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.

Event: Panel: Breaking the Burnout Cycle: New Strategies for Mental Health

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.

Event: Deeptech Entrepreneurship (October 29)

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.

Event: Panel: Breaking the Burnout Cycle: New Strategies for Mental Health

A 19-year employee of the BMW Group, Grunert has a deep understanding of the company’s history, having spent time as an archivist in his first role and later as Head of the Archives and the Historical Collection at BMW Group Classic. Additional key positions have included Head of Communication for MINI, BMW Motorrad and Aftersales and Head of the Digital Communications Team at the BMW Group Media House. In 2018 he became Head of Communications and Government Affairs for Asia and the Pacific region. He began his current role in February of 2023.

Event: The Need for Speed: Transforming Mobility in Times of Rapid Change (October 28)

Laura is the co-founder and CEO of Hanfred HTG GmbH, a pet supplement manufacturer using self-cultivated hemp. Since March 2020, she has 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, and learned resilience through failure.

Event: Young Voices Driving the Change in the World (October 28)

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.

Event:Think Beyond, Together: Visual Thinking Strategies (October 29)

Dietmar Harhoff is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition and Professor for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich. His research focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and industrial economics. As a McCloy Scholar he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Administration at Harvard University. His doctoral training at the MIT Sloan School of Management focused on economics and management of innovation. Dietmar Harhoff has served in advisory functions to private and public organizations. He is elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW).

Event: Transatlantic Collaboration in the Sciences (October 28)

Marina Henke is Professor of International Relations and the Director of the Hertie Centre for International Security at the Hertie School in Berlin, and during the 2023-2024 academic year, she is also the Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She is an award-winning author and frequent commentator in German and international news media on topics related to European defense and nuclear security.

Event: Geopolitical Paradigms – how do innovations shape today's security landscape? (October 28), Conflict and Consequence: Assessing the Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on NATO and the EU (October 28)

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.

Event: Pixels to Progress (October 28)

Jennifer Hillman is a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, a co-director of Georgetown’s Center on Inclusive Trade and Development, and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her work has focused on the rules-based trading system and its implications for everything from climate change to Brexit, to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, to critically needed reforms at the World Trade Organization (WTO). She previously served on the WTO's Appellate Body, completing her term in 2012. She has also served as a commissioner at the U.S. International Trade Commission and as both general counsel and chief textiles negotiator (with the rank of Ambassador) at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. She previously served as legislative director for United States Senator Terry Sanford of North Carolina. Hillman received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and a masters of education from Duke University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Event: Policies for Sustainable Innovation: Between Protectionism and Climate Action (October 29)

Ulrich Hörning (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. Hörning is an economist (University of Tübingen).

Event: Local is the New Global? The Role of Cities in Reviving Democracy (October 28)

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.

Event: The Life of an Astronaut (October 29)

After obtaining his doctorate in law, Levin Holle began his professional career of almost 15 years at the Boston Consulting Group. His last position was leadership of the Berlin office as Senior Partner and Managing Director, focusing on large transformation projects in the financial sector. In 2012, he was appointed Director General for Financial Markets Policy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance. His responsibilities there included financial markets regulation, management of the federal debt and the supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the federal financial institutions including the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG from the beginning of 2018 until his appointment to the Management Board.

Event: Career Paths Beyond Sectors - Ways In and Out of the Public Sector (October 28)

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.

Event: Panel: Breaking the Burnout Cycle: New Strategies for Mental Health

Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese is a University Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the National Security Affairs Department at the Naval War College. She has also been part of the Government Department faculty of Harvard Extension School and Harvard Summer School since 2004, where she teaches courses on Women, Peace & Security, and a Senior Fellow with Women in International Security. She has published multiple articles on aspects of Women, Peace & Security and authored Women v Women: The Case for Cooperation (2022) and Women, Peace & Security: An Introduction (2nd edition, December 2023). More information can be found at https://joanjohnsonfreese.carrd.co/

Event: Empower Her – Feminist Perspectives on Foreign Policy (October 29)

Sandra Joyce is a cybersecurity leader and has been head of Mandiant Intelligence since 2017. She oversees threat research activities and operations of the Mandiant Intelligence organization. Sandra joined Google in 2022, following Google’s acquisition of Mandiant. Sandra is an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, serving as a faculty member at the National Intelligence University. She is also a member of the Aspen Institute Cybersecurity Working Group, sits on the strategic council of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, and is a member of the Institute for Security and Technology’s Ransomware Task Force Steering Committee. She is regularly featured in international print and broadcast media to include CNN, NBC, Bloomberg, BBC World, Today Show, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Deutsche Welle, and others. Sandra is pursuing her PhD at Johns Hopkins University as an Alperovitch Institute Fellow. She has an MBA from MIT and holds four additional master’s degrees in cyber-policy, international affairs, science and technology intelligence, and military operational art and science. Sandra speaks English, Spanish, and German and resides in Virginia with her family.

Event: Geopolitical Paradigms – how do innovations shape today's security landscape? (October 28)

Katharina is Co-Founder & CEO of TeleClinic, the number 1 platform for online doctor visits including digital prescriptions and sick-notes in Germany. Prior to this, she worked in consulting and private and commercial law firm. Currently, Katharina is founding a new startup in the US which focuses on clinical trials.

Event: Born in Germany, raised in the US: Do all Unicorns gallop into the Valley? (October 28)

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.

Event: Reasoning from the Past: Challenges for Democracy Across Centuries (October 29)

Georg Kell is chairman of Arabesque, a technology company that uses AI and big data to mainstream sustainable investing. He is also the founding director of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Georg also oversaw the conception and launch of the UNGC’s sister initiatives, the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE).

Event: Hype or Hope: Can ESG transform the world of business? (October 27)

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.

Event: Panel: Breaking the Burnout Cycle: New Strategies for Mental Health

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.

Event: Secure Bytes or Creative Flights? Germany's Data Concerns and U.S. Innovation Drive (October 29)

Jens Kleesiek is a full professor at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (IKIM) of the University Hospital in 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.

Event: Why haven't we cured cancer? (October 28)

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

Event: Local is the New Global? The Role of Cities in Reviving Democracy (October 28), Rebuilding Ukraine, already now? (October 28)

Since 2017, Dr Koenen is heading the department for Digitalisation and Innovation at the Federation of German Industries (BDI). In this role for the BDI as the umbrella association of German industries, he is responsible for the areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data economy, IT infrastructure as well as for research and innovation policy. Next to his activities in the BDI, Dr Koenen is Executive Director and Member of the Board of econsense - Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business. He is a fully qualified lawyer. Before his current position, he was heading the Department for Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the BDI and served as head of BDI's Department for Strategy and Coordination (Head of Staff). Dr Koenen is married, has one daughter and lives in Berlin.

Event: Land of the Free? Home of Bureaucracy? Building Transatlantic Environments for Innovation (October 28)

Robert is a scientist and founder of higher education startup TwentyOne Skills - the learning hub for science. With a team of 14 researchers, the startup supports academia in upskilling, networking, and innovating. He is also 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.

Event: Innovation in Science (October 29)

Kerstin Kohlenberg studied Sociology at FU-Berlin and The New School in New York. She worked for the public broadcaster ZDF and has been 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. During her time in the U.S. she hosted the podcast 'Die Patrioten' in which she interviewed average American citizens from across the political spectrum on their understanding of patriotism. She has won various journalism prizes and is currently working on a book about three very different American lives.

Event: Bridging the Divide: How Societal Changes and Structural Disparities Influence Social Cohesion (October 29)

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.

Event: Panel: Why haven't we cured cancer? (October 28)

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.

Event: Education Beyond Limits (October 29)

Christian Löffler’s art is heavily inspired by his environment. He lives and works, both as a painter and musician, in the remote Darss Peninsula in Germany’s north-east and his atelier can be found within a rustic log cabin surrounded by overgrown wilderness over-looking the Baltic Sea. The area has provided him with the solitude necessary for his highly introspective work, while at the same time influencing him via its rugged landscapes in a continuous creative dialogue between artist and nature. This bucolic seclusion, tranquil by nature and intense in nature, has defined Löffler’s body of work, both visual and musical, throughout the years.

Event: Transatlantic Sounds: The Art and Science of Music Creation (October 28)

Yana Lyushnevskaya is a Senior Journalist at BBC Monitoring's bureau in Kyiv, Ukraine currently spending the year as a Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. She covers media, geopolitics and security developments in Ukraine, most recently focusing on Ukrainian media's response to the full-scale Russian invasion.

Event: Reporting on War (October 29)

Charles S. Maier, born February 23, 1939 in New York City, is the Leverett Saltonstall Research Professor of History at Harvard University. From 1991 to mid-2002 he was Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies and served from 1994-200, as Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard.

Event: Reasoning from the Past: Challenges for Democracy Across Centuries (October 29)

Gulsanna Mamediieva, an experienced tech policy professional from Ukraine, currently serves as the CEO of Digitality.GovTech Center of Excellence in Brussels. She is also a Tech and Public Policy Fellow at Georgetown University’s McCourt School for Public Policy. As former Director General for European and NATO integration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, she played a key role in Ukraine’s integration into the Digital Single Market of the European Union. As an Adviser to the Vice Prime Minister on Digital Transformation, Innovation, Science and Technology of Ukraine, Gulsanna is actively involved in international efforts to support Ukraine’s digital resilience against Russia’s invasion. She is a Fisher Family and Support Ukrainian Democracy and Development summer fellow at Stanford University and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Carleton University, Canada, in addition to holding a Master’s degree in Information Technology Law from the University of Tartu, Estonia.

Event: Rebuilding Ukraine, already now? (October 28)

Ilya Marritz is a 2024 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He co-hosted the #1-rated iTunes podcast “Will Be Wild” about the January 6th Capitol attack, and the duPont silver baton-winning podcast “Trump, Inc.” Most recently, he covered threats to democracy for ProPublica and Trump legal matters for NPR. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter for WNYC-New York Public Radio. Ilya has had bylines in Time Magazine, New York Magazine, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The New Yorker, the Financial Times, and the New York Daily News. He has been a guest on All In With Chris Hayes, Cuomo Prime Time on CNN, and PBS’ Newshour. He has also taught audio journalism at Columbia Journalism School and the City University of New York.

Event: Bridging the Divide: How Societal Changes and Structural Disparities Influence Social Cohesion (October 29)

Jonas Meckling is Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Climate Fellow at Harvard Business School. Dr. Meckling studies climate policy and the energy transition, with a focus on green industrial strategy. Previously, he was a visiting professor at Yale University, served as Senior Advisor to the German Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and worked at the European Commission.

Event: Making Industrial Policy Work for Decarbonization (October 28)

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.

Events: Geopolitical Paradigms: how do innovations shape today's security landscape? (October 28), Trade Technology Council (October 28)

Aaron is the CEO and co-founder of PostEra. Aaron is a mathematician by training, completing his postgraduate studies in Applied Mathematics at Oxford University where he also met Alpha, one of PostEra’s co-founders. He then spent five years at Goldman Sachs in London as a Data Scientist and Trader before founding PostEra along with Alpha and Matt in October 2019.

Event: Future of Biotech, Pharma and AI in Medicine (October 28)

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.

Event: Young Voices Driving the Change in the World (October 28)

Mustafa-Masi Nayyem is the Head of the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine. He studied Aerospace Systems at the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" got his Master's in Law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

From 2005 to 2014, Mustafa-Masi built his career as a journalist, special correspondent, editor and media manager for leading Ukrainian publishers. Then he had large experience in a range of state institutions: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (working on the project to launch the Patrol Police in Ukraine), Ukrainian Parliament (as an elected official from 2014 to 2019), State Concern "Ukroboronprom”, and in 2021, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Since 2020, he is also co-founder and lecturer of the Center of Excellence for Government Relations (GR) at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Event: Rebuilding Ukraine, already now? (October 28)

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.

Events: Music and Management (October 27), Transatlantic Collaboration in the Sciences (October 28)

Eva-Maria Olbers leads Portfolio Growth at Premji Invest where she advises a global portfolio of VC-backed companies. Previously, she was an Operating Partner at Point72 Ventures and held various positions at companies like at the Boston Consulting Group, the machine-learning startup Knewton, and Microsoft Ventures.

Eva holds master’s degrees from the London Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School and is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Originally from Germany and Luxembourg, Eva is conversational in seven languages, including Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese.

Event: Born in Germany, raised in the US: Do all unicorns gallop into the Valley? (October 28)

Foteini Papagioti (she/her) is a senior global policy advisor based out of the ICRW-US office and working remotely from New York. She is responsible for conducting research and analysis and providing evidence-based strategic guidance to governments, international organizations, and ICRW’s policy and advocacy team, with a focus on feminist foreign policy and global gender architecture/institutions.

Prior to joining ICRW, Foteini consulted for ICRW and was a co-author of our 2022 Feminist U.N. Campaign Report Card on the  Secretary-General along with lead author Spogmay Ahmed. Prior to that, Foteini was a Consultant for UN Women, where she conducted research on Women, Peace, and Security; feminist foreign policy; military expenditure and gender equality; and gender-sensitive financing in peacebuilding. As an intern for UN Women’s Humanitarian and Crisis Response Team, she has also contributed to research evaluating the implementation of commitments to gender equality in humanitarian response plans.

Foteini has also researched gender parity and feminist leadership in the United Nations, evaluating the Secretary-General’s 2017 Gender Parity Strategy as a consultant for Gender@Work, and exploring gender parity and geographic diversity in senior appointments at the UN as a graduate research assistant for the NYU Center for International Cooperation.

Event: Empower Her – Feminist Perspectives on Foreign Policy (October 29)

Elisabeth Piller is a historian at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Her research and teaching focuses on US foreign policy and German-American relations in the twentieth century. She is especially interested in the transatlantic impact of informal diplomats such as tourists, students or humanitarians.

Event: Students as Diplomats? – On the History and Future of Transatlantic Student Exchange (October 28)

Alice Plane focuses on the various stakes that climate change poses to the planet’s ecosystems, including human societies, with a perspective on equity. She has worked in France, Madagascar, Afghanistan, and the USA, in aid affairs and diplomatic postings for France and for the E.U. From 2016 to 2020, she headed the Climate Unit within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She teaches Climate Diplomacy and Decarbonization Policy at Brown’s Master of Public Administration.

Event: Why is making progress so hard? An interactive intro to Climate & Negotiations (October 28)

Dominic Ponattu is Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister for Special Tasks and Head of the German Federal Chancellery. Dominic is particularly involved in economic and fiscal policy as well as energy policy at the Chancellery. He previously served as private secretary to the former state secretary for digital policy and consumer protection and as a policy advisor in the Ministry of Finance. Former positions also include an advisory role on economic affairs at Bertelsmann Foundation as well as being a strategy consultant at Roland Berger. Dominic holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Government (First Class) from the London School of Economics, where he also received an M.Sc. (Distinction). He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Mannheim. Dominic is a fellow of the German National Academic Foundation, is an Atlantik-Brücke young leader and was named a "Top 40under40" in 2022 by Capital Magazine.

Event: Bridging the Divide: How Societal Changes and Structural Disparities Influence Social Cohesion (October 29)

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!

Event: Young Voices Driving the Change in the World (October 28)

Robin Quinville spent more than 30 years as a U.S. diplomat, having served primarily in Europe including postings to two multilateral organizations (the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and NATO) and bilateral postings to Cyprus, Bosnia, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany. She also spent a year in Baghdad, Iraq. In Washington, directed the Office of Western European Affairs at the Department of State, and spent a year as a Wilson Center State Department Fellow. Most recently, Quinville was the Charge d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany. She returns to the Wilson Center following a semester as the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Affairs at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. A native of California, Quinville lives in Arlington, Va., with her husband Tom Williams.

Event: Land of the Free? Home of Bureaucracy? Building Transatlantic Environments for Innovation (October 28)

Travis Rapoza is pursuing his Masters in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government with a concentration in Democracy, Politics, and Institutions. Previously, he spent several years as a professional violinist before pivoting to a career in public service. He served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in his birth city of New Bedford, Massachusetts before being hired full time at the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, a non-profit helping to create non-arrest pathways into treatment and recovery for individuals struggling with substance use disorders. Active on social media, Travis addresses hot-button political issues. His TikToks (@travisrapoza) have reached over 15 million views, and have been shared by Olivia Rodrigo, among others.

Event: Civic Eloquence: The Future of Digital Advocacy (October 28)

Lutz Reimers is Head of Division for Innovation, Industry, Regional and Structural Change, and Digital Economy in the German Federal Chancellery. Prior to that he served as a policy advisor for Economic Policy in the Chancellery, in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, and at the Permanent Representation of Germany to the European Union. Lutz holds a Ph.D. from the Technical University of Berlin and studied economics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Event: Land of the Free? Home of Bureaucracy? Building Transatlantic Environments for Innovation (October 28)

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.

Event: Education Beyond Limits (October 29)

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.

Events: Conflict and Consequence: Assessing the Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on NATO and the EU (October 28), War Briefing (October 29)

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.

Event: Education Beyond Limits (October 29)

Roberto Rigobon is the Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Applied Economics at the Sloan School of Management, MIT, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a visiting professor at IESA. Roberto is a macro-economist who concentrates on measurement issues: economic, social and ethical. He studies financial contagion, and the propagation of shocks through economic networks. He is one of the two founding members of the Billion Prices Project that produce alternative measures of inflation in many countries; And he is a co-founder and director of the Aggregate Confusion Project which studies how to improve ESG measures. Roberto joined the business school in 1997. He has won 5 times the teacher of the year award, and three times the excellence in teaching award at the Sloan School. He got his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1997, an MBA from IESA, Venezuela in 1991, and his BS in Electrical Engineer from Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela in 1984. He is married with three kids.

Event: Hype or Hope: Can ESG transform the world of business? (October 27)

Nicole is a partner at Deloitte Consulting and Managing Director at Deloitte Sustainability & Climate. She is a seasoned visionary and values-driven leader with 20 years of experience in building organizations, creating services and digital tools, and securing business success. Her focus is on climate and sustainability, grounded in a track record of strategy consulting (McKinsey, the CO-Firm, PwC), innovation, operations, financial risk management, and change management. Nicole drives sustainability transformation at the intersection between the financial sector and real economy.

Event: Hype or Hope: Can ESG transform the world of business? (October 27)

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.

Event: Reporting on War (October 29)

Kirsten Rulf is a Partner and Associate Director at The Boston Consulting Group, where she helps clients across Europe, the US, and the Middle East to implement Generative AI responsibly in effective governance structures. Until April 2023 she was the Head of Digital and Data Policy at the Federal Chancellery of Germany and senior advisor to former Chancellor Angela Merkel and then Chancellor Scholz. During her time at the Federal Chancellery, she was responsible for negotiating the upcoming EU legislative frameworks on digital transformation, among them the EU AI Act, Data Act, Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Prior to her time in government, Kirsten Rulf taught AI and Compliance at Harvard Law School and was a Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. She graduated as a McCloy Fellow with an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School in 2017. In addition to her work at BCG, Kirsten Rulf now also teaches digital transformation at Yale University and is a 2023 Tech Policy Fellow at the University of California Berkeley. In addition to her MPP from HKS, Kirsten Rulf holds two M.A. degrees from Oxford University and was a 2022 Yale World Fellow.

Events: Career Paths Beyond Sectors - Ways In and Out of the Public Sector (October 28), Land of the Free? Home of Bureaucracy? Building Transatlantic Environments for Innovation (October 28), Regulating AI (October 28)

In 2021, Louise Schaaf, 23, currently living in Berlin, participated in Princess Charming, which was the first FLINTA Datingshow worldwide, to represent femme lesbians. Since then she is actively supporting queer rights and femme visibility. It is her intention to use her social media to highlight LGBTQ women: a group that she believes has been terribly underrepresented in all forms.

Event: Young Voices Driving the Change in the World (October 28)

Dietram A. Scheufele is the Taylor-Bascom Chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research, and a Distinguished Research Fellow at Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. His consulting portfolio includes work for DeepMind, Porter Novelli, PBS, WHO, and the World Bank.

Event: Innovation in Science Communication (October 28)

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.

Event: Innovation in Media (October 28)

Rupert Schlegelmilch studied law and political science in Freiburg im Breisgau and Berlin. He joined the German Foreign Service in 1987 and the European Commission Directorate General for External Relations in 1993. From 1998 to 2003, he worked on
WTO matters in the European Commission Delegation in Geneva.

From 2003 to 2010, Mr. Schlegelmilch was responsible for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade (DG TRADE), for the EU’s bilateral trade relations first with China, and later, for the trade relations with the Americas and South Asia, Korea, and ASEAN.

In 2011 he became the Director of DG TRADE for Trade in Services, Investment, Government Procurement and the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). He has been the EU’s Chief negotiator for the EU-Singapore, the EU-Ukraine, and the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreements.

From 2016 to 2019, Mr. Schlegelmilch served as the European Union’s Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris. In October 2019, he returned to DG TRADE in Brussels as the Director for the United States, Canada, Latin America as well as Agriculture and food safety trade issues.

Event: Trade Technology Council (October 28)

Gregor is editor-in-chief of STERN magazine, one of the largest and most iconic German (and global) magazine brands. In addition to that, he was appointed editor- in-chief of the premium magazine brands GEO and Capital in 2023. Prior to that, he served as editor-in-chief of one of the leading German dailies and as a foreign correspondent for DER SPIEGEL, Germany ́s newsmagazine, in Brussels and (from 2007 to 2013) Washington. During his time in DC, he covered the Obama White House and two presidential campaigns. Gregor was part of SPIEGEL's WikiLeaks and NSA coverage and was awarded the prestigious Arthur F. Burns, Henri Nannen Prize and Theodor Wolff-Prize for his reporting. His bestselling first book, co-authored with legendary investor and activist George Soros ("The tragedy of the European Union – Disintegration or Revival”) was published by Random House and translated into more than ten languages worldwide. Before starting his work with SPIEGEL, Gregor headed the Brussels Office of Bertelsmann Foundation, one of Europe’s largest think tanks. He is a graduate of Harvard University (MPA) and Cambridge University (MPhil) and holds a law degree from Munich University. He also studied at Sciences-Po Paris and earned a doctorate in political science. In addition to his writing, Gregor is a frequent radio and TV commentator in national and international programs. He is also a member of the Atlantic Council, a Young Leader of the American Council on Germany, a McCloy Scholar of the German National Merit Foundation and head of the Harvard Alumni association Germany. He was named “Editor-in-Chief 2020” and a “Journalist of the Year” by Germany’s leading media publication Medium Magazin three years in a row.

Events: Democracy and Journalism in Challenging Times (October 27), Reasoning from the Past: Challenges for Democracy Across Centuries (October 29)

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.

Event: Born in Germany, raised in the US: Do all Unicorns gallop into the Valley? (October 28)

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.

Event: Climate Now: Climate, Sustainability, and Decarbonization (October 28)

Vincent is an Assistant Professor at MIT, where he leads the Scene Representation Group, a research group focused on AI for computer vision and robotics. He finished his PhD at Stanford and his undergrad at TU Munich and the CDTM. His goal is to build AI that can learn models of our world self-supervised, e.g. a robot equipped only with a camera that learns to reason about the geometry, materials, objects, and physics of its environment.

Event: What's next after ChatGPT? The next wave of AI and autonomous machines (October 29)

Nikolai Slavov received undergraduate education from MIT and a doctoral degree from Princeton University for characterizing the coordination of cellular growth with gene expression and metabolism. The Slavov laboratory pioneered experimental and computational methods for single-cell proteomics and used them to connect protein covariation across single cells to functional phenotypes, including macrophage polarization, emergence of drug resistance priming, early mammalian development, and stem cell differentiation. These technologies provided a foundation for establishing Parallel Squared Technology Institute (PTI). Prof. Slavov organizes the annual single-cell proteomics conference and contributes to organizing other leading conferences, including NeurIPS.

Event: Future of Biotech, Pharma and AI in Medicine (October 28)

Stefan Spiegel has been Head of Content 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.

Events: Innovation in Media (October 28), Innovation in Science Communication (October 28)

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.

Event: Panel: German Mittelstand: from local business to international success

Trained as a lawyer at the University of Heidelberg and Trinity College, Oxford, Dr. Andreas Steinert started in a law firm in 1999 and worked for the insurance companies Allianz and Generali Group from 2001 to 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 from University of Chicago.

Event: Hype or Hope: Can ESG transform the world of business? (October 27)

Simon Stelzl is VP Value Engineering for Regulated Industries North America at Celonis. Based in New York, Simon has played a pivotal role in introducing Celonis and its industry leading Process Mining technology from Europe to the US market. In his current role, he and his team are responsible for managing the entire end-to-end customer journey, ensuring that clients harness the full potential of Celonis solution. Simon holds a BS in Information Systems and a MS with Honors in Finance and Information Management from Technical University Munich (TUM).

Event: What's next after ChatGPT? The next wave of AI and autonomous machines (October 29)

Nina Strassner is a specialized attorney for labor law, Chair of the German Diversity Charter, and the Global Head of People Initiatives at SAP. With her team, she works with and for the HR directors of all countries at SAP on the challenges of cultural transformation in order to place the needs and the inclusive working life of all employees at the center of their HR work – everything she does is guided by her proclaimed motto of "Dare to Care".

After obtaining her Master's degree in "Patentability of Software in US, UK and Europe," she worked for 10 years in German labor courts before joining SAP's management team. Nina is also an award winning blogger and was voted in 2022 to F10's "40 Over 40 - Germany's Most Inspiring Women."

Event: Dare to Care – Our Future Is Built on Courage (October 28), Innovations in Work: A Glimpse into the Future (October 29)

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).

Event: Local is the New Global? The Role of Cities in Reviving Democracy (October 28)

Michael is the co-founder of thjnk (advertising), HYROX (a global fitness run) and New Work Masterkills (consulting, training, coaching). Prior to this, he was the youngest "Global CMO" in the history of the german car brand Audi. Before that, he worked as a management consultant and recruiting director at Bossard Consultants, among other roles. 30 years ago he earned his PhD in ecological marketing. The relocation of thjnk to a new office in Hamburg marked the beginning of his “future of work” journey that he documents as the host of a podcast and the author of a book ("On the way to New Work") podcast along with Christoph Magnussen and Swantje Allmers.

Event: Innovations in Work: A Glimpse into the Future (October 29)

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.

Event: Born in Germany, raised in the US: Do all unicorns gallop into the Valley? (October 28)

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.

Event: Regulating AI (October 28)

Isabella M. Weber is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University. For her public policy work she has been profiled in the New Yorker, recognized as one of TIME100 Next, Bloomberg's 50 Ones to Watch, Germany's 100 women of 2022 and Capital 40 under 40 and has been awarded the Kurt Rothschild Prize. Isabella holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research, New York, and a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and was a visiting researcher at Tsinghua University. German born, she studied at the Free University of Berlin and Peking University for her B.A.

Event: Inflation – the known, the unknown, and what to do about it (October 28)

Andrew Wheeler is President of Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation, the world’s leading supplier of packaging machines. After graduating with a degree in International Relations from the University of Vermont, Andrew started his career at W&H as a Sales Manager and was named President in 2014, overseeing unprecedented growth in the North American business unit. He lives in Boston with his family, where he has been active in coaching Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, and Tennis.

Event: German Mittelstand: From Local Business to International Success

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/

Event: Leading from Within: A Workshop on Mental Health and Leadership (October 29)

In her role as Chief Assistant to the Mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan, Maria leads the mayor’s key initiatives, fundraising campaigns, special events, and communications. Beyond that, Maria has been supportive to the Mayor in his role as with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Maria is a founding member of the Young Professionals of Rochester, a founding member of the Rochester Hills Museum Young Leaders Circle Board, and most recently a founding member of Create Collective, a local arts council dedicated to proactively and intentionally bringing art into our community. Maria also serves on boards and committees for the North Oakland YMCA, the Rochester Area Youth Assistance, Michigan Women in Municipal Government and the Rochester Hills Museum Foundation.  Her leadership has been notably recognized with Crain’s Detroit 20 in the 20’s Award (2020),  the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce Young Professional of the Year (2019),  and she was named as an Elite 40 Under 40 by Oakland County (2018).

Maria Willett earned both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration from Oakland University, where she was awarded the Inaugural Promising Alumni Award.

Event: Local is the New Global? The Role of Cities in Reviving Democracy (October 28)

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.

Events: Education Beyond Limits (October 29), Digital Disruption in Schools – EdTech and the Future of Education in the US and Germany with simpleclub (October 29)

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.

Event: From All Hell to Oh Well. How to Build Resilience (October 28)

Halyna Yanchenko is a Ukrainian Member of Parliament and holds a position of the Secretary in the National Investment Council and advisory body to the President of Ukraine. In the Parliament, she is the Member of the Committee on Economic Development. In addition, she chairs the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada on protection investor’s rights. Prior to being elected to Verkhovna Rada, she lead the Civil Oversight Council at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and was a member of the Kyiv City Council.

Event: Rebuilding Ukraine, already now? (October 28)

Archie was the United Kingdom’s Lead Climate Negotiator from 2016-2022, and secured agreement by all countries to the Glasgow Climate Pact and finalisation of the Paris Rulebook at COP26. He has held a range of senior international and domestic policy roles. He is currently doing an M-RCBG Senior Fellowship focused on delivery of climate commitments

Event: Why is making progress so hard? An interactive intro to Climate & Negotiations (October 28)

Daniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University and resident faculty at Harvard's Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES). At CES, he co-chairs the Seminar on Democracy – Past, Present, Future.

 Ziblatt specializes in the study of European politics, democracy, state-building and historical political economy. He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (Crown Publishing Group, 2018), co-authored with Steve Levitsky, a New York Times best-seller and described by The Economist magazine as "the most important book of the Trump era." The book has been translated into thirty languages. In 2017, he authored Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2017), an account of the history of democracy in Europe, which won the American Political Science Association's 2018 Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in government and international relations and American Sociological Association's 2018 Barrington Moore Prize. His first book was an analysis of 19th century state building, Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism (Princeton University Press, 2006). 

His newest book, co-authored with Steve Levitsky, Tyranny of the Minority (Crown Publishing Group, 2023), was published in September 2023. The book puts America's contemporary transition into a multiracial democracy in comparative and historical perspective, and shows the distinctive vulnerabilities of the U.S. constitutional order. 

In 2023, Ziblatt was elected member of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences.

Event: What's Going On in the Land of the Free? (October 27)

Armand Zorn, born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on July 18, 1988, immigrated to Germany in 2000, settling in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. His academic journey in political and historical science began at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and extended to Sciences Po in Paris and the University of Konstanz. Professionally, Zorn gained international experience in Hong Kong, Macao, and France, and as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Joining the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 2011, his political stride was marked by a governing board position for the Frankfurt Social Democrats in 2019 and a remarkable 29% vote win in the Frankfurt am Main I district in the 2021 federal election. Zorn, in the Bundestag, emphasizes finance, digital affairs, and sustainable development, and since 2022, has been a delegate in the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly, fortifying bilateral ties.

Event: Trade Technology Council (October 28)