Speakers

Rashmi Verma

Vice President of Employee Experience, HUGO BOSS

Rashmi Verma works as the Vice President of Employee Experience at HUGO BOSS, embodying a people-centric and collaborative working style. She joined the Company in 2021 as the first global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion leader.
Rashmi is driven by her passion to make the world more equitable and inclusive. A highly adept influencer, she inspires and steers the diversity and inclusion strategy throughout the entire organization.
Prior to HUGO BOSS, Rashmi worked in technology industry for more than 19 years across three different continents – Asia, America and Europe. She spent over 10 years working at SAP in varied roles, in which she was also driving DE&I topics.

Lee Newman

Dean, IE Business School

Lee Newman is Dean of IE Business School and a professor of Behavioral Science and Leadership at IE University in Madrid, Spain.
His work and interests center on Behavioral Fitness and Positive Leadership, and in particular, on translating and applying behavioral science to help professionals optimize their performance in the workplace. Imagine an organization in which employees at all levels can out-think and out-behave the competition, over and over again. This is a company with a behavioral advantage, and Dr. Newman’s professional mission is to help individuals and companies achieve this type of advantage.
Prior to pursuing a career in academia, Dr. Newman served as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company in Chicago and was a founder and senior manager in two technology-based startups in New York City.

Tania Holt

Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

Tania Zulu Holt is global co-leader of McKinsey’s Public & Social Sector Practice and a senior partner based in London.
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 more than 20 countries to date.
Tania is passionate about diversity in organizations–and is a co-author of McKinsey’s highly acclaimed “Women Matter Africa” how companies with a greater share of women on their boards of directors and executive committees tend to perform better financially.
Prior to joining McKinsey, Tania worked with the Danish Ministry of Health.

Ambassador Alan Leventhal

United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark

Alan Leventhal was credentialed as the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II on July 1, 2022.
Prior to appointment as Ambassador, Leventhal was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Capital Partners. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Properties Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment company that was merged with Equity Office Properties in 1997.
Leventhal is the former Chair of the Board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation where he also served on the Executive Committee. He was an Executive Committee and life member of MIT and Trustee Emeritus of Boston University where he had served as Chair from 2004 to 2008.

Olena Neznal

Managing Director, Northern Europe, Diageo

Olena Nezal is a trusted international business leader with over 25 years of global experience in consumer and B2B Fortune 100 companies including Procter & Gamble, M&M/Mars, Kimberly-Clark, and now Diageo.
With extensive experience across multiple geographies in EMEA and North America, she is known as an innovative and results focused leader with repeated success transforming businesses to deliver strong top and bottom-line growth.
Currently serving as the Managing Director for Northern Europe, she holds full responsibility for £500MM regional business. She provides the energy and leadership needed to rally the organization behind the Diageo vision to Celebrate Life Everyday Everywhere and empowers the team across the region to develop and take action to grow our brands and market share in the region.
Olena’s passion is talent development, and she believes in embracing diversity and creating an inclusive work environment everyone can reach their full potential. She is currently serving on the Board of LEAD (Leading Executives Advancing Diversity) Network, the leading force in promoting diversity and inclusion in Europe.

Paul Donovan

Chief Economist, UBS Global Wealth Management

Paul Donovan is Chief Economist of UBS Global Wealth Management. He joined UBS back in 1992 as an intern economist working in the investment bank. As Chief Economist he sits on the House View Investment Forum, and is a UBS Opinion Leader and a member of UBS Pride and the UBS Art Board. He is also a Fellow of the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute. Paul has been actively involved in the UBS Nobel Perspectives program and is a supporter of the UBS Women in Economics program.

Paul has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford university and an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London. He is also an Honorary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford and sits on their investment committee and development board. He is a member of the research advisory board of Open for Business, a commissioner on the Institute of Directors’ diversity commission, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists’ Community and Global Future Council on growth.

Ulla Essendrop

News Anchor and Moderator

Ulla Essendrop is an experienced, international moderator, and an award winning TV presenter, who anchors the news on the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a master degree in Communication & Media Science, and has nearly 20 years of experience in the TV-industry, and has appeared on live television in front of 80 million viewers around the globe. She has won awards, and interviewed state leaders, thought leaders, CEOs of international companies, celebrities and other renowned profiles throughout her career such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, football coach Sir Alex Ferguson, tennis player Serena Williams, et al.

Michael Hansen

President & CEO, Hempel

Michael Hansen was appointed Group President & Chief Executive Office of Hempel A/S in October 2022. Michael first joined Hempel in October 2022. Michael first joined Hempel in May 2017 as Group Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, before becoming Executive Vice President of Energy & Infrastructure. He previously worked for 19 years at Maersk, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, where he most recently held the position of Vice President & Global Head of Sales at Maersk Line.

Nermeen Louizi Ghoniem

Founder, Hello Ada

Voted one of the Top 20 AI talents to watch in 2023, Nermeen is a true hybrid bridging between design & technology, with thorough experiences working with AI and human-computer interaction in companies such as Microsoft, Jabra, the LEGO Group and Hello Ada.

Hello Ada is a knowledge universe tailored for parents to discover all cool initiatives for getting kids more intrigued about technology, particularly girls. Since launching their TechPlay series of events where parents and girls learn about new technologies together, they have already reached over 100 families in the Copenhagen area.

She is also the co-founder at Even Founders, which provides the infrastructure to enable the next-generation of women entrepreneurs in the Nordics to start, run and grow purpose-led companies, and for which she was nominated in Europe’s TOP 100 most influential women in the startup and venture capital space.

Clement Behrendt Kjersgaard

Journalist

Having worked for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation since 2004 Clement is one of the most well-known broadcasters in Denmark, including his 14 years anchoring the weekly flagship show “Debatten” (which he relaunched in 2010 and has hosted since). He has also anchored the daily news magazine “Deadline” along with talk shows and interview programs spanning both politics, the arts and pop culture.
He is the founder and publisher of the Danish current affairs magazine RÆSON, the history magazine ÆRA and the annual Festival of Knowledge. At the age of 35 he was awarded the Danish Publicist Prize and his shows have won three Danish Television Awards.

Fiona Cannon

Board member of the FTSE Women Leaders Review and the Mental Health at Work Leadership Council

Fiona Cannon is an experienced Chair, Board member and Senior Adviser to business. She was most recently the Group Sustainable Business Director for Lloyds Banking Group leading the development of the Group’s Purpose with responsibility for the Social Sustainability, Responsible Business and Inclusion and Diversity strategies as well as broader ESG reporting.

Fiona is currently the Chair of the charity, Surviving Economic Abuse, the only UK Charity working to raise awareness of economic abuse and is a Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

She sits on the steering group of the FTSE Women Leaders Review. the independent, business-led framework supported by the UK Government which sets recommendations to improve women’s representation on the Boards and Leadership teams of FTSE 350 companies and 50 of UK’s largest private companies.

Fiona has previously been a Non-Executive Director of the UK Government Equalities Office and Deputy Chair of the UK Equal Opportunities Commission. She is the author of The Agility Mindset published in 2017, proposing a new organisational approach to flexible working and was appointed an OBE in 2011 for services to equal opportunities.

Prakash Thangachan

Head of Group People & Procurement IT Platforms, ISS

Prakash Thangachan is a business leader with experience across multi-national corporations within diverse industries and cultures. He is Head of Group People and Procurement IT Platforms with ISS. Prior to his role in Tech, Prakash was Chief Human Resources Officer for Maersk Tankers and has held HR Leadership Roles with Maersk, GE and Nestle in Asia and Europe. He is passionate about the topics of Talent & Performance Management, Business Transformation and building an Inclusive and Engaging work culture. Prakash has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in HR.

Edmonia Baker

Leadership Consultant and PhD Fellow, CBS

Rolf Kjærgaard

Chair and Board Leader at Invest for Impact Denmark

Rolf is currently Chair and Board Leader at Invest for Impact Denmark, Strategic Advisor to VC and Growth Funds and Non-executive Advisor to Above & Beyond Group. Background as corporate leader in investing, strategy, business development and national innovation ecosystem building. Strong advocate for impact and diversity & inclusion being core to commercial strategy for value creation, now and in the future.

Tine Arentsen Willumsen

Founder and CEO at Above & Beyond Group

Tine Arentsen Willumsen is the Founder of Above & Beyond Group, the creator of The Diversity Council, as well as the mind behind The Womenomics Global DE&I Summit. The Group is also behind Above & Beyond Academy which provides world-class leadership programs, for large corporates. Tine is also the author or the business book, ‘Womenomics: Gender Diversity and the Rise of Female-Driven Growth Potential’.

Prior to establishing Above & Beyond, she had an international career abroad for 23 years with, among others, the diamond conglomerate De Beers and Bang & Olufsen where she was Marketing Director and heading 30 markets internationally.
Tine is also the Founder and Chair of Sisterhood Foundation, a charity which supports girls and women in India with scholarships, training and micro-financing.
Tine holds a Bachelor from Singapore and an MBA from ESSEC Business School in Paris.

Pamela Hutchinson OB

Global Head og Diversity & Inclusion, Bloomberg

Pamela is the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg. In this role, she leads the company’s global diversity and inclusion initiatives whilst establishing strategic direction, goals, and accountability.

Pamela is cited as one of the most visible and vocal thought leaders and advocates for diversity across the private sector. She has over 25 years of experience managing diversity across engineering, financial services, technology, and media.

Pamela has worked at firms including Barclay’s, Bechtel Ltd, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Northern Trust, where she has firmly established ethnic diversity as an imperative.

In addition to her many accolades, Pamela has been featured on the Powerlist of the 100 most influential people of African heritage in the UK since 2017. In 2020, Pamela was honoured as “Gender Equality/Diversity Professional of the Year” in Waters Technology’s Women in Technology and Data Awards. Pamela was listed in the 40 over 40 World’s Most Inspiring and also received an OBE at the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s Honours List for her services to Diversity and Inclusion in the Financial Services sector.

She serves on the Employers’ Board at The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) at Kings College London and is a Trustee at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

Margrethe Vestager

Executive Vice President, European Commission

As Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager is widely recognized for her sianificant contributions to European politics. As Executive Vice-President, she oversees the European strategy on data and approach to artificial intelligence, including its human and ethical implications. She steered the work on upgrading liability and safety rules for digital platforms, with the new Digital Services Act and the work on designing regulation to maintain gatekeeper platforms contestable with the new Digital Markets Act. Internationally, Vestager has gained prominence as the European Commissioner for Competition, a position she assumed in 2014. Notably, she is known for her dedication to keeping markets just and open ensuring choice and fair pricing for consumers

From 2011 to 2014. she served as Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior in the Danish government. She holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa

Astronaut and Former Director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in
1993. She has flown in space four times, logging nearly 1,000 hours. Her 30-year career at NASA culminated in serving as the 11th Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, from 2013 until her retirement in May 2018. Prior to her astronaut career, Dr. Ochoa was a research engineer and an inventor, with three patents for optical systems. She currently serves on several boards, continues outreach through speaking engagements and bilingual children’s books, and recently concluded a term as Chair of the National Science Board. She is honored to have seven schools named for her and has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, the Goverment Hall of Fame, and the National Academy of Engineering.