We are proud to announce three more members of this year's global jury
Amy Cosper is the former Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur magazine and the CEO of RadicalUpstarts. She has been reporting and commenting on the world of entrepreneurship for 12 years. Cosper is an evangelist for innovation and disruption around the globe. She is keenly aware of the power of entrepreneurship on a cultural and economic level.
Her mission is to spread the word and promise of these philosophies on a global scale and to make an impact by teaching these ideas.
Cosper is currently working on a book and a documentary that explore the deep economic and cultural impact heralded by the global entrepreneurship movement. She is an awardwinning editor and writer and strongly adheres to the idea that “on the other side of your fear, is your success.” And she would know, since she rides a Ducati and only does sports that require a helmet.
Otho Kerr is a partner with Encourage Capital. Encourage Capital is an investment firm that seeks to change the way investment capital is used to solve critical environmental and social problems. Encourage Capital is building a community of investors, foundations, market-leading companies and non-profits to deploy private capital into systemic solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Encourage Capital believes that it can generate both compelling investment returns and social and environmental impacts for its investors.
Prior to joining Encourage (formerly EKO Asset Management Partners), Otho was an Executive Director at Oppenheimer Asset Management. He has worked in the investment banking and asset management industries for over twenty years, having begun with Goldman Sachs & Co., where he worked in the Investment Banking Division. While at Goldman, Otho managed the U.S.’s first Rule 144A transaction. He later became Director and Head of the Corporate Finance Retail Industry Group at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (Deutsche Bank). Otho has a wealth of experience managing private placements and public offerings of debt and equity. He began his professional career as an attorney with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Online media pioneer Marc Worth has been involved as a founder, executive and operational leader in consumer and media industries for over 25 years. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Stylus Media Group (SMG), a company he founded in 2009 to provide comprehensive consumer research and design insights to a broad spectrum of clients. The firm serves more than 300 blue-chip companies across industries such as food and beverage, fashion, retail and technology, among many others. SMG acquired Decoded Fashion in 2014 and more recently unbound in 2016. Decoded Fashion is the event series connecting decision-makers in Fashion, Beauty and Retail with emerging and established technology companies. Unbound connects brands and corporations with disruptive technology, products and services, in order to fuel their innovation and growth. Alongside his work at Stylus, Marc continues to invest in new businesses and mentor young entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Marc combined his love of business and Israel by taking the chair of UK Israel Business, a merger of the former British-Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Israel Britain Business Council from 2011 to 2015. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Israel’s Shenkar College since 2013. Additionally, Marc is Chairman of TLVinLDN a London festival showcasing the diverse culture of the vibrant city of Tel Aviv to be held in September 2017.
Tiffany Norwood is a serial entrepreneur, including seven start-ups, two IPOs and a patent. Her ventures have ranged from the first one-strap backpack, to the automation technology for broadband internet, to a virtual reality gaming platform. In her 20s, she raised 0 million to fund a global digital satellite radio start-up called WorldSpace/XMRadio. After raising the money, she became Head of International Business Development and did some of the first ever digital content licensing deals, including Bloomberg News with Michael Bloomberg and global partnership with CNN. Currently, Tiffany is the Founder and CEO of Tribetan. In this role, Tiffany speaks around the world on the currency of faith and the science of turning imagination into reality- her dream is that the entrepreneurial skill of manifesting ideas is as well known as reading and math. Some of her past venues include Cornell University, the Italian Parliament, Platform Summit, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Dev4Ethic, KPMG UK, Center of American Studies and others. Tiffany is also Co-Founder of Emortal, a virtual reality e-sports gaming start-up and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgetown University.
Tom Lersten serves as Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Program in the U.S. Department of State. As such he provides strategic and policy guidance regarding entrepreneurship in the State Department. In addition, he is responsible for identifying key private sector partners to assist the Department in the promotion of entrepreneurship, and plays a major role planning the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Tom joined the Foreign Service in 1998, as an economic officer. He previously served overseas tours in Moscow, Dubai, and Nicaragua, along with a variety of assignments in the State Department, including in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Bureau of Counter Terrorism. He holds a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, MN, and an M.A. in International Relations from the American University. Tom grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sten has a long history with the Deloitte organization, for 30 years he has been a part of the transformation from local to global. Working I three different places and now sitting in Copenhagen as a member of the Core client leadership. Besides he is one of the founders and board members of Deloitte Pension Management P/S. Has always been a part of the innovation of new ideas and a stakeholder in growth plans within Deloitte. He is working with a wide variety of client always with a distinct focus on making a difference for the individual client and the growth of the individual companies. Also working a lot with strategies for the companies and in special with the strategic development of the textile industry. Has a big experience within M&A of Health Care companies. Sten has for a number of year been a part time professor of two different business schools in Denmark.
Rebeca Hwang is co-founder Rivet Ventures, which invests in companies in women-led markets where female usage, decision-making, and purchasing are crucial to company growth. Rebeca is also Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the San Francisco-based startup, YouNoodle, which focuses on helping companies and governments engage with communities of entrepreneurs for open innovation and co-creation of products and services. Currently, YouNoodle’s technology platform helps power entrepreneurship initiatives by the governments of Chile, Peru, Denmark and companies of the stature of Verizon, Genentech, Cisco and Twitter. In 2014 alone, YouNoodle helped thousands of founders secure more than million in cash grants and prizes from corporations, universities and government.
Kei Hareyama has over 15 years of experience managing investment and business development for multinational technology institutions – including serving as Managing Manager at Karabiner Capital, and CEO at Rock Climbing Partners for the Impact Investment project. He is also the Chair on board of the Global Angel Investment Network for Business Angel Investment, and a serial entrepreneur. He sits on the board of several major international startups, and serves as a transnational mentor for innovative companies pioneering new developments in a variety of industries. Hareyamas mission is to pioneer across the regions for the Social Impact industry. The project finance portfolio contains major international startups in Europe, Japan, and the Middle East with the aim to foster innovation and corporate development.
Emma has over 15 years of professional experience in the venture capital industry, including 12 years of advocacy work at the European Private & Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Since 2013 she has been working at META Group, an international advisory an investment firm managing early stage funds and investing in start-ups in several European countries. Emma is also Independent Board member of Business Angels Europe (BAE), the European confederation for angels investing, and works for other investors organisations such as Princip.al, an international network of family offices. During her carrier she has developed a solid know-how of the venture capital industry and a broad network of public and private investors. She is expert for the European commission assessing the investment readiness of SMEs participating at the SME instrument, and she supports companies who have received public funding to prepare for their negotiations with private investors. Emma graduated from University of Zaragoza with a degree in law and afterwards obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) at the European University in Brussels.
Joseph Ogutu joined Safaricom as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer in May 2005 from Telkom Kenya where he was the Principal Assistant to the Managing Director and Chief Strategy & Regulatory Officer. He then served as Chief Human Resource Officer from 2008 before taking on the role of Director, Resources Division in the March 2011 company reorganization. In October 2012, Mr. Ogutu was appointed as the Director, Strategy & innovation Division, where he works closely with the CEO in formulating strategic direction for the business focusing on developing Safaricom’s position as an industry leader in driving innovation in products & services. He also serves as the Chairman of Safaricom Foundation and sits in the Board of TEAMS Limited.
Mr. Ogutu has had a dynamic career in the telecommunications industry spanning more than 25 years of which the last 12 have been at Executive Committee level. During this period, he was actively involved in the reform of the sector including the drafting of the Postal and Telecommunication Policy Paper that led to the restructuring of the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation and subsequent establishment of CCK, Telkom Kenya and Postal Corporation of Kenya. He has also been involved in the establishment of the institutional framework for the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (Eassy). Mr. Ogutu is a Kenyan citizen and a graduate of Economics from the University of Nairobi.
Soha Hohnecker joined Microsoft in March 2012 to lead the Western European Microsoft Ventures team. She works with 14 countries across Europe promoting BizSpark program aimed at supporting early stage software developers and startups. BizSpark now has more than 52,000 startups in 110 countries and over 2,400 partners.
Hohnecker began her career in a smaller French enterprise where she held different positions ranging from project management to sales, marketing and business development. She holds an MBA degree from HEC Paris and a computer engineering degree from the Lebanese American University.
Soha Hohnecker is passionate about supporting entrepreneurship and represents Microsoft on the topics of early-stage developing, innovation and young enterprise. She works on daily basis with entrepreneurs across Europe coaching and mentoring them on how to develop and grow their company.
Andreas Bastedo started out as an architect by education (1996, Petra Christian University) and started his own training company business in 1998. while doing professional work as an architect. He started his education involvement pretty early with teaching various design softwares in his almamater and in various universities after that. Andreas Bastedo believes that learning is a never-ending process. As a lecturer, he also seeks out professional certification from Autodesk as a main supplier of design applications. He has a professional certification and teaching certification in the form of Autodesk ACI (Autodesk Certified Instructor) and ACE (Autodesk Certified Evaluator).
Between his community work as member of FORUM GRAFIKA DIGITAL, Andreas Bastedo is running a training company, a 3D technology company specialized in rapid prototyping and fabrication labs, Keera Sistem Indonesia, PT, and his family business, Nobel Technotronics. He also found an outlet for his passion for education in Visual Communication Design at the University Ciputra. He has a great passion for the educational area “as I can help shape Indonesia’s future by preparing its youth to face the challenges of the global market.”
Sama Faissal Al Saud is a young, thriving entrepreneur who is passionately committed to fostering a knowledge culture and enabling the young generations for a brighter future. As the Executive Partner of the Nour Nouf Foundation for Knowledge, a foundation to promote and nourish culture, talents, entrepreneurship, innovations, and connecting future pioneers. Her activities include: Co Founding the Triage Project, a community healthcare outreach program that trains healthcare volunteers in the pursuit of offering public health services to communities in need; serving on the advisory committee of Al Aghar; an independent Saudi think tank founded in 2001 with the objective of transforming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in to a knowledge society through providing decision makers strategic options in the areas of social, cultural and economic development based in Jeddah, KSA. She is actively volunteering with a number of charitable groups, including but not limited to, Sanad Children’s Cancer Society, the National Home Healthcare Foundation and Kayl Association for Obesity. As well as initiating an animal awareness organization in Riyadh, to promote the safety and care of domestic and non-domestic animals.
Sama embarked upon a flight journey, unparalleled to any other in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Despite having graduated with Bachelors in Business Administration, Al Saud recently graduated from the Saudi Aviation Flight Academy with a private and commercial pilot’s license, the first female to study and graduate from this field in the Kingdom.
Joanne has worked across the creative industries in publishing and events for the last 13 years, and her experience spans architecture, furniture, fashion, interior design and technology. She started her career on Grand Designs Live, and has worked across design events such as Decorex International, The Sleep Event, New Design Britain, Pure London and the World Architecture Festival. More recently she was Marketing Director for Drapers, Retail Jeweller, Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal.
Joanne is now Marketing Director for Stylus Media Group (SMG), which helps businesses strengthen their innovation and creative capabilities. SMG comprises: Stylus, providing comprehensive consumer research and design insights to a broad spectrum of clients across industry; Decoded Fashion, the event series connecting decision makers in fashion, beauty and retail with emerging and established technology companies; and Unbound, connecting brands and corporations with disruptive technology, products and services, in order to fuel their innovation and growth.
Mr. Djamal-Addine Abdel-Aziz Haggar began his career in an international law firm (PwC) to launch Africa Consulting, a human-sized firm, currently operating in the city of N’Djamena, Chad. For several years, he carried out the audit and specialized advice to large institutions, businesses and government agencies. As president of Consulting Africa, he leads a group of three firms, which is combined with the 6th largest global network (RSM International). From May 2009 to June 2015, Mr. Djamal-Addine was the representative of Chad to the Commission of Accounting Standards OHADA CNC (OHADA).
From August 2011 to present, Mr Djamal-Addine has been a member of the OHADA National Committee. As such, he is regularly consulted on matters related standards applicable to the public sector and specific sectors (notably oil projects, banking and insurance). He was the first president of the National Association of Chartered Accountants of Chad (ANECAT). Initiator of the skills of living and employment, Chad Talents, is very active in the promotion of young entrepreneurs and in several associations not for profit. He is also Honorary President of the A2RTEL association, active in the promotion of entrepreneurship. Mr Djamal-Addine is regularly involved in competitions for presentations or as a member of juries.
Christina Wainikka is Doctor of Law, specialized in intellectual property rights. She has an MBA in Leading Innovation from Stockholm School of Economics. In 1996 she founded Wainikkas Innovationsbyrå. Wainikka meets entrepreneurs within various areas on a daily basis and she believes, that “the creative industries are of growing importance and the field consists of so many different types of operations. It is also closely linked to the development of the society, even more so than in other innovative businesses.”
Chun Lee is the founder and Managing Director of Decode-China Consultancy Ltd since June 2014, situated in Beijing, China. Chun has worked with change-oriented multinational and Chinese entrepreneurs, combining his business experience with a deep understanding of the Chinese market and culture. Decode-China provides proactive, hands-on, results driven service to its clients spanning a mix of sectors including Chinese state owned enterprises, Chinese private companies, multi-national companies of information technology and services, financial services and consumer goods and technologies.
Before Chun founded Decode-China, he worked at Oriencard Technologies Ltd, one of the top three SIM solution providers in China, as the founder and Co-CEO. During this period of time, he was also involved in setting up and investing the first private children’s hospital in China, New Century Children’s Hospital, which has grown into the largest private hospital chain in China.
Anniken earned her Master of International Marketing Management in 1994 from The Norwegian Business School (Norway), École Supérieure de Commerce de Grenoble (France), and City University Business School in London (UK).
Throughout the years she has added expertise such as Brand Strategy and Management from The Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Coaching from The Coaches Training Institute CTI in San Francisco, as well as a CMCT Certification within the area of Influence from Dr. Robert Cialdini in Arizona. In 1995 she started working in the Oslo based design- and branding agency Scandinavian Design Group after her studies, and was part of the merger with McCann Worldgroup in the late nineties. During this time, she worked as Senior Account Director and Marketing Director until she left the company to found Dinamo Design in 2001, as part of Norway’s largest communication house Dinamo. Today Dinamo Design counts over 25 people, and is one of the leading design/branding agencies in the country.
In 2011 Anniken moved on to work independently as a consultant and entrepreneur, and in 2012 she founded what rapidly became Norway’s largest coworking space for creative industries, 657 Oslo, together with her partner Joachim Levin – now housing more than 150 people within the communication-, creative- and cultural industries. Anniken and Joachim’s own agency, Superblaise, was founded in 2013 and is located at 657 Oslo with 15 employees. Throughout her 20 years in the communication industry Anniken has worked as a strategic advisor with most of the large brands and companies in the Nordics as well as many internationally, also serving as a board member for numerous companies. She’s also been a guest speaker at The Norwegian Business School, The Oslo School of Management, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo National Academy of The Arts, and London Business School within the areas of entrepreneurship, mentoring, brand strategy, marketing, influence, and communication.
