Truffle Speaker

Shankar is currently working at Insight Investment Management Limited (Insight) as Head of Farmland Investments. He has nearly three decades of corporate and institutional investment experience with specific emphasis on the global food and agribusiness sector. Prior to joining Insight in 2015, Shankar was the head of Strategic Investments at Olam International Limited in Singapore, where he led approximately US$4bn worth of investments in the global food and agriculture sector. His experience includes developing investment strategies and overseeing all elements of investment management with alignment of sustainability and value creation.

As Vice President of International Programs, Kriss oversees Population Media Center (PMC)’s field offices, with responsibilities ranging from selecting and training administrative and creative teams to monitoring research results. Kriss has trained writers and producers for over 50 TV or radio programs and has authored numerous chapters and articles. She has over 30 years of experience in health development and communications. She holds a BA from Stanford University, a Master of Public Health from the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town.

Esther is a Managing Director at State Street Global Advisors. She works as a Portfolio Manager in Active Equities and co-manages the Global Select Equity portfolio.

Esther joined SSGA in July 2016 through its acquisition of GE Asset Management. She joined GEAM in London in 1996 as a Senior International Fixed Income Analyst and moved to International Equities in 2001. Analyst assignments included covering Emerging Markets and the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Sector ex-US. She also managed a focused Europe portfolio from 2006 to 2012. Esther started her career at Credit Lyonnais Capital Markets in 1988, becoming a Senior Economist for the firm and working out of their Paris Headquarters.

Esther has a BA Honours in Economics from Leicester University and an M. Phil in Economics from Cambridge University. She earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2000 and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Dr. Julia Bistrova, CFA, is head of financial analysis and research centre at  Herens Quality Asset Management AG.  Julia manages development of analytical tools focusing on in-depth corporate financial and ESG analysis, aiming to enhance alpha of equity portfolios.

Julia is also senior researcher and associated Professor at Riga Technical University, author of scientific publications on the corporate governance, on equity investments, and earnings plausibility.  Julia received her Doctoral degree in Economic Sciences from Riga Technical university in 2014 and CFA certificate in 2016.

Sona Blessing is an independent finance researcher and author of „Alternative Alternatives: Risk, Returns and Investment Strategy“ – Wiley Finance, Feb. 2011.

She is a contributing author, in German, on real assets for „Alternative Investments: Analyse und Due Diligence” – NZZ Libro Dec. 2013; and has been a previewer of CAIA textbook chapters on real assets.

Sona currently moderates educational finance podcasts, Insights. Prior to, she moderated Opalesque Radio. She also served as the platform’s Director of Research and is accredited with solely conceiving, launching and authoring A SQUARE (Alternative Alternatives), its then research portal.

Sona 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 serves, in a voluntary capacity, as a member of the Global Advisory Council, 100 Women in Finance; whilst continuing in her role as the organisation’s ambassador in Switzerland.

Teni joined the FAIRR Initiative in March 2020 and has oversight of the UK and Northern European investment community.  She is responsible for raising awareness of FAIRR’s efforts with a focus on educating investors of the potential risks and rewards in the global protein industry as it relates to their investment universe.

Teni further expands FAIRR’s client servicing capabilities and financial markets knowledge – prior to joining the Initiative, she worked in private wealth management as an Executive Director at Hassium Asset Management and in institutional asset management as a Vice President on the Pan-European Equities desks at both Lehman Brothers and ING Group.

Teni holds a BSc Hons in Economics & Accounting from the University of Bristol and is IMC qualified as well as a CFA Charterholder.

Mr. El Hachem joined Edmond de Rothschild Group in 2002 where he initiated and developed resilient investment strategies with a forward-looking approach. As current CEO
of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, he has led the development of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity into a leading Private Equity firm. With about 2.7 billion CHF under management in 2020, Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity has accompanied over 170 global companies and entrepreneurs. It offers a diversified portfolio of 13 differentiating strategies across a variety of geographical zones and sectors:

o Direct mid-market minority and majority buyout deals in Europe and the US
o Real estate – hospitality, value-added strategies, Soil remediation and sustainable urban development – in Europe
o Transport and social infrastructure
o Agro-industry in Latin America and Africa
o Energy transition in Europe
o SMEs in Africa
o Growth Technology in Europe and the US

Mr. El Hachem holds a master degree in Financial Engineering from ESSEC business School (France), and a Bachelor of Science in Banking & Finance and Political Science from the Lebanese American University. Mr. El Hachem intervenes regularly in international seminars as a speaker on topics related to private equity and impact investments.

David has been named one of the world’s most compassionate entrepreneurs by Salt magazine. He is the recipient of the United Nations Lighthouse award for Planetary Health, recipient of the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia community award, recipient of the Earnst and Young Lifetime Achievement award, is the Past President of the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and named the Entrepreneur Organizations, Global Citizen.

David is the founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, an internationally recognized solution to ocean plastic. The Plastic Bank is a global network of micro recycling markets that empower the poor to transcend poverty by cleaning the environment. The Plastic Bank is an eco-system that provides an opportunity for the world to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. Global partners include IBM, Shell Energy, SC Johnson, Aldi, Henkel and more.

Rebecca Keeble’s two-decade career has taken her from indigenous communities to international conventions. She has travelled across the region to set up companion animal support programmes, develop conservation strategies for marine animals and advocate for endangered species at every level of government.

Because of her wide-ranging expertise, Rebecca has advised the Australian Government on a host of conservation issues. As a member of the Australian delegation, she has advocated for animals in a variety of international forums, including CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) and UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

Today, Rebecca oversees all of IFAW’s programmes in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Most recently, this included IFAW’s disaster response and animal rescue work during the Australian bushfires and the rehabilitation and recovery work in the aftermath. Rebecca has also led our efforts to promote animal welfare and protect animal habitats. In particular, she has focused on reducing the demand for products made from ivory and rhino horn, as well as protecting whales by reducing the risk of ship strikes.

Serge Krancenblum is the co-founder of IQ-EQ and now chairs the Supervisory Board of the Group.

Serge is an international entrepreneur who has created and managed a number of successful companies over the course of his career. He also sits as an Independent Director on the boards of several real estate and private equity funds, and is also a Director of a few private companies.

Serge represents the industry as Chairman of three professional associations: Luxembourg Alternative Assets Administrators Association (L3A), Investment Facilitation Forum and Luxembourg Association of Family Offices (LAFO). He is also a member of the Luxembourg High Committee of the Financial Sector.

In 2018, Serge was voted as the European Personality of the Year at the Funds Europe Awards.

Studied Business Administration in Saarbrücken Germany), St. Gallen (Switzerland), Syracuse and Berkeley (USA). Before founding ACATIS in 1994, he worked for Bankhaus Metzler from 1989 to 1994 and for the management consultancy McKinsey from 1984 to 1989.

Dr. Leber is the speaker of the management board and portfolio manager.

Dr. Andreas M. Rickert is a molecular biologist who cannot be pigeonholed easily: Engagement Manager at McKinsey, Senior Specialist at the World Bank, Director at the Bertelsmann Foundation – and founder and CEO of PHINEO gAG. He has an international orientation through studies at Davis, among others, a doctorate at Stanford, as well as living and working in Bahrain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland and the USA.

Leadership experience in large companies and organizations, successfully building a start-up as well as holding seats in various advisory and supervisory boards of corporates and non-profits complete his diverse activity spectrum bridging gaps between different worlds.

Driven by a deep desire to add significant value to society, he founded PHINEO in 2010. The success of his work is based on a strong network with decision makers in economy, civil society and politics.

Johanna did her bachelor at McGill and her master at LSE. She started her career at Mulberry in marketing and then worked in real estate before turning to technology. She is now living in Geneva and working in her family office SGFC. They are a Single Family Office based in Nyon (Vaud, Switzerland) originally from pharmaceuticals that now invest in private equity, real estate and financial markets with a passion for hedge funds, especially systematic quantitative ones.

William N. Ryerson is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC) (www.populationmedia.org), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies. He also serves as Chair of The Population Institute in Washington, DC (www.populationinstitute.org), which works in partnership with Population Media Center. PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience resulting in positive behavior change. The emphasis of the organization’s work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women’s status, prevent exploitation of children, promote avoidance of HIV infection, and promote environmentally sustainable behaviors.

Mr. Ryerson has a half-century history of working in the field of reproductive health, including three decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology of social change communications to various cultural settings worldwide.

Ryerson received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). He served as Director of the Population Institute’s Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International before founding Population Media Center in 1998.

Leon Schumacher has degrees in Agricultural Education with emphasis areas in Vocational Education and Agricultural Mechanization.  He has conducted research and taught at the University of Missouri since 1987.  Schumacher’s research  has focused on energy conservation and the use of alternative fuels for diesel engines. Since 1992 he has researched the use of a biodegradable, non-toxic, cleaner burning fuel for diesel engines- biodiesel. Operationally, it performs similar to low-sulfur diesel (LSD) in terms of power, torque, and fuel economy. His research more recently is focused on precision agriculture, internet of things for agriculture and digital control systems for agriculture.  Schumacher has taught courses that focus on pesticide application equipment, agricultural machinery, grain/material handling, electrical systems, and internal combustion engines.

Based in Tauranga, Peter Withers is an independent strategist, executive coach, business lecturer and business / community mentor.

His current activities include strategy facilitation, governance and management coaching, teaching strategy and international business in the Massey University Executive MBA programme, and executive education consulting. In addition, he provides coaching input for the Fonterra Governance Development Programme and community mentoring for Tauranga non-profits. He is a trustee of two Tauranga non-profit organisations.

As a strategy facilitator, he has worked internationally with a wide range of business, tertiary education, and non-profit entities including Latino business groups in California and Māori enterprise in New Zealand. This experience includes facilitation for international trade, broadcasting, conservation tourism, SME development, private banking, low decile healthcare, community trust, executive education, food production, and business development projects. His expertise in facilitation and strategic thinking follows 20 years of trade policy negotiation and trade promotion experience as a New Zealand diplomat. His international postings included Washington, D.C., Athens, Ankara, and as New Zealand’s first regional trade director for North & South America, based in Los Angeles.

Peter has taught applied strategy and international business at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School, Pepperdine University Graziadio Graduate School (as Associate Dean), the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management and La Verne University in California, Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, and programmes in Singapore as well as Toi Ohomai, Massey University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

He is a former Chair of the Executive MBA Council, a global organisation involving 240 leading business schools worldwide, is a longtime advocate of applied learning in executive education, and pioneered leadership coaching in New Zealand MBA programmes.

Peter Withers graduated M.A. Hons from the University of Canterbury and completed the Advanced Executive Leadership programme at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. He holds a certificate in Coaching, Leadership & Change from Case Western University, USA and is a member of the N.Z. Institute of Directors.

Sylvia Wisniwski is a Managing Director at Finance in Motion, one of the world’s leading impact asset managers with around EUR 2.4 billion in assets under advisory/management. At Finance in Motion, Sylvia oversees the company’s initiatives for conservation, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Her expertise in conceptualizing and structuring blended finance funds has proven instrumental in the creation of the eco.business Fund for Latin America and its expansion to Sub-Saharan Africa. She has close to 30 years of experience in impact investing in over 40 countries and started her career at the German International Cooperation (GIZ) working on agri-finance projects across the globe, after which she worked as a consultant for multilateral development banks and held various management positions at consulting companies and asset managers. Sylvia holds both an M.A. in Political Science and Sociology and an MBA from Tübingen University as well as an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Miami, Florida.