Honored Speakers
(a selection)

Ilse Aigner

Ilse Aigner was born in 1964 and grew up in Feldkirchen-Westerham. After successfully completing her vocational training as a radio and television technician and then qualifying as a state-certified electrical engineer, she joined the development department of eurocopter in 1990. In 1994, she was elected to the Bavarian Landtag (State Parliament) for the first time and continued to be a member of parliament until 1998. Between 1998 and 2013 she was a member of the German Bundestag

(Federal Parliament), from 2008 as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Since October 2013, Ilse Aigner is again a member of the Bavarian Landtag. On 10 October 2013, she was appointed Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs and the Media, Energy and Technology as well as Deputy Minister-President.


Markus Bodenmeier

Markus Bodenmeier has been an entrepreneur, investor and venture philanthropist for more than 20 years. He focuses on business process outsourcing for industrial companies. One of his significant financial successes was the reverse IPO of HPI AG, a leading European industrial service provider in procurement and logistics. Currently, Mr. Bodenmeier’s holding PSBG is actively invested in several high-tech startups and Eprolog AG, a consulting and procurement company.

Mr. Bodenmeier has invested as a Venture Philanthropist in projects such as Treems, a nature conservation, and Voycer, a social community platform. Mr. Bodenmeier graduated with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University Munich and with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree with specialization in Economics from the University Hagen and he was member of a fellowship program of the Bavarian Eliteakademie (Bayerische Eliteakademie).


Dr. Mariana Bozesan

Dr. Bozesan is an integral impact investor, serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, and researcher. Based on Ken Wilber’s integral theory, she developed the Theta model and successfully implemented the parity between people, planet, and profit in early stage investing through the integration of financial, ecological, and social sustainability with cultural, behavioral, and human consciousness factors. She is a full international member in the Club of Rome and serves as a strategic advisor on integral finance and sustainability to various funds, businesses, and governmental organizations.

She is co-founder and president at AQAL Capital and the AQAL Foundation, as well as co-founder of AQAL AG, a Munich-based multi-family office. Educated at Stanford University and KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Dr. Bozesan holds a M.S. degree in Artificial Intelligence from KIT and a Ph.D. in psychology.


Dr. Daniel Dahm

Dr. J. Daniel Dahm is CEO of United Sustainability Group, an investment and consultancy company emphasizing strategic impact investment for sustainable development. Above this, he is Vice Director of the European Centre for Sustainability Research ECS, Zeppelin University; Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies IASS, Potsdam; Chairman of the Jury at Internorga Trade Fair at Hamburg Messe u. Congress HMC;

Member of the Scientific Committee of the Consorzio Costellazione Apulia, Italy; Ambassador of the Association for the Promotion of the Economy for the Common Good(Gemeinwohlökonomie); Member of the German Association Club of Rome; Member of the Federation of German Scientists VDW. JDD (co-)founded several civil society organisations and enterprises and published more than 50 scientific articles and book contributions.


Candace Johnson

Candace Johnson is a co-founder of SES, the world’s pre-eminent satellite group and the architect of SES Global. She is also the founder of various companies as Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe, Europe’s first independent private trans-border satellite communications network, and Europe Online, the world's first Internet-based online service and a founding investor and Member of the Board of Kacific, the high-throughput Satellite Internet System for the Pacific.

Under her presidency of EBAN, she has co-founded MBAN, the Middle East Business Angel Network and ABAN, the AfricanBusiness Angel Network. Ms. Johnson is also the President of three investment funds and is the founder of the Global Telecom Women's Network (GTWN), Global Board Ready Women (GBRW) and the VATM, the German Association of Private Telecom Operators.


Dr. Charly Kleissner

Dr. Charly Kleissner is an impact investor. He believes that the fundamental and deeper meaning of wealth is to make a positive contribution to humanity and the planet. He argues that Modern Portfolio Theory has to be re-conceptualized to integrate impact. He sees impact investing not as an intellectual exercise, but as an expression of who he really is.

Dr. Kleissner co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation (www.klfelicitasfoundation.org), and Social-Impact International (www.social-impact.org), which help social entrepreneurs worldwide to accelerate and increase their impact. Dr. Kleissner also co-founded Toniic (www.toniic.com), and the ‘100% Impact Network’, global networks for impact investors.


Deniz Misir

Deniz MISIR is a global family office and family wealth specialist. Deniz is a purpose-driven entrepreneur, who established Turkey’s first internationally operating trusted advisory (virtual Multi Family Office) company V22 International Advisory J. S. Co. in 2013. V22’s mission is “Family Well-being and Prosperity; Bigger Family being the World herself” and serves families with “Family Wealth Planning; Wealth Investing Strategy and Family Governance”.

Deniz frequently contributes in global family office, private wealth, and family business conferences and brings in the “expert generalist” know-how from both the developed

and the emerging markets and across disciplines.

Before V22, Deniz served the Netherlands Government in roles of “Area Director to Turkey at Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency” and as “Senior Investment & Economic Officer”. Educated for both at Bogazici University, Istanbul/Turkey; Deniz holds a B.A. degree in Economics and an Executive M.B. A. degree. She also completed Pictet’s “Family Office Masterclass” and Wilson’s “Qualified Family Office Professional Program”.


Prof. Dr. h.c. Gunter Pauli

Gunter Pauli is a serial entrepreneur who has been named by the Huffington Post "The Steve Jobs of Sustainability". Since 1994 he directs ZERI (a think tank of 3,000 researchers) and The Blue Economy (a do tank of 850 implementors). ZERI has been recognized by the University of Pennsylvania as one of the ten most creative and innovative policy research organizations in the world. He has written 15 books,

his latest "The Blue Economy" was translated in 40 languages. All breakthrough innovations and successful projects are translated into fables for children. With 144 fables published in China, Gunter hopes to inspire the next generation to do much better than the parents ever imagined. He is father of 6, resides in Kamakura, Japan.


Mazal Renford

Mazal Renford, International Development Consultant; former Director of the Golda Meir International Training Center in Israel; honored with a Women of Consequence Award.

Under the auspices of Israel's Agency for International Cooperation  she has organized hundreds of training programs in Israel and throughout the world, designed to promote women's leadership, socio-economic development and youth entrepreneurship.

Possessing wide experience in gender issues, she represented Israel for 15 years at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and also on the Executive Board of INSTRAW.
Currently, she acts as a Consultant to the Israel's International Cooperation Agency and as Advisor to The International Council of Women.


Dr. Andreas Rickert

Dr. Andreas Rickert is CEO and founder of PHINEO and incubated the organization as Director of the former program ‘civil society’ at Bertelsmann Foundation. Andreas also worked as Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank in Washington D.C. Prior to this he was Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, Inc. globally working on public sector and healthcare projects in Bahrain, The Netherlands, UK and Switzerland. He studied Biology and did his Ph.D.

on genetics in Germany and the United States. Andreas serves on various boards, e.g. expert group of the European Commission on social entrepreneurship (GECES). His large network comprises top level decision makers in the private, public and third sector. He has specific expertise in public private partnerships, corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, impact investing, social business and philanthropy.


Prof. Dr. Henry Schäfer

Professor Schäfer is the Chairholder of the Chair of Finance at the University of Stuttgart. Previous to his current occupation at the University he belonged to the top management as Senior Financial Consultant in an international consulting firm and in a major German bank.
Prof. Schafer’s main focus in research is on the valuation of assets, in particular regarding real options and with non-financial parameters, economic analysis of networks,

financing of start-ups and Companies form the German “Mittelstand”. Particular relevance is given to research regarding „Sustainability & Finance“. He is also founder and CEO of EccoWorks, a consulting firm in SRI and CSR.


Josef Schmid

Josef Schmid, born September 27, 1969, studied business administration and law at the University of Passau and in Munich. Until 2014, he worked as a lawyer and partner at a medium-sized law firm. From 2002 to 2014, he served as an unsalaried City Councilor for the City of Munich, chairing the City Council's CSU political group from 2007 onward.

In 2014, Josef Schmid became Deputy Mayor of Munich and took over as head of the Department of Labor and Economic Development. Reflecting his strong affinity for economic matters, Schmid is committed to keeping Munich innovative and fit for the future. Young companies and start-ups are of special importance to him.


Thomas Schulz

Thomas Schulz has been a serial entrepreneur and investor for more than 25 years. He founded Cybernet AG, Germany's first nationwide Internet service provider which became Germany's first publicly listed Internet company. In 2010 he co-founded Entelios AG, Germany's first smart grid provider which was sold to the worldwide market leader in 2014. Moreover, Mr. Schulz was a member of the renowned business angel group "The Angels’ Forum”,

member of the management team of the "Halo Fund” and he co-founded the “Cleantech Circle” in Palo Alto, California. Today he is co-founder and managing director of the Munich-based AQAL Group focusing on investments in integrally sustainable start-ups. Thomas Schulz is computer scientist (University of Karlsruhe, ETH Zurich) with an MBA (Stanford University)


Dr. Fabian Seul

Dr. Fabian Seul is Co-Founder and MD of inxure.me, a product focused insurtech. He has dedicated his career to the financial sector with various roles and different perspectives – as a founder, adviser and investor. As an entrepreneur, he has successfully founded a corporate finance advisory company and various start-ups.

Previously Fabian worked in investment banking in New York and London as well as in insurance and risk management in Chicago and Munich. He studied at RWTH Aachen (PhD), University of Bayreuth (MBS) and EDHEC in Nice.


Prof. Wouter van Dieren

Professor Wouter van Dieren (1941) is a Dutch author, journalist, scientist, speaker, advisor, TV-maker, politician and host of the annual Springtij Forum, an assembly on green innovation and green finances.
He was the founder of IMSA, a leading thinktank, vice-chair of the International Advisory Board of the Wuppertal Institute as well as the Factor 10 Group (on resource efficiency). Among his books is the Report to the Club of Rome “Taking Nature into Account” (1995) about the need to correct the GDP for environmental losses.

He has been awarded the Rachel Carson Gold Medal (2006), the WWF Global Merit prize (2012, and the nomination into the Royal Order of Orange-Nassau. He is fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. In 1972, he also played a major role in promoting the first Report to the Club of Rome “The limits to Growth”.


Prof. Dr. Ernst von Weizsäcker

Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker has been Co-President of the Club of Rome since 2012 . At the beginning of his career, Ernst served as professor and director of several universities and institutes, such as the UN Centre for Science and Technology for Development. In 1991, he became founding President of the Wuppertal Institute, which developed into a leading think tank on energy efficiency, material flows and climate policy. From 1998 to 2005 he was Member of the German Bundestag, chairing the Committees on Globalization and the Environment.

He then served as Dean of the graduate School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California. In 2007, he was appointed Co-Chair (with Ashok Khosla) of UNEP’s International Resource Panel.
Ernst is lead author of three Reports to the Club of Rome: Factor Four (1995), Limits to Privatization (2005), and Factor Five (2009). He lives in Emmendingen with his wife Christine, President of Ecoropa, and has five children.


Jochen Wermuth

Jochen Wermuth, Founding Partner, Green Gateway Fund 2, is a member of the steering committee of the peer-to-peer investor networks “Europeans for Divest-Invest” and “100% Impact“. He is also the principal of Wermuth Asset Management GmbH (WAM) a family office and investment adviser, committed to alternative and sustainable investments with a positive impact on the environment,

which has advised on assets in excess of $1bn. Green Gateway Fund 2 invests €5-30m of equity in EU SMEs which make their clients more resource efficient and helps them to grow internationally.


Dr. h.c. Anders Wijkman

Anders Wijkman is an opinion maker and author. He is co-president of the Club of Rome, chairman of the Swedish Association of Recycling Industries ,and member of the Board of the Swedish Development Authority (SIDA). In January 2015 Anders was appointed chair of the Swedish Cross-Party Committee on Environmental Objectives. The most immediate task is to develop a strategy for a low-carbon society in 2050.
Anders has served as a Member of the European Parliament, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Policy Director of UNDP,

Secretary General of the Swedish Red Cross and Director General of the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries.
Anders is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, the World Future Council and the International Resource Panel. He is honorary doctor at Linköping University (2011). His most recent book ”Bankrupting Nature” – with co-author Professor Johan Rockström – was published by Routledge in 2012.


HRH Dr. Auguste von Bayern

HRH Dr. Auguste von Bayern, Princess zur Lippe is a zoologist who seeks to understand how animals, in particular corvids (birds of the crow family) and parrots think. Her research interests comprise socio-cognitive abilities, flexible problem-solving skills and vocal learning abilities.
Auguste studied biology in Munich and then graduated in Zoology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. After completing her PhD on the social intelligence of jackdaws at the University of Cambridge, she became a postdoc in the Behavioural Ecology Research Group at Oxford University.

Since 2014, she has been leading the Comparative Cognition Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen.
​Auguste is chair of the Förderkreis BIOTOPIA e.V., an initiative for an international Life Sciences and Natural History museum in Munich, which will raise awareness for environmental issues and biodiversity conservation and which will enthuse children for nature and life sciences early on.

 


HRH Prinz Ferdinand zur Lippe-Weißenfeld

HRH Prinz Ferdinand zur Lippe-Weißenfeld studied legal sciences as well as political sciences, psychology and philosophy in Germany. He worked at several law offices as for example Bach, Langheid, Dallmayr and Schliemann Inc. Attorneys and Notaries, Somerset West, South Africa.

Today, Prince Ferdinand zur Lippe is lawyer and partner at SLB Koepper laywers in Munich focusing on commercial law. Next to his job he is lecturer at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and the university of the German Federal Armed Forces.