Speakers

Biography

Mr. Arougheti is a Co-Founder of Ares and the Chief Executive Officer and President, as well as a Director of Ares Management Corporation. He is a member of the Ares Executive Management Committee, the Ares Enterprise Risk Committee and is on the Board of Directors of the Ares Charitable Foundation. He additionally serves as Co-Chairman of Ares Capital Corporation ("ARCC"), Co-Chairman of Ares Acquisition Corporation ("AAC") and as a director of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation ("ACRE"). Mr. Arougheti also is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending and Pathfinder Investment Committees and the Ares Equity Income Opportunity Strategy Portfolio Review Committee Prior to joining Ares in 2004, Mr. Arougheti was employed by Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") from 2001 to 2004, where he was a Managing Partner of the Principal Finance Group of RBC Capital Partners and a member of the firm's Mezzanine Investment Committee. Mr. Arougheti oversaw an investment team that originated, managed and monitored a diverse portfolio of middle-market leveraged loans, senior and junior subordinated debt, preferred equity and common stock and warrants on behalf of RBC and other third-party institutional investors. Mr. Arougheti joined RBC in October 2001 from Indosuez Capital, where he was a Principal and an Investment Committee member, responsible for originating, structuring and executing leveraged transactions across a broad range of products and asset classes. Prior to joining Indosuez in 1994, Mr. Arougheti worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Mr. Arougheti also serves on the board of directors of Operation HOPE, a not-for-profit organization focused on expanding economic opportunity in underserved communities through education and empowerment. Additionally, Mr. Arougheti is a member of the PATH Organization Leadership Council. Mr. Arougheti received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics, cum laude, from Yale University.

Biography

Mark T. Bertolini is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest and most successful hedge fund. Based in Westport, Connecticut, Bridgewater manages approximately $150 billion in assets for sophisticated institutional investors across the globe, including public and corporate pension funds, university endowments, charitable foundations, supranational agencies, foreign governments, and central banks. Mark previously served as Co-Chairman of Bridgewater’s Operating Board of Directors, having served as an Independent Director of the firm’s Internal Board since 2019.

Mark is also a national health care thought leader, and the former Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc. At Aetna, Mark assumed the role of CEO in November 2010, and of Chairman in April 2011. In November 2018, he stepped down as Chairman and CEO and served as a Director of CVS Health Corporation upon completion of CVS Health’s acquisition of Aetna, valued at $69 billion. Throughout Mark’s tenure at Aetna, he led the company’s transition from a traditional health insurance company to a consumer-oriented health care company focused on delivering holistic, integrated care in local communities.

Before joining Aetna, Mark held executive positions at Cigna, NYLCare Health Plans, and SelectCare, Inc., where he was President and Chief Executive Officer. He serves as a director of Verizon Communications Inc. (communications and technology solutions), Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (insurance and investment products), Thrive Global (sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance and purpose), and the FIDELCO Guide Dog Foundation (non-profit organization that breeds, trains and places German Shepherd guide dogs with people who have visual disabilities).

Biography

Tom Bianculli serves as the chief technology officer of Zebra Technologies. In this role, Mr. Bianculli is responsible for the exploration of emerging opportunities, coordinating with product teams on advanced product development and Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives. The chief technology office is comprised of engineering, business, customer research and design functions. Mr. Bianculli began his career in the tech industry at Symbol Technologies, Inc. (later acquired by Motorola) in 1994 as part of the data capture solutions business. In the following years, he held positions of increased responsibility including architectural and director of engineering roles. Mr. Bianculli has been granted over 20 U.S. patents and is a Zebra Distinguished Innovator and Science Advisory Board associate. Bianculli holds bachelor of science and master of science degrees in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University, NYU and serves on the board of directors for the School of Engineering at the New York Institute of Technology.

Biography

Jason Brady is president and CEO of Thornburg Investment Management. He is responsible for the company’s overall strategy and direction. He is also portfolio manager on multiple strategies. He joined the firm in 2006, was made portfolio manager and managing director in 2007, and president and CEO in 2016. His book Income Investing: An Intelligent Approach to Profiting from Bonds, Stocks and Money Markets is a step-by-step guide to income investing.

Jason holds a BA with honors in English and environmental biology from Dartmouth College, and an MBA with concentrations in analytical finance and accounting from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is a CFA charterholder. Prior to joining Thornburg, Jason was a portfolio manager with Fortis Investments in Boston, and has held various positions at Fidelity Investments and Lehman Brothers.

Biography

David Breach is the President and Chief Operating Officer of leading enterprise software investor Vista Equity Partners (Vista). He directs the firm’s operational strategy, with oversight of DE&I and ESG initiatives, talent acquisition and retention, fundraising activity and other key business functions. Breach is a member of Vista’s Executive Committee, as well as the firm’s Private Equity Management and Private Equity Funds’ Investment Committees. He also serves or has served on the boards of several Vista portfolio companies, including Cvent (NASDAQ: CVT), EagleView and Jamf (NASDAQ: JAMF).

As a respected leader in the financial services industry, Breach has spoken at conferences such as SuperInvestor, Milken Institute’s Global Conference and SuperReturn International.

Earlier in his career, Breach worked at the global law firm Kirkland & Ellis where he focused on the representation of private equity funds and earned recognition as Law 360’s “MVP of the Year” for private equity and was a Chambers “Band 1” rated lawyer for private equity mergers and acquisitions.

As a proud University of Michigan alumnus, Breach continues to support the institution’s Law School, having established both the David A. and Emily A. Breach Law School Scholarship Fund and the David A. Breach Deanship.

Biography

Brian Brooks is a global leader in financial technology and cryptocurrency. He currently serves as CEO of Bitfury Group, the bitcoin mining and crypto tech unicorn, and formerly was CEO of Binance.US, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Brian is renowned for his service as Acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, when he chartered America's first fintech bank (Varo Bank) and its first crypto bank (Anchorage Digital Bank), and issued regulations authorizing various fintech and crypto activities inside the U.S. federal banking system. As Acting Comptroller, Brian served on the FDIC Board of Directors and as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Earlier in his career, Brian served as Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase; General Counsel of Fannie Mae; and Vice Chairman of OneWest Bank, N.A. A graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago, Brian serves as a board member or advisor to companies and investment funds including Protego Trust Bank, Liberty Strategic Capital, Valor Capital, and others. He serves on the Board of the LA Opera and previously served on the boards of the National Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

Biography

Michel Combes is currently the CEO of SoftBank Group International. Michel joined SoftBank Group International as President in April 2020. He serves on several Boards of Directors of SoftBank portfolio companies, as well as the boards of Philip Morris International, Etisalat Group and TelevisaUnivision.

Prior to joining SoftBank, Michel was President and Chief Executive Officer of Sprint. He also served on the Sprint Board of Directors. As CEO, Michel oversaw day-to-day operations, including building America’s first mobile 5G network, offering customers the best value proposition, enhancing retail and digital distribution, improving the customer experience, and ensuring Sprint is a great place to work.

Michel joined the company in January 2018 as President and Chief Financial Officer, responsible for leading the company’s financial operations, strategy, and continued cost transformation.

He is a proven veteran in the telecommunications industry with 30 years of experience. He serves on the board of CTIA, a national trade association representing the wireless communications industry in the United States.

Before Sprint, Michel was CEO – and previously Chief Operating Officer – of Altice, as well as Chairman and CEO of SFR Group.

Prior to joining Altice in September 2015, Michel was CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, beginning in April 2013. Other leadership positions included CEO of Vodafone Europe, chairman and CEO of TDF Group, and chief financial officer and senior executive vice president of France Telecom.

Michel is a graduate of École Polytechnique, Télécom ParisTech and Paris Dauphine University.

Biography

Mr. Fradkin currently serves as President of the Wealth Management business unit at Northern Trust and has been a member of the Corporation’s Management Committee since 2004.

Northern Trust’s Wealth Management business unit is a leading provider of asset management, family office, fiduciary, banking and advisory services for affluent individuals and families operating from approximately 60 offices located in 18 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and international locations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific regions.

Mr. Fradkin has a diversified financial services career with Northern Trust, having previously served as President of Corporate & Institutional Services, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, and head of the Corporation’s international business amongst other roles prior to his current appointment.

Mr. Fradkin joined Northern Trust in 1985 after graduating with a B.A. degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School in 1994.

He is a non-executive director of American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and serves on the Board of Directors of the Lyric Opera and the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. Mr. Fradkin is also a member of Washington University's Arts & Sciences National Council and Chicago Regional Cabinet and is the founder of CFO Select, a forum for the exchange of ideas and best practices among Chief Financial Officers.

Biography

Barbara Humpton is President and CEO of Siemens Corporation, where she guides the company’s strategy and engagement as a focused technology company serving the U.S. -- the company’s largest market. Siemens has been supporting the industries and creating the infrastructure forming the backbone of America’s economy for more than 160 years, with 40,000 employees, 24,000 suppliers, and customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. With this decade poised to focus on the connection of machines and industries, Barbara is passionate about driving the company’s mission to combine the real and digital worlds to advance digitalization, electrification, and automation for customers.

Barbara views the true purpose of technology as expanding what’s humanly possible. She’s also passionate about diversity, STEM education and what she calls a work/life blend that honors her priorities both at Siemens and as a grandmother. Barbara has spoken to audiences from around the world on several of the most important issues shaping business and society, including climate change, supply chain disruption and infrastructure modernization. Barbara also hosts The Optimistic Outlook podcast, where she’s joined by experts to explore how to reinvent infrastructure, advance game-changing projects, and use digital tools to spur innovation that creates sustainable, equitable and resilient communities.

Prior to joining Siemens in 2011, Humpton served as a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton where she was responsible for program performance and new business development for technology consulting in the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Earlier, Humpton was a vice president at Lockheed Martin Corporation with responsibility for Biometrics Programs, Border and Transportation Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection, including such critical programs as the FBI’s Next Generation Identification and the TSA’s Transportation Workers’ Identification Credential. Humpton is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Barbara is Chairman of the Siemens Corporation Board, the Siemens Foundation and of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). She serves on the board of directors of the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region, Triumph Group, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), Economic Club of Washington, D.C. and the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association. She resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband David.

Biography

Yie-Hsin Hung is Chief Executive Officer of New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM), New York Life’s $450 billion multi-boutique third party asset management business, a role she has held since 2015. She is also a Senior Vice President of New York Life and a member of its Executive Management Committee.

Since joining the company in 2010, Ms. Hung has increased NYLIM’s global assets under management nearly four-fold through a combination of geographic expansion, organic initiatives and acquisitions. She also led the firm’s successful expansion into Europe, Asia and Australia. Prior to joining New York Life, Ms. Hung held a variety of senior leadership roles at Bridgewater Associates and Morgan Stanley. She began her career in real estate investment banking.

In 2022, Ms. Hung was named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance by Barron’s and one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker. She is the first woman to Chair the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute, the asset management industry’s leading trade association. She also serves on the Boards of Northwestern University, the Turtle Beach Corporation and Next for Autism.

Ms. Hung earned her M.B.A. from Harvard University and her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Biography

Mr. Lemkau is the Chief Executive Officer of MSD Partners, L.P., a leading alternative investment firm, where he is responsible for growing the firm’s existing business and strategically expanding new investment areas.  MSD Partners is focused on maximizing long-term capital appreciation by making investments in the debt and equity of public and private companies, real estate and other asset classes via its franchises in Credit, Growth, Private Capital and Real Estate.  Prior to joining MSD in 2021, Mr. Lemkau was co-head of the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and served on the firm's Management Committee.  During his 28-year tenure at Goldman Sachs, he advised clients on hundreds of transactions representing over $1 trillion of deal value while working in offices across the United States and Europe.

Mr. Lemkau is a member of the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College.  He also serves on the Board of Advisors for Team Rubicon, whose mission is to unite military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. He previously served as chairman of the Board of Directors for Grassroot Soccer, a nonprofit using the power of soccer to fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa.

He and his wife Kate live with their four children in Bedford, New York.

Biography

Genevieve Leveille is the CEO and Principal Founder of AgriLedger, an award-winning blockchain solutions company offering equitable and sustainable solutions to challenges being faced across the agricultural value chain. Originally from Haiti, Genevieve is a social impact entrepreneur who has spoken at numerous conferences globally on emerging technologies and has been recognized multiple times for her work in technology and decentralized finance (one of the Most Influential Women in UK Tech – Computer Weekly, 2021; Top BAME in Technology UK nominee – Financial Times, 2019). She currently serves as vice chair of techUK’s Distributed Ledger Technology Working group and is a Non-executive Director and Board member of FinTech for International Development (F4ID).

Biography

José Luis Manzano is an Argentine businessman with a deep understanding of Latin American public policy and global emerging markets. He possesses significant experience in the investment, media, energy and distress industries. He speaks frequently across the world on these issues.

Dr. Manzano founded the international firm Integra Capital, a private equity and merchant banking firm. Integra also provides services such as mergers and acquisitions, financial structuring, IPOs, due diligence procedures, debt and company restructuring, among others.

Dr. Manzano and his family are relevant shareholders of Phoenix Global Resources, a company engaged in the exploration and production of oil with activity in Argentina. PGR is listed on the London Stock Exchange, AIM Market, and the Stock Exchange of Buenos Aires, produces 10.000 barrels of oil per day and has more than 60 million barrels of proven reserves and 300 million barrels of unconventional resources. Dr Manzano is also a relevant investor in Interoil, an exploration and production company listed in Oslo stock exchange that produces 1600bopd in Colombia.

Dr. Manzano is the major shareholder of Integra Oil & Gas, an oil production company that produces 4000 bopd in Venezuela. He is also a major shareholder in Integra Gas Distribution in partnership with Mercuria Energy Trading. Integra Gas Distribution is a significant shareholder of Metrogas, the gas distribution company of Buenos Aires serving more than 10 million people. He is also a relevant shareholder of Edemsa, the distribution electricity company of the province of Mendoza, HIDROELECTRICA AMEGHINO, a hidroplant producing 60 megas and Altus, a winery producer of premium wines in Argentina.

In relation to the media industry, Dr. Manzano is a major shareholder of Grupo America, the second by size argentine media group he co-founded in 1996. The group owns TV stations, news channels, radios and newspapers, including America Tv, the national leader on live television, La Capital, the oldest newspaper of the country and El Cronista Comercial, the more prestigious business and finance newspaper of Argentina.

Prior to his business career, Mr. Manzano was active in the Peronist party where he was Secretary General. He served as majority leader in the lower house of Argentina’s National Congress from 1983 to 1991 and was appointed as Homeland Security Minister under President Carlos Menem.

Dr. Manzano is a relevant donor to several educational organizations and charities. Dr. Manzano is the President of Universidad de Congreso, where he is actively involved in academics and research activities. He has developed activities with the climate change organization of Novel Awards Al Gore and the Clinton Global Initiative. He is also active with the UK Argentinean Chamber of Commerce and the Cámara de Comercio Argentino Norteamericana. He is a sponsor of the Chinese House of Culture in Buenos Aires and was a member of the B20, the business group in support of the G20 Argentine presidency. Dr Manzano is a regular participant of the activities of the Council of The Americas and the Americas Society and is a member of the Energy Steering Committee of the Institute of The Americas.

Mr. Manzano received his Medical Doctorate and his Post Degree specialization in Occupational Health from the National University of Cuyo. He has been a Visiting Scholar at both Georgetown University and the University of California at San Diego. He has received an International Business Certificate and an International Finance Certificate from Georgetown University. He has received a diploma in leadership from Oxford University and lectured at prestigious universities in Argentina, Japan, Europe and the United States.

Biography

Éric Martel was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. on March 11, 2020 and officially started in the role on April 6, 2020. He is also a member of the Corporation’s Board of Directors.

Prior to his appointment, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Hydro-Québec since July 2015. From 2002 until 2015, he held positions of increasing responsibility within Bombardier, including President of Bombardier Business Aircraft, President Bombardier Aerospace Services, Vice-President and General Manager of the Global and Challenger platforms and he also worked at Bombardier Transportation from 2002 to 2004 as Vice President Operations for North America. Prior to joining Bombardier, Mr. Martel worked for various other high-profile multinational companies, such as Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods.

Éric Martel holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Laval University and was awarded an honourary doctorate by Concordia University in 2019. He is also a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec.

On February 18, 2021, Mr. Martel was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). In addition, he has been actively involved with Centraide of Greater Montreal for over 20 years. He served as co-chair of the organization’s 2019 campaign. Mr. Martel also co-chairs the fundraising campaign of the Fondation de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal. He sits on the board of Robotique FIRST Québec and is a member of the advisory board of Concordia University’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Biography

Lynn Martin is President of NYSE Group, which includes the New York Stock Exchange, the world’s largest stock market.

Martin is the 68^th President of the New York Stock Exchange and the second woman to lead the exchange in its 229-year history. The NYSE, the premier venue for capital raising, is the listing home to 2,400 of the world’s most influential and innovative companies.

In addition to the exchange, NYSE Group includes four fully electronic equity markets, including NYSE Arca, the industry leader in ETFs, and two options exchanges.

Martin is also Chair of Fixed Income & Data Services at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), the parent of NYSE Group. Most recently, she was President of that business, responsible for ICE Bonds execution venues, securities pricing and analytics, reference data, indices, desktop solutions, consolidated feeds and connectivity services that cover all major asset classes.

She previously served as President of ICE Data Services, COO of ICE Clear U.S., and in a number of leadership roles including CEO of NYSE Liffe U.S. and CEO of New York Portfolio Clearing. Martin began her career at IBM in its Global Services organization.

Martin holds a BS in Computer Science from Manhattan College and an MA in Statistics from Columbia University. She serves on the Manhattan College Board of Trustees as well as the Advisory Board of the School of Science and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society.

Biography

Breaking through barriers and making history, Madeline Pumariega is the first female president to lead Miami Dade College (MDC), the institution she attended decades earlier as a student-athlete. Her passion for innovation in higher education was born out of her own experiences, first as student and then as a longtime administrator at MDC.

President Pumariega prioritizes working with business partners to identify the skills needed in key industries and tailoring higher education programs to match those needs. Her transformative approach accelerates the ability of graduates to enter the workforce immediately upon the completion of their coursework.

Prior to becoming MDC’s President, Pumariega was appointed the first female and Hispanic chancellor of the Florida College System (FCS). In that role, she designed and implemented strategies to keep college accessible and affordable for Floridians especially in high-demand job fields. During President Pumariega’s tenure, several of the FCS’s 28 colleges––which serve 800,000 students––rose in the rankings of US News & World Report as well as other national measures. Florida was also named number one in higher education by US News Report.

In 2019, she became the executive vice president and provost of Tallahassee Community College, where her innovative approaches advanced the College’s three core divisions: academic affairs, student affairs and workforce development. President Pumariega helped lead the school during the unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pivoted the college’s infrastructure to support virtual classroom instruction and student-teacher interaction. She also serves as Affiliate Professor of Leadership at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

She also previously served as president of Take Stock in Children, a statewide non-profit focused on breaking the cycle of poverty by helping students complete their high school education and advance into post-secondary education and careers. President Pumariega has a passion for ensuring that students have a path toward upward economic mobility through educational opportunities.

President Pumariega's love for academics and service excellence began as a student at Miami Dade College. This led into her 20 years of service at the College in positions of ascending responsibility, culminating in her role as Wolfson Campus President. She views her new role as MDC’s president as the opportunity of a lifetime, because it presents her with the greatest ability to serve students who were just like her –– looking for a chance to realize their dreams and succeed in the community they love and call home, Miami.

Biography

Biography

Cenk is the founder and CEO of Enquire AI, an insights generation platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and the network effect to identify human expertise and facilitate real-time peer-to-peer engagement and problem-solving. Cenk has over 15 years of experience in providing emerging markets and risk management advisory services to Fortune 100 companies. He also the co-founder of NextWaveDAO, a web3 professional networking and acceleration organization.

He has been featured in Wall Street Journal, Forbes, New York Times, and other global outlets. He frequently speaks at events around the world about the future of work, knowledge sharing, AI and Human relationships, and Web3.

In 2012, Sidar has been selected as one of the top 99 foreign policy leaders under 33 in the world by the Diplomatic Courier and the Young Foreign Policy Professionals. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Advisory Council, Atlantic Council, Turkish Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV), Atlantik-Brucke e. V., the European Young Leaders Program, the Jean Monnet Program, the Project Interchange Alumni, and the American Academy of Achievement. He is fluent in English and German.

Sidar holds an MA degree in international economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, a postgraduate degree in European studies from SAIS’s Bologna Center in Italy, and a BA degree in business administration and international relations from the Istanbul Bilgi University.

Biography

Mr. Siebel is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of C3.ai, a computer software company that provides a Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications for rapidly developing and operating enterprise-scale big data, predictive analytics, AI, and IoT solutions.

Mr. Siebel was the founder and chief executive officer of Siebel Systems, one of the world’s leading software companies. Founded in 1993, Siebel Systems pioneered the CRM software market, becoming the global leader with more than 8,000 employees in 32 countries, over 4,500 corporate customers, and annual revenue in excess of $2 billion in less than seven years. Siebel Systems merged with Oracle Corporation in January 2006.

Mr. Siebel is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in History, an M.B.A., and a Master of Science in Computer Science. He is the author of four books, including most recently Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction (RosettaBooks, 2019).

Biography

Peter is CEO and co-founder of Blockchain.com, one of the world’s largest and most popular crypto platforms, serving tens of millions of consumers and thousands of institutions since 2011. Evolving from early Bitcoiner to developer to CEO of a multinational company, Peter has worked tirelessly to accelerate crypto adoption and build a financial system for the internet.

Under his leadership, Blockchain.com has emerged as a leading provider of cryptocurrency products and services to retail customers and institutional clients alike. The company balances a robust retail brokerage of over 80M crypto wallets across 200 countries, a thriving exchange, and one of the largest institutional desks in the crypto space. Blockchain.com has a valuation of $14 billion.

After a modest upbringing in rural America, Peter developed a global perspective living, studying, and working in the US, Europe, MENA, East Africa, and Asia. A World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, he is frequently cited as an authority on cryptocurrencies and the potential impact they’ll have across the world.

Biography

Michael’s executive experience ranges across the fields of economics, finance and technology. As the Co-Founder of Star Atlas, he represents the next generation of business leaders creating a new world economy founded on principles of permissionless and decentralized governance and data exchange merging the real and virtual world.

He has founded multiple companies centered around the emerging blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, the most recent of which is Star Atlas. Collectively, he possesses 10+ years in capital markets analysis, holds his Chartered Financial Analyst designation, 7+ years in blockchain, 24+ years in gaming, and 5+ years in executive leadership.

Biography

George is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager founded in 1939. The firm manages $460 billion of equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for global institutions, advisors and individuals. With offices in 25 countries, Neuberger Berman has been named by Pensions & Investments as the #1 Best Place to Work in Money Management (firms with more than 1,000 employees), finishing first or second each of the last eight years. In 2020, UNPRI named the firm a Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.

Prior to Neuberger Berman re-emerging as an independent firm in 2009, George was Global Head of the Investment Management Division at Neuberger Berman's former corporate parent, Lehman Brothers. Previously, George spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs where he was a partner and a member of the firm’s Partnership Committee. George’s additional board service includes the Partnership for New York City (EC) and the Investment Company Institute (EC). George earned a BA, BS and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Biography

Dr. John Wensveen is Chief Innovation Officer at Nova Southeastern University and Executive Director of the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation responsible for overseeing a multimillion-dollar public-private partnership to support the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Broward County and South Florida. John is also the official advisor to the Mayor of Broward County on innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. John is a TEDx speaker and his higher education experience includes faculty and senior leadership positions at Miami Dade College, Purdue University, Dowling College, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. John’s entrepreneurship and industry experience includes senior leadership positions at Mango Aviation Partners, Radixx International, Airline Visions, InterVISTAS, Marriott Vacation Club International, MAXjet Aiways, and Canada 3000 Airlines. John earned Masters and Ph.D. degrees in International Air Transport and Business from Cardiff University (United Kingdom) and a B.A. in Geography and Transportation Land Use Planning from the University of Victoria (Canada).

Biography

Marie Young is Chief Investment Officer at Bayshore Global Management, where she joined in 2011. Marie leads investment strategy and portfolio construction for the global family office organization. During her time at Bayshore, she has built a seasoned team of investment professionals responsible for manager/partner selection and risk management across asset classes. In addition, she led the successful launch of Bayshore’s Singapore office and contributes to the overall leadership of the firm. Prior to joining Bayshore, Marie worked at Goldman Sachs in the private wealth management group. Marie attended Northwestern University on a full athletic scholarship, where she earned her degree in Economics and competed as a distance runner in the Big Ten conference. She is a CFA charterholder.