Climate Action and Sustainability speakers

Why organisations work with Dan Sobovitz Five years inside the cabinet of a European Commission Vice-President, writing speeches and running digital for the institution that regulates much of Europe’s technology agenda. That is a view of how policy communication actually works that external consultants rarely have. Runs spreadable.io, the agency behind interactive programmes for the European Commission, European Parliament, UNESCO, Michelin, Groupe RATP, and Viva Tech. Clients hire him when a standard panel format will not hold the room. Chief communications role at the European Startup Prize for Mobility, Europe’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups, gives him a working feed of what is actually happening in European mobility and climate tech rather than a reading of it. Hosts and moderates in English and French across tech, mobility, and sustainability events including Viva Tech, ChangeNow, and Michelin’s Movin’On Challenge, with a hosting style built around live audience interaction rather than scripted Q and A. Civil society work through DemoCrisis and Fondation Ceci n’est pas une crise gives him a serious, non-promotional voice on how digital platforms are changing democratic participation. Biography highlights Founder and CEO, spreadable.io, Brussels Chief Communications Officer, European Startup Prize for Mobility Senior Adviser, Digital Communications, BCW Former speechwriter and digital communications strategist, cabinet of European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic TEDx speaker, “Can technology make democracy great again?” (TEDxAUEB) MA, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; MPP, Hertie School of Governance Biography Inside the European Commission, the problem was not a shortage of policy. It was that the policy was not reaching anyone outside Brussels. Dan Sobovitz spent five years in the cabinet of Vice-President Maros Sefcovic working on exactly that, writing speeches and running digital channels that tried to turn technical EU work into something recognisable to citizens, journalists, and founders. The methods were unusual for an institution. Live interactive interviews from a self-driving car. VR footage of EU satellites going into orbit. Crowdsourcing policy input from youth and climate activists through digital platforms. Live audience voting at EU startup pitches. Most of it came out of a single idea: the Commission had interesting things to say and was burying them under procedural language. He now runs spreadable.io, the interactive-events agency he founded after leaving the Commission, with clients including the European Parliament, UNESCO, Michelin, Groupe RATP, and Viva Tech. Alongside this he is Chief Communications Officer at the European Startup Prize for Mobility, the EU’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups, and a Senior Adviser on Digital Communications at BCW. His civic work through DemoCrisis and Fondation Ceci n’est pas une crise addresses a narrower question that runs under everything else he does: what happens to democratic participation when the public conversation moves onto platforms none of the participants control. He writes and speaks on that question in English and French, and has given a TEDx talk, “Can technology make democracy great again?” Key speaking topics Digital communications and institutional storytelling Technology, democracy, and civic participation Sustainable mobility and clean transport innovation European startup ecosystems and innovation policy Interactive conference formats and audience engagement Public policy communication in the age of platforms Ideal for Corporate and institutional communications leaders rethinking how they talk about technology and regulation Innovation, mobility, and sustainability programmes looking for a bilingual host who can run a serious technical room Public affairs and policy teams operating at the EU level CEO and C-suite audiences planning flagship innovation or transformation events Audience outcomes A sharper read on how European institutions and corporates are actually communicating technology and policy, and where that is breaking down Concrete examples of formats that move an audience out of passive listening, drawn from live EU and corporate programmes A working understanding of how the European clean mobility and startup landscape fits together across Commission, Parliament, and industry A more honest view of what digital platforms are doing to public debate and what institutions can do about it

Why organisations work with David Hughes Hughes reads the whole value chain – from farm inputs and life science companies through manufacturers, retailers and food service – and identifies the commercial implications of change at each stage, giving organisations a perspective they cannot assemble internally. His 1994 book «Breaking with Tradition: Building Partnerships and Alliances in the European Food Industry» established the intellectual case for vertical supply chain collaboration – a thesis that remains central to competitive advantage in the sector today. He does not only analyse food businesses; he built one. As co-founder of a branded fresh produce company that he grew and sold into US supermarkets, and as a 20-year Non-Executive Director of Berry Gardens Ltd – the UK’s largest farmer-owned berry business – his commercial judgement is grounded in direct business experience. Organisations working in any geography get genuine cross-continental intelligence. Hughes works across Africa, Asia, Australasia, North and South America and Europe, making his read on consumer trends and retail dynamics global in scope rather than extrapolated from one market. As Honorary Nuffield Scholar and the inaugural Sainsbury Professor of Food Marketing at what is now Imperial College London, his academic standing gives food and agribusiness organisations a credible, research-grounded voice for external-facing events, policy engagements and board-level discussions. Biography highlights Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing, Imperial College London; inaugural Sainsbury Professor of Food Marketing at Wye College (now Imperial College London) from 1991 Visiting Professor, Royal Agricultural University, UK Ph.D. Food Marketing, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; M.Sc. Agricultural Marketing; B.Sc. (Hons.) Agricultural Economics Non-Executive Director, Berry Gardens Ltd – UK’s largest farmer-owned berry business – for 20 years; co-founder of a branded fresh produce business sold into US supermarket chains Author/editor: «Breaking with Tradition: Building Partnerships and Alliances in the European Food Industry» (Wye College Press, 1994); published in British Food Journal, Supply Chain Management, and Business Ethics: A European Review Honorary Nuffield Scholar; keynote speaker at major food industry conferences across Africa, Asia, Australasia, the Americas and Europe, with named clients including Nestlé HQ (Switzerland) and William Reed Ltd (The Grocer) Biography Consumer preferences for health, sustainability and convenience are not moving in straight lines – and the food businesses that are best placed to respond are those that see how each shift propagates across the whole value chain, from the genetics company at one end to the food service operator at the other. David Hughes has spent more than fifty years building exactly that whole-chain, whole-world view, working with senior management in food and agribusiness on every continent. Hughes became the inaugural Sainsbury Professor of Food Marketing at Wye College in 1991, later Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, where he established and directed the Food Industry Management Group. His 1994 edited volume «Breaking with Tradition: Building Partnerships and Alliances in the European Food Industry» set out the commercial logic of vertical supply chain collaboration – an argument that has only become more relevant as retail power has concentrated and sustainability scrutiny has intensified. He is also Visiting Professor at the Royal Agricultural University and an Honorary Nuffield Scholar. What distinguishes Hughes from the academic analyst category is that he has operated commercially inside the industries he studies. He co-founded and sold a branded fresh produce business serving US supermarkets, and served as Non-Executive Director of Berry Gardens Ltd – Britain’s largest farmer-owned berry business – for two decades. That combination of institutional credibility and business experience is what makes his reads on market shifts actionable rather than observational. Known internationally as «Dr. Food,» Hughes speaks to boards, trade associations, producer groups and government bodies across Africa, Asia, Australasia, North and South America and Europe. His work is sector-wide – meat, dairy, fresh produce, packaged foods, food service and the input industries that serve them – and consistently oriented toward the commercial question: given what is shifting, what should an organisation do on Monday morning? Key speaking topics Global consumer food trends and retail dynamics Food and agribusiness commercial strategy Supply chain partnerships and vertical alliance models Sustainability, environment and the food industry Health, nutrition and food market development Fresh produce and grocery retail innovation Food entrepreneurship and business model change Ideal for C-suite and board-level audiences in food manufacturing, grocery retail, food service and agribusiness Trade associations and producer organisations seeking to brief members on market direction Government and policy bodies working on food security, trade and sustainability Financial services and investor audiences with food sector exposure Audience outcomes A clearer distinction between structural shifts in food consumer behaviour and short-term trends – and the commercial implications of each Understanding of how change in one part of the food value chain creates threats and opportunities in adjacent segments A cross-continental frame of reference for food market developments that is difficult to assemble from within a single geography or sector Practical direction on how food businesses can build the supply chain partnerships and consumer connections that underpin competitive advantage Greater confidence in communicating strategic rationale to boards, investors or government stakeholders on food industry direction

Why organisations work with Deborah Meaden Twenty years of unscripted investment judgement on Dragons’ Den, where she has personally backed dozens of businesses, given audiences a working language for evaluating risk, founders and growth. Operator credibility built on a £33 million sale of Weststar Holidays to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2005, after a management buyout she led from inside the family business. A consistent, public position on sustainability as a commercial question: through The Big Green Money Show on BBC Radio 5 Live she has interrogated CEOs of major UK and global businesses on what climate strategy actually costs and earns. Author credibility across audiences from senior operators (Common Sense Rules) to financial literacy for children (HarperCollins Little Experts series, including a Financial Times Book of the Year 2023 Critics’ Choice). A direct, plain-language style that translates entrepreneurial decisions into something a leadership team can argue with, not just admire. Biography highlights Investor on BBC’s Dragons’ Den since 2006. Led the 1999 management buyout of Weststar Holidays and sold the majority to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2005 for £33 million. Author of Common Sense Rules (Random House Business, 2009) and the HarperCollins Little Experts financial literacy series. Why Money Matters named a Financial Times Book of the Year 2023 Critics’ Choice; silver at the Made For Mums Toy Awards. Co-host of The Big Green Money Show on BBC Radio 5 Live with Felicity Hannah. Trustee of Tusk Trust, Fellow of WWF, Ambassador for the RSPB, Marine Conservation Society and World Horse Welfare, Compassion Visionary at CIWF. Honorary degrees from the University of Exeter Business School, Staffordshire University, Keele University and Bath Spa University. Biography Weststar Holidays was a single-site family business when Deborah Meaden joined its arcade operations in 1988. By 2005 it was a five-park operator hosting around 150,000 holidaymakers a year, sold to Phoenix Equity Partners for £33 million after the management buyout she had led six years earlier. The arc, from operator to owner to seller, is the spine of how she reads other people’s businesses. Two decades on Dragons’ Den have widened that lens. Since 2006 she has sat through several thousand pitches and put her own capital behind a long list of UK ventures, from artisan manufacturer Fox Brothers to consumer brands across food, retail and clean technology. The pattern audiences see, the questions about unit economics, founder discipline and market truth, is the same pattern she applies to her own portfolio. Her published work extends the argument into financial literacy and commercial sustainability. Common Sense Rules (Random House Business, 2009) sets out the operating principles she uses on the Den. The Little Experts series with HarperCollins takes the same plain-language approach to children: Why Money Matters was named a Financial Times Book of the Year 2023 Critics’ Choice. On The Big Green Money Show with Felicity Hannah, she presses senior corporate leaders on whether climate commitments survive contact with a profit-and-loss account. Trustee at Tusk Trust, Fellow of WWF, Ambassador to the RSPB, Marine Conservation Society and World Horse Welfare, and Compassion Visionary at CIWF: the environmental work is a working part of how she frames commercial choices. Honorary doctorates from Exeter, Staffordshire, Keele and Bath Spa recognise the same combination of operating record and public argument. Key speaking topics Entrepreneurship and scale-up leadership Investment judgement and growth strategy Building and selling a business Sustainability as a commercial discipline Brand, customer and consumer trust Resilience and decision-making in private companies Women in business and leadership Ideal for Founders, CEOs and senior operators of growth-stage and family-owned businesses Boards setting strategy on sustainability and long-term capital allocation Sales, partner and customer-facing leadership teams Annual conferences and leadership offsites for operating businesses Audience outcomes A practical view of how an experienced investor reads pitches, plans and people. Concrete reference points from twenty years of UK private investment, including her own deals. A clear-eyed framing of sustainability as a commercial choice, with named examples from major UK and global businesses. Confidence to ask harder questions of their own numbers, founders and customers. A memorable, direct keynote voice that audiences quote back inside their organisations.

Why organisations work with Dee Caffari The westabout solo circumnavigation of 2006, 178 days against prevailing winds and currents and completed by only six men in history, gives Caffari a standing in the territory of sustained solo leadership under real pressure that no training environment can replicate and no other speaker in this space can match. As skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18, she led the first mixed-gender, youth-focused international crew formed in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, delivering competitive performance and a global environmental mandate simultaneously. She has direct, tested experience of building high-performance diverse teams when the stakes are visible and the scrutiny is real. Her autobiography “Against the Flow” (Adlard Coles Nautical), published in 2007 and translated into French, Italian, and German, documents the mental framework she developed across her record-setting voyages, evidence that the leadership disciplines she draws from offshore sailing translate across cultural and organisational contexts. As Vice Chair of World Sailing’s Oceanic and Offshore Committee, and previously inaugural Chair of the World Sailing Trust and a decade-long member of the RNLI Operations Committee, she connects frontline leadership experience in extreme environments to the governance and institutional accountability that senior audiences recognise. She has spoken to executive audiences at organisations including Sky, London Business School, Aviva, Citywire, Oracle, and Barry Callebaut, with client evaluation scores consistently at 9/10 and above across independent post-event surveys. Biography highlights Only woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world westabout, against prevailing winds and currents, completing the voyage in 178 days in 2006 and setting a world record Only woman to complete solo, non-stop circumnavigations in both directions; finished 6th from 30 starters in the Vendée Globe 2008/09, known in sailing as the Everest of the seas Only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world four times; seven circumnavigations in total, most recently as co-skipper of The Famous Project, the first all-female crew to complete a non-stop circumnavigation, in January 2026 Skipper, Turn the Tide on Plastic, Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18, mixed-gender, youth-focused international crew formed in partnership with the UN Environment Programme’s Clean Seas campaign MBE, 2007 Birthday Honours, for services to sailing; Honorary Commander RNR (Royal Naval Reserve), appointed September 2011; inaugural Chair, World Sailing Trust (2018 to 2024); ten-year member of the RNLI Operations Committee; Vice Chair, Oceanic and Offshore Committee, World Sailing Autobiography “Against the Flow” (Adlard Coles Nautical, 2007), translated into French, Italian, and German; shortlisted, World Sailing Rolex World Sailor of the Year, 2006 and 2011 Biography Solo decision-making in genuinely hostile conditions, without consultation and without the option to pause, is the environment in which Dee Caffari MBE built her leadership record. She has circumnavigated the globe seven times, including four solo or co-skippered non-stop voyages. No other woman has done this. Few people in history have. The westabout circumnavigation of 2006, completed in 178 days against prevailing winds and currents, set a world record and earned her an MBE. She returned to solo racing in the Vendée Globe (2008/09), finishing 6th from 30 starters in a race the sailing world calls the Everest of the seas. That finish confirmed that the judgment and resilience she had built were not situational; they held across different modes of pressure, different time horizons, and different conditions. The team dimension of her leadership is equally tested. As skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18, she led a mixed-gender, youth-focused international crew in partnership with the UN Environment Programme. Managing competitive performance alongside a global environmental mandate, under sustained media and competitive scrutiny, required the same disciplines she had practised in isolation: clear decision-making, built trust, and accountability that did not depend on favourable conditions. In January 2026, as co-skipper of The Famous Project, she completed the first all-female non-stop circumnavigation of the globe aboard IDEC Sport. Her autobiography “Against the Flow” (Adlard Coles Nautical), translated into French, Italian, and German, captures the mental framework developed across these voyages. She served as inaugural Chair of the World Sailing Trust from 2018 to 2024 and now sits as Vice Chair of World Sailing’s Oceanic and Offshore Committee. Combined with a decade on the RNLI Operations Committee, those roles extend her experience of leadership from the individual to the institutional. She has addressed senior audiences at Sky, London Business School, Aviva, Citywire, and Barry Callebaut, drawing on experience that executive development programmes rarely put under conditions close to the real thing. Key speaking topics Leadership under extreme and sustained pressure High-performance team-building in hostile environments Resilience and mental endurance Risk assessment and decision-making under uncertainty Diversity, inclusion, and mixed-team performance Ocean sustainability and purpose-driven leadership Goal-setting and long-horizon execution Ideal for Senior leadership teams and C-suite audiences preparing for high-stakes or high-change environments CHROs and people directors focused on resilience, team accountability, and diversity in performance Boards and executive committees where sustainability, governance, and leadership credibility intersect Transformation leads and global teams navigating extended pressure or organisational uncertainty Audience outcomes A concrete framework for maintaining clarity and decision-making quality when conditions deteriorate and information is incomplete Practical understanding of how trust and accountability function in diverse, high-pressure teams – and what breaks them Perspective on the relationship between preparation, mental endurance, and sustained performance over long time horizons Insight into leading teams whose purpose extends beyond competitive performance to a broader organisational or environmental mission A personally compelling reference point for resilience that bypasses generic advice and is grounded in verifiable, extreme-condition experience

Why organisations work with Dhiraj Mukherjee He has done the thing most innovation speakers describe. Shazam was a category invention before mobile internet was mainstream, and it ended with a reported $400 million sale to Apple. A 250-company investment portfolio across AI, climate tech and frontier software gives him a working map of which emerging technologies are moving from pilot to operating substance and which are stalling. Direct line of sight into capital flows alongside Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, which is rare for a keynote speaker working on climate and AI together. Operator credibility inside large incumbents as well as start-ups, including Head of Banking Innovation at Virgin Money and senior roles at Bauer Media, Infosys and Reuters. Named to the Financial Times’ Top 50 European technology entrepreneurs, The Digital Banking Club’s Power 50 and Smith & Williamson’s Power 100, which positions him as a credible voice on UK and European innovation policy as well as commercial strategy. Biography highlights Co-founder of Shazam Entertainment, acquired by Apple in 2017 for a reported $400 million Named to the Financial Times’ Top 50 European technology entrepreneurs (2015) Elected to The Digital Banking Club’s Power 50 (2016) and Smith & Williamson’s Power 100 (2017) Angel investor in over 250 technology companies across AI, climate tech and “Tech for Good” Former Head of Banking Innovation, Virgin Money; previous roles at Bauer Media, Infosys, Reuters and Save the Children Mathematical Economics degree, Dartmouth College; MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business Biography Shazam was launched in 2000, before smartphones, before app stores, before mobile data was reliable enough to stream a song. The team built a service that recognised music by sound from a feature phone over a voice call. Eighteen years later, Apple bought the company for a reported $400 million. Dhiraj Mukherjee co-founded it. That history matters because it is the practical version of what most boards are now trying to do with AI. Identify a capability that the technology curve will eventually make obvious, build it before the market is ready, survive long enough to be right. Shazam went through the dot-com crash and the 2008 financial crisis on the way to Apple, which is why his perspective on category-building is closer to operating experience than to theory. Since exiting Shazam, Mukherjee has invested in more than 250 technology companies, with a declared focus on AI, climate tech and “Tech for Good.” He has co-invested into Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate vehicle backed by Bill Gates, and into Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, which gives him an unusual vantage point on where institutional capital is actually moving across the AI and energy transition curves. His earlier career sits inside large incumbents, including Head of Banking Innovation at Virgin Money and senior roles at Bauer Media, Infosys and Reuters. The Financial Times named him to its Top 50 European technology entrepreneurs in 2015, and he holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Mathematical Economics degree from Dartmouth. Key speaking topics Emerging technology and AI strategy Innovation and category creation Climate tech and the energy transition investment case Digital transformation inside large incumbents Resilience and the long arc of building a technology company Tech for Good and impact investing The future of work in the age of AI Ideal for CEOs, CSOs and innovation leads setting AI and emerging-technology strategy Boards and investment committees pressure-testing capital allocation across AI and climate Senior leadership teams inside banks, media and consumer businesses navigating digital transformation Founder and scale-up audiences inside corporate venturing and accelerator programmes Audience outcomes A sharper read on which emerging technologies are moving from pilot to operating advantage and which are stalling A working framework, drawn from Shazam, for how categories actually get built through downturns An investor’s view of where AI and climate-tech capital is concentrating, and what that signals for corporate strategy A more honest sense of the time, capital and persistence required to compound a technology bet into commercial outcome

Why organisations work with Dominic McVey He has operated, not observed: acquired and restructured Hela Clothing in Sri Lanka in 2013 and grew its workforce to over 17,000 across Sri Lanka, Kenya and Ethiopia, supplying M&S, Tesco, John Lewis and Asda. He converts a teenage-millionaire origin story into serious boardroom utility: the founder instinct for spotting asymmetric opportunity, applied to corporate growth, M&A, and emerging market entry. He brings a government-grade network on Africa: MBE for services to private sector development in Africa, Namibian Honorary Consul to Wales, Coalition for Global Prosperity advisory council, Co-Chair of Global Academy Africa. He speaks credibly on ethical supply chains from the operator seat, as founder of the Fair Fashion Pact and Chairman of Computer Aid International. Biography highlights Professor of Practice, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (appointed June 2022). MBE, 2022 Platinum Jubilee Honours, for services to private sector development in Africa. Chairman and trustee of Computer Aid International, which has reached over 14.5 million people with technology access since 1997. Founder, Fair Fashion Pact; former owner and chairman of Hela Clothing, Sri Lanka. Namibian Honorary Consul to Wales; Co-Chair, Global Academy Africa; advisory council, Coalition for Global Prosperity; ambassador, HALO Trust. Keynote speaker at Davos (2020, 2024), Bloomberg’s Modern Affluence Summit (2019) and the Conservative Party Conference main stage (2018). Biography Most expansion plans into frontier markets get built around cost arbitrage and break on everything else. The operators who actually scale in Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ethiopia or Mexico spend less time on the landed-cost model and more on recruitment, training, community standing, political relationships and supplier reliability. McVey has done the second version of that work. He bought Hela Clothing in Sri Lanka in 2013, when the business had around 3,000 staff supplying UK high street retailers. Under his ownership the group expanded into Kenya and Ethiopia, grew to more than 17,000 employees, and supplied Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, M&S, John Lewis and Tesco. That track record is the spine of his credibility when he speaks to boards about emerging market growth. The earlier chapter gives him the founder register. At 13 he began importing US-made micro-scooters into the UK. By 15 he was Britain’s youngest self-made millionaire. At 18 the Queen named him a “Pioneer for Britain in Entrepreneurism”. That arc is not a keynote hook; it is why buyers trust him to talk about spotting mispriced opportunity. The third layer is policy and philanthropy. He was awarded an MBE in the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Honours for services to private sector development in Africa, sits on the Coalition for Global Prosperity advisory council, serves as Namibian Honorary Consul to Wales, and chairs Computer Aid International. He founded the Fair Fashion Pact to raise standards in African apparel supply chains. The University of Wales Trinity Saint David appointed him Professor of Practice in 2022. Key speaking topics Entrepreneurship and founder thinking Emerging market growth and private sector development in Africa Ethical supply chains and responsible sourcing Scaling manufacturing across multiple geographies Business model innovation and portfolio diversification Philanthropy, trade and sustainable foreign direct investment Ideal for Boards and executive teams planning expansion into African, South Asian or Latin American markets. CEOs and commercial leaders wrestling with supply chain ethics, ESG credibility and supplier consolidation. Founder-led businesses and family offices looking for a peer voice on portfolio strategy and emerging opportunity. Conferences on trade, development finance, manufacturing and the UK-Africa commercial relationship. Audience outcomes A clearer read on what actually determines whether emerging market operations scale, beyond the cost model. A framework for evaluating supply chain partners that treats labour standards as commercial leverage, not compliance overhead. A sharper view of Africa as an investment destination from someone with working diplomatic and trade relationships there. A founder’s perspective on how to spot and act on asymmetric opportunity inside a corporate setting.

Why organisations work with Christina Yan Zhang She co-writes the UN ITU standards her clients will eventually be measured against. Her CitiVerse evaluation framework spans 130 indicators across 14 domains, with input from more than 30 global authorities. She has converted that standards work into operational strategy for cities, including Tampere’s Metaverse Vision 2040, the first people-centred metaverse strategy adopted as a UN resource for governments. Her China innovation insight is grounded in direct operating experience, not commentary. As QS China Director from 2013 to 2020, she sat across hundreds of Chinese universities, national labs and science parks during the 13th Five-Year Plan. She holds advisory positions across the International Science Council’s Centre for Science Futures, The Economist Impact’s AI economy board, and TechUK’s Digital Twins Board, giving her unusually direct line of sight into where AI policy is heading. She was named in the 100 Global Women in AI 2025 list at Davos and chaired the jury of the 2024 Metaverse Entertainment World Awards under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Biography highlights CEO, The Metaverse Institute Vice Chair, UN ITU Metaverse Working Group on Sustainability, Accessibility and Inclusion Co-Chair, UN ITU Task Group on Pre-standardisation for the CitiVerse Author of the UN’s first approved technical report on People-Centred CitiVerse China Director, QS World University Rankings, 2013 to 2020 100 Global Women in AI 2025 (announced at Davos) Biography The rules for AI in cities, public services and immersive environments are being written right now, mostly inside the UN ITU. Christina Yan Zhang is one of the people writing them. As Co-Chair of the UN ITU Task Group on Pre-standardisation for the CitiVerse, she leads the evaluation framework that 30 plus global authorities have shaped and that hundreds of cities are expected to align to before 2030. That standards work feeds directly into operational strategy. Her team at The Metaverse Institute produced Tampere Metaverse Vision 2040, the first people-centred metaverse strategy commissioned by a city government and subsequently published by the UN as a resource for other administrations. She is also the author of the UN’s first approved technical report on People-Centred CitiVerse, which set out an 8-level entry framework for governments and operators moving into virtual environments. She arrived at this work through an unusual route. Her PhD in 2012 was on digital twin applications for the construction industry, well before the term entered mainstream board conversations. Between 2013 and 2020 she was China Director for QS World University Rankings, building the firm’s China operation from scratch and sitting close to the universities, science parks and national labs that drove the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan in research and innovation. She now advises across the International Science Council’s Centre for Science Futures, The Economist Impact’s AI economy board, and TechUK’s Digital Twins Board. The throughline is consistent: where AI, digital twins and virtual environments meet public infrastructure, she has been writing the standards before most boards have read them. Key speaking topics AI governance and the UN CitiVerse standards Digital twins for cities and critical infrastructure Responsible deployment of virtual environments People-centred AI strategy for governments and operators China’s innovation system and research capacity Future of work in AI-enabled cities Ideal for Boards and C-suites setting AI, digital and immersive technology strategy Government and city leadership teams designing smart city or CitiVerse roadmaps Heads of innovation, digital and infrastructure inside regulated industries Investors and operators positioning capital around AI-powered urban and built-environment plays Audience outcomes A working map of where UN ITU standards on AI and the CitiVerse are heading, and what that means for their own roadmap A clearer view of how digital twins move from technical pilot to citywide operating system Direct insight into China’s innovation engine from someone who operated inside it for seven years A framework for testing whether their current AI and virtual-environment plans will hold up against emerging international standards

Why organisations work with Tim Gregory He works inside the industry he speaks about. Day to day, he measures the chemistry and radioactivity of nuclear materials at Sellafield, which gives his policy arguments a footing most energy commentators do not have. His book Going Nuclear, published by Bodley Head and Pegasus in 2025, is a structured commercial case for atomic energy in the transition, not a general science book. Audiences leave with the argument, not impressions of it. He translates technical content for non-technical rooms. A decade of BBC science broadcasting, including The Sky at Night and BBC Breakfast, has trained him to take a board-level audience through reactor design, waste, and medical isotopes without losing them. He covers the adjacent commercial opportunities, not only generation: nuclear medicine, isotope supply chains, and nuclear power for space missions. This matters to boards in pharma, advanced manufacturing and aerospace, not just utilities. He is one of the few public-facing voices on nuclear who is a working scientist rather than a former regulator or executive, which gives him independence on contested questions about waste, safety and cost. Biography highlights Senior nuclear chemist at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield. Author of Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World (Bodley Head/Pegasus, 2025). Author of Meteorite: How Stones from Outer Space Made Our World (John Murray, 2020). PhD in cosmochemistry, University of Bristol; MEarthSci First Class, University of Manchester. BBC science presenter and contributor: The Sky at Night, BBC Bitesize, BBC Breakfast, Channel 4 News, Sky News Australia. Final three on BBC2’s Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?, the astronaut selection series with Chris Hadfield. NASA Johnson Space Center intern, working on water-rich asteroids. Biography The UK plans to meet net zero with a grid that does not yet exist. Wind and solar capacity is rising, but firm low-carbon power is not. Gregory works at Sellafield, where the operational reality of nuclear, its fuel cycle, its waste, its economics, is closer than it is for most commentators on energy policy. Going Nuclear, published in 2025 by Bodley Head in the UK and Pegasus in the US, sets out his argument in detail. It is not a defence of the existing nuclear estate. It is a case that atomic energy is the most environmentally responsible way to generate firm power, and that the wider applications of the atom, in medicine, forensics, agriculture and space, are systematically underweighted in public debate. His credibility on the subject is anchored in primary research. He holds a PhD in cosmochemistry from the University of Bristol, completed a NASA internship at Johnson Space Center on water-rich asteroids, and wrote Meteorite (John Murray, 2020) about how the chemistry of meteorites maps the formation of the Solar System. That training in isotope chemistry is the same toolkit he applies at Sellafield. He is also a working broadcaster. BBC Sky at Night, BBC Breakfast, BBC Bitesize and Channel 4 News have used him as a science contributor, and he reached the final three on BBC2’s Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? under Chris Hadfield. For boards working through the gap between net zero policy and capital allocation, he is rare in being both a practitioner and a public communicator on the same subject. Key speaking topics Nuclear power and net zero Energy transition and capital allocation Nuclear waste, recycling and advanced reactors Nuclear medicine and isotope-based cancer treatment Nuclear power for space exploration Cosmochemistry and the formation of the Solar System Curiosity-driven research and commercial innovation Ideal for Boards and executive teams in energy, utilities and infrastructure setting decarbonisation strategy. Investor and capital allocation audiences weighing nuclear exposure against renewables and gas. Pharmaceutical, advanced manufacturing and aerospace leadership teams interested in isotopes, nuclear medicine and space-grade power. Policy, regulatory and public-affairs audiences working on the UK and EU energy transition. Audience outcomes A clearer view of where nuclear fits in a credible net zero pathway, and where the renewables-only argument runs out of road. Working knowledge of the economics and physics of waste, including why “waste” is increasingly a misnomer for current fuel cycles. A grounded read on nuclear medicine and isotope supply, and what it implies for pharma and healthcare strategy. A frame for thinking about nuclear-powered space missions and lunar or Martian infrastructure. The ability to push back, with data, on the most common public objections to nuclear power.

Why organisations work with Edie Lush She has conducted thousands of interviews at Davos, the UN General Assembly and COP summits, so she can run a senior panel at the level buyers actually book her for. Her coaching is built from journalistic craft: structuring a story for a listener, handling a difficult question, holding a point under pressure. Leaders leave with technique, not affirmation. She co-wrote How To Speak With Confidence in Public with Charlotte McDougall, published by Pan Macmillan’s Bluebird imprint in 2016, giving clients a named body of work to draw on. Her Global GoalsCast work, recognised with the 2018 Media for Social Impact Leadership Council Award at the UN, gives her credibility to moderate sustainability, climate and SDG conversations without needing a briefing to sound informed. She reads a room and a panel in real time, keeping senior speakers on the agenda rather than letting a programme drift into set pieces. Biography highlights Executive Editor, Hub Culture, covering Davos, the UN General Assembly and COP climate summits. Co-host and co-creator of Global GoalsCast, distributed by CBS News Digital. 2018 Media for Social Impact Leadership Council Award, presented at the United Nations. Co-author, How To Speak With Confidence in Public, Pan Macmillan (Bluebird), 2016. Former Economics and Political Correspondent, Bloomberg Television; columnist, The Week; Associate Editor, Spectator Business. Chair, British American Project; board member, Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers. BA Political Science, UCLA; MA International Relations, Yale University. Has interviewed and moderated senior figures including George Osborne, Christiana Figueres and Muhammad Yunus, at platforms from Davos to the Future Investment Initiative and India Global Forum. Biography Most senior leaders can brief a board, but freeze when the format changes. Put the same person on a live panel, a podcast, a camera at Davos or a climate summit platform, and the craft that got them into the room stops helping them. Journalists notice this quickly, because they sit on the other side of it all day. Edie Lush has sat on that side for a long time. At Bloomberg Television she covered economics and politics. She went on to write a column at The Week and serve as Associate Editor of Spectator Business. She is now Executive Editor of Hub Culture, where she produces interview content from Davos, the UN General Assembly and the COP climate summits. The common thread is interviewing serious people under time pressure and making the result land for a general audience. That interviewer’s discipline is what clients hire her coaching practice to transfer. How To Speak With Confidence in Public, co-written with Charlotte McDougall and published by Pan Macmillan’s Bluebird imprint in 2016, sets out the method: structure a story for a listener, manage the energy in a room, hold a point under challenge. She applies the same toolkit on stage, most recently chairing sessions at Davos 2026 with figures including George Osborne and Professor Douglas McCauley, and as co-host of Global GoalsCast, the CBS News Digital podcast that earned her the 2018 Media for Social Impact Leadership Council Award at the UN. The work now reaches two audiences. One is organisers of serious events who need a chair who can keep a sustainability, policy or tech conversation on the agenda rather than letting it wander. The other is executives and founders who have to carry their company’s voice in public and know they are a draft short of doing it well. Key speaking topics Executive communication and public speaking Moderation and panel craft for senior audiences Sustainable Development Goals and climate communication Storytelling for leaders and founders On-camera and podcast presence for executives Women in leadership and public platforms Ideal for CEOs, founders and C-suite leaders preparing for investor days, town halls, earnings calls and keynote moments. Heads of Communications and Corporate Affairs briefing spokespeople for stage, camera and podcast. Organisers of senior conferences, summits and board offsites who need a chair who can hold a room of principals. Sustainability, health and policy leads running SDG, climate, global-health or development events in front of mixed government and corporate audiences. Audience outcomes A clearer method for structuring a talk or panel answer so the point lands on first hearing. Practical techniques for managing nerves, energy and presence on stage and on camera. A sharper read on how journalists and moderators hear executive messaging, and how to adjust. For events she chairs: a programme that stays on agenda, with senior speakers pushed past their prepared lines.

Why organisations work with Dr Elsa Sotiriadis She speaks about digital biology from inside the field, with a working PhD in synthetic biology from Imperial College London and the University of Hong Kong, not as a commentator translating other people’s research. Her early-stage VC years at SOSV, where she helped build 25 deep tech and biotech start-ups, give her a founder-level view of which frontier-science claims hold up when money and product cycles are attached. She frames biotech alongside AI, computation and materials, which matches how corporate strategy teams actually have to evaluate these shifts rather than through isolated technology silos. Her science-fiction work, including the Writers of the Future honourable-mention novella Replicon, gives her a distinct capability for painting concrete, specific future scenarios rather than generic trend talks. She is comfortable with board-level audiences and Fortune 500 innovation teams, and has advised on innovation strategy across sustainability, energy and digital biology. Biography highlights International PhD in synthetic biology, Imperial College London and the University of Hong Kong. Master of Research in Synthetic and Systems Biology, Imperial College London. Former early-stage venture capitalist at SOSV, where she helped build 25 deep tech start-ups. PhD research on programmable DNA aptamers as anti-cancer agents, recognised with awards including from MIT and the Swiss Academy of Sciences. Contributor to Singularity Hub; featured by Silicon Republic among 15 women to follow in biotech. Science-fiction author (pen name Elsa Solaris / EA Solaris); debut novella Replicon received an honourable mention at the Writers of the Future competition. TEDx speaker on digital biology at TEDx University of Nicosia. Biography Digital biology is quietly turning life itself into a design space. DNA can now be read, written and programmed; cells can be engineered to produce materials, medicines and food; and computation is folding biology into a development stack that looks increasingly like software. For most boards, this is still an unfamiliar language. Dr Elsa Sotiriadis works at the centre of that language. Her international PhD in synthetic biology, taken jointly at Imperial College London and the University of Hong Kong, focused on programmable DNA aptamers as anti-cancer agents, a line of research recognised by MIT and the Swiss Academy of Sciences. She then moved from the lab into venture capital at SOSV, one of the most active early-stage deep tech investors, where she helped build 25 start-ups across biotech and frontier science. That combination shapes how she speaks. She is not a generalist trend-spotter. She can read a scientific claim, weigh it against a business model, and tell a corporate audience what is worth taking seriously in the next five to ten years. She has advised governments and Fortune 500 companies on innovation strategy across sustainability, energy and digital biology, and reaches wider audiences through Singularity Hub, TEDx and her science fiction, written under the pen name Elsa Solaris. Her debut novella Replicon received an honourable mention at the Writers of the Future competition. Senior teams bring her in when the questions get specific. Where is synthetic biology likely to hit our supply chain. What does it mean for our R and D portfolio when biology starts to behave like software. Which parts of the convergence story between AI, biotech and materials should our strategy actually plan for. Key speaking topics Digital biology and synthetic biology Frontier and deep technology convergence Biotech and healthcare innovation Climate, materials and industrial biotech Strategic foresight and long-range scenario thinking Deep tech venture building and start-up ecosystems Ideal for Board and executive strategy sessions evaluating exposure to biotech and frontier-science shifts. R and D, innovation and venture leaders in pharma, materials, food, chemicals and energy. Chief Strategy Officers and Chief Scientific Officers shaping long-range technology bets. Corporate foresight and futures teams working on scenarios beyond the next planning cycle. Audience outcomes A working mental model of what “digital biology” actually means and where it is already commercial. A clearer view of which biotech, AI and deep tech claims are credible versus speculative on current evidence. Specific examples of deep tech start-ups reshaping health, materials, food and energy. Concrete scenarios of how biology-as-technology could reshape their own sector in the next decade. A sharper question set to take back into their own strategy and R and D conversations.

Why organisations work with Emma Louise A working BBC presenter on Newsround and Radio 1, not a former broadcaster trading on past credits. The on-camera and on-mic discipline is current. Hosting range that crosses formats few presenters cover credibly: literary (#Merky Festival), industry (Series Mania Forum main auditorium, Radio Academy Festival), arts (Arts Council Awards) and corporate stages. Editorial production background at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She can shape a run of show and rewrite a script under pressure, not only read what is in front of her. Comfortable with technical and policy content for non-specialist audiences, evidenced by presenting work on AI literacy for BBC Bitesize and climate and ocean science films for WWF, The Eden Project and the National Oceanography Centre. Brand-side hosting and content credibility with Samsung, HSBC, Nokia, KFC and Save the Children, which translates into a host who understands the commercial brief, not only the editorial one. Biography highlights Presenter, BBC CBBC Newsround Presenter, BBC Radio 1, including a four-series run of “Radio 1 Relax in Love” and regular cover on the Early Breakfast show Weekend presenter, Fun Kids Radio Radio Academy 30 Under 30 alumna Host credits include #Merky Festival, Series Mania Forum main auditorium, Arts Council Awards, and Radio Academy Festival Branded content and on-camera work for Samsung, HSBC, Nokia, KFC, Save the Children and WWF; BBC Bitesize Guide to AI; long-form environmental films for WWF, The Eden Project and the National Oceanography Centre Biography A live event lives or dies in the hands of its host. Emma Louise is a working BBC presenter, not a hired voice, and she runs a stage with the editorial instinct of a journalist who has produced as much as she has presented. She is on screen as a presenter on CBBC Newsround, broadcasting live from the BBC’s Salford studio and reporting across the UK. On Radio 1 she has fronted “Radio 1 Relax in Love” for four series and covers the Early Breakfast show on rotation. Her weekends sit on Fun Kids Radio. The Radio Academy named her in its 30 Under 30 cohort, the industry’s primary signal of presenters and producers on a serious trajectory. Her hosting roster is unusually wide. She has held the main auditorium at Series Mania Forum, anchored panels at the Radio Academy Festival, hosted #Merky Festival for Stormzy’s literary platform, and fronted the Arts Council Awards. The same host moves between literary, broadcasting industry, arts and corporate stages without changing register. That portability matters when a programme needs one presenter across a varied agenda. Subject range is the second differentiator. She has presented the BBC Bitesize Guide to AI for younger audiences and long-form environmental and ocean science content for WWF, The Eden Project and the National Oceanography Centre. Branded work for Samsung, HSBC, Nokia, KFC and Save the Children gives her a working understanding of how a commercial client wants its content shaped. A buyer is hiring a host who can interview a CEO, a scientist and a creative on the same stage and make all three sound their best. Key speaking topics Live event hosting and main-stage MC Awards ceremony hosting Panel moderation and on-stage interviews Conference and summit anchoring Broadcast journalism and on-camera presenting Environment, climate and ocean science communication AI literacy and technology storytelling for non-specialist audiences Ideal for Corporate conferences and internal summits looking for a senior, BBC-credentialed host Awards ceremonies and gala dinners Industry festivals and panel programmes needing a moderator who can carry technical content CMOs, comms directors and event leads briefing for a host who handles brand-side and editorial sensitivity in the same room Audience outcomes A confidently anchored programme that lands its key messages on schedule Panel conversations that surface specific points rather than drift Technical and policy material made accessible to a mixed audience without losing precision A host who absorbs late changes to the run of show without visible cost to the audience

Why organisations work with Eunice Olumide A first-hand authority on what fast fashion looks like inside the industry, with parliamentary testimony that fed into the UK’s first inquiry on its environmental impact. A published voice on exploitation and sustainability in fashion through How To Get Into Fashion (Luath Press, 2018), drawn from a career walking for Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry and Christopher Kane. An MBE-recognised broadcaster across BBC, ITV and Sky, comfortable holding a room of senior leaders without losing the substance of the argument. A curator and gallery founder whose programme links contemporary art with social and environmental causes, useful for organisations whose brand strategy intersects with culture. A V&A Design Champion with credibility in design, production and sustainability conversations that most fashion-adjacent speakers cannot match. Biography highlights MBE, 2017 Birthday Honours, for services to broadcasting, the arts and charity. Honorary Doctor of the University, The Open University, 2024. V&A Design Champion, 2018; permanent display at the National Museum of Scotland. Author, How To Get Into Fashion (Luath Press, 2018); contributor, Loud Black Girls (2020), edited by Bernardine Evaristo. Founder, Olumide Gallery, representing artists including Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Richard Wilson, The Connor Brothers and Bradley Theodore. Acting credits include BAFTA-winning Trouble Sleeping, BAFTA-nominated Middleman, Star Wars: Rogue One, The Last Jedi and Noughts and Crosses. Biography Fashion is one of the largest polluters on the planet, and the people best placed to say so are the ones who have worked inside it. Eunice Olumide MBE walked for Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry and Christopher Kane before turning her attention to the industry’s harder questions. Her testimony at the Houses of Parliament fed into the UK’s first inquiry on the environmental impact of fast fashion. Her 2018 book How To Get Into Fashion, published by Luath Press, is the long form of that argument. It treats exploitation, sustainability and diversity not as separate brand campaigns but as connected supply chain problems. The book sits alongside her V&A Design Champion role and her work with the Centre for Social Justice as evidence that her sustainability work is operational, not aesthetic. Olumide is also a broadcaster across BBC, ITV and Sky, an MBE recipient for services to broadcasting, the arts and charity, and an honorary Doctor of the University from The Open University. She founded Olumide Gallery in 2016 and represents contemporary artists including Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Richard Wilson and The Connor Brothers, with a curatorial line that returns regularly to inclusion and environmental responsibility. For organisations, the value is the combination of access and argument. She has lived inside the commercial machinery she critiques, and she has put that critique on record in Parliament, in a published book, and through institutions including the V&A and the National Museum of Scotland. Key speaking topics Sustainability and ethics in fashion Fast fashion and supply chain accountability Diversity and inclusion in creative industries Art, culture and social impact Climate action and the consumer economy Women of colour in media and fashion Brand purpose and authentic advocacy Ideal for Boards and CSOs in fashion, retail and consumer brands working through ESG substance versus narrative. CMOs and brand leaders building sustainability and inclusion into commercial strategy, not communications. Cultural institutions, arts funders and philanthropic boards engaging with diversity in the creative sector. Conferences and leadership events seeking a credible voice on fashion, climate and social justice in one speaker. Audience outcomes A clearer view of how fast fashion actually operates, including the labour and environmental trade-offs that rarely surface in public discourse. A sharper sense of where corporate sustainability narrative diverges from supply chain reality. Practical reference points for inclusion in creative industries from someone who has worked at the top of one. Renewed confidence that ethics and commercial strategy can be argued together rather than traded off.