Green Shoots

Julie Sweet is chief executive officer of Accenture and serves on the company’s board of directors.

Prior to becoming CEO in September 2019, Julie served as chief executive officer of Accenture’s business in North America, the company’s largest geographic market. Previously, she was Accenture’s general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer for five years. Prior to joining Accenture in 2010, Julie was a partner for 10 years in the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.

Outside of Accenture, Julie is a leader on topics including innovation, technology’s impact on business, and inclusion and diversity. She is a member of the World Economic Forum's International Business Council, the Business Roundtable and the TechNet Executive Council. Julie also serves on the board of directors for Catalyst, the board of trustees for the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the board of trustees for the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities - Bridges from School to Work. In 2019, she was named to FORTUNE’s list of “Most Powerful Women” for the fourth consecutive year.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Vitalik is the creator of Ethereum, the most popular protocol in blockchain. He first discovered blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies through Bitcoin in 2011, and was immediately excited by the technology and its potential. He cofounded Bitcoin Magazine in September 2011, and after two and a half years looking at what the existing blockchain technology and applications had to offer, wrote the Ethereum white paper in November 2013. He now leads Ethereum's research team, working on future versions of the Ethereum protocol.

Vinod Khosla is an entrepreneur, investor, and technology fan. He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, focused on impactful technology investments in software, AI, robotics, 3D printing, healthcare and more. Mr. Khosla was a co-founder of Daisy systems and founding CEO of Sun Microsystems where he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. One of Mr. Khosla’s greatest passions is being a mentor to entrepreneurs, assisting entrepreneurs and helping them build technology-based businesses. Mr. Khosla is driven by the desire to make a positive impact through technology to reinvent societal infrastructure and multiply resources. He is also passionate about Social Entrepreneurship. Vinod holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT, New Delhi, a Master's in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Agustín Carstens became General Manager of the BIS on 1 December 2017.
Mr Carstens was Governor of the Bank of Mexico from 2010 to 2017. A member of the BIS Board from 2011 to 2017, he was chair of the Global Economy Meeting and the Economic Consultative Council from 2013 until 2017. He also chaired the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the IMF's policy advisory committee from 2015 to 2017.
Mr Carstens began his career in 1980 at the Bank of Mexico. From 1999 to 2000, he was Executive Director at the IMF. He later served as Mexico’s deputy finance minister (2000–03) and as Deputy Managing Director at the IMF (2003–06). He was Mexico's finance minister from 2006 to 2009.
Mr Carstens has been a member of the Financial Stability Board since 2010 and is a member of the Group of Thirty.
Mr Carstens holds an MA and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

Arianna Huffington is the founder of The Huffington Post, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of 15 books, including, most recently, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In August 2016, she launched Thrive Global, a corporate and consumer well-being and productivity platform with the mission of changing the way we work and live by ending the collective delusion that burnout is the price we must pay for success. She has been named to Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics.
Time: 21:20 - 22:00
Topic: Milken Institute: Thriving: A Conversation with Arianna Huffington

Michael Miebach, President of Mastercard, is responsible for overseeing the sales, marketing, products, services, and technology organizations for the company. Mastercard’s Board unanimously elected Michael to succeed Ajay Banga as Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2021.

Michael brings deep expertise in digital innovation, emerging technologies, regulation, fintech, and financial services to forge innovative partnerships across the ecosystem. He has a wealth of insights and global experience from a 25-year career spanning payments and banking services and technology.

As Chief Product Officer, Michael helped transform the company’s offerings from consumer cards to providing a variety of multi-rail payment solutions. Michael has been a key driver in developing and executing the strategy to evolve and diversify Mastercard, leading the acquisition of Vocalink and the pending transaction with Nets--to address a broader set of payment flows.

His collaborative approach creates scalable and trusted solutions for the exchange of payments and data towards a more inclusive digital economy where everyone is connected, and everyone can thrive.

He previously led Mastercard across the Middle East and Africa and held senior roles at both Barclays Bank and Citibank.

He is a member of the digital advisory council of Fannie Mae, which makes sustainable homeownership and workforce rental housing a reality for millions of Americans, and a member of the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Accion which gives people across the world the financial tools and services they need to prosper. Both roles give Michael the opportunity to pursue his passion for bringing more people greater opportunities in the formal economy. Michael is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House New York City, a charity that offers vital resources and compassionate care to children and their families being treated by the world’s leading pediatric cancer hospitals.

Michael holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Passau in Germany. He lives with his family in New York.

As President and CEO, Dan Schulman is focused on democratizing and transforming financial services and e-commerce to improve the financial health of billions of people, families and businesses around the world. With extensive experience in payments and mobile technology, Dan is leading PayPal to reimagine how people move and manage money, and how merchants and consumers interact and transact. Under Dan’s leadership, PayPal has been named as one of the top companies on JUST Capital’s and Forbes’ JUST 100 list, featuring “companies doing right by America”. PayPal has also been recognized as a Fortune Change the World company for its work to tackle the biggest challenges facing society today.

Dan is the recipient of the 2017 Brennan Legacy Award, established to honor the Supreme Court justice and his career-long commitment to social justice and “common human dignity”. The Council for Economic Education named Dan as its 2017 Visionary for promoting economic and financial literacy to create a better-informed society. He was also honored with the Financial Health Network’s inaugural Visionary Award in 2018 for his commitment to improving the financial lives of people around the world. In 2019, Dan was recognized by Endeavor Global with the High-Impact Leader of the Year Award for his work to support entrepreneurs around the globe. Rutgers University bestowed upon Dan an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and he also delivered the University’s 252nd anniversary commencement speech.

For three consecutive years, Dan has been recognized by Fortune as one of the top 20 Businesspersons of the Year. He has also been named one of the top 100 Most Creative People by Fast Company, and in 2019, named one of Glassdoor's Top 50 CEOs. In addition, he has been recognized as one of the top 10 Most Innovative CEOs in Banking.

Dan previously served as Group President at American Express. Prior to joining American Express, Dan was President of the Prepaid Group at Sprint Nextel Corporation following its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA, Inc., where he led the company as its founding CEO for eight years. Earlier in his career, Dan was President and CEO of Priceline Group, Inc., where he led the company through a period of rapid growth and expansion. He also spent 18 years at AT&T, where he held a series of positions, including President of the Consumer Markets Division.

Dan is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee to promote global financial inclusion. He also serves on the Board of Governors and Board of Stewards for the World Economic Forum’s Future of Financial & Monetary Systems platform. In addition, Dan is a board member of Verizon Communications, Inc. He also serves on the boards of Autism Speaks and The Economic Club of New York. He previously served as Non-Executive Chairman of NortonLifeLock (formerly Symantec Corporation).

He earned a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Dan is an avid mixed martial arts practitioner.

Kristalina Georgieva is the Managing Director of the IMF since October 1, 2019.

She was CEO of the World Bank from January 2017 to September 2019, during which time she also served as Interim President for three months.

Previously, Ms. Georgieva served as European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources and as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

From 1993 to 2010, she held a number of senior positions at the World Bank, including as Vice President and Corporate Secretary in 2008, and as Director for Sustainable Development, Director for the Russian Federation (based in Moscow), Director for Environment, and Director for Environment and Social Development for the East Asia and Pacific Region.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, she holds a Ph.D. in Economic Science and a M.A. in Political Economy and Sociology from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, where she was an Associate Professor between 1977 and 1993. She also was visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Laurence D. Fink is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, Inc. He and seven partners founded BlackRock in 1988, and under his leadership, the firm has grown into a global leader in investment and technology solutions to help investors build better financial futures. Today, BlackRock is trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm in the world. Mr. Fink has been named one of the "World's Greatest Leaders" by Fortune, and Barron’s has named him one of the "World's Best CEOs" for 14 consecutive years.

Prior to founding BlackRock in 1988, Mr. Fink was a member of the Management Committee and a Managing Director of The First Boston Corporation.

He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University (NYU) and the World Economic Forum, and is Co-Chairman of the NYU Langone Medical Center Board of Trustees. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing and on the Executive Committee of the Partnership for New York City.

Mr. Fink earned an MBA with a concentration in real estate from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1976 and a BA in political science from UCLA in 1974.

Jane Fraser is the President of Citi and the Chief Executive Officer of Global Consumer Banking. She is a member of Citi’s Board of Directors, and she will succeed Mike Corbat as Citi’s Chief Executive Officer in February 2021. She will be the first female CEO in the firm’s history. Jane is a member of the Citi Executive Management Team, serves as Co-Chair of the Citi Women Affinity Group and is Head of Citi’s North America Crisis Management response to COVID-19.

As CEO of the Global Consumer Bank, Jane is responsible for all of Citi’s Consumer businesses, including Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Credit Cards, Mortgage and Operations and Technology in 19 markets.

Before this role, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Latin America from 2015 to 2019. From 2013 to 2015, she was the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Consumer and Commercial Banking and CitiMortgage. From 2009 to 2013, Jane served as the Chief Executive Officer of Citi's Global Private Bank. Prior, Jane was the Global Head of Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions for Citi from 2007 to 2009. She joined Citi in 2004 in the Corporate and Investment Banking division.

Prior to joining Citi, Jane was a Partner at McKinsey & Company. She started her career at Goldman Sachs in the Mergers & Acquisitions department in London and then worked for Asesores Bursátiles in Madrid, Spain.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Citibanamex, the Board of Dean’s Advisors, Harvard Business School, the Stanford Global Advisory Board and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Jane has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an M.A. in economics from Cambridge University. Jane is married with two children.

Satya Nadella is Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. Before being named CEO in February 2014, Nadella held leadership roles in both enterprise and consumer businesses across the company.

Joining Microsoft in 1992, he quickly became known as a leader who could span a breadth of technologies and businesses to transform some of Microsoft’s biggest product offerings.

Most recently, Nadella was executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group. In this role he led the transformation to the cloud infrastructure and services business, which outperformed the market and took share from competition. Previously, Nadella led R&D for the Online Services Division and was vice president of the Microsoft Business Division. Before joining Microsoft, Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems.

Originally from Hyderabad, India, Nadella lives in Bellevue, Washington. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. Nadella serves on the board of trustees to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and his alma mater the University of Chicago, as well as the Starbucks board of directors. He is married and has three children.

Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand & Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was born in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, and grew up rurally. She attended high school before graduating from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Communication Studies in Politics and Public Relations.

Post-university, she worked as an advisor in the office of then-Prime Minister Helen Clark, in London for the Government Cabinet Office and as an Assistant Director in the Department for Business and Enterprise, and on a review of Policing in England and Wales.

The Prime Minister joined the New Zealand Labour Party at age 18 and entered New Zealand’s Parliament in 2008. Over her twelve years as a representative she has been a strong advocate for children, women, and the right of every New Zealander to have meaningful work.

She became the MP for the Auckland electorate Mt Albert in early 2017, and the Leader of the Labour Party in August 2017. As well as Prime Minister, she holds the roles of Minister for National Security and Intelligence, and Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, an issue particularly close to her heart. She is also the Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with co-chair Melinda Gates, he shapes and approves grantmaking strategies, advocates for the foundation’s issues, and helps set the overall direction of the organization.

Bill and Melinda Gates work together to expand opportunity to the world’s most disadvantaged people by collaborating with grantees and partners. They also participate in national and international events and travel extensively to focus attention on the issues the foundation champions.

Bill began his major philanthropic efforts in 1994, when he created the William H. Gates Foundation, which focused on global health. Three years later, he and Melinda created the Gates Library Foundation, which worked to bring public access computers with Internet connections to libraries in the United States. Its name changed to the Gates Learning Foundation in 1999 to reflect its focus on ensuring that low-income minority students are prepared for college and have the means to attend. In 2000, to increase efficiency and communication, the two groups merged into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 1975, Gates left Harvard University in his junior year to focus on Microsoft, the company he founded with his childhood friend Paul Allen. As chief software architect and chairman, Bill led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software, services, and solutions. In July 2008, Gates transitioned into a new role as chairman of Microsoft and advisor on some key development projects.

He is a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. His father, William H. Gates Sr. (d. 2020), was a co-chair of the foundation and an attorney. His late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. The Gateses have three children.

Dante Disparte is the vice chair and Head of Policy and Communications for the Libra Association, a newly-formed organization that has brought together social impact organizations and a diverse group of leading businesses from around the world to create a low-friction, high-trust payment system that empowers billions of people.

Dante comes to the Libra Association with two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, business leader and global risk expert, most recently as founder and head of Risk Cooperative, a strategic risk advisory and insurance brokerage based in Washington, D.C. He has lived and worked in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean, and has conducted business all over the world. In addition to leading Risk Cooperative since its inception five years ago, Dante also serves as an appointee on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Advisory Council, the United States’ federal emergency response agency. He is a founding advisor of the Global Blockchain Business Council and a senior fellow with the Blockchain Trust Accelerator where he supports technology and digital transformation initiatives.

Dante is a frequent speaker and commentator on business and political issues shaping the world. His views on risk, economic competitiveness and security issues are regularly featured in leading media and publications, such as Harvard Business Review, BBC, Forbes and International Policy Digest.

Dante is a graduate of Harvard Business School and holds an MSc. in Risk Management from the NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. in International and Intercultural Studies from Goucher College. He is the co-author “Global Risk Agility and Decision Making” (Macmillan, 2016) and was recognized as one of the 40 leaders under 40 by the Washington Business Journal and in the inaugural Powermeter 100 list.

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with co-chair Melinda Gates, he shapes and approves grantmaking strategies, advocates for the foundation’s issues, and helps set the overall direction of the organization.

Bill and Melinda Gates work together to expand opportunity to the world’s most disadvantaged people by collaborating with grantees and partners. They also participate in national and international events and travel extensively to focus attention on the issues the foundation champions.

Bill began his major philanthropic efforts in 1994, when he created the William H. Gates Foundation, which focused on global health. Three years later, he and Melinda created the Gates Library Foundation, which worked to bring public access computers with Internet connections to libraries in the United States. Its name changed to the Gates Learning Foundation in 1999 to reflect its focus on ensuring that low-income minority students are prepared for college and have the means to attend. In 2000, to increase efficiency and communication, the two groups merged into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 1975, Gates left Harvard University in his junior year to focus on Microsoft, the company he founded with his childhood friend Paul Allen. As chief software architect and chairman, Bill led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software, services, and solutions. In July 2008, Gates transitioned into a new role as chairman of Microsoft and advisor on some key development projects.

He is a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. His father, William H. Gates Sr. (d. 2020), was a co-chair of the foundation and an attorney. His late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. The Gateses have three children.

Mr. Calvin Choi is the Chairman and CEO of AMTD Group, and Founder of AMTD Charity Foundation, @-WISE Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in Singapore, and Regional Banks + Strategic Cooperation Alliance. He is a globally recognized entrepreneur and philanthropist as well as a pioneer and contributor in promoting regional digitalization.

Calvin was named 2019 “Asia FinTech Leader” by the Singapore Fintech Association, selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in 2017, and awarded by the Institutional Investor magazine as one of the global “Fintech Finance 35” in 2016.

Calvin currently serves as the Chairman of the Group’s investment banking subsidiary AMTD international (NYSE:HKIB, SGX:HKB), the first company with dual class voting rights to successfully dual list on NYSE and SGX; Chairman of AMTD Digital, a one-stop digitally connected solutions platform headquartered in Singapore; Board Director of Bank of Qingdao (SEHK: 3866; SZSE: 002948). He also serves as Board Director of ASEAN Financial Innovation Network, which was founded by World Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and ASEAN Bankers Association. Calvin is appointed by the HK Government as a member of HK Cyberport Advisory Panel and a member of Prisoners’ Education Trust Fund Investment Advisory Committee. He is also appointed as Vice Chairman of the China Young Entrepreneurs Association, and Vice Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation.

Carlos is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kavak.com, Mexico’s #1 e-commerce platform to sell and buy certified used vehicles. In October 2020, it was announced worldwide that Kavak became the first Mexican unicorn, just 4 years after their launching. In April 2021, Kavak raised a Round D Series and is now worth more than 4B USD. Prior to Kavak, he co-founded and led the overall Marketplace roll-out at Linio. He also worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, and held several roles in Diaego and Amazon. Carlos received his MBA from Oxford University.

Carlos is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kavak.com, Mexico’s #1 e-commerce platform to sell and buy certified used vehicles. In October 2020, it was announced worldwide that Kavak became the first Mexican unicorn, just 4 years after their launching. In April 2021, Kavak raised a Round D Series and is now worth more than 4B USD. Prior to Kavak, he co-founded and led the overall Marketplace roll-out at Linio. He also worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, and held several roles in Diaego and Amazon. Carlos received his MBA from Oxford University.

As President and CEO of PayPal, Dan Schulman is focused on transforming financial services and e-commerce to improve the financial health of billions of people around the world. With extensive experience in payments and mobile technology, Dan is leading PayPal to reimagine how people move and manage money, and how merchants and consumers interact and transact. Under Dan’s leadership, PayPal was named one of the top companies on JUST Capital’s and Forbes’ JUST 100 list and as a Fortune Change the World company for its work to tackle the biggest challenges facing society today.

Dan has been recognized as one of Fortune’s top 20 Businesspersons of the Year and he is the recipient of the 2017 Brennan Legacy Award, given in recognition of his contributions to social justice. Prior to PayPal, Dan served in leadership roles at American Express, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Priceline Group, and AT&T. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee to promote global financial inclusion. Dan earned a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He is also an avid mixed martial arts practitioner.

Dante Disparte is the vice chair and Head of Policy and Communications for the Libra Association, a newly-formed organization that has brought together social impact organizations and a diverse group of leading businesses from around the world to create a low-friction, high-trust payment system that empowers billions of people.

Dante comes to the Libra Association with two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, business leader and global risk expert, most recently as founder and head of Risk Cooperative, a strategic risk advisory and insurance brokerage based in Washington, D.C. He has lived and worked in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean, and has conducted business all over the world. In addition to leading Risk Cooperative since its inception five years ago, Dante also serves as an appointee on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Advisory Council, the United States’ federal emergency response agency. He is a founding advisor of the Global Blockchain Business Council and a senior fellow with the Blockchain Trust Accelerator where he supports technology and digital transformation initiatives.

Dante is a frequent speaker and commentator on business and political issues shaping the world. His views on risk, economic competitiveness and security issues are regularly featured in leading media and publications, such as Harvard Business Review, BBC, Forbes and International Policy Digest.

Dante is a graduate of Harvard Business School and holds an MSc. in Risk Management from the NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. in International and Intercultural Studies from Goucher College. He is the co-author “Global Risk Agility and Decision Making” (Macmillan, 2016) and was recognized as one of the 40 leaders under 40 by the Washington Business Journal and in the inaugural Powermeter 100 list.

Darius is the co-founder of QCP Capital and Phillip Street Partners.

QCP Capital focuses on digital asset trading both globally and in local markets (particularly Southeast Asia). Qcp also specialises in crypto derivatives (options, forwards, futures) in CEFI and DEFI, with over 1.5 billion USD in assets deployed.

Phillip Street Partners is a Singapore-licensed fund management company with strategies in both digital and traditional assets.

Dhivya Suryadevara is chief financial officer at Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet.

As Stripe’s reach expands across the globe, Dhivya plays a crucial role in accelerating Stripe’s aggressive growth while maintaining the highest standards in discipline and fiscal
responsibility.

Prior to joining Stripe, Dhivya spent about 15 years at General Motors, most recently as chief financial officer overseeing the company's global financial operations. She previously held various positions within GM’s finance function and outside GM at UBS Investment Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Dhivya has been recognized for her career accomplishments including Automotive News’ 2019 All Stars, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women to Watch, 40 Under 40 (Fortune magazine and Crain’s Detroit Business), World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and others. She previously served on the board of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.

Dhivya has an MBA from Harvard University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in commerce from the University of Madras in India. She is a Chartered Accountant and a CFA charterholder. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Helen Wong has over 20 years of experience in the venture capital industry. Ms Wong was ranked among Top 100 VCs in China and Top 25 female VCs in China by Forbes.

Ms. Wong is a Founding General Partner at QR Ventures. She was a Partner at Qiming Venture Partners, focusing on its internet and consumer sectors. Ms. Wong’s exited deals include Mobike (acquired by Meituan), LuoJiSiWei (secondary share purchase by Tencent at unicorn valuation) and Lagou (acquired by 51jobs, Ticker: JOBS). Ms. Wong led the firm’s SE Asian investment strategy, and has invested in Akulaku (installment financing and digital bank), and RedDoorz (tech enabled budget hotel chain).

Prior to Qiming, Ms. Wong was a founding member at GGV Capital for approximately 10 years in China and Silicon Valley. At GGV, Ms. Wong was an early investor in Tudou (which went public on NASDAQ, merged with Youku, now under Alibaba).

Ms. Wong holds degrees from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, INSEAD and Oxford University.

Hernan is a Managing Partner and cofounder of Kaszek Ventures, the largest early stage venture capital firm in Latin America, with over $1B of raised capital. The firm was launched in 2011 and has invested in more than 75 startups.
Before founding Kaszek Ventures, Hernan cofounded MercadoLibre, the largest technology company in Latin America, where he worked for 12 years, nine as COO and three as CFO.
Previously, he was Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble, and a finance analyst at the United Nations Development Program and the Ministry of Economy of Argentina.

He received an MBA from Stanford University, and graduated magna cum laude in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires.
Hernan was selected Endeavor Entrepreneur in 1999, awarded “The Outstanding Young Persons of Argentina” recognition by the Junior Chamber International in 2004, chosen Established Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2009, and selected Entrepreneur Master of the Year 2018 by Ernst & Young Argentina.

Janet is a member of the senior leadership team under UOB Group CEO, leading delivery channels, digitalisation initiatives and customer experience & advocacy to achieve UOB Group’s vision of a premier regional bank in Asia Pacific. Working with Business, Technology partners and Country teams in UOB, FinTech and ecosystem players externally, she champions collaborative business models, omni-channel strategy to drive better customer experience and outcomes for the bank and its customers in the digital age.

Janet has more than 25 years of banking and treasury experience with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Philips Electronics. She serves as a board member of National Council of Social Service, InnoVen, The FinLab, Accuron Technologies, and on the Advisory Board of Nanyang Business School and the NUS School of Computing & Technology.

Jefferson Chen is the Chairman and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group, a Singapore based Fintech & Artificial Intelligence company that operates in 10 markets across Asia Pacific. Jefferson is also a Partner at GSR Ventures, a leading global venture capital firm with US$3 billion of asset under managment.

Prior to starting Advance, Jefferson was head of private investing for Greater China at Farallon Capital, a leading alternative asset management firm with AUM of over US$30 billion. Jefferson previously also worked at Goldman Sachs where he was involved in the IPO and M&A transactions for numerous Asian companies in technology, financial services and other industries.

Jefferson received Bachelor degree in Computer Science with distinction from Tsinghua University and MBA from Stanford University.

Jeremy Allaire is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments and commerce. Founded in 2013, Circle is the pioneer of USD Coin (USDC), the fastest growing, fully-reserved, and regulated digital dollar stablecoin. Governed by the Centre Consortium, and led by Circle and Coinbase, USDC has grown by nearly 500% in 2020, from a market cap of just over $400 million to more than $2.6 billion, with more than $200 million in new issuance being added every week. Previously, Mr. Allaire co-founded and led multiple global internet technology companies with thousands of employees, hundreds of millions of consumers served, and multiple successful public offerings on NASDAQ. He has provided expert testimony on digital assets and monetary policy before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs, US Senate Banking Committee, and he has been named to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) High-Level Advisory Group on FinTech. Mr. Allaire provides perspective and policy recommendations at the highest levels inside financial bodies across the US, UK, and Europe.

Jo is a division head at the FinTech & Innovation Group (FTIG) at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Her division, the Payments Development and Data Connectivity Office, is responsible for developing the Singapore payments ecosystem and driving payments development initiatives in addition to the development and implementation of cross-border data connectivity. In her previous role as payments policy lead at FTIG, Jo was the project director for the Payment Services Act.

Prior to joining FTIG, Jo was Assistant General Counsel at the MAS Legal Department. In that role she advised extensively on financial services regulations and free trade agreements. Her private practice experience was at Allen & Gledhill and Amica Law.

Jo graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LLB (Hons) Degree, and was called to the Singapore bar. She has a Master of Laws from University College London, and is a non-practising solicitor of England and Wales.

Lachlan is Chief Practitioner at Gradient Institute, leading the institute's efforts in ethical machine learning training, assessment and application. Previously at Australia's national computer science research labs NICTA and Data61, Lachlan led teams of researchers, software engineers and domain experts to tackle complex, high-risk estimation and decision problems for government and industry. Lachlan received his PhD in machine learning from the University of Sydney after completing honours in theoretical physics at the Australian National University.

Melissa C. Guzy is the Founder and Managing Partner of Arbor Ventures. Before founding of Arbor Ventures, Melissa was a Managing Partner and a member of the Investment Committee at VantagePoint Capital Partners. Melissa attended Wellesley College and earned a master’s degree in Finance from the University of Florida. She is the author of the paper “Venture Capital Returns and Public Market Performance.” Melissa is the Co-Chair of the Hong Kong Venture Capital Association (“HKVCA”) Venture Committee, a member of the Board of Directors of the HKVCA and the SVCA and a former member to the Hong Kong SFC on Innovation. Melissa has been recognized as a Top 100 Influencer in Fintech (NxtBnk), AlwaysOn Fintech Power Player, as well as one of the Top 13 Women in Asia of Tech Influencers.

Michael Miebach, President of Mastercard, is responsible for overseeing the sales, marketing, products, services, and technology organizations for the company. Mastercard’s Board unanimously elected Michael to succeed Ajay Banga as Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2021.

Michael brings deep expertise in digital innovation, emerging technologies, regulation, fintech, and financial services to forge innovative partnerships across the ecosystem. He has a wealth of insights and global experience from a 25-year career spanning payments and banking services and technology.

As Chief Product Officer, Michael helped transform the company’s offerings from consumer cards to providing a variety of multi-rail payment solutions. Michael has been a key driver in developing and executing the strategy to evolve and diversify Mastercard, leading the acquisition of Vocalink and the pending transaction with Nets--to address a broader set of payment flows.

His collaborative approach creates scalable and trusted solutions for the exchange of payments and data towards a more inclusive digital economy where everyone is connected, and everyone can thrive.

He previously led Mastercard across the Middle East and Africa and held senior roles at both Barclays Bank and Citibank.

He is a member of the digital advisory council of Fannie Mae, which makes sustainable homeownership and workforce rental housing a reality for millions of Americans, and a member of the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Accion which gives people across the world the financial tools and services they need to prosper. Both roles give Michael the opportunity to pursue his passion for bringing more people greater opportunities in the formal economy. Michael is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House New York City, a charity that offers vital resources and compassionate care to children and their families being treated by the world’s leading pediatric cancer hospitals.

Michael holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Passau in Germany. He lives with his family in New York.

Michael Casey is the Chief Content Officer at CoinDesk, the leading media platform for the blockchain and digital asset community, and the author of CoinDesk’s weekly Money Reimagined newsletter as well as a co-host of the podcast of the same name.

He is also non-executive chairman and cofounder of Streambed Media, which is providing blockchain-based media licensing solutions for NFTs and other Web 3.0 digital media services.

Michael previously spent three years as a Senior Advisor to MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative and as a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Michael spent most of his career as a print journalist, including 18 years at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, where he was last a senior columnist covering global finance. He also hosted online TV shows for WSJ Live and appeared as a commentator on networks such as CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, and the BBC.

Michael has five acclaimed books to his name, including two on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology – The Truth Machine and The Age of Cryptocurrency – both co-authored with Paul Vigna.

Michael is a graduate of the University of Western Australia and has higher degrees from Cornell University and Curtin University.

Mike Wells has been Group Chief Executive of the international financial services group Prudential plc since June 2015.

Founded in London in 1848 and based in the UK, Prudential provides long-term savings and protection products, retirement income solutions and asset management through its businesses – Prudential Corporation Asia and Eastspring Investments in Asia, Jackson National Life Insurance in the US, and Prudential Africa.

Since becoming Group Chief Executive, Mike has overseen continued growth across Prudential’s key metrics. In 2019, he led the successful demerger of M&G plc from the Prudential Group and now oversees a global portfolio of businesses, each of which is executing on meeting a large and growing consumer need.

Mike joined Jackson, Prudential’s North American unit, in 1995, and became Jackson’s Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman in 2003. In 2011 he was appointed President and CEO of Jackson and joined the board of Prudential. He has more than three decades’ experience in insurance and retirement services, having started his career at the US brokerage house Dean Witter before becoming a managing director at Smith Barney Shearson.

Mike was born in Ontario, Canada, and earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Economics from San Diego State University.

Bringing over 15 years of Private Equity and Corporate Finance experience across Southeast Asia, Nikhilesh’s expertise includes debt and equity financing across diverse sectors and portfolio management and value creation at SME companies. He founded the M&A Advisory practice at Taipan Partners, focusing on consumer and tech sector deals across South East Asia. Prior to Validus, he led M&A deals for Masan Group and developed vital experience in portfolio management and capital raising for various companies as an Investment Manager at Avigo Capital Partners.

At Validus, Nikhilesh runs the overall business operations and has played a key role in driving successful fundraising rounds and forged strategic partnerships with key industry partners such as Visa and Temasek Holdings’ Vertex Ventures.

Nikhilesh holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and an MBA in Finance. He is a regular speaker at Fintech and SME conferences, sharing insights in Alternative Lending, Small Business Financing, and Peer to Peer Platforms. He is also the winner of Top 10 FinTech Leaders 2019, Top 12 FinTech Leaders 2020 at Singapore FinTech Awards, and Innovation Leadership Achievement in Singapore Award 2021 for his outstanding leadership in innovation, transformation, and growth of Validus by The Asian Banker.

Paula Hunter manages the day-to-day affairs of the Mojaloop Foundation with responsibility for strategic planning and direction, membership development, budgeting, evangelism for the Foundation and its mission, and outreach to strategic partners. She has almost two decades of executive technology association management experience beginning in 1999 when, while working for Compaq, she was a founding board member for the ASP Industry Consortium. Ms. Hunter recently served as Executive Director of the NFC Forum, a nonprofit standards organization. Her experience also includes key roles in several technology companies, ranging from small start-ups to large multi-national corporations.

Carl Wegner is the Chief Executive Officer of Contour, a network to lead a global adoption of blockchain-based trade solutions.

Carl has over 30 years’ experience in Asia Cash Management, Institutional Banking, Financial Supply Chain and Distributed Ledger Technology. Carl served as R3 Managing Director for Asia, where he was instrumental in the business growth and market penetration of Corda solutions with Central Banks, Financial Institutions and Corporates. Carl’s prior experiences include Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking, Greater China of Deutsche Bank, and Managing Director of Transaction Banking for Standard Chartered Bank in Taiwan. He was also Head of Asia for TradeCard (now GTNexus) building their network in 14 countries.

Carl has held the post of Treasurer at Taipei American Chamber of Commerce and is an Appointed Board Member of Taipei American School. Fluent in Mandarin, he holds a B.S. in both Chinese Language and Chinese History from Georgetown University.

Mr. Calvin Choi is the Chairman and CEO of AMTD Group, and Founder of AMTD Charity Foundation, @-WISE Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in Singapore, and Regional Banks + Strategic Cooperation Alliance. He is a globally recognized entrepreneur and philanthropist as well as a pioneer and contributor in promoting regional digitalization.

Calvin was named 2019 “Asia FinTech Leader” by the Singapore Fintech Association, selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in 2017, and awarded by the Institutional Investor magazine as one of the global “Fintech Finance 35” in 2016.

Calvin currently serves as the Chairman of the Group’s investment banking subsidiary AMTD international (NYSE:HKIB, SGX:HKB), the first company with dual class voting rights to successfully dual list on NYSE and SGX; Chairman of AMTD Digital, a one-stop digitally connected solutions platform headquartered in Singapore; Board Director of Bank of Qingdao (SEHK: 3866; SZSE: 002948). He also serves as Board Director of ASEAN Financial Innovation Network, which was founded by World Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and ASEAN Bankers Association. Calvin is appointed by the HK Government as a member of HK Cyberport Advisory Panel and a member of Prisoners’ Education Trust Fund Investment Advisory Committee. He is also appointed as Vice Chairman of the China Young Entrepreneurs Association, and Vice Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation.

Muhammad Rachmat Kaimuddin is a seasoned leader with cross field and industry background, including experience in engineering and financial management.

He was awarded a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and Master of Business Administration from Stanford University, California, United States.

Prior joining Bukalapak, he served as Director for Finance and Planning for PT Bank Bukopin Tbk starting in 2018, and, as a member of the Board of Commissioner for the same bank, up until his appointment as Director on 2014.

Rachmat started his career as a Senior Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, and some other experiences including Managing Director of PT Cardig Air Services, Chief Financial Officer of PT Bosowa Corporindo, Managing Director of PT Semen Bosowa Maros, Vice President of Baring Private Equity Asia, and Principal of Quvat.

Former hedge fund manager who retired at 36, Raoul Pal is a co-founder of Real Vision, a financial media company offering in-depth video interviews and research publications from the world’s best investors. He has run a successful global macro hedge fund, co-managed Goldman Sachs’ hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives in Europe, and helped design the BBC TV program Million Dollar Traders, training participants in investment and risk management strategy. Raoul retired from managing client money and now lives in the Cayman Islands, from where he manages Real Vision and writes for The Global Macro Investor, a highly regarded original research service for hedge funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and other elite investors.

Before founding Alameda and then FTX, Sam was a trader on Jane Street Capital’s international ETF desk. He traded a variety of ETFs, futures, currencies, and equities, and designed their automated OTC trading system. He graduated from MIT with a degree in physics

Serey Chea is an Assistant Governor at National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). As a central banker, she is a vocal proponent for greater use of local currency to promote the country's greater independence on economic and monetary policy. Under her guidance, innovative policy instruments were introduced to develop the interbank markets and promote the use of local currency. She is a member of different policy-driven committees within the bank and nationally. She is chairwoman of the Credit Bureau Cambodia Ltd., the first and only privately-run credit sharing system in Cambodia. She has also been leading Bakong Project, an acclaimed initiative of the NBC in exploring and introducing a new generation of payment system using Blockchain technology. Currently, she serves as an International Council Member of the Global FinTech Institute, and an Advisor to the Board of ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN). She is a member of the Southeast Asia Advisory Council of Women World Banking, and is a member of Young Global Leaders, Class of 2019, a forum of Young Global Leaders created by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Also, she is a member of the WEF’s Digital Currency Governance Consortium and the Advisory Committee of the Digital Payments for Trade and Commerce project. She is a strong advocate for women economic empowerment and financial inclusion and served as Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s (AFI’s) high level Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion Committee (GWFIC). Serey was a senior fellow of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and is currently holding the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Adelaide (Australia).

Sergey Nazarov is the Co-founder of Chainlink, the leading decentralized oracle network used by global enterprises and projects at the forefront of the blockchain space. Chainlink enables smart contracts on any blockchain to reliably connect to real-world data and currently secures billions in value for smart contracts across the decentralized finance (DeFi), insurance, and gaming industries, among others. Working with leading banks, insurance companies, and large technology firms on the creation of universally connected smart contracts gives Nazarov a unique perspective on what is required to drive mainstream adoption of blockchain technology.

Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput is the 24th Governor of the Bank of Thailand and board member for the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Insurance Commission.

Sethaput has extensive experience in economics, policy and financial markets. He has held senior positions with the Siam Commercial Bank group; the Stock Exchange of Thailand; and the Ministry of Finance, and has served on the Board of Directors at PTT Exploration and Production, Osotspa, TMB Bank, and the Bank of Thailand, where he was also on the Monetary Policy Committee.

Prior to returning to Thailand, he was with the World Bank in Washington, DC and McKinsey & Co. in New York. Sethaput received his BA with highest honors from Swarthmore College and his M. Phil and Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Shameek Kundu is Head of Financial Services at TruEra Inc., a startup dedicated to creating trust and transparency in AI. Shameek has spent most of his career in driving responsible adoption of data analytics/ AI in the financial services industry. He is a member of the Bank of England’s AI Public-Private Forum and the OECD Global Partnership on AI, and was part of Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Steering Committee on Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency (FEAT) in AI. Most recently, Shameek was Group Chief Data Officer at Standard Chartered Bank, where he helped the bank explore and adopt AI in multiple areas (e.g., credit, financial crime compliance, customer analytics, surveillance), and shaped the bank’s internal approach to responsible AI.

Stani Kulechov is the Founder and CEO of Aave, an open source and non-custodial liquidity market protocol to earn interest on deposits and borrow assets. Stani was studying law at the University of Helsinki when he first got into Ethereum and he started exploring how it could impact the traditional financial system. In 2017, Stani released ETHLend, one of the first DeFi DApps ever. Since then, he has made it his mission to create tools for an open, transparent, and equitable financial ecosystem through Aave Protocol.

Mr. Koh is co-founder and CEO of Shunwei Capital, an early to growth stage venture fund with over US$3 billion in funds under management. Shunwei Capital invests primarily in China, and also in India and Indonesia.

Mr. Koh has extensive investment experience, spanning multiple industries, including TMT, manufacturing, retail & consumer and logistics. At Shunwei Capital, Mr. Koh is responsible for overall investment and management, and has led the firm’s investments in mobile internet, IoT, Internet+, deep technology, India and Indonesia.

Mr. Koh’s representative investments include Xiaomi (1810.HK), 17zuoye, DXY, Patsnap, Onemore, Kingsoft (3888.HK), BlueD, ShareChat, Meesho, KrazyBee and Gojek. He was formerly a board member of Xiaomi and was involved in fund raising, investments and strategy in the early years of its founding.

Before co-founding Shunwei Capital, he held various positions with C.V. Starr, GIC, AIG and Deutsche Bank. Mr. Koh graduated from the National University of Singapore and Stanford University. He is currently a member of the International Advisory Council in China of Singapore Management University.

Vitalik is the creator of Ethereum. He first discovered blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies through Bitcoin in 2011, and was immediately excited by the technology and its potential. He cofounded Bitcoin Magazine in September 2011, and after two and a half years looking at what the existing blockchain technology and applications had to offer, wrote the Ethereum white paper in November 2013. He now leads Ethereum's research team, working on future versions of the Ethereum protocol.