Lise Kingo is the CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative with more than 13,500 signatories from 170 countries that have committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and taking actions that advance societal goals. Prior to joining the UN Global Compact in 2015, Ms. Kingo was Chief of Staff, Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Management team at Novo Nordisk A/S since 2002. She was in charge of several business areas and pioneered the first Novo Nordisk strategy on sustainability, spearheading the integration of sustainability into the heart of the business, showcasing the mutual benefits for both the company and society. Before 2002, Ms. Kingo held various positions at NovoZymes A/S and Novo A/S, including Director of Environmental Affairs and Senior Vice President of Business Support. She was responsible for a number of areas covering growth and operations such as Environmental Affairs, People Management, Communications and Branding. Furthermore Ms. Kingo was the founder and primary force behind the first sustainability strategy at NovoZymes. Until Ms. Kingo started her work with UN Global Compact, she was chair of the board at Steno Diabetes Center and has throughout her career, held a number of board positions in foundations as well as in companies, such as Grieg Star Shipping in Norway and GN Great Nordic. She was also a Professor at the Medical Faculty, Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and the Chair of the Danish Council for Corporate Social Responsibility. Ms Kingo has received several awards such as the Edinburgh Medal and the Copenhagen Business School 2018 Honorary Alumni Award. She is also a UN Gender Champion. Ms. Kingo holds a Master of Science degree in Responsibility and Business Practice from the University of Bath, United Kingdom, a Bachelors of Arts in The Science of Religions and Ancient Greek Culture from the Universities of Aarhus and Odense, Denmark as well as a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing Economics from the Copenhagen Business School. She is also certified by INSEAD’s International Directors Program in Corporate Governance.

Business experience Masters degree in Operational Research, University of Aarhus; Adjunct Professor at Copenhagen Business School. Denmark Former co-CEO of SAP AG. Chairman A. P. Moller - Maersk (DK), Chairman Siemens AG (D) Vice Chairman Allianz SE (D). Member of the Board of Trustees at World Economic Forum (CH). Based on 25 years of experience in the IT industry Jim Hagemann Snabe is focused on leadership around innovation, digitization and societal progress. As co-CEO of SAP Jim was together with Bill McDermott instrumental in driving the strategic development of SAP to double the value of the company and play a more responsible role in society. In 2013 he and co-CEO Bill McDermott were ranked #2 on Glassdoor.com’s listing of the top fifty highest rated CEOs, based on their 99 percent approval rating from employees. In his capacity as a global business leader Jim is involved in a number of activities focused on societal progress and the role of business in society. Snabe’s views on leadership is shaped by his commitment to solving societal issues and his trust in human potential. Snabe received a master’s degree in operational research from the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark. In 2016 Jim was appointed Adjunct Professor at Copenhagen Business School based on his work around digital transformation and its impact on business and society.

Boyan Slat (27 July 1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who creates technologies to solve societal problems. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, which develops advanced systems to rid world’s oceans of plastic. Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan devised a system through which, driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years. In February 2013 he dropped out of his Aerospace Engineering study at TU Delft to start The Ocean Cleanup. The first cleanup prototype was deployed in June 2016, and The Ocean Cleanup now prepares to launch the first full-scale operational system into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by mid-2018. Boyan Slat is the youngest-ever recipient of the UN’s highest environmental accolade; Champion of the Earth. In 2015, HM King Harald of Norway awarded Boyan the maritime industry's Young Entrepreneur Award. Foreign Policy included Boyan in their 2015 list of preeminent thought leaders, Forbes included him in their 30 under 30 edition in 2016. In 2017, Elsevier named him Dutchman of the Year, Reader’s Digest chose him as the European of the Year and he was given the Thor Heyerdahl Award for maritime innovation. Boyan is a member of the Thiel Fellowship. The Ocean Cleanup has been chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the Best Inventions of 2015.

Member of the Executive Board since 2007. Joined Maersk in 1981. Born in 1962. Mr Hemmingsen joined A.P. Moller - Maersk in 1981 as a shipping trainee and after having completed his shipping education, he joined Maersk Drilling's Human Resource Department. After being stationed in Hong Kong for Maersk (1992-1997) and in Singapore (1997-2000), Claus V. Hemmingsen returned to Hong Kong in 2000 where he as Managing Director had the overall responsibility for Maersk's activities in the Hong Kong SAR.In 2003, Claus V. Hemmingsen returned to the head office in Copenhagen as Senior Vice President responsible for the container activities' Global Service Delivery, including Global Shared Service Centres. He simultaneously held responsibility for APM Terminals until June 2004, before taking over responsibility for Maersk Drilling and Maersk Supply Service in 2005, for SVITZER A/S in 2008 and for Maersk Tankers in 2012. Claus V. Hemmingsen was CEO for Maersk Drilling until October 2016.

Christos Stylianidis has been European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management since 2014. On October 24th, 2014 he was appointed as the European Union's Ebola Coordinator by the European Council. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the May 2014 European elections where he served until October 31, 2014. He previously served as Government Spokesperson (2013-2014 and 1998-1999) and was member of the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus from 2006 to 2013. As a MEP, served as member of the Committee on Budgets and substitute Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He was also a member of the Delegation for relations with the USA and Substitute Member of the Delegation for relations with Israel. Stylianides was born and raised in Nicosia, and has a degree as dental surgeon from Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, Greece from 1984. He later received executive education in International Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Postgraduate seminars in political science, international relations and European Institutions followed.

Will Sarni is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innovation. He has authored numerous books and articles and presented on: the value of water, innovations in digital water technology, the circular economy, and the energy-water-food nexus. He has been a water strategy advisor to private and public-sector enterprises and NGOs for his entire career. He has worked with multinational companies across a range of industry sectors in evaluating the technical viability and market potential of innovative water technologies, market entry strategies and M&A Programs. Will is a Board Member of 10.10.10 and ASSET and Founder of WetDATA.org. He was a 2016 X-PRIZE Bold Visioneer for the Safe Drinking Water Team and is on the: Scientific Program Committee for Stockholm World Water Week; Executive Council of NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS); Editorial Board of the Journal of Water Security; and a Technical Advisor for the Climate Bonds Initiative: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate and Water Resilience. “Water scarcity and poor quality is a risk to economic development, business growth, ecosystem health and social well being.” “Accepting "business as usual" projections is not an option. We have a pretty good track record of innovating our way out of resource constraints, we now need to scale our solutions to addressing the 21st century water challenges…”

Jimmy is currently focused on his own tech-investments and on professional boardwork. He is chairing the NGO start-up UNLive and TV2 Denmark and AirHelp Inc. with non-exec roles in Telia AB and Foss A/S. Previously, Jimmy worked as EVP of AOL’s portfolio of content brands, which altogether reached a global audience of around 499 million unique visitors every month. Before that he was the CEO of The Huffington Post, where he was responsible for the establishment of editions in 15 int. markets and helped fuel its audience growth from 30 million to around 200 million unique visitors each month. Jimmy started his career as an entrepreneur and has build and sold several media/tech businesses; the latest one an online video distribution platform; goviral was sold to Aol in 2011. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Odense in Denmark with degrees in Economics and International Marketing and has an Executive MBA from London Business School.

Eva Kruse is the president and CEO of Global Fashion Agenda and Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the world’s most important event on sustainability in fashion. A pioneer in promoting sustainability in fashion, Kruse has worked ambitiously to push this agenda globally since 2007, an effort that includes creating Copenhagen Fashion Summit, which launched in 2009 alongside the UN Climate Change Conference COP15 in Copenhagen. In 2016, Kruse put forward Global Fashion Agenda, a sustainability forum that aims to take global leadership on creating a movement within fashion towards positive change and responsible innovation, for a world beyond the next season. Since graduating as a project manager from KaosPilots, an alternative business school, Kruse has worked in the worlds of fashion and media in various capacities. In 2005 Kruse co-founded the network organisation Danish Fashion Institute along with Copenhagen Fashion Week. Not only has Kruse put Danish fashion on the political agenda but also on the global fashion map with her work with sustainability and Copenhagen Fashion Week, which is now Scandinavia’s largest fashion event and was one of the first fashion weeks in the world to arrange an open programme with fashion events for the public.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the audit and professional services business, Anders Dons has extensive experience in solving complex challenges for companies,and organisations of all sizes and across markets. He has been involved in restructuring processes, acquisitions and divestments, business and digital transformation among others. Anders aspires and works towards inclusive leadership, talent development and culture engagement, combining knowledge and experience with emotional intelligence and passion for his clients, partners in the marketplace and colleagues. He takes great pride in a broad relationship with the Board of Directors, the Executive Board and the Audit Committee of the enterprises and organisations to which he works with and advices. Strengthening internal relationships and developing talents in Denmark and globally is also an important part of an inspirational worklife to him.

Thomas Hofman-Bang is CEO of the Danish Industry Foundation whose purpose is to support and enhance the competitiveness of Danish industry. Thomas Hofman-Bang heads the Foundation’s effort to support projects that generate application-oriented knowledge, new competences and innovation, benefiting industry. Every year, the Foundation aims to fund projects of up to 30 million Euros. The Foundation also develops its own strategic initiatives within areas that contribute to an overall strengthening of industry and business communities, e.g. within areas such as additive manufacturing, cyber security and blockchain. Thomas Hofman-Bang has more than 30 years’ global experience as senior executive (CEO, CFO, CoB, non-executive director, auditor and corporate advisor) in companies such as Superfos, NKT Group and most recently KPMG Denmark. Thomas Hofman-Bang has a proven track record of leading large industrial companies with global reach and has extensive experience with developing and executing ambitious growth strategies. Thomas Hofman-Bang holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration, Accounting and Auditing from Copenhagen Business School.

Meg heads up marketing across Impax and leads the London-based sales team covering UK, continental Europe and Asia. Meg also co-heads our impact investing work. She has extensive experience in sustainable investing and research, having begun her career in 2002. As head of Citi's top ranked Climate and Sustainable Investment Research team she worked with institutional and private clients across Europe on impact and responsible investment. Meg joined Impax in 2014 following a period as a consultant to private sector and not for profit clients in designing responsible investment strategies, including acting as the UK Liaison for the Global Impact Investing Network. Meg has a MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and is a non-executive director on the board of the Carbon Tracker Initiative.

Torben Huss was appointed CEO of IFU in 2018 and has been a member of IFU’s Executive Management Group since 2009. Torben Huss has extensive experience with investments in developing countries from various investment and management positions at IFU since 1993. He has played a crucial role in IFU’s development over the last years, during which IFU has succeeded in establishing several new funds in cooperation with private investors, not least the Danish SDG Investment Fund with a capital commitment of USD 760m. Torben Huss holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a PhD in Economics.

Katherine Richardson er professor i biologisk oceanografi og leder af Sustainability Science Center ved Københavns Universitet. Katherine Richardsons forskning udføres på Center for Makroøkologi, Evolution og Klima og fokuserer på biogeokemiske processer i havets overflade, og hvordan disse processer påvirkes af klimaforandringerne. Hendes forskning handler specifikt om, hvordan klimaforandringer og biodiversitet i havet påvirker det globale kulstofkredsløb. Hun er ligeledes blandt de ledende forskere i udviklingen af the Planetary Boundaries framework, der tilsigter, at identificere a safe operating space for menneskeheden i forhold til dens påvirkning af det globale miljø. Katherine var formand for Regeringens Klimakommission, der udviklede en plan for, hvordan den danske energi- og transportsektor bliver uafhængig af fossile brændsler, og hvorpå den nuværende, nationale energistrategi er baseret. Hun var ligeledes formand for den videnskabelige styregruppe for kongressen Global Challenges: Achieving Sustainability, afholdt i 2014. Katherine var ligeledes formand for styregruppen for den videnskabelige kongres Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions, afholdt i 2009, der tilstræbte en opdatering forud for FN’s klimakonference COP15. Senest er Katherine, i starten af 2017, udnævnt som medlem af det 15 mands store panel, som FN’s Generalsekretær har nedsat til at udarbejde the Global Sustainability Development Report, som skal danne grundlag for drøftelser om status for opnåelse af Verdens Bæredygtighedsmålsætninger på FN’s Generalforsamling i 2019. Derudover er hun medlem af Klimarådet i Danmark. Copenhagen Summer

Professor Flemming Besenbacher is chairman of the Carlsberg Group, the Carlsberg Foundation, the Tuborg Foundation, and Aarhus Vand A/S. Prof. Besenbacher is also deputy chairman of Innovation Fund Denmark and board member of Unisense A/S. Prof. Besenbacher is a professor of nanoscience at Aarhus University, and he was the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) from 2002-2012. In 2016, Prof. Besenbacher was appointed both chairman of the Danish government’s Advisory Board for Circular Economy, member of the Danish government’s Digital Growth Panel, and member of the Danish Ministry of Taxation’s advisory panel for succession planning in commercial foundations. Prof. Besenbacher sits on several advisory boards related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and he is chairman of the non-profit organization UNLEASH. Prof. Besenbacher is an international leading scientist within the field of nanoscience having published more than 700 scientific articles in international journals, and he is one of the most cited Danish scientists. Prof. Besenbacher is honorary doctor at 16 Chinese universities, and he has received several distinctions in Denmark and abroad for his research, for instance “The Chinese Government Highest International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award” of the People’s Republic of China. He is foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Academician) and holds the title of Commander of the Order of Dannebrog.

Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goals is always on top of my mind. My work as chairman of Denmark's Council for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goals has given me and the council members a platform to contribute to the leaps needed in social, environmental and financial sustainability in Denmark and globally. My drive for social change is a trust in people who are detached from today's labour market, such as autistic people and people with similar challenges. I became a social entrepreneur after learning that my youngest son is autistic as as such subject to be constantly misunderstood, isolated, and never have a normal working life. In 2004 I founded Specialisterne (The Specialist) as a platform, where autistic people can excel and add value to businesses in meaningful and productive jobs. In 2008 I founded Specialisterne Foundation with the goal to generate one million jobs. So far I estimate that 10000 jobs have been created in the Specialisterne network in 13 countries or by followers who have started similar concepts.

Previously: Lars Sandahl Sørensen has an international background from senior executive roles in ISS World (Group CCO), SAS Group (Grou CCO & CEO of SAS International), Visit Denmark (CEO), Confederation of Danish Industries. Recently he has also been a partner in AIMS International and advisor to European large cap Active ownership funds.

Trained as a medical doctor, Deborah Dunsire has more than 30 years of experience developing and commercializing novel therapeutics across three continents. In September 2018, Dr. Dunsire was appointed CEO of Lundbeck, a Danish pharmaceutical company with more than 70 years of expertise in neuroscience research, specialized in developing new, innovative treatments and making them available for people living with brain diseases. She is the former CEO of Xtuit Pharmaceuticals, which focused on fibrosis and cancer, and the former President and CEO of FORUM Pharmaceuticals, which focused on therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias and schizophrenia. She served as CEO and President of Millennium Pharmaceuticals for 3 years and after the sale of that company to Takeda, stayed on as a board member of the Japanese company and led the establishment of the global oncology business. Prior to joining Millennium, she spent 17 years at Novartis, with 11 of those years as head of the Novartis Oncology business in North America.

Alexander Lacik was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Pandora in Februar 2019. Alexander Lacik (54) brings international experience from growth and brand building in global consumer companies. He joins Pandora from the position as CEO of Britax Ltd., a world leader in child safety products. Prior to this, he was President of North America at RB (Reckitt Benckiser) from 2013-2017 and has held key management positions with the leading global consumer goods company since 2004. Previously, Lacik held positions in sales and marketing with Procter & Gamble from 1992 to 2004. At RB, Lacik contributed significantly to the company’s growth turnaround in a competitive global consumer business where brand distinction and brand equity are critical components. He successfully drove strategic brand positioning and above market growth in the group’s largest region with more than USD 3.5 billion in revenue and a full value chain. Lacik has lived and worked in five countries and managed businesses in regions across the world, covering manufacturing, product development, sales, marketing, and retail partnering. Lacik holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from University of Växjö, Sweden.

With overall managerial responsibility of the Angulus Brand, I work with the everyday challenge of incorporating and developing the SDG agenda into the operation of creating a modern creative and relevant shoe brand. From branding to production, and everything in between, the Angulus brand is on a journey towards pioneering sustainable production and consumption of shoes

Geoff is an entrepreneur whose experience spans sustainability consulting, tech startups, and academic research. He holds a PhD in AI, and is CEO and Co-Founder of Future-Fit Foundation, a non-profit whose free tools aim to help accelerate the transition to a flourishing future.

Marcos is the Director of the IICPSD, Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development, UNDP’s global policy center tasked with leading the organization's strategic work with the private sector and foundations globally, including defining the role of the private sector and philanthropy in the implementation of the SDGs. At the IICPSD Center, Marcos is leading a team of 25 people working on global projects such as the Business Call to Action, the SDG Philanthropy Platform, and the G20 Inclusive Business Framework. Prior to joining UNDP, Marcos was a Global Technical Advisor for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction at ChildFund International, where he has also served as Regional Development Officer for the Northeast US. Before working with ChildFund International, Marcos spent 17 years at CARE International. During his tenure at CARE International, Marcos’ assignments ranged from six years as Regional Manager for Asia and Latin America at CARE UK, to being in charge of establishing CARE’s presence in Brazil through CARE USA. In 2001, Marcos became CARE Brazil’s first National Director. From 2006 to 2008, Marcos was CARE’s Program Director in Central America, overseeing a portfolio of $25 million and 250 staff His last post at CARE was as Director for Climate Change and Special Initiatives.  His experience with CARE also includes three years as Deputy Regional Director for Latin America, focusing on resource mobilization, knowledge management and constituency building. Marcos is a lawyer by training, with a LLM in Law and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

Aric Dromi is a futurologist, the Founder of the Strategic think tank Tempus.Motu and on the advisory board of innovative groups: NTT Innovation Institute and UNLEASH. Dromi splits his time between his role at the in-house futurologist at Volvo Cars, sitting on the advisory board of NTT Innovation Institute (part of the NTT Group, ranked 65th in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the third largest telecommunications company in the world) and running his company; where he travels the world and changes the way we experience the world, the way we think about thinking and transforms the way we understand change. He is also on the Innovation Advisory Board of UNLEASH, a global innovation lab that brings together people from all over the world to transform 1,000 personal insights into hundreds of ideas, and build lasting global networks around the UN Global Goals.

Mark has served as Executive Director of C40 since December 2013, during which time the organisation has grown from 63 to 96 of world's greatest cities. Mark is proud to head a fast-growing team of 150 staff in supporting bold, collaborative mayors to demonstrate that tackling climate change will deliver economically stronger and more equitable cities. Prior to joining C40 Mark was Director at pioneering engineering and design firm, Arup, and before that was a senior adviser to the Mayor of London, in which role the London Evening Standard described him as “the intellectual force behind Ken Livingstone’s drive to make London a leading light of the battle against global warming." He reports to C40 Chairperson and Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and C40 Board President, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. He believes that work should be fun, but that there is always time for music, narrowboats, and places you can get to by bicycle.

Tania Zulu Holt is a Partner at McKinsey. She started her career in the London office and subsequently re-located to Johannesburg in 2010, to pursue her passion for the continent and help expand McKinsey's activities in health care across Africa. She leads McKinsey's healthcare activities across Africa, motivated by a personal passion for extending access to affordable and high-quality healthcare services and products. She works at the intersection between private companies, governments and social stakeholders across the whole continent, and has on-the-ground experience across over 20 countries to date. Tania is passionate about diversity in organizations–and is a co-author of McKinsey’s highly acclaimed “Women Matter Africa” report that shows that companies with a greater share of women on their boards of directors and executive committees tend to perform better financially. Prior to joining McKinsey, she worked with the Danish Ministry of Health.

Mia Wagner is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freeway group. Freeway has the full or partial ownership of +30 mainly web based companies such as Plusbog.dk, Dating.dk, Lejebolig.dk, Studienet.dk, and Roomservice.dk. She is an investor on the Danish version of “Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank” where she is the only female representative. Mia Wagner is a master of Law and has a degree in dispute resolution and is an experienced negotiator. She is the chairman of several boards and she uses her strong experience as a lawyer combined with a life-long learning in the startup environment as a leader and board member.

After successful exits of Bilbasen (Co-founder and CEO) and Benjamin Media (Investor and CEO) Jan Dal Lehrmann devoted the rest of his life to investing in startups. Jan helps them with strategy, scaling, internationalization and facing the facts fast via an active board role. Previous investments and exits include: Bilbasen, Benjamin Media, Autobutler and Bazoom. Now, Jan uses most of his time on Actimo, Mybanker, Plecto, Unwire, Repeatly leasing, Trophy Games, Spain Holiday and not least Normal A/S, which in 2017 was recognized as the fastest growing company in Denmark (Årets Gazelle) with a growth of 12,000% over the past 4 years.

An experienced tech and real estate investor and C-level executive with more than 20+ years of experience, Peter has been involved in 10+ successful exits in the Nordics as founder, investor or board member focusing on driving international growth. Known for being a relationship builder with extensive social capital, one of Peter’s key skills is mentoring new entrepreneurs to optimize strategy and growth. Peter has also been engaged in a prominent collaboration with Copenhagen Incubator, The Danish Export Council, and held a membership of an advisory board for the former Danish Prime Minister. This year, Peter became a household name in Denmark as a new ’lion’ in the hugely popular Danish TV show Løvens Hule.

Jared Heyman is the founding General Partner of Rebel Fund, a seed-stage venture capital fund powered by an elite network of top Y Combinator alumni along with a proprietary machine learning algorithm for statistically predicting startup success. He previously co-founded Pioneer Fund, a top-performing venture fund that pools capital and expertise from 170+ Y Combinator alumni to invest in YC startups, and served as General Partner through its first 40 investments. Heyman is also the Executive Chairman of CrowdMed (www.crowdmed.com), which harnesses ‘the wisdom of crowds’ to solve difficult medical cases online. The company has raised millions in capital from top-tier Silicon Valley venture funds NEA, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen-Horowitz, Greylock, SV Angel, Y Combinator and more. Jared has spent 20+ years as an Internet technology entrepreneur. He bootstrapped his first companies, the online survey firm Infosurv its spin-out, the online prediction market firm Intengo, to tens of millions in aggregate revenue before exiting operationally. He has been featured on Bloomberg TV, Fox News, USA Today, CBS News, NBC News, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Forbes, CNN Online, the Chicago Tribune, Entrepreneur magazine, TechCrunch, BusinessWeek, VentureBeat, Wired, Fast Company, NPR, MedCrunch, New Scientist magazine, and dozens more. Heyman was formerly a consultant at Bain & Company and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin with majors in Business Honors and Marketing. He is the lead inventor on multiple US patents related to prediction market technology.