SPEAKERS AND MODERATORS 2024
Dr Dale
Mineshima -Lowe
Managing Editor, International Affairs Forum, Center for International Relations
Kerri Mansfield JP
Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.
Marc
Guitart
Employer Advisory Board Member at University of Westminster
PANEL 1
Technologies for Sustainable Development: New paradigms, Education, Implementation, and Success Stories
Dr Giuseppe Cantafio
PhD, MSc, PGCert HE, SFHEA, MCMI Senior Lecturer Academic Development Centre University of Sunderland in London
Feliciea Jibson
Founder & CEO @ PAGS BV
Katy Sampford
Sustainability Manager | St George PLC
Sarah Taylor
Head of Sustainability | Frimley Health Nhs Foundation Trust
PANEL 2
Sustainable Economies and the Impact of Technology
Klisman Murati
CEO | Pareto Economics
Paul Sisnett
CEO & Founder | PAYWITH.GLASS
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Gonzalo Pereyra de Olazabal
Vice-Chair | International Green Trade & Commerce Association
Susana Ecclestone
CEO & Co-Founder | Harrington Blue & Partners
PANEL 3
Financing of Eco Strategies and the Traceability of Green Projects
Christoph Ebell
Triscale | Founder & CEO NOMICA
Tomas Vicente
CFO & Co-Founder | GBM
PANEL 4
Sustainability in the Construction Sector
Ian Jones
Advisor | INFRAKIT
Adrián Posada
Founder & CEO | The Virtual Company
Andy Thompson
Portfolio Investment Director | Thames Estuary
SPEAKERS 2024
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Dr Dale Mineshima - Lowe
MANAGING EDITOR, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FORUM, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Dr Dale Mineshima-Lowe is an Associate Lecturer in the Departments of Politics and Geography, at Birkbeck, University of London, teaching both undergraduates and postgraduates.
She has studied in the US, the UK, and Germany; and has taught in the UK and Ireland.
She is an OSUN-CLASP Fellow, Managing Editor with the think tank Center for International Relations, based in Washington, D.C., and the former Acting Programme Director of the M.Sc. Global Environment & Sustainability Program at the University of London.
Her research interests span issues related to democratic transitions and governance, digital technology and anti-corruption efforts by civil society, and learning & teaching pedagogy and practices. Her current research is exploring the intersection of data activism and anti-corruption efforts, and social capital development in both environmental policymaking.
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Kerri Mansfield JC
Master 2023-2024
Kerri Mansfield left school at 17 and has been in IT ever since, as a trainer, coach and project manager working as an independent consultant in the financial and technology sectors. Kerri was awarded a BSc in Social Studies from the Open University and gained her Masters in Professional Development from Middlesex University in 2019.
Kerri is an Honorary Fellow of the Coaching Academy, a Fellow of the BCS and a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute and was a winner at the National Mentoring Awards in 2019. Within WCIT, Kerri has been Chairman of the Events Panel, Careers Panel and Charitable Fundraising Committee and has been instrumental in the setup of the coaching initiative with the Royal Corps of Signals, Judicial Panel and the Equality Committee in recent years.
Kerri has been a member of WCIT since 2008 and has sat on Court since 2012.
MODERATOR
Marc Guitart
EMPLOYER ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER
Marc Guitart is a seasoned executive designer with twenty years of experience designing businesses in the UK, Europe, and LATAM. Founder of Brandlond® LTD, a specialist brand consultancy working. Originally from Barcelona, London-based, he holds one honour degree in Industrial Design and one in Graphic Design. He is a credentialed member of DBA, BEDA, FAD and ADP. In design, Marc has been identified by CEO Monthly as Most Innovative Brand Marketing CEO 2022 Southern England and recently with a Gold Award Packaging at Pentawards.
Marc has lectured in over twelve universities and is currently an Employer Advisory Board Member at the University of Westminster in London.
In industry, he works at CBO and Board level for a number of global and international organisations. He has also been the driving force behind rolling out the brand transformation programmes to over 100 companies in 5 countries. The organisations he has worked with include Brandloyalty, Unilever, Catalonia Regional Government, Grífols and CaixaBank, among others.
PANEL 1
Education for Sustainability
Dr Giuseppe Cantafio
PhD, MSc, PGCert HE, SFHEA, MCMI
Senior Lecturer (Academic Development APP and TEF)
Before his position at the University of Sunderland, London, he worked as a lecturer and researcher on impact and scenario assessment of autonomous and connected transport at the University of Greenwich. He held positions at Northeastern University in Boston, San Diego State University and Universita Mediterranea de Reggio in Calabria, Italy, where he was a researcher on the MAPS-LED Project, which explores multidisciplinary approaches to planning smart specialisation strategies for Local Economic Development.
Modules taught: Global Strategy, Managing Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Innovation Management, Operations, Strategic Mgmt, Project Management, e-Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Marketing.
Former Post-doc Research Fellow.
Interests: Lecturing and Tutoring, GIS software and Data Analysis, Urban Planning, Innovation, Environmental Sustainability.
Feliciea Jibson
Founder & CEO @ PAGS BV
Feliciea is the founder and CEO of PAGS BV, a digital profiling, assessment and target-setting tool for schools, educators, parents and carers of pupils with special educational needs. PAGS helps educators better understand the abilities and learning gaps of their pupils.
Feliciea has held positions as a teacher and head of special education, working in schools and residential homes of excellence in the UK not only brought her into direct contact with other educators but also with parents, carers and families, an experience she will always carry with her and which has been the driving force behind PAGS.
Katy Sampford
Sustainability Manager
St George PLC
Katie Sampford is a dedicated Sustainability Manager at Berkeley Group, St George plc, where she plays a pivotal role in ensuring the implementation of sustainable practices in residential and mixed-use development projects. With a background in energy specialization and corporate responsibility, Katie brings a wealth of experience to her current role, overseeing sustainability strategies and driving performance improvement initiatives. Her passion for making a positive impact extends beyond her professional endeavors, as evidenced by her active involvement in volunteering activities such as turtle conservation in Greece and building playgrounds in Uganda. Katie holds relevant qualifications in environmental management and consistently seeks opportunities for continuous learning and growth. Her commitment to sustainability, coupled with her strong work ethic and attention to detail, underscores her dedication to creating a more environmentally conscious and socially responsible future.
Sarah Taylor
Head of Sustainability
Frimley Health Nhs Foundation Trust
Sarah Taylor is the Head of Sustainability for Frimley Foundation NHS Trust and ICS. She has only been in the post for a short period of time. Prior to this she was the Estates Transformation Manager for the commissioning and decommissioning of Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot. Sarah also sits as southeast coordinator on the NHS Regional Group – South East and NHS Regional Management Group – South East. She is also an active St John Ambulance First Aider.
Sarah’s back ground is in Construction with an BSc in Quantity Surveying and an MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration. But found a love for Sustainability working on the Athletes Village in Stratford for the Olympics. She is now heading up some extremely interesting projects in Sustainability on use of plastics within the NHS and the benevolent use of medicines. If you interested in helping in any of these projects please do contact Sarah directly or find her on LinkedIn. She is also interested in learning others good/bad and ugly experiences on the Sustainability’s yellow brick road journey by others.
PANEL 2
Sustainable Economies and the Impact of Technology
Klisman Murati
CEO of Pareto Economics
Klisman Murati stands as a visionary in global forecasting, revolutionizing the understanding of global development through his pioneering approach. With a focus on Globalisation, Geopolitics, Transformative Technology, and Societal Change (the Global 4), Murati’s groundbreaking tool, the Global Power Index, forecasts nations’ trajectories by dissecting core elements of power. As the founder and CEO of Pareto Economics, he equips global leaders with strategic foresight, empowering them to craft successful strategies in business, investment, and policy. Murati’s influence spans diverse audiences globally, from investment houses to governments, characterized by his expertise in leadership transformation, emerging markets, and changing power dynamics. Rooted in a robust academic background spanning Social Anthropology & Human Rights, Security Studies, Financial Crime Risk, and Outer Space Studies, Murati emerges not just as a speaker but as a transformative force at the nexus of knowledge and action, shaping the future of global strategy.
Paul Sisnett is a veteran telecommunications engineer who has served as an architect for cloud and telecommunications infrastructure projects across multiple jurisdictions for the better part of the past 2 decades. He now sits as CEO and Chief Architect of paywith.glass B.V., the Dutch technology house that is poised to reshape the world’s financial system.
The mass adoption of any new form of money will shape the future of our global civilization.
As innovators and disruptors, we must carefully examine societal impacts in the design of tokenized digital assets, CBDCs and other digital currencies. We must recognise our responsibility to future generations who will ultimately be shaped by the execution of our ideas, today.
paywith.glass is a Digital Asset/Real-Time Payment (DA/RTP) infrastructure which seamlessly blends the speed of real-time payments with Satoshi Nakamoto’s peer-to-peer electronic cash vision. It addresses existing system limitations by introducing robust privacy constructs, security measures and anti-exploitation features while preserving scalability. This infrastructure stack has been designed through the blending of careful academic research and expert industry collaboration at every step. Its development has considered the societal impact and the technical and economic risk factors that must be mitigated for it to be deemed fit for purpose.
At the dawn of a new era for the world’s money, we collaborate with the brightest minds of our generation – the leading experts in payments, cryptography, macroeconomics and AI. Through the paywith.glass Digital Asset/Real-Time Payment (DA/RTP) infrastructure, we serve as the architects of the Internet for the world’s money.
Special Announcements
Gonzalo Pereyra de Olazabal
Vice-Chair | International Green Trade & Commerce Association
Gonzalo Pereyra de Olazabal is the Vice-Chair of the International Green Trade & Commerce Association (IGTCA), a newly formed not-for-profit organisation created to promote sustainable trade and high triple impact business creation and development as well as founder and Managing Director of Harrington Blue & Partners an innovative consulting firm specialised in international strategy and global expansion with a specific focus on tailored entree to the British market and the for-profit arm of the IGTCA.
He is an International Legal Advisor with over twenty years of experience in legally complex cases and management advising in international and domestic environments, with companies and non-governmental organisations He has also advised in the management of intangible assets for startups and organisations, codesigning the LEFT MAPPING process for their analysis and exploitation.
Gonzalo is also the Board Director of FuturED, an international learning platform and educational technology company with a dedicated mission to promote digital educational content inclusively.
Among many other projects and initiatives, Gonzalo is Board Director of the International Roundtable “Technologies for Sustainability”, an event dedicated to spotting innovative technology with the potential necessary to generate the positive changes that our world needs. The event is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, AGENDA 2030.
Susana Ecclestone
CEO & Co-Founder
Susana Ecclestone is the co-founder and CEO of Harrington Blue & Partners, an innovative consulting firm specialised in international strategy and global expansion with a specific focus on tailored entree to the British market. She is also Board director of FuturED, an international learning platform and educational technology company with a dedicated mission to promote digital educational content inclusively.
Susana’s other roles as Director of Hallgarten & Company and past Executive Director of the British Argentine Chamber of Commerce (BACC) are evidence of a long-standing commitment to creating and facilitating fluid international relations and sustainable connections to promote education, business development and innovative international trade actions primarily.
Susana has been part of the working groups on corruption and inclusion and international trade at the B20 Arabia in 2020 and now currently at B20 Brazil focused on sustainable agriculture and food production.
Susana’s holistic professional approach to trade and business have contributed to the growth and international impact of FuturED in the educational international landscape and the success of Harrington Blue & Partners as a disruptive business and trade international advisory.
PANEL 3
Financing of Eco Strategies and the Traceability of Green Projects
Christoph Ebell
NOMICA
Christoph is a blockchain entrepreneur & technology consultant specializing in digital assets, NFTs, Metaverse, and ESG tokens. He also works in AI Ethics and High-Performance Computing (HPC). His background is in physics and humanities. He worked for the Swiss government’s innovation agency and was posted as a diplomat at the Swiss Embassy in Washington.
In Switzerland, he served as the Executive Director of the Human Brain Project, a multidisciplinary EU (1+billion EUR) project and is the Secretary General of a European HPC Association in Brussels. In 2020, he founded Arcades Digital and in 2021 founded NOMICA, a token reward protocol and marketplace for ESG projects.
Tomas Vicente
CFO & Co-Founder
Tomas Raúl Vicente (AKA TRV) is the CFO & Co-Founder at GBM. Launching his career with a successful Restaurant and a cosmetic venture in his early 20s, TRV quickly became known for his entrepreneurial prowess.
Having spent over three years in Investment Banking at Itaú, the leading IB office in Latin America, TRV refined his financial expertise. He then founded his M&A boutique, later merging with a leading Latin American M&A firm, where he served as Vice President until 2020. With a robust portfolio of over 50 projects, spanning M&As, IPOs, and consulting, TRV has proven himself as a key player in the industry.
Since 2018, TRV has been dedicated to shaping the tech landscape. His passion extends to developing the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Latin America & the Caribbean, with collaborations extending to prestigious institutions like the Interamerican Development Bank.
Beyond the boardroom, TRV’s passion for nature and social impact has found a home in GBM, a company with incredible sustainable and social outcomes. His unwavering dedication extends to creating businesses that make a positive impact on the environment and society, positioning GBM as a beacon of change in the business landscape.
PANEL 4
Sustainability in the Construction Sector
Ian Jones
Advisor
INFRAKIT
Ian is UK Advisor to Infrakit Group Oy, the digital construction partner who are enabling business transformation in thousands of infrastructure projects across Europe. Ian is passionate about the power of leading-edge technologies to create better, more sustainable outcomes in all sectors including construction.
Ian’s background is an experienced business executive with over 35 years’ experience in the global technology sector. He held senior commercial and engineering roles at Intel, including international assignments in US, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Ian was responsible for Intel’s strategic relationship with UK government and industry associations, and he sat on the board of TechUK between 2014 and 2019. He was also a member of the CBI International Trade Council, CBI Technology Group and CBI Public Sector Partners Council. He was a member of the Smart Cities All Party Parliamentary Group between 2013 and 2017.
Ian has spoken and keynoted at numerous government and industry events on topics including healthcare, education, digital transformation, and cities of the future. He has championed innovation programs with technology clusters and mentored and coached several SME and technology start-ups.
With experience leading organisations of over 100 people, Ian has a proven record of accomplishment in strategic planning, complex operational management, and all aspects of individual and team development, coaching and performance management.
Ian is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University School of Management.
Adrian Posada
CEO & Founder
Virtual Estate
“Explore the future of technological innovation with Adrian Posada, an inspiring leader in the world of immersive technologies and artificial intelligence. As the founder and CEO of The Virtual Company, Adrian has propelled the company to the forefront of the digital revolution, offering unique solutions in augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence automation.
At this exceptional event, where Adrian will share his exciting vision about the transformative impact of technology on our lives. Get ready to explore new horizons and discover how The Virtual Company is shaping the future of digital experiences.”
Andy Thompson
Portfolio Investment Director, Thames Estuary.
Business Management, (University of Manchester)
Andy Thompson is a Portfolio Director at Thames Estuary. He is leading on Hydrogen, Renewable Energy, and the Creative industry Portfolios.
Andy has a BA Hons, Business Management, from the University of Manchester and a Professional Managers’ Award, Business and Strategy, from Aston Business School.
Andy has a background in international trade and investment where he’s managed campaigns to secure and attract new investments and partnerships with UK, EU, Canadian, and Australian, investors, businesses, regulators, and government agencies. Before joining the Growth Board, Andy was employed as an Investment Director with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission and Trade and Investment Manager at the Canadian High Commission in London.
These roles have given Andy the experience of managing and advising on projects which have led to multimillion-pound investments from the Financial Services, Technology, Energy, and Defence and Security industries. This includes, for example, recent investments and new partnerships from CGI, Airbus Defence and Space, Revolut, and IP Group plc.