The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown
Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2007-2010)
& Chancellor of the Exchequer (1997-2007)

Gordon Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Since September 2021, he also serves as WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing.
He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010 and is widely credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his stewardship of the 2009 London G20 summit. He was one of the first leaders during the global crisis to initiate calls for global financial action, while introducing a range of rescue measures in the UK. In April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders committed to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs. They also pledged to strengthen financial supervision and regulation.
Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history. During ten years at the Treasury, Gordon masterminded many of Labour’s proudest achievements including the Minimum Wage, Sure Start, the Winter Fuel Allowance, the Child Trust Fund, the Child Tax Credit and paid paternity leave. His record on global justice includes his negotiation of debt cancellation for the world’s poorest nations and the tripling of the budget for life-saving aid. His time as Chancellor was also marked by major reform of Britain’s monetary and fiscal policy as well as the sustained investment in health, education and overseas aid.
His role in government continued to shape his views on the importance of education as a fundamental right of every child in the world and the key to unlocking better health, greater social stability, more rights and opportunities for women and a higher standard of living. He is a passionate advocate for global action to ensure education for all. In his role as UN Special Envoy for Global Education, he works closely with key partners to help galvanise support for global education investment and the use of innovative financing to reach the UN’s global goals. He is Chair of the High-Level Steering Group for Education Cannot Wait, the fund for education in emergencies; Chair of the Inquiry on Protecting Children in Conflict; and Chair of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.
In 2020, he played a key role leading a group of 275 former world leaders, economists and educationalists calling for international action to prevent the global health crisis creating a “COVID generation” to avoid the reality of tens of millions of children with no hope of an education.
In his role as WHO Ambassador, Gordon has been invited by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to raise awareness internationally on the great need for sustained global health financing, particularly from G20 and G7 countries, and the immediate task is to work together to finance the vaccination of the whole world and protect the poorest countries from the terrible effects of COVID-19 and other diseases.
In addition to his global education work Gordon is an advisor to the Graça Machel Trust, a Senior Panel Member at the Kofi Annan Foundation initiative on Electoral Integrity, and he is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Within the United Kingdom, Gordon is also the founder of Our Scottish Future, and the Alliance for Full Employment.

Gordon is the author of several books including Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation, My Life, Our Times, Seven Ways to Change the World and most recently, Permacrisis; A Plan to Fix a Fractured World (Simon & Schuster, September 2023).
Gordon has a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a lecturer and in television production. He has been awarded several honorary doctorates, most recently Doctor of the University from The Open University.
He is married to Sarah Brown, the Chair of global children’s charity, Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, and the couple live in Fife, Scotland with their two teenagers.

Douglas W. Diamond
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2022)
Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business

Douglas W. Diamond is the 2022 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) for his groundbreaking research on banks and financial crises. He specializes in the study of financial intermediaries, financial crises, and liquidity. Diamond is the Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He has been on the faculty since 1979. Diamond is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Diamond was president of the American Finance Association and the Western Finance Association, and is a fellow of the Econometric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Finance Association. In 2012 he received the Morgan Stanley-American Finance Association Award for Excellence in Finance and in 2016 he received the CME Group- Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Diamond has taught at Yale and was a visiting professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Bonn. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University in 1975 and a PhD in 1980 in economics from Yale University.

Dmytro Kuleba
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

He was born in 1981 in Sumy, Ukraine.

In 2003, Dmytro Kuleba graduated with honour from Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko University (Kyiv,Ukraine), where he studied international law. In 2006 Mr.Kuleba obtained Ph.D. in Law.

From 2003 to 2010 he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the OSCE.

He also worked at the office of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2013 in charge of the issues related to the image of Ukraine abroad, international organizations, relations with the United States.

During January-June 2013, Mr.Kuleba served as advisor to Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.

After quitting civil service in 2013, Dmytro Kuleba chaired the Board of the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy.

In 2014 Dmytro Kuleba returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Ambassador-at-Large to launch strategic communications. He introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy into the Ministry’s work.

In 2016 Mr. Kuleba was appointed as Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe.

From August 2019 to March 2020 – Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine since March 04, 2020.

Dmytro Kuleba is author of a book "The War for Reality. How to Win in the World of Fakes, Truths and Communities".

Dr. Ayesha Khanna
Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO, an artificial intelligence solutions firm

Dr. Ayesha Khanna is Co-Founder and CEO of Addo, an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions firm.

Ayesha was named one of Southeast Asia's groundbreaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine. She is also founder of 21st Century Girls, a charity that teaches girls coding and artificial intelligence.

Ayesha has a BA (honours) in Economics from Harvard University, an MS in Operations Research from Columbia University and a PhD in Information Systems and Innovation from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Prof. Helen Thompson
Professor of Political Economy, University of Cambridge

Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University. She has a wide-ranging column – These Times ¬– at the New Statesman and was a regular contributor to the podcast Talking Politics. Her books include Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century and Oil and the Western Economic Crisis. She has written for, among other publications, The New York Times, London Review of Books, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, UnHerd, and Prospect on Brexit, the European Union, the economics of the pandemic, energy and climate politics, and the geopolitics of China’s rise. She was included in Prospect’s The World’s Top Thinkers 2021 and 2022.

Philippe Brassac
Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole S.A.
Chairman of LCL
Chairman of CA CIB
Chairman of Amundi

Philippe Brassac was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole S.A., Chairman of LCL, Chairman of Crédit Agricole CIB on 20 May 2015 and Chairman of Amundi on 12 May 2023.

He was appointed Chairman of the French Banking Federation (FBF) on 3 December 2022.

Philippe Brassac joined Crédit Agricole du Gard in 1982. He held several executive offices there before being appointed, in 1994, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole des Alpes Maritimes, now Crédit Agricole Provence Côte d’Azur. In 1999, he joined Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole as Director of relations with Regional Banks. Since 2001, he has been Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole Provence Côte d’Azur. Philippe Brassac was elected Deputy Chairman of Fédération Nationale du Crédit Agricole in 2008, becoming Secretary General in 2010, on this basis, he was Deputy Chairman of SAS Rue La Boétie.

Born in 1959, Philippe Brassac is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique and holds an advanced diploma in mathematics.

Decorations: Officier de la Légion d’Honneur – Officier de l’ordre national du Mérite - Officier du Mérite Agricole.

Dr. Yu Jie
Senior Research fellow on China at Chatham House

Dr Yu Jie is senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, focusing on the decision-making process of Chinese foreign policy as well as China’s economic diplomacy. She frequently speaks and writes in major media outlets such as BBC News and the Financial Times; and regularly briefs senior policy practitioners from the G7 member governments, the Silk Road Fund in Beijing. She also frequently advises major FTSE 100 corporates and leading European financial institutions on China’s political landscape. Yu Jie has testified on China’s foreign affairs at various UK Parliament committees and was previously head of China Foresight at LSE IDEAS. She remains as an associate fellow with LSE IDEAS and obtained her PhD in International Relations at LSE. Prior to LSE, she was a management consultant, specializing in Chinese state-owned enterprises investments in Europe and Chinese market entry strategies for European conglomerates at the London Office of Roland Berger. The London School of Economics and Political Science recognized her as one of its ‘Leading Women’ in 2018 for her contribution in teaching and engaging the public debates on China’s foreign affairs. She is a “Young Leader” for the 2022 Asian Security Shangri-La Dialogue.

Conan French
Director, Digital Finance, IIF

Conan is currently Director in the Digital Finance Department at the IIF, a research and advocacy organization for the global financial services industry with 400 members from 60 countries. Focus areas for his work include digital assets—central bank digital currencies (CBDC), blockchain, tokenization, and ledger technologies—cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, payments innovation, and digital identity. He initially joined the IIF as Senior Technology Advisor in 2015 to expand the Institute’s work on fintech innovations through research, events, and industry engagement. Conan earned his MBA from Georgetown University and his BA in History and Economics from Dickinson College.

Diandra Soobiah
Head of Responsible Investment, Nest

Diandra Soobiah is Head of Responsible Investment at Nest. She has been at Nest for 13 years and is responsible for the delivery and implementation of Nest’s Responsible Investment approach, ensuring it factors in material environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities including its approach to managing climate change. She also makes sure Nest fulfils its role as a responsible steward of members’ assets through voting and engagement in order to deliver the best financial outcomes for members. Diandra has 20 years of investment experience including at Nedgroup Investments and Russell Investments. She is the co-chair of the 30% Club UK Investor Group and is a founding member of the newly launched Asset Owner Diversity Charter. Diandra holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and French from Queen Mary University of London and IMC.

General Jean-Paul Paloméros
NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation (2012-2015)
Former Chief of Staff of the French Air Force (2009-2012)

After assuming a national high responsibility as the Chief of French Air Force (2009-2012), General Jean-Paul Paloméros led NATO’s military transformation (2012-2015). As NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) General Paloméros supported the 28 Allied Nations in preparing the future together in terms of military strategy, capability development, education, training and exercises. Ahead of Allied Command Transformation, he developed ambitious plans to increase NATO’s military ef­ficiency and readiness through improved multinational cooperation, reenergized exercise policy and innovation. During his command tour, General Paloméros put a high priority on NATO force’s operational preparation, fostering the synergy between Allied Nations and the cooperation with Partner organizations, nations, with Industry, Science and technology, Universities and many other stakeholders. During more than 10 years within the French Air Force General Paloméros prepared and led major transformations to modernize the French Air Force’s capabilities and organization.

General Paloméros took part in many operations as a ­fighter pilot and as Commander in the Balkans and in Africa. In 2011, he was the head of the French Air Force which successfully took a major role in Operations over Libya to protect civilian populations.

General Paloméros has logged more than 4000 ‑ flying hours on ­ fighter jets and took part in 82 combat missions. He graduated from the French Air Force Academy in 1973, and was awarded the Curtis Prize within the 84th Royal Air Force Advanced Staff Course.

General Jean-Paul Paloméros has been elevated to the rank of Great Of­ficer in the “Légion d’Honneur”; he has been elevated recently to the highest rank of Great Cross in the National Order of Merit. He was also awarded the prestigious aeronautics’ medal, the NATO Meritorious Service Medal and many other foreign distinctions.

Carrie Exton
Acting Senior Counsellor and Deputy Director at the OECD WISE Centre

Carrie Exton is the Acting Senior Counsellor and Deputy Director at the OECD WISE Centre (for WellBeing, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity). WISE works to develop the evidence base for more people-centred and planet-positive policy solutions. The Centre explores a diverse array of topics from inequalities of opportunity and social mobility, to sustainable development, loneliness, mental health, child well-being, and how societal changes and challenges shape people’s material conditions, quality of life and relational well-being.

Carrie is the overall editor for the How’s Life? series of reports, which provide an in-depth assessment of trendsin well-being, inclusion and sustainability across OECD and partner countries. She is currently supervising research to monitor how the COVID-19 pandemic and rising living costs affect people’s well-being; the economic, social, environmental and relational drivers of mental health inequalities - and integrated policy approaches for tackling them; how the built environment shapes people’s wellbeing; social connections data and its role in policy-making; new frontiers of subjective well-being measurement; and how governments can put well-being metrics into policy action.

Previously based in the OECD Statistics and Data Directorate, Carrie has more than a decade of experience in developing and analysing WISE evidence. Prior to joining the OECD, Carrie worked as a policy advisor in the UK Civil Service, including roles in strategy, private office, higher education, research and science policy, and the Apprenticeships Unit. She holds a DPhil (PhD) in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University.

Chris Hill
CEO, Hargreaves Lansdown

Chris has led Hargreaves Lansdown since 2017. As CEO, he is driving the digital transformation of the business, including setting the strategy to expand HL’s position as the UK’s leading digital wealth management platform. Ensuring HL is at the heart of creating a stronger culture of saving and investing with confidence is essential, and this continued ambition has been reinforced by the launch of the Savings and Resilience Barometer which provides unique insight and creates a valuable dataset for policymakers.

Chris joined HL with a track record of financial and operational execution with more than two decades of experience, across a range of business sectors. He was Chief Financial Officer at IG Group Holdings plc, a FTSE 250 online trading platform for retail customers, and was Chief Financial Officer at Travelex following several finance leadership roles at GE Capital. Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen and is an associate member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. Outside HL, he is actively engaged in debates about financial policy including as a member of the Board of the Investment Association and of the FCA Practitioner Panel.

James A. Fok
Author of the book 'Financial Cold War'
Senior executive at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (2012-2021)

James Fok is a veteran financial and strategic advisor to corporations and governments. He served as a senior executive at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) from 2012 until 2021, during a period of rapid internationalisation in China’s capital markets. While there, he played a major role in a number of landmark financial markets initiatives, including the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme (2014), Bond Connect (2017), the Hong Kong market’s Listing Reforms (2018), and HKEX’s attempted hostile takeover of the London Stock Exchange Group (2019). Prior to HKEX, Fok worked as an investment banker in both Europe and Asia, specialising in the financial services sector.

Fok is author of the book Financial Cold War and has written and spoken extensively about market structure issues and the intersection between geopolitics and international finance. He is an Advisor to the global consultancy firm Bain & Company and sits on the Advisory Board of Hex Trust. He also serves as an International Member of Ireland for Finance’s Industry Advisory Committee (2021-), and previously served on the Executive Board of the International Securities Services Association (2018-21), and the Financial Services Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (2014-21).

Amitabh Kant
India’s G20 Sherpa

Amitabh Kant is presently India’s G20 Sherpa. The G20 or the Group of Twenty is a forum where policymakers of industrialized and developing economies meet to discuss key issues in the global economy. The G20 countries account for 85% of global GDP, 75% of world trade and about two-thirds of the world’s population.

Amitabh Kant is a governance reformer and a public policy change agent for India, having driven key reforms and initiatives during his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) (2016-2022) and the Secretary of the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) (2014-2016), Government of India. He has been a key driver of flagship national initiatives such as Startup India, Make in India, Incredible India, Kerala: God’s Own Country and the Aspirational Districts Program. These initiatives have repositioned India and Kerala and have widely been recognized as transformational.

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is India’s apex policy-making institution, with the Prime Minister as its Chairman. As CEO of NITI Aayog, Kant has driven a vast range of national-level developmental and policy initiatives which catalyzed India’s social and economic development and have brought about a paradigm shift in policy-making.

As Secretary, DIPP Kant has driven the Start-up India movement which has led to India emerging as the third-best ecosystem for startups globally, with over 70,000+ start ups and over 101+ Unicorns. His focus has been to facilitate Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) through predictability, consistency of policies and elimination of rules, regulations and procedures. This led to India jumping 79 positions in Ease of Doing Business Indicators. He also initiated competition and ranking amongst Indian states based on their EoDB indicators. The competition and ranking has led to a transformational impact on States.

Dr. Thomas Toepfer
Chief Financial Officer, Covestro AG

Dr. Thomas Toepfer has been Covestro’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since April 2018 and additionally holds the position of Labor Director since January 2019. He is responsible for the central functions Accounting, Controlling, Finance & Insurance, Taxes, Investor Relations and Law, Intellectual Property & Compliance, Information Technology & Digitalization and Portfolio Development. Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1972, Toepfer holds a PhD in Business Administration from Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management (WHU), Koblenz.
Before joining Covestro he was a member of the Executive Board, Chief Financial Officer and Labor Director of KION GROUP AG.

Dr. Mario Draghi
Prime Minister of Italy (2021-2022)
Former President of the European Central Bank (2011-2019)

Mario Draghi served as President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. His tenure as Prime Minister was defined by many memorable achievements, most notably including the fight to end the Covid-19 pandemic, his leadership of the Next Generation EU initiative, and his solidarity with the Ukrainian people during the ongoing war with Russia.

Described by Paul Krugman as "[arguably] the greatest central banker of modern times,” Dr. Draghi was President of the European Central Bank (ECB) from November 2011 to November 2019 and is widely credited with saving the Eurozone. Over his eight-year term, the monetary policy of the ECB led the Eurozone into an expansion with the creation of 13 million jobs, and the European stock market rising by two-thirds.

Mario Draghi has been at the center of the most globally impactful economic events of the last four decades, including the 2012 Eurozone crisis, the 2015 Greek Debt Crisis, and Brexit. Prior to 2011, Dr. Draghi served as Governor of the Banca d’Italia and Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum (later the Financial Stability Board) that crafted for the governments of the G-7 countries the first regulatory response to the global financial crisis. Drawing on these extraordinary experiences, Dr. Draghi is among the most well-equipped experts to provide analysis on the future direction of the global economy.

Dr. Draghi was listed as the 8th most powerful person in the world by Forbes in 2014 and the world's second greatest leader by Fortune in 2015. He received his PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Draghi is globally known for his bold and spirited speeches. He simplifies the world financial outlook, giving audiences the keys to understanding what is needed to control risks and translates uncertainty into tangible takeaways for audiences worldwide.

Dinesh Kumar Khara
Chairman of State Bank of India

Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara is the Chairman of State Bank of India. Prior to being appointed as Chairman of the Bank he was Managing Director (Global Banking & Subsidiaries) of the Bank.
In his role as MD (GB&S) he led and steered the International Banking Group, Corporate and Treasury operations of the Bank.
He has been able to guide and lead the subsidiaries wing of SBI thus ensuring successful pathway for the Non-Banking Subsidiaries of the Bank viz. SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Life Insurance, SBI Credit Card.
As MD (Associates & Subsidiaries) Mr. Khara successfully accomplished merging SBI with its five Associate Banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank. Additionally, he was also in charge of Risk, IT & Compliance functions of the Bank.
Prior to being appointed as Managing Director of State Bank of India, Mr. Khara was the MD&CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Limited (SBIMF). Mr. Khara joined SBI as Probationary Officer in 1984 and has over 37 years of rich experience in all facets of Banking.
Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara, did his Masters in Business Administration from FMS New Delhi and is a post-graduate in Commerce from Delhi School of Economics. He is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).

Bart Horsten
Director of Sales & Customer Services, Rabobank

Bart Horsten is Director of Sales & Customer Services at Rabobank. Rabobank is one of the largest retail banks in the Netherlands and the largest Food & Agri bank worldwide. Bart is responsible for the human-to-human channels for advisory and customer service in retail and private banking in the Netherlands. An important part of his role is the alignment between the human-to-human channels, the digital channels (app and web) and the product tribes to improve customer experience. Previously, Bart was Head of Wealth Management at Rabobank.

Sanna Marin
Prime Minister & Head of Government of Finland (2019-2023)

Sanna Marin was born in Helsinki on 16 November 1985. She lives in Finland with her daughter.

Having completed her general upper secondary education in 2004, Marin took a Master’s degree in Administration Sciences at the University of Tampere in 2017. Her Master’s thesis, entitled ‘Finland, a country of Mayors’, looked into the professionalisation process of political leadership in Finnish cities.

In 2015, Marin was elected to Parliament for her first run. There she has been a member of the Grand Committee, Legal Affairs Committee and Environment Committee. She was a member of Tampere city council from 2012-2023, which she chaired from 2013–2017.

In 2014, Marin was elected as a second deputy party leader of the Social Democratic Party, and since 2017 she has served as the First Deputy Party Leader. In August 2020, Marin was elected as Chair of the Social Democratic Party. She was the Chair until September 2023.

Marin has been actively engaged in politics since 2006. “Being involved and making a difference represent civil rights for me. Changing things takes commitment. The welfare state or the ground rules for working life should not be taken for granted; they are the result of hard work and determined efforts.” Environmental values are also close to Sanna Marin’s heart: “Climate change and loss of biodiversity are some of the biggest problems of our times. Addressing them takes strong political will and determination.”

During the government formation talks in spring 2019, Marin chaired the negotiating table that addressed the theme ‘Carbon neutral Finland that protects biodiversity’. She served as Minister of Transport and Communications in the Rinne Government.

Sanna Marin served as the Prime Minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023. Appointed at the age of 34, Marin served as the youngest Prime Minister of the world when taking office in 2019. Marin’s government has been considered one of the most successful in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in terms of lost lives and economical damage caused by the pandemic. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marin led her country through the most swift NATO accession process in the whole history of the alliance.

In addition to the two historical challenges, Marin’s government passed many progressive reforms in Finland, including world's most ambitious climate laws aiming for carbon neutrality by 2035, family leave reform sharing paid leave with both parents equally as well as major reforms improving healthcare, education and human rights.