Jane Poynter

Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer & Chief Experience Officer, Space Perspective

Jane is an award-winning global leader in human space flight and sustainability innovator. She is Founder and Co-CEO of Space Perspective the world’s only carbon neutral spaceflight company whose mission is to share the transformative power of space travel with the world.

Lifted by a SpaceBalloonTM as large as a football stadium Spaceship Neptune takes 8 explorers on a gentle 6-hour journey to space where they will have the quintessential, transformative, astronaut experience – seeing the blackness of space above and the brilliant glow of the earth below all without the need for rigorous training, crushing g-forces, or burning carbon-emitting rocket fuel.

Poynter was Co-founder Paragon Space Development Corporation that today has technologies on almost every human spacecraft in operation in the U.S. She was also a member of the Biosphere 2 design team and original crew who lived for two years inside the groundbreaking, self-sustaining prototype space base.

Alain Papiasse

Chairman, Corporate & Institutional Banking, BNP Paribas

Alain Papiasse began his career in 1973 at Crédit Lyonnais where he held various positions including Credit Analyst and Deputy Senior Banker, before being appointed Crédit Lyonnais Executive Vice President for the Americas in 1996. In 2002, Alain Papiasse was appointed Group Vice President of Crédit Lyonnais, before being appointed in 2003 Vice President of Crédit Agricole Indosuez Calyon following the merger between Crédit Lyonnais and Crédit Agricole.

In January 2005, he joined BNP Paribas as a member of the Group Executive Committee and Head of Investment Solutions; the Group’s division responsible for administering customers’ savings programs and providing asset management services. In April 2009, he was appointed Head of the Corporate and Investment Banking division (CIB), and in December 2011 becomes Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the Group.

In 2018, Alain Papiasse is appointed Chairman of CIB and brings his expertise and knowledge of the BNP Paribas Group to develop relationships with large international clients, while continuing to oversee the Group’s activities in North America (Chairman of BNP Paribas USA Inc.), the United Kingdom, the MEA Region and India.

Alain Papiasse is also Chairman of Exane-BNP Paribas, as well as President of the Steering Committee at Paris-Europlace, and President of the French-American Foundation

Ryan Pandya

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Perfect Day

Ryan Pandya is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Perfect Day, a food company on a mission to create delicious animal-free dairy products, while leaving a kinder, greener footprint on the planet. Ryan studied Chemical & Biological Engineering at Tufts University, where he contributed to seminal research on tissue engineered meat at the Kaplan Lab before graduating and going on to work at MassBiologics, a small biopharmaceutical company in Boston, MA. He realized that the same technology used in the pharmaceutical industry could solve other world issues, including one that was particularly personal to him – the need for better dairy alternatives.

Having become vegetarian as a teenager, by college Ryan realized that his motivations forgiving up meat – concern about the impact of his diet on animal welfare and the environment – were cause for giving up all animal products. He was dismayed to find, however, that the transition to a vegan diet was really hard for one main reason: his love of dairy. An unfortunate incident with a bagel and a sad soy “cream cheese” substitute led him to search for a better way to make the dairy foods he loved without cows.

While digging into how to create animal-free dairy, Ryan was connected to Perumal Gandhi – who, on the other side of the world, was driven to solve the very same problem. Together, Ryan and Perumal set out to create a company to revolutionize the dairy industry, and thus Perfect Day was born. Today they lead a diverse team of chefs, food developers, scientists, engineers, and storytellers who are working in harmony to make their dream of animal-free dairy a reality.

Perfect Day is now pioneering a new and more sustainable era in dairy by using fermentation to create dairy products from the very same proteins (casein and whey) found in cow’s milk, but made without the cow. Named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2019, Ryan is committed to making delicious, nutritious food that does less damage to our planet.

Herman Narula

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Improbable Words

Herman Narula is the cofounder and CEO of Improbable, a London-based technology startup born out of Cambridge University. Improbable is creating SpatialOS, a distributed, cloud-based platform for game development that integrates with and augments existing workflows, engines, and tools.

SpatialOS empowers developers to build, run and operate previously impossible online games, with unprecedented levels of scale, complexity and persistence. Improbable has investment from some of the world’s most admired venture capitalists. Improbable currently has a team of over 200 people in offices in London and San Francisco, including top software engineering talent from world-renowned academic institutions and companies such as Google, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Microsoft. Founded in 2012, Improbable received $20m in Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz in March 2015, with a $30m follow-on led by Horizons Ventures in July 2015. In May 2017 Improbable announced a $502m Series B funding round, led by SoftBank and including Andreessen Horowitz and Horizons Ventures.

Herman holds a computer science degree from Cambridge, and is interested in the potential impact that powerful, virtual worlds will have on how they think, play and make decisions.

Lieve Mostrey

Chairperson & Chief Executive Officer, Euroclear

Since January 2017, Lieve Mostrey has been Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear group.

Ms. Mostrey joined Euroclear in October 2010 as Executive Director and Chief Technology and Services Officer of the Euroclear group and as an Executive Director of the Board.

Prior to Euroclear, Ms. Mostrey was a member of the Executive Committee of BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels, where she was responsible for IT technology, operations, property and purchasing. Ms. Mostrey began her career in 1983 within the IT department of Generale Bank in Brussels, moving to Operations in 1997 and, upon its merger with Fortis in 2006, became country manager for Fortis Bank Belgium. She became Chief Operating Officer of Fortis Bank in 2008, which was acquired by BNP Paribas in 2009.

Ms. Mostrey was previously a Non-Executive Director of SWIFT, RealDolmen, Visa Europe and of Euroclear. She was until recently a member of the Supervisory Board, the Nomination & Governance Committee and the Remuneration Committee of Euronext.

Ms. Mostrey is an active member of several initiatives contributing to the development and growth the financial sector which include:

• Febelfin’s Women in Finance, which aims to unify financial organisations in tackling gender diversity and share best practices.

• Strategic Committee of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (VBO-FEB), which is the only multi-sector employers' organisation representing companies in all three regions of Belgium.

• General Council of the Vlerick Business School in Belgium as a keen advocate of education.

Having earned a degree in civil engineering from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1983, Ms. Mostrey completed a post-graduate degree in economics from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1988.

Stéphane Monier

Chief Investment Officer, Lombard Odier Investment Managers

Stéphane joined Lombard Odier in July 2009 as Global Head of Fixed Income and Currencies for Lombard Odier Investment Managers, the asset management business of the Group, where he also held the position of Deputy Chief Investment Officer from July 2012. He moved to the private banking business in July 2013 as Head of Investments within the Europe private bank before being appointed Head of Investments in August 2015.

Stéphane began his career in 1990 with Banque Populaire based in New York before joining JP Morgan Investment Management in 1991, first in Paris and then in London where he managed European and Global Fixed Income portfolios for institutional investors.

In 1998, after seven years with JP Morgan, Stéphane relocated to join the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as Head of Fixed Income and Currencies, where he managed the sovereign wealth fund's internal and external fixed income assets as well as the currencies portfolio. He was also a member of the Asset Allocation Committee.

In 2006, Stéphane moved to London with Fortis Investments as Head of European Fixed Income. In 2007, following the merger with ABN AMRO Asset Management, he was appointed Global Head of Fixed Income and Currencies for the merged organisation (Fortis Investments) where he successfully integrated the two fixed income teams.

Stéphane was a non-executive director of AXA Property Trust, from June 2005 to December 2018.

Stéphane is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a Master’s Degree in International Finance from HEC Paris, as well as an Engineering Degree from AgroTech Paris.

Val Miftakhov

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, ZeroAvia

Val Miftakhov is Founder & CEO of ZeroAvia, a company developing the world’s most viable hydrogen powertrain for zero emission aviation. ZeroAvia manufacture hydrogen-electric engines for aeroplanes to address a variety of markets, starting with short-haul and eventually up to globe-spanning journeys.

They hold the record for the largest capacity hydrogen-powered aircraft in the world and are on track for commercial operations in 2025, with funding from the likes of Bezos’s Climate Pledge Fund, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shell Ventures and Horizons Ventures, as well as signed partnerships with American Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Air, Shell and more.

Val is a serial sustainable transportation entrepreneur – his previous company eMotorWerks developed the world’s leading platform for EV battery aggregation to provide grid services, and was acquired in 2017. Prior to that, Val held a number of senior business and product positions at Google and McKinsey & Company, and was a nuclear researcher at Stanford Linear Accelerator.

Val holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University and is an avid helicopter and aeroplane pilot. In 2021, Val was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and in 2023, ZeroAvia was named part of WEF's Unicorn Cohort.

Dr. Gianvito Martino

Professor of Experimental Biology, San Raffaele University

Gianvito Martino received his Medical Degree in 1987 and completed his residency in Neurology in 1991 from the Univ. of Pavia (Italy). He was Visiting Scientist inn 1990 at the Dept. of Neurology of the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and in 1991-92 Research Associate at the Dept. of Neurology of the Univ. of Chicago (Chicago, IL, USA). He serves since 2016 as Scientific Director of San Raffaele University Hospital in Milan (Italy). He is full professor of Experimental Biology and Vice Rector for Research and Third Mission at the San Raffaele Vita-Salute University in Milan. He has been the President of the Italian Neuroimmunology Society (AINI) and of the International Society for Neuroimmunology (ISNI). He was the founder and the Scientific Coordinator of the European School of Neuroimmunology (ESNI) and of the Global Schools of Neuroimmunology (GSNI). He has been a member of the scientific committee and reviewing panel of several international and national funding agencies, among which the European Research Council (ERC). He has co-authored more than 250 original articles and book chapters. His scientific interests range from the elucidation of the pathogenic mechanisms of immune-mediated central nervous system disorders to the development of gene and stem cell-based therapies for the treatment of these disorders.

Dr. Alexander Lipton

Global Head, Quantitative Research and Development, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)

Alexander Lipton is Global Head, Research & Development at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Professor of Practice at Khalifa University, Visiting Professor and Dean’s Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Connection Science Fellow at MIT, and Advisory Board member at ADIA Lab. Alex is a Co-Founder of Sila, a company providing, digital wallet & ACH payment services, and an advisory board member at several fintech companies worldwide. From 2006–2016, Alex was Co-Head of the Global Quantitative Group and Quantitative Solutions Executive at Bank of America. Earlier, he was a senior manager at Citadel, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Bankers Trust. In addition, Alex held visiting professorships at EPFL, NYU, Oxford University, Imperial College, and the University of Illinois. Before becoming a quant, Alex was a Full Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois and a Consultant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Risk Magazine awarded him the Inaugural Quant of the Year Award in 2000 and the Buy-side Quant of the Year Award in 2021. Alex authored/edited twelve books and more than a hundred scientific papers on nuclear fusion, astrophysics, applied mathematics, financial engineering, and distributed ledgers. He frequently gives keynote presentations on Quantitative Finance and FinTech at conferences and forums worldwide.

Ismael Hajjar

Partner, Private Business & Family Office, PwC

Ismael Hajjar leads the MENA Private Client Services (PCS) core practice of EY Middle East. In his role, Ismael focuses on assisting successful families, entrepreneurs and family offices across MENA managing risks and preserving wealth. Ismael has been serving international families for over 14 years and currently acts as trusted advisor to a number of successful families across MENA. He has been successful in designing and implementing inter-generational succession, inheritance, governance, tax compliance and confidentiality strategies. He has contributed to building and currently serves Family Offices. Ismael is a regular speaker in the GCC and beyond on topics such as family business and private wealth institutionalization, global tax transparency, succession planning and the role of the family office. The team that he leads won the “WealthBriefing MENA Tax and Accountancy firm of the year” award in 2017 and 2019. He holds a Master Degree in Business Administration, HEC-Ulg School of Management (Belgium) and is a certified chartered accountant in Luxembourg (“expert-comptable”). He also holds an Islamic finance qualification, Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance (UK), is a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and holds a Certificate in Family Business Advising (CFBA, Family Firm Institute).

Sanjeev Gupta

Executive Chairman, GFG Alliance

Sanjeev Gupta is the Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance, a collection of global businesses and investment owned Sanjeev and his family. GFG Alliance has three core industry brands; LIBERTY Steel Group, ALVANCE Aluminium Group and SIMEC Energy Group. Besides its industry brands GFG Alliance holds investments in financial services and property held within a Family Office. Sanjeev and his wife Nicola are also the founders of the GFG Foundation – a registered charity that aims to develop industrial skills among young people. GFG Alliance has revenues of $20bn and employees 36,000 people across 30 countries.

Born into a family of industrialists in Punjab, India, Sanjeev was educated in the UK and graduated with an MA in Economics and Management from the University of Cambridge. He founded Liberty House Group in 1992, while still an undergraduate, as a global commodities trader, growing rapidly across different geographies for over two decades.

In 2015 Sanjeev started his industrial journey buying and restarting his first steel mill in the UK. Since then he has built an international reputation as an ambitious and visionary industrialist acquiring and building major assets in metals, engineering, mining, and renewable energy spread across the world with a particular focus on the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA.

Sanjeev’s strategy is based on long-term investment focused on economic, social and environmental sustainability. At the heart of this are his low-carbon GREEN strategies (GREENSTEEL and GREENALUMINIUM) which combine metal recycling with renewable energy. In 2019 Sanjeev announced Liberty Steel Group’s ambition to become Carbon Neutral by 2030 – the most ambitious target of its kind by a major steel producer.

Progressing his vision of combining renewable energy with metal manufacturing, his energy group SIMEC, has a growing portfolio of assets in solar, wind, hydro, bio-diesel, biomass and waste-to-energy.

Sanjeev has also set up JAHAMA – the property arm of GFG Alliance – to provide property management and development services to members of the GFG Alliance that have considerable property portfolios.

Sanjeev is a major advocate of community development in areas where his businesses are active. He supports the building of industrial skills among young people through the GFG Foundation which he established with his wife Nicola in 2016.

Liberty, SIMEC, JAHAMA and GFG Foundation are all part of the GFG Alliance working together to build sustainable industries.

Sanjeev and Nicola live in Dubai with their three young children.

Dr. Jan Goetz

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, IQM

Jan is a quantum physicist and co-founding CEO of IQM, building next-generation quantum computers. IQM has assembled an exceptional team of international quantum experts developing on-premises systems for HPC and special applications. IQM has raised €128 million in Series A2 funding (in 2022), largest ever funding round raised by a European quantum computing company. Jan did his doctorate on superconducting quantum circuits at TU Munich and worked as a Marie-Curie Fellow in Helsinki at Aalto University, where he holds the title of docent. In 2020, Capital magazine selected him as one of 40 under 40 in Germany and he received an entrepreneurship award from the KAUTE Foundation. Jan is in the Board of the European Innovation Council EIC, the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC, and member of the German Federal Economic Senate as well as a Digital Leader and Global Innovator at the WEF.

Todd A. Goergen

Managing Partner, Ropart Asset Management Funds

Mr. Goergen prides himself on his dedication to mentoring young CEOs and working closely with more experienced executives in growing technology companies. RAM has made dozens of investments in technology and technology-enabled consumer products companies over the last 20 years – from early investments in web 1.0 (Allrecipes.com) and infrastructure (VeriCenter, a data hosting center owner-operator), to current investments in blockchain and web 3.0. In addition, RAM has made numerous investments in the cannabis industry including vertically-integrated MSOs (Cura Partners/Curaleaf, GoldLeaf, PCH), pure play full spectrum CBD (Prospect Farms) as well as ancillary technology and services (14th Round).

Mr. Goergen has served in the C-Suite (e.g., ViSalus) and on over a dozen corporate Boards of Directors during his career, including: (current) Crexendo (NASDAQ:CXDO), Prospect Farms, Study Hall Ltd; (previous) Cura Partners, Digital Traffic Systems, and QC Laboratories, among many others.

Over the last several years, Mr. Goergen has increasingly become an advocate of all aspects of cryptocurrencies and the use of blockchain as an integral part of software infrastructure. He manages an active token portfolio and currently acts as Special Advisor to the CEO of Casper Labs (www.casperlabs.io) and as a Venture Partner for Draper Goren Holm (www.drapergorenholm.com).

MAKE International is a globally-focused blockchain technology services company that helps its clients by designing and building the world’s most impactful blockchain applications and services to connect people and businesses. Through its extensive experience, MAKE International is uniquely positioned to create revenue, save costs and improve business processes for SMBs, large enterprises and government entities alike. For more information, visit www.makeinternational.io.

Prior to founding the RAM Funds in 2001, Mr. Goergen began his career in mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance at Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette (“DLJ”), where he executed several billion dollars’ worth of buy-side and sell-side transactions. After DLJ, Mr. Goergen was Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Blyth, Inc., a leading global designer and marketer of personal and decorative products.

Ronit Ghose

Global Head, Future of Finance, Citi

Ronit Ghose is the lead author of Citi’s GPS Bank of the Future and FinTech report series – the first edition has had more than 250,000 downloads making it the most read report ever published by Citi, and one of the most read FinTech reports ever published. Since joining Citi in 1997, Ronit has covered banks in the Americas, Asia and EMEA. He is the Global Head of Future of Finance in Citi Research. He is also an Advisory Board Member at the Centre for Finance, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Ronit previously worked at the British Bankers’ Association and as a research assistant in Parliament. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford, a postgraduate diploma from the University of London and is a CFA charter holder.

John Defterios

Senior Advisor, APCO Worldwide

John Defterios, senior advisor and International Advisory Council member, is a veteran, award winning journalist and economic analyst with more than 35 years of experience at CNN, Reuters and PBS Television in the United States.

Mr. Defterios retired as CNN Business emerging markets editor and anchor in 2021. Based in the network’s Abu Dhabi bureau since 2011, his reporting focused on the top business stories from emerging economies, with a specialty in trade, geo-politics and energy. He has covered landmark events during his career, including the Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the World Trade Centre bombings, G8/G20 summits and the L.A. Riots from his postings in London, Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Rome and the U.A.E. Mr. Defterios built a long-standing reputation for securing exclusive interviews with high-level figures during breaking news situations, including HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rachid, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; King Abdullah II of Jordan; and Ali Al Naimi and Khalid Al Falih, Energy Ministers of Saudi Arabia. He received The Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Foundation award for the Advancement of Energy Journalism.

He remains a sought after fixture at high-level global events as both a speaker and moderator. He has chaired sessions at the World Economic Forum, the OPEC Seminar, the IMF Roundtable, St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Atlantic Council Energy Forum, U.A.E. World Government Summit, U.S.-Saudi Arabia Investment Summit, Islamic Development Bank Annual Meeting, Global Women’s Forum, World Energy Council and Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative.

Mr. Defterios is a World Economic Forum media leader and member of the Global Agenda Council on the Arab World and serves on the board of the Stern Stewart Institute in Germany, a non-for-profit group promoting leadership and entrepreneurship.

Prior to CNN, Defterios worked for Reuters Television as European Correspondent, U.S. West Coast Correspondent and special series producer in a joint-venture with The Nightly Business Report on PBS-TV. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Journalism and Political Economics and was a fellow at the USC’s Institute of Politics and Government in Washington, D.C.

Bouchra Darwazah

General Partner, Asymmetric

Bouchra Darwazah is a General Partner at Asymmetric, a multi-strategy investment fund focused on venture and liquid investments in cryptocurrency and Web3. Asymmetric is backed by Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, the founders of Solana, Circle Inc. among other reputable institutional asset managers.

Bouchra has over 13 years of experience as an institutional trader, entrepreneur, and early-stage investor. Moroccan-born, Bouchra grew up between Casablanca and Paris before relocating to the US to attend Princeton University.

She moved to New York in 2010 to join Goldman Sachs as a derivatives trader where she traded and managed the US rates options, flow exotics, hybrid, and mortgage options books. Most recently she was the co-CEO at Aurate New York, a venture-backed leading DTC business she co-founded in 2017.

Bouchra is an angel investor focused on fintech and Web3 early-stage companies and is also a Limited Partner in technology-focused venture capital funds.

She is a founding member of the Moroccan Children Parliament, an initiative started by UNESCO in 1999, a member of the host committee of MacroMinds, and a member of the Visionary Committee of Friends of Hudson River Park in New York.

Bouchra earned a MSc in Finance from Princeton University and a BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from the French Grande Ecole- ENSAE Paris Tech.

At Princeton, she was the recipient of the Gerhard R. Andlinger Honorary Graduate Fellowship in Finance. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.

Ron Daniel

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Liquidity Capital

Ron Daniel is the co-founder and CEO of Liquidity Group, a $3B asset manager and technology company. Liquidity's patented technology is the world's most advanced real-time due diligence platform allowing capital deployment at scale, and deployed over $1.6B to 50 technology companies worldwide in 2022.

Backed by leading financial institutions such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Apollo Global Management, Spark Capital and Meitav Dash, Ron recently became the first Israeli entrepreneur to open a fully-fledged R&D centre in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office’s Innovation Program, opening the door for a new era of Israeli technology in the emirate.

Ron is a serial entrepreneur and has founded and managed technology and subscription-based companies for the last 20 years across Israel, San Francisco and London.

Chris Cox

Managing Director & Global Head of Trade & Working Capital Solutions, Citi

Chris joined TTS as the Global Head of Trade and Working Capital Solutions in December 2021

He previously headed EMEA Securities Services and was the Global Head of Data, Digitalisation and Strategic Projects for Securities Services at Citi. Prior to that, Chris was responsible for Citi’s EMEA Equities business, in addition to the regional Securities Services portfolio.

Chris has over 31 years of industry experience across Markets and Securities Services, with a track record of growth, transformation and innovation. Around a third of Chris’ career has been spent overseas, including assignments in Japan, Singapore and latterly Australia, where he ran Citi’s Australia and New Zealand Markets business between 2008 and 2014. He started his career at Salomon Brothers Investment Banking division in 1991 and his product experience spans debt capital markets and structuring, in addition to the activities previously identified.

Chris was the business sponsor behind Proxymity’s creation and its subsequent spin-out from Citigroup, and has recently stepped back from a board membership.

Chris holds a 1st class Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Dainton) from Imperial College.

Kyle Clark

Chief Executive Officer, BETA Technologies

Kyle Clark is an aerospace engineer and pilot. He’s the founder and CEO of BETA Technologies, a South Burlington, VT based company building an electric-powered transportation ecosystem. Kyle is a native Vermonter and craftsman, who takes pride in hands-on work. At BETA, he’s part of a relentlessly focused team building the most extensive charging infrastructure in the United States; developing innovative motors, inverters, and batteries; and designing and flying the most technologically advanced electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the world. BETA’s products and services enable the movement of cargo and people around the world safely, efficiently, and with minimal environmental impact. Prior to founding BETA Technologies, Kyle co-founded Venture.co and was Director of Engineering at Dynapower, where he and his team of programmers, engineers, and technicians developed a full line of inverters, pulse modulators, and control systems. Previously, Kyle was a founding partner and Vice President of Engineering at iTherm Technologies. And, before he became a serial entrepreneur, Kyle played right wing in the NHL’s Washington Capitals organization. Kyle is a Certified Flight Instructor and a licensed commercial airplane pilot and helicopter driver. He holds a degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Harvard University, where he studied flight dynamics and control algorithms.

Patrick Chalhoub

Chief Executive Officer, Chalhoub Group

As the group president of Chalhoub Group, a leading luxury retail distribution company based in the Middle East, Patrick Chalhoub oversees the retail operations of fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Nina Ricci, Marc Jacobs and Carolina Herrera within the UAE and wider Gulf region. Headquartered in Dubai, the group manages over 400 stand-alone retail outlets and department stores within the fashion, beauty and luxury gift sectors. In 2010 the group also became an honorary member of Italian luxury association Altagamma.

Initially joining the group in 1979, Patrick was appointed co-chief executive officer alongside his brother in 2001, with Patrick overseeing operations at headquarters. Under his stewardship, the family-run company entered into exclusive joint ventures with a number of brands including Christian Louboutin and Christian Dior and Dior Couture. Prior to his appointment the group had begun extending their operations through the launch of wholly-owned concept stores such as luxury gift boutique Tanagra and beauty store Faces. In 2011 Patrick added to this range, introducing a luxury children’s concept store Katakeek, and in 2012 opened Level Shoe District, a 9000 square metre shoe boutique in Dubai Mall.

Named retailed of the year at the 2011 CEO Middle East Awards, Patrick Chalhoub plays a prominent role in promoting the group’s rich legacy through active involvement in the French Business Council in Dubai, and has set up various scholarship funds in Lebanon. He was also awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French Government and has been a Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur since January 2016. In June 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General appointed Chalhoub to the Board of the UN Global Compact.