Steven Bertoni is an Assistant Managing Editor at Forbes, where he leads the Forbes Founders team. He oversees coverage of top entrepreneurs, the Forbes 30 Under 30, and Top Creators franchises. Bertoni helped launch the Forbes Under 30 in 2011 and is the founder of the Forbes Top Creators list. He has written numerous cover stories on companies including Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, PayPal, and the comeback of the Twinkie. Bertoni joined Forbes in 2008 and works in New York.

Susanne Gløersen is a trailblazer in the world of fungal innovation. She discovered this fantastic, yet untapped potential of fungi to regenerate our planet, and went out with that as her mission. She is the founder of The Future is Fungi Award, a global award that honors and catalyzes groundbreaking science and start-up innovation leveraging the power of fungi to solve some of humanity`s largest environmental challenges. The award unifies scientific institutions, corporations, investors, and startups worldwide to drive the acceleration of fungal innovation.

She is also the founder of the emerging The Fungi uVC, the world`s first VC to back fungi-focused startups niworldwide.

Before venturing into the fungal world she has been a progressive voice advocating for sustainability in the financial sector for more than a decade, through leading positions including Sustainability Lead for SEB Green Tech VC, Deputy Head for Sustainable Banking and Head of Climate and Sustainable Finance in SEB Norway, sustainability strategist with the Nordics largest wealth advisor Formue and positions in both Nordea and Carnegie. Susanne has also been active in the VC ecosystem for several years, including holding board positions and mentoring in start-up accelerators.

Passionate, curious and a natural explorer, she is now on a quest for humanity to discover and co-create with the kingdom of fungi for a more prosperous future.

Beatrice York founded By – Eq Limited in 2022, an advisory organization focused on adding more exceptional emotional intelligence in an age of artificial intelligence. She holds advisory roles at Afiniti Technologies, Scale AI and Liontree Asset Management.

Beatrice is a trustee and co-founder of The Big Change Charitable Trust, which identifies and supports charitable projects throughout the UK, reimagining education. Beatrice is a champion of women in leadership and has worked and spoken at a range of events across the world working to promote role models for positive leadership development. She is dyslexic and as such, is a champion for neurodiversity in the workplace as well as a supporter of a range of organizations working with dyslexia. Beatrice is also a Patron and on the board of various charities in the education and young person space including Opus, a next Generation Leadership body.

Dubbed a “pop entrepreneur” by New York magazine, Patrick J. McGinnis is a venture capitalist, bestselling author, and creator of the hit podcast FOMO Sapiens.

He coined the term FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and its lesser-known twin, FOBO (Fear of a Better Option), in a 2004 article at Harvard Business School.  FOMO has since been added to the dictionary, and FOBO was the subject of Patrick’s popular TED Talk “How to Make Faster Decisions.” His work on FOMO, FOBO, and decision-making has been covered by the New York Times, Le Monde, FT, and El País.  

The author of The 10% Entrepreneur and Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision-Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice, Patrick is currently the brand ambassador for Latin American tech titan MercadoLibre’s award-winning “Fear of Missing Audience” campaign. He also appears in the cautionary crypto documentary This is Not Financial Advice, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

Patrick’s passion lies in harnessing the power of words to elevate humanity. In that spirit, he serves on the boards of Bridge USA, a campus-based youth movement fighting political division through dialogue, and the Planet World Museum in Washington, DC.

A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Business School, Patrick has visited more than 115 countries and is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Maha Abouelenein has more than 30 years of global communications experience advising corporate giants, high-growth startups, governments, and high-net-worth individuals in the USA & Middle East. She is the CEO of Digital & Savvy, a strategic consulting firm based in the U.S. and Dubai, and sits on the Global Board of Directors of The Associated Press.

She launched some of the world’s largest tech companies in the Middle East from communications, policy, and business development perspectives – from Google and Netflix to Udacity and Careem (Uber) and more. She supported the largest IPO and the largest acquisition in Egypt’s history at Orascom Telecom. She also built sports marketing programs and strategic partnerships for the Olympics, NASCAR, the NBA, ATP Tennis, Golf, and the NFL at consumer product giant General Mills. She is the former Head of Global Communications & Public Policy at Google and the Founding Managing Director of Weber Shandwick in MENA. 

A sought-after strategist & speaker, Maha is an expert on personal branding, reputation management, modern communications, and the transformational power of storytelling. 

Maha hosts the “Savvy Talk” podcast and is the Author of “7 Rules of Self-Reliance.”

Juliet de Baubigny is a Partner and Global Head of Technology at BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank with an advisory and investment platform built to serve the distinct needs of founders and family business owners. Prior to joining the firm, Juliet spent over 20 years in the venture capital industry. Juliet was a General Partner at BOND, a global growth equity investment firm. The firm’s investment portfolio includes Square, Spotify, Airbnb, Uber, Pinterest, Peloton, Slack, and Stripe as well as more recent investments in Canva, Revolut, On Running and Relativity Space. Prior to BOND, Juliet spent 18 years at Kleiner Perkins as a Senior Partner. Juliet is a passionate champion of innovation in philanthropy, co-founding Beyond Type 1, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes as well as serving on the board of (RED). Juliet received her BA from the University of Northumbria and was awarded an OBE by HM King Charles III in 2023.

Daniel Humm is an author, speaker, and the chef and owner of Make It Nice, the New York-based hospitality group behind the highly acclaimed Eleven Madison Park.

A native of Switzerland, Chef Humm earned his first Michelin star at the age of 24. He is consistently listed as one of the world’s best chefs, with both he and Eleven Madison Park receiving numerous accolades: including four stars from The New York Times, seven James Beard Foundation Awards (including Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurant in America), and three Michelin stars for over 10 years in a row, since 2011. 

In 2021, he made the radical decision to re-open Eleven Madison Park with a fully plant-based menu. This move sent shockwaves through the fine dining industry and has set Chef Humm and EMP on a world-changing trajectory — becoming the first plant-based restaurant in history to receive and retain three Michelin Stars.

Chef Humm is the author of Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook, I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes, The NoMad Cookbook, and Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter, and Eat More Plants, published by Steidl. 

He resides in New York and is a lifelong patron of the arts, supporting local and established artists through collaborations for Eleven Madison Park and other initiatives.

Caroline Daniel is a Partner at Brunswick Group, and specialise in technology, artificial intelligence and media, providing strategic communications advice to boards and senior executives at both FTSE100 companies and tech start-ups. Her work includes advising on crisis situations, IPOs, periods of intense change, financial transactions, stakeholder engagement and social purpose projects. She spent 17 years at the Financial Times in leading editorial roles including as Editor of FT Weekend (2010-2016), Opinion Page Editor, White House correspondent and technology writer. She has previously made broadcast appearances on BBC, BBC Radio 4, Fox and Sky News, as well as been a frequent moderator at tech and geopolitical events including WebSummit and CogX. She sits on the BBC’s Editorial Guidance and Standards Committee, a BBC Board committee; is member of the Trilateral Commission, a global non-governmental discussion group of leading executives and politicians; and is a Trustee of the UK’s leading non-fiction prize and at The Trampery, a social enterprise in London.

A visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist, two-time grammy nominated Ash Pournouri (LL.M. Stockholm’s University) began his career by reimagining the role of record labels, publishing, tour booking and management. What began with the lone mission of creating, managing and building the brand of global superstar and partner Avicii (among other major global clients) led to Ash becoming a pioneer in breaking EDM as a mass movement, and a leader in the boundary-free global music business of the 21st century. Through the companies under the UNLTD portfolio, Ash has creatively crafted artist-first partnerships with clients such as Ralph Lauren, Coca-Cola, IKEA and H&M, and co-founded a social media management company building and representing some of the world’s biggest media profiles. Since he started his career in 2001, he has donated the majority of his personal income to various charities fighting world hunger and other impact-driven initiatives. In addition to those, in June 2014, Ash expanded into the conference world with Spotify founder Daniel Ek, creating the creative thought-leadership (non-profit) summit Brilliant Minds, as a platform to showcase Sweden, Swedish people and Swedish values to the world.

Ash was co-producer and co-writer to most Avicii songs (executive produced all of them) between 2008-2016 and has also written songs for and with Coldplay, Madonna, Axwell /\ Ingrosso, Wyclef Jean, David Guetta, Daft Punk, Tiesto and Faithless. Ash left the music industry in 2016 and has since amassed a portfolio of over 30 companies across different sectors as well as started the following businesses.

Annastasia is the CEO of Brilliant Minds Foundation.

Brilliant Minds was founded in 2015 by Spotify founder and CEO, Daniel Ek and today comprises of an esteemed and established board consisting of the biggest business leaders and entrepreneurs across Europe. The Foundation has brought together the world’s most influential thought leaders at the intersection of humanity and technology, with past speakers, including President Barack Obama, co-founder of Snap Inc Evan Spiegel, activist and supermodel Naomi Campbell and lifestyle expert and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

Prior to her current role, Annastasia was the Group CEO of Quintessentially. The first female and millennial to hold the Group CEO role, Annastasia was responsible for the strategy and day-to-day operations of Quintessentially, the world’s leading lifestyle group. Her remit involved leading a team of over 1,000 employees across 50 cities. Annastasia spearheaded Quintessentially’s global growth, navigated a hospitality business through the pandemic and led the group through a significant restructure. During her tenure annual revenues exceeded $100 million.

She has been profiled in publications such as Forbes, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, The CEO Magazine and Harvard
Business Review, amongst others and British GQ, listed Annastasia as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in the UK. Profiled in Forbes as the ‘Queen of Luxury’ and an authority on international business, Annastasia is a renowned figure on the speaker circuit and frequently asked to contribute at high profile events such as Web Summit and FT conferences.

Annastasia covers topics from luxury consumers, lifestyle trends, leadership and an overall macro view on the lifestyle and luxury sectors. Her speaking engagements span small internal management groups to 3,000+ people on the main stage at international conferences.