SPEAKERS 2020

JULIE LINN TEIGLAND

Area Managing Partner at EY for EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa)

As EY EMEIA Area Managing Partner Julie leads more than 115,000 people across 98 countries and is responsible for international tax advice, auditing, advising large clients and accompanying business transformations.

​

She also serves as the Global Leader for EY’s Women Fast forward initiative and is a key player in progressing gender equality issues. She is a prominent voice of the Women20 (W20) Global Agenda.

HARALD ZWART & VESLEMØY RUUD ZWART

Film director, producer and writer

Harald Zwart is bringing truth to Variety’s statement – “a director to watch”. He made his first film when he was 8, and with the release of the remake of Karate Kid, the biggest hit for SONY pictures that year, he ended up grossing 380 mill USD. Together with his wife Veslemøy they just released their first Norwegian TV show, “The Oil Fund”. The couple are also known for The 12th Man,  one of Norways record-braking movies that has sold to over one hundred countries. Veslemøy has worked alongside the brightest stars in Hollywood including, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith and Michael Douglas. 

INGA BEALE

Board Director, London First

Inga Beale is a British businesswoman and the former CEO of Lloyd’s of London. During her 5 year tenure at Lloyd’s, Inga modernised the $40 billion insurance giant through the introduction of technology, moving it from a paper-based market to an electronic trading environment. 

As the first female CEO of Lloyd’s, she also played a critical role in advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the global insurance sector.

TORGEIR WATERHOUSE

Director of Internet & New Media
at IKT-Norge

Torgeir Waterhouse is a sought-after lecturer and author. He has several boards and advisory positions for organizations and companies in the internet sphere, such as the Norwegian IPv6 Forum, the Norwegian Register of Domain Names, the Norwegian Safer Internet Project, the University College in Østfold, the Faculty of Computer Science, The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, the Norwegian Digital Forum and more. He is also one of the founders of the highly successful Norwegian movement Lær Kidsa Koding, whose goal is to teach children in Norway to code, both in school and through private code clubs.

SILJE LANDEVÅG

CEO of Get Inspired

Silje Landevåg is the founder of Get Inspired, Norways largest e-commerce within sport fashion. In 10 years the online store has grown from the time when she started the business alone by the kitchen counter, to 60 employees, 3700 square feet and a turnover above 230 MNOK i 2018. She has also developed Love it, a clothing and shoes brand within the outdoor and training segment. Love It has in short time become one of the highest grossing brands at Get Inspired.

She is a true entrepreneur and loves working from idea to implementation - with an extra passion for concept development and content marketing. Now she comes to share the story and give her best tips in business development. She desire to inspire more women to follow their dreams.

LISA NELSON

Managing Director at M12

Lisa leads portfolio development activities for M12. Additionally, she also leads investment activities in the Pacific Northwest, VC engagement for Microsoft and marketing strategy and execution for the fund. Lisa’s been with Microsoft for several years in a variety of roles across business development and finance. She most recently served as chief of staff for the EVP of Business Development where she helped identify, pursue and support new areas of growth for Microsoft through key strategic partnerships, investments, and M&A. Lisa is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor in Business Administration – Finance and Statistics from the University of Washington.

SUSANNE BIRGERSDOTTER

Entrepreneur, speaker and author.

Female Empowerment.

Susanne Birgersdotter, a Swedish self-made entrepreneur and investor, has gone from designing her first app from her kitchen table to become one of the most influential business women and entrepreneurs within seven years. Susanne’s strong instincts and intuition have helped her grow her companies including designing a #1 ranked app and founding IGOTCHA, SthlmAppLab, SBDM & Birgersdotter Innovate.

She is an active mentor and member on several boards and a popular global speaker giving lectures and workshops on entrepreneurship and venture capital. Susanne was nominated for Sweden’s most powerful female founder in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Susanne was also nominated as one of 125 most

powerful women in Business.

GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND

Former prime minister of Norway, Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian politician, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway and as Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is also known for having chaired the Brundtland Commission which presented the Brundtland Report on sustainable development  

SONY KAPOOR

International economist and policy entrepreneur

Sony Kapoor is an influential economist, financial sector expert and development practitioner. As Director of the international think tank Re-Define, Sony advises multilateral organisations, investors, central banks, as well as European and emerging economies on economic and financial policy. Sony is a popular keynote speaker and commentator. Until recently, he also had a multidisciplinary role at the London School of Economics (LSE) as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Development and Government Departments and a Strategy Advisor to its Systemic Risk Centre. 

ELHAM FARDAD

CEO & Founder of Migrant Leaders

Elham Fardad is the CEO and Founder of Migrant Leaders, the charity set up to help young migrants develop their talents, succeed in Britain and achieve their career aspirations in large corporates. Elham is a passionate advocate, speaker and change agent bringing diversity of thinking and developing underrepresented talent for corporate boardrooms. She believes that true diversity can be achieved when every young person has the opportunity to succeed and fulfil their potential no matter where they come from.

EDUARDO KASSNER

CTIO at the One Commercial Partner Group at Microsoft Corporation

Eduardo is the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at the One Commercial Partner Group at Microsoft Corporation. His team is responsible to define the strategy and develop the programs to drive the technical capacity, practice development and profitability for the hundreds of thousands Microsoft partners worldwide, he also leads the technical teams supporting the Microsoft partner ecosystem. He has built up 27+ years of experience managing, architecting and designing complex IT environments, and connecting IT and Business Objectives in real life. 

PELLEGRINO RICCARDI

Global Keynote Speaker, Course Instructor, ChangeMaker

Motivational speaker, teacher, communications consultant, cross-cultural expert and even (once upon a time) a world-touring rock musician, Pellegrino Riccardi has spent the last 30 years travelling the globe connecting with people. The common thread running through these many roles is making a connection with audiences through their hearts and minds, and also helping the people he communicates with to connect and interact more effectively with each other. Pellegrino’s style of public speaking is a seamless fusion of masterful storytelling and observational humour in what he calls “edutainment” (education + entertainment). 

VENKE KNUTSON

CEO of Skravlekopp

Venke Knutson is one of Norways famous and beloved artists. She has delivered hits after hits, and has her own ability to create a friendly, warm and classy mood on the stage. She invented Skravlekopp in 2017,  after she heard the british entrepreneur Hillary Cottam deliver a fiery message about loneliness. "It was brutal and honest and I was totally beaten. She shed light on a community where we forgot to look up and around us."

This was the start of her dream to create a people movement for a more generous and inclusive society.

YVONNE THOMPSON

CBE – Chair Radio Academy

Is a game changer,  campaigner, activist, advocate, mentor, coach and has over 33 years, experience in the Communications, Marketing and PR industry, advising corporates, public sector, educational establishments and government championing equality, diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Honoured by Queen Elizabeth II, and received 2 doctorates for her work in the Entrepreneurship, Global Diversity and Equality arena. She has published a leadership book, “7 Traits of Highly Successful Women on Boards", promoting the path to and greater gender diversity in company board rooms.

DR. LEYLA HUSSEIN OBE

Fellow At The Royal society Of Arts 

Dr Leyla Hussein is a psychotherapist specializing in supporting survivors of sexual abuse. She is an international lecturer on female genital mutilation (FGM) and Global speaker on  gender rights. She is a leading and award winning international campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) and her passion is to empower women and girls. Leyla founded The Dahlia Project, the UK’s first specialist therapeutic service for FGM survivors and co-founded anti-FGM charity Daughters of Eve. 

KRISTIN SKOGEN LUND

CEO of Schibsted

Kristin Skogen Lund became CEO of Schibsted in December 2018. She comes from the position of Director General of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. Previous positions include EVP at Telenor, CEO at the Schibsted companies Aftenposten, Scanpix and Scandinavia Online, as well as several positions at the Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and the Norwegian Embassy in Madrid. Kristin Skogen Lund has previously served as president of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise and as a member of the board of Ericsson and Orkla among others. She has been a member of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and the ILO Global Commission on the future of work. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Business Administration from the University of Oregon.

HILDE TONNE

 CIO of Ramboll Group 

 Hilde Tonne is Chief Innovation Officer and member of the Group Executive Board of Ramboll Group. 

Hilde has an international track record as a leader in innovation and digitalisation as former member of the Group Executive Management of Telenor Group for eight years and as Head of Technology & Research at Norsk Hydro Oil & Energy. She is also one of the founders of Digital Norway – an initiative to accelerate digitalisation among Norwegian companies. As of 1 January 2019, Hilde was appointed Chairman of the Norwegian Research Council. 

Hilde has held several non-executive board positions, lately as a board member of Danske Bank Group until March 2019. 

Foto: Lisbeth Skei

LILLA SØLHUSVIK

Author and journalist in NRK

The journalist and author Lilla Sølhusvik has worked for many years in NRK, where she currently is hosting the news program "Politisk kvarter". Previously, she has been an international correspondent in NRK, an  editorial director for Dagsnytt / Alltid Nyheter and a project manager for investigative journalism at "NRK Brennpunkt". In 2012 she published the critically acclaimed biography of Kristin Halvorsen. Her new book "Because it's worth it. Women's way to the top of business» was released in the spring of 2018.

SUSANNAH RODGERS

Ocean Ambassador &

Paralympic Gold medallist

Rodgers has competed in two Paralympic Games at London 2012 and Rio 2016, where she won gold. She works professionally as a Non-Executive Director on numerous Boards, running her own consultancy business around disability and inclusion and working in elite sport on social impact campaigns. She is Patron of London Disability Swimming Club amongst other charities and is currently an Ocean Ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society in the UK. She advises globally on disability, empowerment and inclusion. She was announced by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2018 and was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2017 for services to Paralympic swimming. 

BERIT SVENDSEN

Head of Vipps International

Berit started as a scientist at the research institute of Televerket (later Telenor) in 1988 and has until recently worked at Telenor. She had several roles in the company, EVP and CEO for Telenor Norway and from March 2017 to September 2018 she was responsible for all Telenor's activities in Scandinavia. She has the heart of a true tech enthusiast and curious about innovation and development. In 2016, Berit was named one of Europe’s fifty most inspiring women in the technology world by Inspiring Fifty. In 2017 and 2018 she was named the most powerful woman in Norwegian business by Kapital, the largest business magazine in Norway. Berit started in Vipps in November 2018 to lead the international expansion of Vipps. 

TOMAS MYKLEBUST

Neuropsychologist

Tomas Myklebust is a psychologist with subspecialization in clinical neuropsychology, practicing at Division of Clinical Neuroscience at Oslo University Hospital. He is also an experienced performance coach, working with athletes, artists and business professionals, and a popular and passionate speaker giving lectures and workshops on topics in psychology and brain science.

MARIA MORÆUS HANSSEN

Member of the Board, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Deputy CEO, Region EMEA

Maria Moræus Hanssen is responsible on the Executive Board for the Business Units Germany, Norway, Netherlands, UK and Denmark, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, UAE, and Integration Project. Among other things, the Norwegian studied Petroleum Engineering at the NTNU in Trondheim. From 1992 on she worked for Hydro, Statoil and Aker. In 2014 she became CEO of GDF Suez (later Engie) E&P International SA. From 2018, Maria Moræus Hanssen was Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG.

AYLA HUGUENOT

Student at the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City

​

Ayla Huguenot is a 15 year-old high school student at the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. Ayla is committed to social action to create positive change. She began writing songs at the age of three and is a 2019 finalist in The Center Stage Artist Search for the School of Rock and Atlantic Records in Los Angeles. She has recently performed at the UN as part of the International Day for The Eradication of Poverty Initiative and has performed with other change makers such as Joan Beaz, Rosanne Cash and Moby. She is honored to be a part of the SHE Conference and is thrilled to be one of the young artists performing. 

MATTHEW SMITH

Founder & Presenter at TheLunicorn

Voted one of the most influential people in the Nordics in 2017, for his efforts at Angel Challenge kickstarting the Norwegian investment ecosystem. A former VC turn founder, Matt is better known for his entertaining stage performances and is the creator and presenter of a new online Web-Series (TheLunicorn.com) due to launch fall 2018.