World Class Speakers, Social Business Leaders & Creative Newcomers

Ms Morshed has been the Executive Director of Yunus Centre, the global hub for social business activities of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, since its inception as the Yunus Secretariat in 2006 and its formal incorporation in 2008.

She has worked with Grameen for more than 23 years. In 1994, she joined Grameen Trust, which supports and implements poverty-focused microcredit programs in more than 45 countries, and was part of numerous high level missions to develop partnerships and create microcredit institutions around the world including project and business plan development of microcredit programs in Kosovo, China, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Turkey. 

During her tenure at Grameen Trust and Yunus Centre, she has participated and presented at high level international forums, conferences, and summits around the world on the subject of microcredit and social business, on many occasions representing Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus with whom she works very closely.

In addition to her responsbilities at Yunus Centre, she serves as the Managing Director of Grameen Healthcare Trust. Ms Morshed serves as board member of the following social businesses Grameen Healthcare Services Ltd, Grameen Creative Lab (Germany), Grameen Intel, Grameen Uniqlo and Japan Automechanic Co Ltd.  She also serves as the Board Director of Grameen Trust, Professor Muhammad Yunus Trust, Yunus Family Trust as well as Yunus Social Business, Albania. She is member of the Management Committee of Grameen Caledonian Collage of Nursing (GCCN), a joint venture nursing collegue established by Grameen Healthcare Trust and Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.

She also serves on the advisory board of MakeSense, a Paris based youth organization working for social change and as a director on the board of Yunus & Youth, a youth organization promoting social business around the world.

She graduated in Economics with a specialization in International Trade and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London. She has a diverse international education having had her schooling in Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom. Lamiya is fluent in English, Bangla, and French and has working knowledge of German.

The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG appointed Gunnar Kilian as Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG with functional responsibility for 'Human Resources and Organization' effective April, 13, 2018.

Kilian was born January 31, 1975 in Westerland/Sylt and has worked for the Volkswagen Group since 2000. He started his professional career in 1995 as an intern with a newspaper, subsequently holding various editorial posts before joining Volkswagen AG as a public relations officer in 2000.
From 2003, Kilian ran the office of a member of the German Bundestag, and returned to Volkswagen AG in 2006 as press spokesperson for the Group Works Council. He worked in the Salzburg office of the Chairman of the Volkswagen AG Supervisory Board from 2012 before returning to Wolfsburg in 2013 to take up the post of Secretary-General and General Manager of the Group Works Council.
Kilian also held Supervisory Board mandates at Wolfsburg AG, Porsche Holding Stuttgart GmbH, Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH, MAN Diesel & Turbo SE, Allianz für die Region GmbH as well as Volkswagen Vertriebsbetreuungsgesellschaft and MOIA GmbH.

Kilain has engaged in voluntary work for many years, for example as Chairman of the Volkswagen Belegschaftsstiftung (Volkswagen Employee Foundation) and also as a member of the Stiftungsrat (Board of Trustees) of the International Youth Meeting Center in Auschwitz.

Ron Garan has traveled 71,075,867 miles in 2,842 orbits of our planet during more than 178 days in space and 27 hours and 3 minutes of EVA during four spacewalks!

Ron - Explorer, Entrepreneur and Humanitarian - believes that appropriately designed and targeted social enterprise can solve many of the problems facing our world. He has been selected as the technical and scientific advisor to the Social Business movement and its founder Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

 “When we explore topics affecting society, business, the environment, and our lives through the lens of the orbital perspective, trends, patterns, and truths emerge that can shift our understanding and perception in a profoundly positive way.” – Ron Garan

 ABOUT CONSTELLATION

 At the GSBS Ron Garan will give an impulse on his project Constellation, which is dedicated to inspiring positive action in students, decision-makers and the general public with the profound perspective shift experienced in space.

 http://www.constellation.earth/

 “In 2018, our mission at Constellation is to share this profound perspective shift with students and decision-makers across the world. We have collaborated with creatives, combining art and science to develop an experience we call Earthrise, which will evoke the awe and wonder that we experienced in space.”

Leonhard Nima is the Founder of Nima Social Business Consulting, Co-Founder of N3XTCODER and former Adjunct Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Hult International Business School in San Francisco and London.

He previously worked for Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus at The Grameen Creative Lab as Head of Academia. With international corporate and consulting experience, he has worked with multinational companies and global organizations such as Accenture and Avantgarde.

He has been a speaker and moderator at international conferences such as the Global Social Business Summit in Malaysia, Mexico and Germany, the European Social Business Forum in Norway and the Netherlands, the BMW Group rad°hub in the UK, United States and Germany, One Young World in Switzerland or TEDxSocial Business in Austria. Leonhard Nima held guest lectures at the University of Mannheim, Germany and the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan, Italy.

Jean Bernou, President and Founder of Jean Bernou Consulting

Jean Bernou is the President and Founder of a consulting company that helps corporations to put responsible growth at the center of their business strategy. The profits that he generates are used to promote social responsibility and to support young social entrepreneurs.

Prior to his current position, Jean served as McCain Chief Executive Officer for Continental Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa. He was responsible for all McCain operations in this large zone. This covered 9 factories and a crew of more than 3,500 people. On top of his operational responsibility, Jean was leading “Be Good, Do Good”, the global CSR strategy for the company.

A close partner of Muhammad Yunus, Jean is an active Board member of the Paris Yunus Centre, that promotes Social business in Europe. He is also the cofounder and President of the Social Business chair of Lille’s Catholic University.

Amongst many other activities in the Corporate Social Responsibility area, Jean created already 5 social businesses all around the world and continues to be an active player in this field, putting agriculture at the center of his focus.

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I am participating to this summit to promote social business. I decided to retire from my CEO position to dedicate the rest of my life to fight poverty all around the world and to support Professor Yunus action. I use co-creation to ease and speed-up projects, building on my motto: “Unity makes strength”

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I believe one can the change the world by looking differently at our society. Everything is possible for those who really want to act to safeguard our planet and to eradicate poverty. This is what we must do to prepare a bright future for the generations to come. GSBS is a unique occasion to exchange and to co-create on these crucial topics.

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GSBS is an outstanding forum that mixes generations, nationalities, races, religions, cultures to reach the same objective: “Preparing a better world for the generations to come”. The discussions I had with participants during some previous GSBS, are at the origin of several social businesses that I have co-created with other partners.

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A “Social Business moment” to conclude:

A couple of years ago, I was in the fields in Berrechid in Morocco, discussing with very poor growers that we planned to integrate in “Moulat El Kher”, the Social Business that we were designing. A young girl got out the place she was living in, a shed made of wood, cartons and corrugated irons, in a muddy area. She was holding her young brother in her arms. She came to me, barefoot and dressed in worn clothes. She was aware of our project and she knew that we wanted to find solutions to allow the children to go to school. She told me in a rough French: “I am Houda and I am 12 years old”. We started the conversion and with an outstanding smile, after a few minutes, she said: “If I go to school, I want to become a doctor to care for poor people like us”. There was passion and love in her voice and her dream was becoming reality in her dark eyes. I suddenly had a tangible evidence of how important for her was what we were doing, And much more than for us!

I will always keep Houda’s smile in my mind. She is the reason of what I am doing today, the reason why I have drastically changed the focus of my life.

Peter Schwarzenbauer, 58, has more than 30 years of experience with premium automotive brands. He pursued a number of national and international managerial positions before returning to the BMW Group as member of the Board of Management. Today he is responsible for MINI, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad, Customer Engagement and Digital Business Innovation BMW Group. Schwarzenbauer relishes the challenge of his area of responsibility which also includes a vivid exchange with young entrepreneurs engaged in meaningful business ideas.

“Supporting entrepreneurs to implement meaningful social business ideas with my knowledge, my network and experience is more than a passion for me. Helping to make this planet great again is an affair of my heart.”

Political career:

since 1980:      Member of the Young Christian Democrats, then the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)

since 2002:      Member of the German Parliament (Bundestag)

Member of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, member of the Council of Elders (15th to 17th parliamentary term)

Chair of the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (Gorleben)
(17th parliamentary term)

since 2004:      Member of the CDU Federal Committee on Climate, Nature and Environmental Policies

since 2006:      Deputy State Chairwoman of the CDU in Lower Saxony

since 2007:      Chairwoman of the CDU Regional Association in Hanover

December 2013 - March 2018:    Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture

since March 2018:    Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Education and professional background:

1982:   Higher education entrance qualification (Abitur) at the Nepomucenum Rietberg grammar school

1982 - 1987:    Degree course in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine (TiHo), Hanover; scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation)

1987 - 1990:    Combined doctoral and postgraduate studies at the University of Veterinary Medicine (TiHo); scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

1990:   Conferral of PhD in Veterinary Medicine

1989 - 1997:    Research assistant at the TiHo Institute for Anatomy

1993:   Specialisation in Animal Anatomy

1993 - 1997:    Extended parental leave and part-time teaching assignment at the Dr. Blindow schools, Stadthagen

1997 - 2002:    Assistant to the Principal of the TiHo and, latterly, Head of the TiHo Press Office

Volunteer work and honorary posts:

since 2011:      Member of the Central Committee of German Catholics

since 2011:      President of the German Catholic Women's Association (KDFB)

Ruben Vardanyan, impact investor and social entrepreneur

Ruben Vardanyan is an Armenian-Russian social entrepreneur, impact investor and venture philanthropist. He serves on the advisory boards of the IFC (World Bank Group) and Fundação Dom Cabral business school in Brazil. He is also a board member at Ameriabank (a major Armenian bank), SOLLERS (Russia’s auto major) amongst a host of other companies, NGOs, public and professional organizations.

A prominent financier, Ruben is known both for his commercial projects (investment companies Troika Dialog and Vardanyan, Broitman and Partners) as well as his deep reaching philanthropic programs, such as the first UWC college in Eastern Europe (Dilijan, Armenia) and the Tatev Revival Project, part of which includes the construction of the world’s longest cableway leading to an ancient monastery. Together with their partners, Ruben and his family have invested about $500M in projects in Armenia, developing a commercial approach that relies on involving blended financing to find solutions to social problems.

They have also raised over $500M to finance the first private business school in Russia – a pioneering institution both in terms of scale and in its collaborative nature. In 2015, Ruben co-founded another global project, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. He spends a significant amount of his time on projects related to the development and professionalization of charity infrastructure in Russia (Philanthropy Infrastructure – PHILIN) and the question of succession and wealth curation (Phoenix Advisors). With support from Ruben, Troika Dialog, SKOLKOVO business school and several charitable foundations, classics of world business literature were published in Russia. Since 2016 he has chaired the judging panel of the PwC “Business Book of the Year in Russia” Award.

“Exploration is a state of mind: go beyond the obvious, enter the unknown and call certitudes into question.An adventure is not necessarily a spectacular feat but rather something «extra-ordinary» that
forces us out of our ordinary ways of thinking and behaving. Most of the time, it’s not the limits that prevent us from accomplishing our dreams, but the limitations that we invent and inflict on ourselves.”

Bertrand Piccard is the initiator and visionary behind Solar Impulse, the very first airplane capable of flying perpetually without fuel. It is in his DNA to go beyond the obvious and achieve the impossible. As part of a legendary dynasty of explorers and scientists who conquered the heights and depths of our planet, he made history by accomplishing two firsts in aviation, circumnavigating the globe in a solar-powered airplane andbefore that non stop in a balloon.

The ocean depths and the stratosphere attracted his father and grandfather; the challenges of our time fascinate him. With his dual identities as medical doctor and explorer, Bertrand has become an influential voice as a forward thinking leader for progress and sustainability and a renowned inspirational speaker. Following his pioneering spirit in favor of the cause of renewable energies and clean technologies, he has now set off to select and label 1000 solutions that protect the environment in a profitable way and will then embark on a third round-the-world journey to deliver those solutions to decision-makers, encouraging them to adopt more ambitious environmental targets and energy policies.

What was your first Social Business moment?

I think it was mainly when I was travelling around. I live in the Netherlands, where everything is kind of clean and tidy. So, it’s that you realize, when you go out of that bubble that there are many places around which are much rougher. Then you see that there is still a lot to change.

I think at that moment I got more interested in helping that out instead of providing a new chair or something super smooth and clean. Focusing more on making it more equal for everyone, I guess.

When you travel around you see that these problems are everywhere, it’s not just one place that randomly has a pile of trash. There are all the same piles of trash, from the same system, from the same companies. It’s a very systematic thing that is wrong, and which is interesting because then we can probably solve it in a systematic way.

Did you directly have the idea of Precious Plastic or did it come to you over time?

The plan was not in my head as such and even now the project always evolves a bit. We don’t have this one product or machine we want to make but we always just look at the problem at a time and then see what is needed to change to make it better. What would be a logical next step? So, sometimes it’s about making machines, sometimes about making a website, sometimes creating awareness. I think it’s very much the approach of looking into the real world and then see what is there to do.

How did you get connected to the GCL’s Plastic Lab?

We are focused on giving people the tools to recycle. Since we are not everywhere but just here in the Netherlands, we were interested in not just researching but actually going out there in developing countries. So, we reached out to Grameen to see if we can set up a project in Bangladesh, because there we have people who are motivated to test it out and also because there is a very strong social group behind it. We are still figuring out the details on how to set it up. We can provide the tools and the knowledge and in Bangladesh there is the human side of the people which both are very crucial to start something like this.

Why is the GSBS important to help building a new civilization?

It seems like a super logical way forward, and also one that is not very common yet. There is still a lot to explore, a lot to learn and to figure out. There are examples out there, but they not like super big yet.

I think the moment when everyone comes together gives an impulse to everyone to learn more about it, understand it better, to get started sooner. The moment when you join forces and come together describes it good.

So this is the moment you're looking forward to the most, to connecting and generating ideas?

Not necessarily develop ideas but definitely meeting with the people. For me it’s important to talk to people, to see where their problems are and to explore their perspective. We are all working towards the same goal but we have different ways of executing it or getting there. So, I think it’s very interesting to learn from each other.

Simon is the co-founder of the CRCLR house, a Berlin based center for circular economy. Having
previously worked in banking, startups and venture capital, Simon now uses his time at CRCLR
to create things that matter.

Established in 2016 as Berlin’s first circular economy hub, CRCLR invites like-minded individuals
and institutions to meet, exchange ideas and collaborate around circular economy projects. The
CRCLR crew believes that a different way of living and working together is both necessary and
possible, circular economy principles being central to designing such a system.

At its essence, a circular economy represents a new way of looking at the relationships between
markets, customers and natural resources, and eliminates the very concept of ‘waste’ by
recognizing that everything has a value.

Social Media Links

@crclrhouse (Twitter)
crclrhouse (Facebook)
crclrhouse (Instagram)
www.crclr.org

What does Social Business mean to you?
One of our mantras at CRCLR is “Values without Action mean Nothing”. That means we see
business as a tool to implement social change. The “social” side of a business should not be a
nice-to-have project in the CSR department, but lie at the core of each company. Every
business should be a Social Business.

What is to you the best aspect about the GSBS?
A true systemic change of our civilization - including our economy - requires a fundamental shift
of how collaboration along value creation chains is defined. I really look forward to connecting!

Why should people attend the GSBS?
You cannot change civilization alone :) GSBS provides a great platform to connect and
exchange knowledge. Also, it’s always fun!

Olawale Adebiyi is the Chief Executive Officer of Wecyclers Corporation. He graduated from Kings College Secondary School Lagos, and then relocated to the United States to pursue his tertiary degrees.  Mr. Adebiyi holds an MBA from Indiana University, Kelly School of Business, and holds both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.  While pursuing his Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, he was able to work on groundbreaking research on Hydrogen Production utilizing solar energy, and co-authored several patents and publications in the renewable energy field. 

Between 2006 and 2016, Mr. Adebiyi worked for the largest steel maker in the United States, Nucor Steel.  During his time at Nucor Steel, Mr. Adebiyi worked on several projects such as a green field blast furnace construction project, where Mr. Adebiyi was selected to lead the efforts of coal supplier selection and coal blend testing for the $3 billion greenfield project.  Mr. Adebiyi also worked as the production supervisor for the company's $700 million greenfield Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) project, which is the largest of its kind in the world.  While working on the DRI project, Mr. Adebiyi was involved in every aspect, ranging from, raw material (iron ore and natural gas) acquisition, construction engineering, talent recruitment, plant commissioning, operations and maintenance.

Mr. Adebiyi joined Wecyclers in 2016 as the Chief Operating Officer, and focused on streamlining operations and installing a world class team and structure to help tool the company for rapid growth.  In September 2017, Mr Adebiyi was announced as the new Chief Executive Officer of Wecyclers, after the C.E.O. and Founder, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola joined Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency.

Dr. Kerstin Humberg is the founder and Managing Partner of Yunel, a Berlin-based company with the mission to unleash human potential and happiness for positive social change. In short, 'to make happiness work’. Yunel offers a novel approach to leadership development and life strategy for executives, social innovators, and entrepreneurs based on Positive Psychology.

Inspired by Nobel Peace Laureates Muhammad Yunus and Nelson Mandela, Kerstin believes in the transformative power of Social Entrepreneurship and Positive Psychology. The name Yunel pays tribute to Yunus and Nelson as leading examples of human potential realised against all odds. Today, Yunel comprises a team of eight like-minded professionals. In parallel, Kerstin works with the German Association for Positive Psychology as the Director for Positive and Social Business. In this role, she frequently facilitates workshops or trainings with top teams as well as panel discussions for companies, social enterprises, and non-profit organizations. Among her clients are, e.g., McKinsey & Company, YPO, EO, Ashoka, endeva, Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai Foundation, bonify, and the Africa Foresight Group. Previously, Kerstin was a business consultant with McKinsey & Company (2006-
2014).

As a Senior Engagement Manager, she developed sustainability strategies and social business solutions for public, private, and social sector clients in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Since 2011, Kerstin also serves the German Karl Kübel Foundation as a Member (now Vice Chairperson) of the foundation’s
supervisory board. Being a former journalist and business consultant, she supports the foundation’s overall strategy development and communication efforts. Kerstin is a trained journalist and certified trainer in Positive Psychology. She also holds a PhD in Human Geography from Cologne University. In the context of her field research on ‘Poverty Reduction through Social Business' in Bangladesh, she
joined Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus and companies such as Group Danone and Veolia Water in their effort to develop sustainable business solutions for the poor. Before joining McKinsey, Kerstin studied Human Geography, Political Sciences, and Psychology in Hamburg and Granada, Spain.

Her university studies were supported by various scholarship providers, including the German National Merit Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service. Kerstin also received various journalism prizes and academic awards for her research and writing – lately the KfW Bank’s Prize for Excellence in Applied Development Research and the Social Impact Award of the German-speaking association for positive psychology.

For more information, check out Yunel’s website on www.yunel.de or send Kerstin an email to humberg@yunel.de.

What does Social Business mean to you? 

Social business is part of my life since I first met Prof. Yunus in Spring 2007. Inspired by his vision, I decided to go for a PhD on "Poverty Reduction through Social Business in Bangladesh". Ever since, I have been part of the global social business movement, and I love it! Today, it’s my second family. 

What is your social business involvement? 

Inspired by Prof. Yunus, I created a mission-driven company with the objective to unleash human potential and happiness for positive social change. In short, to make happiness work. Yunel offers a novel approach to biography and business strategy for executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs. As a trainer in Positive Psychology, I also regularly facilitate leadership trainings related to social entrepreneurship and positive psychology, e.g. at EBS Business School or in the context of Ashoka’s Visionary Program. 

What is it that you most look forward to regarding the Summit?

Spending time with old and new friends from Bangladesh (including Prof. Yunus, of course) and from around the world. Getting my annual social business infusion. Being inspired. 

Dr. Roshan Miranda is a co-founder and director of Waste Ventures India, a startup providing recycling and composting services to households, waste pickers and corporates, with constant innovation in the space of logistics and waste management. Dr. Miranda obtained his Ph.D in Genetics and Developmental Biology from Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, one of the top 10 medical colleges in the United States and is an internationally recognized author on multiple research publications. Later he joined as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group where he consulted for Fortune 50 companies on strategy and management. He moved to India more than 3 years ago to co-found Waste Ventures India where he leads its strategy and operations now.

Karen has extensive expertise and experience in fund structuring, investment processes and fundraising.

Prior to YSB, she was the Chief Financial Officer at Affectis AG and an advisor to Swiss Business Angel Network B-to-V. Karen has also served for several years as an investment manager at Apax Partners and as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. She holds an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, and a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Constance.

Christina is the Director of Circular Economy at The Grameen Creative Lab and the Co-founder of Plastic Lab, an initiative to address the issue of marine litter especially plastic waste in our oceans. The Plastic Lab’s purpose is to contribute to the transformation to a more circular economy. Together with its international network the Plastic Lab tackles the problem onshore by improving waste collection and recycling systems as well as reducing and redesigning packaging. Christina lectures economics and ecology at the department of industrial and communication design at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. She is a Responsible Leader of the BMW Foundation, sits in the advisory board of several social business start-ups and founded the Circular Economy Network RheinMain.

Dr. Anita Nowak believes empathy is the most positively disruptive force on the planet – but only when it leads to Empathic Action – an idea that informs all her teaching, writing, coaching, consulting and public speaking (see PINC2015 & TEDxMontrealWomen on youtube).

Currently, she is Director of Operations for McGill’s Social Learning for Social Impact MOOC (a massive open online course led by Henry Mintzberg) and teaches Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation. In 2014, Anita was awarded Professor of the Year by the Desautels Management Undergraduate Society (MUS

In 2012-3, Anita served McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management as founding Integrating Director of the Social Economy Initiative (SEI) and was responsible for integrating social entrepreneurship and social innovation into the faculty’s teaching, research and outreach.

In 2014, she served The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation as an advisor to RECODE, an initiative to help scale social innovation at colleges and universities across Canada. And in 2015, acted as a pedagogical advisor to the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation for their Public Leadership Program.

Anita was a delegate of the Governor General’s Leadership Conference, received a Quebec Notable Awards for Education and was inducted as an honorary member into The Golden Key International Honour Society. She was an author-in-residence with the Shorefast Foundation (Fogo Island, NL) and was a Senior Fellow with The Jeanne Sauvé Foundation from 2012-2014. Anita currently serves the Board of Directors of the Breakfast Clubs of Canada and the Learning & Events Committee of WIFI (Women Investing for Impact).

Anita is writing her first book The Empaths Strike Back.

Fionn Dobbin, Creative Director and Partner at Age5

Fionn Dobbin is a partner and creative director at the design consultancy Age5 and the Social Business production company MAMMU.

As an innovation designer and creative consultant he has worked for more than 30 brands such as Fortune and more than 100 companies like General Motors, BASF and ADIDAS. Since more than 8 years he is involved in the field of Social Business. He established an accelerator in the Baltics and developed Social Business events and workshops for the Grameen Creative Lab and Yunus Social Business.

Fionn frequently teaches creative confidence and Social Business at several leading business schools around the globe.

His design agency Age5 applies transformation design processes to create impactful change within individuals, systems and organizations.

Christophe DIVI is the Director of the Impact 2024 Platform. Impact 2024 is a platform driven in cooperation between Yunus Centre, Yunus Sports Hub and Les Canaux (the house of solidarity-driven and innovative economy in Paris). Impact 2024 aims at informing and mobilizing the social business sector, so that they benefit as much as possible from the economic opportunities linked with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Christophe is 34 years old. Native from Reunion Island, he studied Political Science in Toulouse and Paris. He worked for seven years in a consulting firm specializing in public policy, in the areas of employment, training and economic development.

For the past 4 years, he has been Deputy Director General at the "Paris Local Mission", which is the associative operator of the City of Paris for social and professional integration of young people facing difficulties (205 employees, 15 M € budget, 20,000 young people accompanied each year). He has developed expertise in social innovation in the fields of youth and employment.

Lisa Guggenmos leads the MAN Impact Accelerator, a six-month mentoring program run by MAN Truck & Bus and dedicated to social businesses in the transport and logistics ecosystem. At MAN Lisa is responsible for the development of a sustainable digitalization ecosystem and strategy to support the company in developing disruptive innovation. Before taking over her corporate function as Senior Digital Strategy Expert Lisa was Director Consultancy at RCKT, Rocket Internet's digital consultancy in Berlin. At RCKT she formed and lead the central Digital Consultancy and Strategy unit, working with both established economic players, startups and the German government. During her time at RCKT she established the Digital Hub Initiative, Germany's leading digitalization initiative formed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Lisa holds a Masters degree in Media and Political Communication as well as a Journalism Diploma in European Politics, after several years of working in digital journalism and digital marketing in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Neha is a communications professional who has traversed the wide spectrum of mass media from journalism to public relations, advertising and marketing.

"A flaneur at heart, I am a keen observer of culture and people around me and get a high putting these observations at play to unravel and tell beautiful truths waiting to be told!

A curator of all things extraordinary, I love to create extraordinary and unique brand experiences which leave a lasting impression and enable building enduring brand connections!"

Md. Ashraful Hassan has been working with Grameen Group since 1984. He currently serves as Managing Director of Grameen Telecom and is engaged in promoting and providing easy access to GSM cellular services in rural Bangladesh. He also serves as Managing Director of Grameen Distribution Ltd, and Grameen Shamogree. Out of those Grameen Distribution Ltd. is a large Social Business Company.  He has a profound knowledge in sales channels and product sourcing. He keeps his own signature tune in Grameen Distribution with a broad experience in the concept of business development and supply chain management. He gained extensive and diversified knowledge in various industrial sectors especially in the field of textile focusing on resource efficient and energy saving production having wide exposures in the industrial management, export market, labor management and so on. Mr. Ashraf also acquired wide range of experience for different kinds of project development and industrial setup specially in social business. He has an extensive knowledge in the field of construction engineering and he extended notable contribution to the infrastructural development of Grameen Group. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several enterprises that play commendable role in the fields of renewable energy, health care, food & nutrition, information and communication technology, employment generation and so forth. He holds Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.

In her varied professional career Ms. Mahmud has been working and passionate with social innovations, entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment and sustainable development.

Detlef Dumon is Executive Director of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) since 2007. Detlef facilitates contact between academic experts and their findings in various sport science disciplines and areas such as physical activity, sport and development, and physical education, with policy makers in governments, public administration and organised sports.

Long standing collaborations and partnerships have led to trustful relations with leading ministerial officials in several countries and expert organisations within the UN system. In close cooperation with respective stakeholders, Detlef Dumon has been engaged with several global and national policy development, moderation and rapprochement initiatives between ministries, as well as between governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Detlef Dumon holds a Master degree in linguistics and journalism, has worked for several communications agencies and has extensive knowledge and experience in working in intercultural settings and across professional disciplines and organisational structures.

Graduated from a French business school, Mr. Laurent Dupont started his career in 1999 in the automotive industry and then joined Havas Sports & Entertainment in 2002 in order to develop media and influence with the largest international sports announcers.

After 11 years as Director of the Amplification pole of the Group, he joined the Peace and Sport team based in Monaco in June 2013 to develop partnerships and to coordinate the international communication of this Organization placed under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and chaired by Joël Bouzou.

He became Managing Director of the Organization on February 1, 2014.

April Tam Smith is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley on the Equity Derivatives team in Sales & Trading, based in New York, Board Chair of ShareHope in Haiti and serves on the Board for movement.org and Generosity NY. Her focus area is volatility products and light exotic products. April has been with the Firm  for the last 13 years. In her life outside of the office, April spends time in Haiti and South Africa serving at orphanages and social businesses. She also works locally with the vulnerable in New York City including victims of trafficking and those previously incarcerated. April’s  goal is to connect her two lives to organically create a ripple effect allowing more people to be involved in creating jobs for the poor. She strongly believes in giving people a hand up over a hand out and has experienced the joy of seeing those benefiting from meaningful work. This led her to opening P.S. Kitchen near the 1585 Broadway headquarters.  P.S. Kitchen is a social enterprise that uses 100 percent of its net profit to fund justice work while hiring those in need of a second chance and the recipient of the 2018 Social Enterprise Leadership award from Columbia’s Tamer Center.  April received her bachelor’s in Engineering at MIT and her MBA at Columbia Business School and resides in Central Harlem in NYC with her husband Graham.

Hendrik Heuermann is a Sustainability Manager for H&M in Germany. The proud father of one tried to be a music teacher and a journalist before that. He is now committed to making H&M presence in Germany a meaningful one.

Corinne Bazina is the General Manager of Danone Communities since April 2014. Danone Communities brings together men and women, as well as financial resources, to help social entrepreneurs develop sustainable businesses that address challenges such as malnutrition, access to water, and overall poverty reduction. Currently, Danone Communities supports 10 social businesses across 14 countries.

Corinne joined Danone in 1995, after management studies and a postgraduate degree of economic demography. She held marketing and sales positions in various divisions of the group before taking the marketing direction of Dairy in Greece, in 2005.

Prior to Danone Communities, Corinne was based in Bangladesh, and spent four years as General Manager of Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., Danone Communities’ founding social business. Established in 2006, Grameen Danone addresses malnutrition issues and contributes to poverty reduction through the production and distribution of micro-nutrients fortified affordable yoghurts, thus also providing income generation for local communities.

Yoan is the Co-founder and Director of the Yunus Sports Hub, the organization powered by Yunus Centre and the Grameen Creative Lab, which uses sport and social business to solve people’s problem.

Yoan also supports the social business movement with the Grameen Creative Lab and the Centre Yunus Paris.

Formerly Procurement Manager for Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games, Yoan led the team in charge of tendering over 200 contracts for the Games organization.

Yoan was born in 1986, grew up in the south of France, speaks fluently 4 languages and played rugby at professional level.

Dr. Sebastian Brandis has been the Director of the Menschen für Menschen Foundation since December 2016. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Sebastian Brandis was Managing Director of e-shelter facility services GmbH (Frankfurt / Main) from 2010 to 2016, which develops and operates data centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Previously, from 2001 to 2010, he held several executive positions at British Telecommunications Group Germany (BT Germany and BT Global Services); from 2008 as Managing Director of BT Germany (Munich). Other stations were VIAG Interkom (1998 to 2001) and Booz Allen & Hamilton (1995-1998). In 2016 he worked as a private investor and founder of social and cultural initiatives in Munich.
Dr. Brandis is within the foundation u.a. responsible for administration, finance and communication.

Arunima Singh, currently leads the MAN Impact Accelerator - a unique multi location travelling Accelerator co-created by MAN Truck & Bus and Yunus Social Business to combine the expertise of both organisations. The program supports early revenue stage social businesses in the vertical transport, logistics and mobility. 

At Yunus Social Business, Arunima is the Head of Impact Accelerators, co-creating programs that support and scale social businesses. Apart for impact accelerators, she also works actively in helping corporates develop sustainable social business initiatives within their corporate strategy, in Germany and globally. Arunima has a diverse experience working for impact investment funds, consulting, social businesses and creating startups enabling ecosystems in Chile, India, Spain, France, South Africa and Western Balkan region. 

With an active interest in scalable social business initiatives, Arunima is eager to connect the dots which could help impactful businesses scale. She can be reached at arunima.singh@yunussb.com

Current interests: Plastic waste management, last mile logistics, innovation in healthcare.

Nationality

Italian and German

Education

Master’s Degree (Politecnico of Milan) and PhD (Universität Stuttgart) in Mechanical Engineering

Experience

I have consolidated experience in executive roles for international corporations of the Automotive, Energy and Plastic Manufacturing sectors, with the purpose of driving innovation.

I have covered strategic positions in technical areas, such as Research and Development, Procurement and Project Management.

For the Serioplast Group I have been in charge of the start-up of industrial operations abroad and I am currently Managing Director for a number of companies within the Group. I am responsible for external and internal communication and act as official spokesman for the Group.

What is your social business involvement?

Plastic waste is an issue we aim to solve in a way which is transparent and fair, through active involvement and work on the field. Our idea of social business is to address the global environmental problem in all the Countries where we operate and moreover, in the emerging Countries, to turn it into an opportunity to solve the social problem of marginalized communities of plastic pickers.

What is your commitment to social business for the future?

As plastic converters, we acknowledge our responsibility towards the natural environment and we are actively working to reduce our impact. We have acquired an industrial recycling plant in Italy and we have chosen to run it as a social business, the first of its kind. For the future we are planning to scale and expand this activity at global level. In emerging Countries we are building partnerships with enterprises on the field and introducing innovative solutions to involve communities of waste pickers as key players in a new circular economy.

Why is the GSBS important to help building a new civilization?

This Summit is a unique chance to network, get inspired, exchange ideas and experiences among like-minded people at different levels of influence and involvement. By bringing efforts together we wish to raise awareness towards the environmental and social problem of plastic waste and be a bridge to create a diversified supply chain.

Marie Soubeiran started her career at Danone in 2007 in India, in brand marketing. In 2008 she started to be involved with Grameen Danone in Bangladesh, going on various operational marketing missions to support Shokti ladies program, rural schools program, new product launches and media strategy.

In 2013 she went back to France and worked in the Danone Sensory and Consumer behavior department, supporting innovation projects for Danone Dairy division.

In 2018 she joined Danone Communities again, as the communication and employee engagement manager. Danone Communities brings together men and women, as well as financial resources, to help social entrepreneurs develop sustainable businesses that address challenges such as malnutrition, access to water, and overall poverty reduction. Currently, Danone Communities supports 10 social businesses across 14 countries.

Within the team, Marie’s role is to increase awareness about Danone Communities, the social businesses we support, and their actions. It’s also to engage the Danone employees to put their skills and expertise to good use for the 10 social businesses that Danone Communities supports.

Luisa advises and supports organisations across all sectors in developing and implementing strategies and cooperations for impact driven civic engagement at PHINEO – an independent social impact analysis and consulting firm aiming to strengthen civil society in Germany. PHINEO is a non-profit corporation whose shareholders and partners – a broad alliance of business and civil society organisations – jointly promote innovation in the non-profit and social business sector.

Luisa is also the founder of SINGA Deutschland, a social business dedicated to reimagining integration and fostering social cohesion. Next to her position with PHINEO, she currently pursues a PhD at the department of International Business at WU Vienna, focusing on inclusive entrepreneurship. Prior to this, she worked at UNHCR on displaced persons’ access to decent labour and self-employment and at the European Forum for Migration Studies on integration policies and diversity management. She is a Responsible Leader of the BMW Foundation and a Mercator Fellow on International Affairs.

MBA University of Cape Town (UCT) BA Honours (Economics) Rhodes University BA (Psychology & Economics) Rhodes University

Nonkqubela has more than 20 years’ experience as a Senior Executive in both the Public and Private sector. She is currently Director Corporate & Government Affairs at Volkswagen South Africa where she is responsible for Government & Stakeholder Relations, Transformation & Corporate Social Responsibility.

She has held the position of Director: Corporate & Government Affairs at VWSA since September 2006 where she also chairs the VW Community Trust and VWSA BEE Initiatives Trust. Prior to that, Nonkqubela was a Senior Executive at Metallon Corporation, a Pan-African Mining & Financial Services company with operations in South Africa & Zimbabwe. 

Nonkqubela also served as a Chief Director at the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and has strong experience in the Financial Services Sector working for global concerns such as Citibank and Warburg Dillon Read.

I studied biology and psychology and love to work with monkeys and apes.

I have almost 30 years of experience as a leader in a large international FMCG company.

Especially as Senior Vice President HR & Organizational Development and Managing Director of subsidiaries.

Most of my experience lies in the planning and management of change and integration  processes after acquisitions as well as in the development of people and organizations.

I love to travel and to meet and to be inspired by people and I am always curios to learn from others (people, animals, etc.).

I speak German, English, Mountain Gorilla and Marmoset Monkey.

But focus for the GSBS is my social engagement with GoSmile Uganda in Uganda.

SB means for me the most natural and appreciative way to develop, support and empower people, communities and areas.

It offers perspectives and a future in the most sustainable way.

Another important aspect is that the money arrives and stays there where it should be.

Social Business gives people, and above all women self-confidence and independence.

Felix Spowage is a 27 year old skateboarder from South East England. Felix began volunteering with homelessness and environmental organizations at the age of 18, in a variety of capacities including fundraising. After graduating from university with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Journalism, Felix worked as a support worker for homeless people with drug and alcohol addictions. Felix is now the Development Manager for Skateistan, a non-profit organization empowering children through skateboarding and education in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa.

Pierre Gurdjian is Philanthropy Partner with the RVVZ Foundation. The Foundation develops and implements highly innovative models for country development with significant pilot applications in Armenia. In addition, he is an expert in executive leadership and change management.

He is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), one of Belgium’s largest universities, Vice President of the Board of Directors at UCB (a listed Belgian biopharmaceutical company), member of the Board of Directors at Lhoist (a Belgian industrial company, world leader in limestone production) and member of the Board of Directors at Ameria Bank (the largest bank in Armenia).

Pierre was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company for 27 years, including 7 years as Managing Partner of the Belgian-Luxemburg office and international responsibility for McKinsey’s Human Capital practice in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Pierre is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and past President of YouthStart Belgium and Harvard Club of Belgium. He has also been involved in numerous leadership forums, with an emphasize on building leadership with wisdom. Pierre also teaches a graduate course on ‘The CEO Perspective’ at the Solvay Business School of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Moreover, Pierre helped develop the ‘Armenia 2020’ Think Tank and is involved in numerous humanitarian and entrepreneurial initiatives in Europe and Armenia.

Pierre holds a degree in Commercial Engineering from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Laura-Maria Tiidla is a Judo Athlete from Estonia and one of the 81 Young Change-Makers worldwide appointed by the International Olympic Committee to support the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires 2018, promote the Olympic values and help athletes make the most out of their YOG experience. 

Rania Rahardja is a Fencing Athlete from Singapore and one of the 81 Young Change-Makers worldwide appointed by the International Olympic Committee to support the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires 2018, promote the Olympic values and help athletes make the most out of their YOG experience.