Truffle Speaker 2024
Ryan Bailey
Ryan possesses 12+ years of diversified industry experience in the government, healthcare, communication, retail, and energy sectors.
As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and one of the first 500 industry practitioners to become a Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP™), he is an expert at managing both the technical side and people side of change. He has consulted on international and domestic projects for a broad spectrum of NGOs and Fortune 500 companies—e.g., RGP, Accenture, Walmart, Target, Comcast, Phillips 66, and others—on a variety of corporate and social entrepreneurship initiatives from $10K – $300M.
His industry roles have ranged from implementing new product launches and international market entries to creating training programs for prison inmates and managing correspondence with missionaries in 100+ nations. Accordingly, his research interests seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice regarding how firms and entrepreneurs can enact positive change through a variety of perspectives including social/commercial entrepreneurship, civic wealth creation, and value consumption.
Colinne S. Bartel
Colinne S. Bartel is the owner of Truffle Time, a subsidiary of AC Innovation GmbH. AC Innovation serves as a marketing and business development catalyst for entrepreneurs. As chief project manager, Ms. Bartel was responsible for capital expenditures and acquisition integration for an Advent International portfolio company that executed one of the fastest growing telecommunications buy & build projects in Europe. After finalizing her MBA and a research trip in East Africa in 2002, Colinne joined McKinsey & Company. Ms. Bartel holds a B.A. in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles, an M.A. in International Relations from the Claremont Graduate School and a dual MBA in Strategy and Finance from The Peter F. Drucker School of Management and the EDHEC Business School. Her passions are sports, the arts and cultural exchange.
Sona Blessing
Global Council – 100Women in Finance
Sona is a finance researcher and author of „Alternative Alternatives: Risk, Returns and Investment Strategy“ – Wiley Finance. She is a contributing author, in German, on real assets for „Alternative Investments: Analyse und Due Diligence” – NZZ Libro; and has been a previewer of CAIA textbook chapters on real assets. She has served as a guest lecturer on ‘Alternative Alternatives’ at the Zurich School of Management and Law (zhaw), and gained experience at Swiss banks in the roles of a hedge fund research strategist and a global market strategist. She spent the first half of her career being a business journalist and editor in India, Indonesia, the U.K. and Taiwan. She has been invited to present her research, amongst others by CAIA, CFA, SFI, Timbetland Conferences, and as a moderator and speaker, to draw on her experience and expertise. She also serves, in a voluntary capacity, as a member of the Global Council, 100 Women in Finance. and has contributed and held various positions at the organisation since 2009.
Dr. Valbona Dhjaku
Valbona Dhjaku has been involved in the technology aspects of banking since 2001. Valbona joined the Credins Bank, the first private bank in Albania, in 2005 where she led the modernization and digitalization of the banks information systems and services.
Currently, Ms. Dhjaku is responsible for the infrastructure, information systems and the online channel for Credins Bank, the second largest bank in Albania.
Since more than 20 years, in addition to her professional career, Prof. Dhjaku teaches both Information Systems and Computer Science at the University of Tirana.
Prof. Valbona Dhjaku holds both a Ph.D and Master’s degree from the University of Tirana and speaks Albanian, English and Italian.
Željko Drinčić
Željko Drinčić was born in 1978 in Split, Croatia. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Montenegro in Podgorica in 2002. He was elected by the Parliament of Montenegro as the President of the Capital Market Authority on December 29, 2022. He started his professional career in March 2003 at Montenegro Stock Exchange AD Podgorica, where he worked on listing and surveillance activities until July 2005, when he became the Executive Director of Onyx Broker AD Budva, a position that he maintained until November 2011. He worked as a teaching assistant for the topic Financial Markets at the Mediterranean University in Podgorica from February 2007 until December 2011. He worked as a broker and dealer in the Brokerage Department of Universal Capital Bank from November 2011 until August 2016. He was the director of the main branch (from October 2014 to May 2015) and the Retail and Business Network (from May 2015 to August 2016) at this time. In August 2016, he became the director of the Custody Department at Universal Capital Bank, a role he maintained until January 2019, when he started to work as a Senior Manager of the Investment Banking and Financial Markets Department at Universal Capital Bank. From March 2019 until May 2019, he worked as Universal Capital Bank’s Acting Executive Director. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Simo Milošević Institute AD Igalo since April 2021.
Dr. Jonah M. Otto
Dr. Jonah M. Otto is an assistant professor at Universität Augsburg in Germany, where he specializes in international relations, globalization, higher education, public policy, and economic development. He earned his undergraduate degree in international political science and European history from the University of Southern Indiana and completed study programs in the UK and Ghana. His early career included work at the U.S. Department of State in Scotland, focusing on the Scottish independence referendum. He then earned a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University, gaining experience in nonprofit consultancy and economic development. At Indiana University, he served as assistant director of international programs, managing international relations and developing educational initiatives. After completing his PhD in economic sciences at Universität Augsburg, he became an assistant professor and director of internationalization development for the Faculty of Business and Economics. He also frequently lectures on American politics and higher education internationalization.
Prof. Gretchen Selcke
Professor Gretchen Selcke is the Assistant Director of Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include Latinx literature and culture, Afro Hispanic literature, and Latinx entrepreneurship. Currently, she is completing a book-length manuscript on contemporary Latinx narratives. As a Library Dean’s Fellow for the Manuel Zapata Olivella Special Collections Correspondence at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt, she helped create an online exhibit of representative correspondence and documents from four linear feet of Zapata Olivella’s personal archives. Professor Selcke is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Latinx Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). In addition, she serves on the editorial board of the Afro-Hispanic Review.
