Speaker | NY22

Avi Loeb

Managing Director, Harvard University

Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a bestselling author (in lists of the New York Times,Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, L'Express and more). He received a PhD in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980-1986), led the first international project supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983-1988), and was subsequently a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1988-1993). Loeb has written 8 books, including most recently, Extraterrestrial, and nearly a thousand papers (with h-index of 119 and i10-index of 543) on a wide range of topics, including black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial life and the future of the Universe. Loeb is the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (2007-present) within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and also serves as the Head of the Galileo Project (2021-present). He had been the longest serving Chair of Harvard's Department of Astronomy (2011-2020) and the Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative (2016-2021). He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. Loeb is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House, a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies (2018-2021) and a current member of the Advisory Board for "Einstein: Visualize the Impossible" of the Hebrew University. He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative (2016-present) and serves as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In 2012, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in space and in 2020 Loeb was selected among the 14 most inspiring Israelis of the last decade. Click here for Loeb's commentaries on innovation and diversity.  

Edwin Jager

Managing Director & Head of Fundamental Equities, D. E. Shaw & Co.

Edwin Jager is a managing director of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and Head of Fundamental Equities for the D. E. Shaw group. In that capacity, Mr. Jager oversees the firm’s fundamental long/short equities, special situation, and activist investment activities globally, including alternative data-driven fundamental equity research and development. He formerly served as a rotating member of the firm’s Risk Committee. Mr. Jager joined the D. E. Shaw group in 2011 and previously served as Portfolio Manager for the technology, media, and telecommunications sector within the firm’s Fundamental Equities Strategies. He previously served as sector head for technology equities at Perry Capital, LLC. Mr. Jager began his career at Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., where he rose to the position of senior analyst in that firm’s technology corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions group. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, where he earned a dual degree, with honors, in ethics, politics, and economics and political science and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Jager received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Edwin N. Conway

Global Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors, BlackRock

Edwin N. Conway, Senior Managing Director, is Global Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee. As Global Head of BlackRock Alternatives, he is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day oversight of BlackRock’s global platform of alternatives investment capabilities, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets, Credit and Hedge Funds across both liquid and illiquid markets.

Mr. Conway previously served as Global Head of BlackRock’s Institutional Client Business, responsible for the firm’s client strategy and relationship management across the global institutional client community.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2011, Mr. Conway was a Senior Managing Director at The Blackstone Group where he led the Global Investor Relations & Business Development Group. Before joining Blackstone in 2005, Mr. Conway was an Executive Director at Arden Asset Management, Inc. and prior to that he was a Director at Credit Suisse Asset Management located both in London and New York.

Mr. Conway earned a BComm degree from University College Dublin.

Soraya Chabarek

Chief Executive Officer, CQS

Soraya is the Chief Executive Officer of CQS. She is a Senior Partner and serves as a Director on the CQS Board of Directors. She is also a member of the CQS Responsible Investment Governance Committee and the Asset Advisory Committee for Multi Asset Credit. Soraya joined CQS in 2013 and in her capacity as Global Head of Distribution has been responsible for growing assets and leading CQS' global sales team to build long-term partnerships with investors.

During her career, Soraya has had exposure to a broad range of fund strategies including global macro, equities, emerging markets, credit and convertibles. She began her career at HSBC Private Bank and then in 2000 moved to Permal Investment Management in London where she focused on distributing fund of hedge funds across the EMEA region. A fluent Arabic speaker, Soraya joined GLG Partners in 2004 as a Principal to build out their Middle Eastern presence. In 2008, Soraya joined Moore Europe Capital Management as Head of Marketing for the Emerging Macro Strategies. Here she successfully re-built the asset base during one of the more trying periods in the industry.

Soraya holds a BA in Economics and Public Administration from Royal Holloway, University of London.

H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi

Vice Chair, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)

H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi is a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED). His wealth of management experience in the private sector combined with his distinguished and dynamic leadership style have placed him in a unique position to actively contribute to the Emirate’s economic success.

His Excellency is one of the outstanding national figures recognized for his outstanding success, professional intelligence and dedication to the homeland.

This is reflected in his high educational background and keenness to join establishments that reflect his interests. He holds an MBA from the London Business School and certificates from prestigious international institutions, including MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Citibank Global Asset Management, Harvard Business School in addition to the senior executive leadership program of the University of Harvard.

H.E. Al Shorafa is currently the head of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) - an ADDED affiliate, Chairman of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED), Chairman of Hub71 – a key initiative of the Abu Dhabi Government’s development accelerators program, Chairman of the Board of the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA), Chairman of Free Zones Council - Abu Dhabi, Chairman of the Etihad Aviation Group, and Vice-Chair of the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

H.E. Al Shorafa was the CEO and managing director of UEMedical, a board member in the Strategic Partnership Council of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, and a board member and chairman of the Healthcare Working Group of the UAE-UK Business Council. In addition to that, he was also the vice chairman of United Eastern Group (UEG) and Gulf Contractors Company (GCC). Al Shorafa spent nine years at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) before taking on his next challenge by launching UEMedical.

The organizations, where HE is involved, are contributing to the economic growth of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In view of his many significant accomplishments,

H.E. Al Shorafa was named by Arabian Business, in partnership with Bombardier, as one of the world’s most powerful Arabs in the years 2019 and 2021.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Lux Capital

Josh co-founded Lux Capital in NYC and Menlo Park to support scientists andentrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time. Josh is a Director at Shapeways (3D printing), Strateos (robotic and digital pathology), Kymeta (making cutting-edge technology for high-speed satellite and space communications), Varda Space Industries (manufacturing in low and zero gravity space), and Variant (developing therapies that will improve global health by studying the genes of people with exceptional health-related traits). Josh helped lead many of the firm’s investments across cutting-edge technologies including Anduril (defense), Hadrian (aerospace manufacturing), Resilience (biopharma manufacturing) Kurion (high-tech nuclear waste remediation, acquired by Veolia), Kallyope (gut-brain axis), and CTRL-Labs (brain- machine interface acquired by Facebook).

Josh is a published scientist and Westinghouse semi-finalist. Before founding Lux, Josh worked in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney, in capital markets at Merrill Lynch, and published AIDS-immunopathology research in Cell Vision & The Journal of Leukocyte Biology. Josh has been a columnist and editor with Forbes. He has been invited to The White House and Capitol Hill to advise on emerging technologies, and a lecturer at MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and NYU. He is a Trustee of the Santa Fe Institute, has been a term member at The Council on Foreign Relations, and Chairman of Coney Island Prep charter school, where he grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Economics and Finance.

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Balaji Srinivasan

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Technologist, The Network State

Balaji S. Srinivasan (@balajis) is an angel investor, tech founder, and author of The Network State.

Formerly the CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he is an early investor in many successful tech companies and crypto protocols, including Alchemy, Ava Labs, Bitcoin, Cameo, Chainlink, Clubhouse, Dapper Labs, Deel, EPNS, Ethereum, Instadapp, Lambda School, Mighty, NEAR Protocol, OnDeck, Opensea, Replit, Republic, Roam Research, Solana, Soylent, Superhuman, Synthesis, XMTP, and Zora.

Dr. Srinivasan was the cofounder of Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), Counsyl (acquired by Myriad), Teleport (acquired by Topia), and Coin Center. He holds a BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.

Ambre Soubiran

Chief Executive Officer, Kaiko

Ambre is the CEO of Kaiko, an enterprise-grade market data provider in the blockchain-based digital assets industry. Prior to joining Kaiko, Ambre spent a decade at HSBC in London and Paris, structuring equity derivatives and equity-based financing solutions (Global Markets & Equity Capital Markets). Ambre has a passion for world-changing technology, and has been interested and invested in digital assets since 2012.

Mo Shaikh

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Aptos

Mo is the CEO and Co-founder of Aptos, a blockchain designed for the next billion users. He is a 3x founder with over a decade of multinational financial services and blockchain/crypto experience. In the past, Mo has led blockchain Strategic Partnerships for Novi, Facebook’s wallet. As a first-generation immigrant, raised by a taxi driver and housewife on Welfare in Brooklyn, creating an accessible financial system for all is personal to Mo. Blockchain is essential to this path. Mo was the Founder and CEO of Meridio, a ConsenSys-backed, blockchain-based company that issued the world’s first fractional share of real estate. Mo also led ConsenSys strategy as an early employee and founded the ConsenSys’ Middle East Office. He has consulted the World Economic Forum on their global blockchain strategy including Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs). Prior to Meridio, Mo also consulted Sovereign Wealth Funds, energy, and telecom companies with BCG’s Private Equity practice.

Grace Reyes

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Investment Diversity Exchange

As featured on Forbes, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, Grace Reyes is one of the most prominent voices in finance when it comes to promoting diversity & gender balance in the investment management industry. Ms. Reyes is the CEO of The Investment Diversity Exchange (TIDE) which connects and engages movers and shakers to promote diversity & inclusion within the investment industry. With a background in fundraising, Grace has built relationships with the largest investors in the US and has formed close rapport with an array of industry leaders & prominent investors globally - relationships that have helped her bring awareness to the causes and firms that Grace represents. She is also an Independent Board Director and part of the Audit Committee of Professional Diversity Network (NASDAQ: IPDN).

Rebecca Rettig

General Counsel, The Aave Companies

Rebecca Rettig is the General Counsel of the Aave Companies, a group of software development companies that build open source, blockchain-based software.  Rebecca began her legal career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York, litigating complex commercial disputes; prior to joining the Aave Companies, Rebecca was a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in the financial services group, representing blockchain and crypto clients. With unique and deep-rooted expertise representing companies at the forefront of the financial services industry’s digital transformation, Rebecca spent the past five years advising blockchain and cryptocurrency clients on legal and regulatory matters—with a particular focus advising DeFi projects; she also represented clients in all aspects of litigation and regulatory enforcement proceedings as well as in licensing matters. In 2019, Rebecca was recognized as one of the top 100 women lawyers in New York City by Crain’s New York Business.

Leslie Picker

Finance & Investing Reporter, CNBC

Leslie Picker joined CNBC in February 2017 as a reporter, based at the network’s Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Picker covers banking, financial institutions, hedge funds, private equity and asset management, and her reporting appears on CNBC’s Business Day programming and the network’s digital platforms.

Picker helped launch CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Newsletter in 2021, where she interviews prominent investors and covers key themes in finance on a bi-monthly basis. Her investigation into Puerto Rico’s debt crisis won a Society for Advanced Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) award and was a finalist for a Gerald Loeb Award in 2018.

Previously, Picker was a reporter at The New York Times where she covered deals. Her beat encompassed mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, venture capital, private equity, restructuring and shareholder activism. Prior to The New York Times, Picker was a reporter at Bloomberg News where she reported on initial public offerings. There, she also contributed to Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio. Prior to becoming a reporter, Picker was a segment producer for Bloomberg Television.

Picker graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science. She also earned a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, graduating with honors, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business, with a concentration in finance.

Akash Pasricha

Crypto & Technology Reporter, The Information

Akash Pasricha is a crypto and technology reporter at The Information. He co-authors The Information’s flagship Briefing newsletter, and the publication’s weekly Crypto Global newsletter. Akash previously worked at The Seattle Times as a business reporter covering venture capital and startups, and his work has appeared in The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, and The Chicago Tribune. Akash started his career in strategy consulting at Deloitte. He is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School, having previously earned degrees in business and life sciences.

Dave Olsen

President & Chief Investment Officer, Jump Trading

Dave Olsen is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Jump Trading, where he is involved in all aspects of the firm’s activities with particular focus on building strategic partnerships, investing in new markets, and developing solutions to complex post-trade needs. Prior to joining Jump, Dave led J.P. Morgan’s futures, options, and OTC derivative clearing businesses. Dave also had various roles in trading fixed income and derivative instruments, investment grade debt underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, and fintech venture capital investing. Dave is a graduate of Kenyon College and is based in New York City.ss

Sandeep Nailwal

Co-Founder, Polygon

Meet Sandeep Nailwal. Also known as the co-founder of Polygon, a global and sustainable Web3 infrastructure built on Ethereum. After studying computer science, Sandeep received his MBA from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (Nitie), one of the top schools in India, where he specialized in information technology. Sandeep went on to lead the technology department at Welspun, the largest textile company in Asia, and worked as a consultant at Deloitte.

Sandeep’s background in tech set the foundation for the 2015 launch of his company, ScopeWeaver, India’s largest marketplace for professional services. It was here that he designed and developed blockchain-based decentralized application architecture. As with many, once Sandeep dipped his toes into the world of web3, there was no turning back. Sandeep immersed himself in literature, reading everything and anything about artificial intelligence and other new technologies, such as blockchain. Just two years later, in 2017, Sandeep, Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun united under a common vision for the future of blockchain tech, and Polygon was born.

Currently, Sandeep is based in Dubai, with the support of his 400+ people team that are distributed across India, Dubai, Asia, the USA, and Europe. Sandeep’s day to day is filled with a little bit of everything, including, branding, marketing, adoption, and operations at Polygon, as well as partnering with key stakeholders to push forward the vision of Polygon. With a strong team behind him, Sandeep is excited to continue to develop the Polygon ecosystem, with the ultimate mission of bringing crypto to the masses.

“Mass adoption of crypto is our core mission at Polygon…” - Sandeep Naiwal

Gary Mendell

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Shatterproof

Gary Mendell is the founder and CEO of Shatterproof, a national nonprofit dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the United States. After losing his son Brian to addiction in 2011, Gary founded Shatterproof to spare other families the tragedy his had suffered.

Since founding Shatterproof, Mr. Mendell has been recognized as a national leader in the addiction space, working to transform how opioid and substance use disorders are treated. His priorities include advocating for state and federal policy change, ending the harmful stigma of addiction, and supporting and educating our communities.

Mr. Mendell has testified in front of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and his opinions are frequently reflected in the media.  He is a member of the National Quality Forum's Technical Expert Panel for Opioid and Opioid Use Disorder and is an advisory member of The Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.  

Before Shatterproof, Mr. Mendell spent decades as an entrepreneur. He founded HEI Hotels & Resorts, a multi-billion-dollar company that oversees a portfolio of approximately 70 first class hotels.

Mr. Mendell received his B.S. from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and his MBA with distinction from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary-Catherine Lader

Chief Operating Officer, Uniswap Labs

Mary-Catherine (MC) Lader is the Chief Operating Officer of Uniswap Labs, a developer of foundational web3-based products and applications. In this role, she oversees the company’s growth efforts, strategic initiatives, and operations. Previously, she held various leadership roles at BlackRock, including as the Global Head of the firm’s digital sustainability business, Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s Digital Wealth Business, and leader of the firm’s strategic fintech investments and blockchain activities. MC began her career in Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group and worked on the staff of the World Economic Forum’s Davos gatherings. She received her J.D. and M.B.A. degrees at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively, and her B.A. at Brown University.

Vinod Khosla

Founder, Partner, Khosla Ventures

Vinod Khosla is an entrepreneur, investor, and technology fan. He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, focused on impactful technology investments in software, AI, robotics, 3D printing, healthcare and more. Mr. Khosla was a co-founder of Daisy systems and founding CEO of Sun Microsystems where he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. One of Mr. Khosla’s greatest passions is being a mentor to entrepreneurs, assisting entrepreneurs and helping them build technology based businesses. Mr. Khosla is driven by the desire to make a positive impact through using technology to reinvent societal infrastructure and multiply resources. He is also passionate about Social Entrepreneurship. Vinod holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT, New Delhi, a Master's in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.