"A Multi-tiered Entrepreneurial Group"

JON COSS

Chief Technology Officer

Jon is the CEO and Founder of a United Kingdom based Cyber Security Company who has, many years of, experience working in all technology areas across countless industries. His list of technical qualifications are endless and one of those is a First Class Honours Degree in Cyber Security. Jon has a strong passion for technology.

ZIGA VAVPOTIC

Experienced international manager and leader with a demonstrated history of successful projects, organizations and companies.
Former Chairman of Outfit7 Limited (Talking Tom and Friends), one of the fastest-growing multinational family entertainment companies (350 million monthly active users, more than 9 billion downloads, acquired for 1 billion USD by Chinese owner).

Passionately connecting knowledge from business and non-profit, expertise on empowering best talents, cross-cultural cooperation (focus on China-Europe), digital transformation and creating projects and organizations for social changes.
Responsible, goal oriented change maker.

XENIA VASSILIADIS

Entrepreneurial and driven executive with 20 years of experience in financial markets, business development, cross-functional team leadership, and client acquisition across multiple markets. Highly motivated, persuasive, and tenacious leader with a proven track record of achieving positive business results via strategic planning, identifying new markets, developing business processes, and unlocking new sources of revenue. Expertise in tracking budget commitments, coordinating development priorities, supporting key initiatives, and promoting the highest standards of corporate governance. Extensive network of global business contacts, with an especially strong presence in EMEA, APAC, and the USA. Recognized as a creative, results-oriented leader with exceptional communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills.

PREM BARTHASARATHY

Prem is the founder and Managing Partner of Pontaq, a UK Headquartered Venture Capital firm. Prem established the first ever UK-India fund in history and invests in technology business across both the geographies.

ARLIN CILINGIROGLU

Managing Director, IKAR Global Institute

Arlin Cilingiroglu is the Managing Director of IKAR Global Institute. She has more than 15 years of experience in the banking industry, focused on business development and wealth management, where she developed strong knowledge in finance, investor relations and management.

In addition to her career in banking, Ms. CILINGIROGLU has an entrepreneurial background as well as experience in digital marketing, NGO-projects and the hospitality industry.

Her personal vision is to enable people to become the best version of themselves through wisdom and knowledge, in turn, creating a better world. It is this mission that has led Ms. CILINGIROGLU to her new role at the IKAR Global Institute.

DAVID TOPLAS

With over 30 years of experience in investment in finance, real estate, infrastructure and unquoted companies, I have demonstrated a proven ability to lead, build and operate new ventures as well as deliver substantial investment returns.

Throughout his career he has strategically and successfully architected and led transformations, built strong talented teams and crafted complex new businesses from start through growth and finally to exit and beyond. 

David aim to assist people in achieving their goals, through providing solutions, making referrals, networking and a genuine interest in making the lives of my clients, associates, employees, family and friends that much better. 

Today he is seeking more investors to join him to actively assist the next generation of leaders to grow their businesses and provide them with the capital they need, and so allow them to make an impact they can make.

David ethos is that with luck, adaptability, persistence, humility and grit, you will have the opportunity to achieve economic gains that can impact generations to come.

DUYGU GOZELER PORCHET

Duygu Gozeler Porchet is the Managing Partner of Gaia Impact Ventures, a capital raising start-up for sustainable technology companies with a focus on female founders. Before founding Gaia Impact Ventures Duygu had over 15 years of experience in
investment banking and wealth management in New York, London and Dubai.

She started her career with Lehman Brothers in New York in their Investment Banking division as a currency trader and structurer. She then held positions at HSBC in FX and Commodities Structuring, in Dubai and New York providing currency risk management
and investment solutions to corporate and hedge fund clients. Later on she moved to Deutsche Bank to set up their Latin American FX structuring business and worked between New York and Sao Paulo. Duygu then transitioned to wealth management within Deutsche Bank in London before joining Lombard Odier private bank where she was leading the Turkish business in London.
 
Duygu holds degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Koç University in Istanbul and a Masters in Finance degree from Princeton University. Duygu has FINRA & FCA certifications, CISI Investment Advice Diploma, PCIAM (Private Client Investment Advice & Management) certificate and Sustainable Business Strategy Certificate from Harvard Business School.  Duygu is the Vice-Chair of the London Chapter of Arya Women Investment Platform and a regular visiting lecturer at London School of Economics. As a mother of two daughters Duygu is a strong advocate for gender-lens investing and women empowerment via impact investing. She believes that in order to change the world we live in we must change the way we allocate capital.

MICHAEL GOLOMB

A hands-on senior executive and company builder, Michael's background as an entrepreneurial executive with the culmination of twenty-five years of senior management experience across a
broad spectrum of industries. His expertise has been successfully applied across verticals ranging from startups to large public corporations including telecom, blockchain, digital health & medical
devices, consumer electronics & hardware, manufacturing, software/SaaS, and real estate. Key leader in two IPOs, multiple M&A transactions, and rapid business growth. In addition to Michael's knowledge-based experience across multiple categories in raising equity though variety of public and private equity/debt instruments, as well as experience in handling complex M&A transactions, he also brings exceptional knowhow of global capital markets, compliance,
and fintech to FanVestor a unique ability to be an innovator and leader in the marketplace.
Founder and CEO of FanVestor - SEC/FINRA-regulated platform that enables creators from the Entertainment and Sports world to deliver NFTs and Securities.
As CFO and Sect-16 Officer at DZSI (NASDAQ), led secondary Public Offering of Common Stock, $40M senior secured credit facility, cross-border acquisition in Germany, while eliminating "Going Concern" and material misstatements from DZSI' financials. Key leader in 41% growth from $247M to $350M.
As Bitfury’s CFO, Board Member, and 1st employee, helped build hyper-growth, market-leading Blockchain infrastructure company from zero to $500M+ valuation and from 3 to 120+ employees in 7 countries in < 2 years. Oversaw explosive growth to 50% EBITDA; now generating $650M+ in annual revenue.
As Breathometer’s CFO, took digital health/medical device firm from pre-revenue to shipping in highly regulated FDA space; secured OEM partnership with Philips, ISO13485:2003 Certification, and successful FTC audit.
As Entegrity Solutions’ Corporate Controller, filed Form S1/NASDAQ.
As CFO of Sistema Hals, led highly successful London/LSE IPO with market capitalization of $2.7B.

Mr. Golomb is a graduate of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he received a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Management, with an emphasis on OrganizationBehavior and Entrepreneurship. Michael also received his MBA in Finance at Santa ClaraUniversity’s Leavey School of Business.

KATRINA M. ADAMS

With an outstanding track record in leading, innovating and collaborating, Katrina Adams is the first African American to leadthe USTA, the first two term Chairman and President (2015-2018) and the first former player to hold that honor.

Under her tutelage the USTA achieved several major milestones, including the opening of the USTA National Campus, the transformation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and led an outreach effort into underserved communities to share the sport of tennis.

Adams sits on several non-profit boards and committees, including being VP of the prestigious International Tennis Federation, Chairman of the Billie Jean King Cup Committee, Chairman of the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee, Executive Board member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the Executive Director/President of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program. She has also branched onto boards in the private sector, including Pivotal Acquisition Corp III, GSE Worldwide and Athletes Unlimited as well as serving in several advisory roles.

Her maiden novel “Own the Arena” was published by Harper Collins Publishers, Amistad Books, February 23, 2021.

ROGER FAJNZYLBERG

Born in 1947, The career of Roger Fajnzylberg is extremely rich marked by important responsibilities in the private sector, the senior civil service, the associative world as its commitment in the political sphere.

Director of the UNEF, the french student’s association, between 1969 and 1972,Mayor of the city of Sèvres from 1978 to 1983, he chaired the Board of Jean Rostand pubic Hospital and the Board of Directors of SEMI Sèvres, a development and construction company. He is a former Regional Councilor of Ile-de-France between 1986 and 1991. He was a candidate in the MP’s elections in 1978. He was during many years, involved in french political life. General Secretary of the National Theater of Chaillot, he worked for a while with Jack Lang, Minister of Culture and then at the National Center of Cinematography.

After graduating from the ENA (Promotion Michel de Montaigne) he joined the Ministry of Cooperation and Development and more particularly his direction of Financial Studies. After he joined Canal + subsidiary pay TV channel to Africa, for 12 years. He leads the project to launch the chain in Ivory Coast and was appointed Network Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Between 2004 and 2013, he was General Director of the Children's Relief Society, OSE, a social institution. With 650 employees and a budget of 30 Meuros, it develops its action for children, the disabled, elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and health. In 2013 and 2014 he is appointed General Delegate of the OSE Foundation.

In 2014 he founded Roger Fajnzylberg Conseils. He worked on several projects in France, in sub-Saharian Africa and in Algeria.

MARIO OTTIGLIO

Mario is a Managing Director for the High Lantern Group, a strategic positioning firm. Mario advises businesses, international institutions and global trade associations on theirexternal engagement, reputation and sustainability strategies, in particular in healthcare and life sciences sectors. Mario serves as strategic advisor or in leadership roles on several private sector alliances.  Throughout his career, Mario has promoted active, cross-sector dialogue and was often involved with high profile media, TV commentaries, keynotes, and authored several thought pieces.

DOUGLAS SNEDDON

Vice President, IKAR Holdings

Douglas portrays outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to forge client/stakeholder relations at all levels.

KERRY MAYORGA

Kerry Mayorga has a masters degree in Medicinal Organic Chemistry from the University of George Washington. Kerry has been published multiple times for her research on Alzheimers disease and the formation of Beta-amyloid plaques. This research led to NIH funding and the establishment of a laboratory to develop a prodrug for Taxol, an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug.  Together with her husband Martin, She began their award-winning organic coffee company, Mayorga Organics over 22 years ago with the purpose of eliminating systemic poverty in Latin America through the responsible trade of artisanal organic foods. Kerry owned and operated 11 coffee shops throughout Maryland, Vigina and Pittsburg while growing and scaling the import and manufacture of organic products.  She grew the largest Organic Roastery on the east coast. 

Mayorga Organic’s  current operation is based in Rockville, MD In a state-of-the-art, SQF-certified, FDA, USDA NOP, and state of Maryland inspected/audited 24,000 square foot facility. This facility operates full traceability, recall, and multi-faceted food safety protocols, making it competitive with large national operations and a desirable provider for some of the country’s largest and most respected retailers, grocers, and foodservice operators. From its Rockville, MD facility Mayorga ships to over 1,500 retail points throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. The Mayorga brand has garnered national recognition for supply chain efficiencies, farmer development, consumer value, and has become exemplary minority-owned and managed business. DIVERSITY Mayorga, which was MDOT and NMSDC minority certified for over 10 years. Mayorga offers 4% matching on 401k, payment of 80% of health and dental insurance, employee loan programs, education reimbursement, professional development programs, employee meals, and omany other benefits. Mayorga’s staff comprises of 51% females with all company VP’s being female and its overall staff comprising of over 75% minorities, including Latinos, African Americans, Asians, and Middle Eastern. IMPACT Mayorga works with over 2,000 small farmers throughout 11 countries in Latin America, with the following annual imports: - 4,000,000 lbs of organic coffee - 4,000,000 lbs of organic chia - 150,000 lbs of organic black beans - 100,000 lbs of organic cacao The company’s purchases create over $1,500,000 in annual price premiums above FairTrade for producers, which have been used to build schools, medical centers, sports fields, and reinvestment in farms. Moreover, Mayorga’s negotiations with financial institutions on behalf of farmers has created over $600,000 in annual savings on previously high interest and sometimes predatory loans. Mayorga also manages operations in multiple countries with full time personnel (including agronomists) to provide better value and service for farmers. This includes paying for over 300 farmers’ organic certifications, teaching farmers how to plant and manage diversified crops, conducting soil samples, transitioning to organic practices, financial education, and even creating the first-ever quality protocols for cacao, in an effort to establish measurable qualities in raw and roasted cacao for the purpose of generating price premiums for producers and offering the highest quality cacao possible to consumers.

ALICIA HANF

Alicia is the Founder & Managing Partner at Dear Mama Ventures. An early to late-stage investment platform, with a $1B initiative to deploy financial, social, and intellectual capital to Black, brown, female, and Veteran-led founders who are solving some of the world’s most challenging problems.

Alicia is fortunate enough to have worked with both startup, private and public companies such as LG, Walt Disney, the Department of Defense, the NFL, and most proudly the US Army. After her six year service in the US Army Alicia returned to civilian life to lead the way for veterans to become startup founders, launching the LA chapter of Bunker Labs, and helping scale the organization from 10-35 locations in 15 months. Alicia has designed curriculum for use at Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Accelerator, worked with various family offices, and VC firms, and helped hundreds of startup founders develop and launch new businesses. Her perseverance through her military training, as well as overcoming a major loss in her life has helped her to be a successful adviser today for fast-paced startups & international celebrities such as NBA Allstar and investor Baron Davis, where she directed fund management, and investments.

Alicia believes that it is possible to change the world a little, to a lot each day. She demonstrates this through her commitment to empowering underestimated entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, inspiring people to be their best, and building thriving, sustainable ecosystems for the communities she serves.

CLAUDIA COLAFERRO

Claudia Colaferro is current CEO and Investor at AngelUs a network to help Women to succeed. Claudia is a Former President in the Americas region and has been CEO of Latin America for the past 8 years. She has over thirty years of executive leadership experience in several Consumer goods multinationals in FMCG and electronics as well as B2B and in advertising and media industries. Working with cross industry teams Claudia has experience to create, market, and advertise significant global brands and new related teams and businesses .

Claudia has had the pleasure to work in and with these companies over the years Dentsu, Philips, Motorola, Coca-Cola, Unilever

and Natura.

Claudia was named in 2014 by Ad Age publication as one of the Women to Watch in Brazil, that celebrates executives in media, marketing and advertising who have had notable accomplishment as catalysts for change within the industry and the world at large using their voices and talents to shape attitudes and culture. Also, Claudia was named one of the top leaders of agencies in the country in 2016. She has participated in many important events as part of the Jury. It has included being Effie Award Jury for many years in Latin America; Jury and part of the Latin America Board for

FOMLA, Festival of Media and Cannes Festival Jury where She was the first Latin America woman in the Glass category to look for works that are changing inequality in society.

Claudia holds a B.S. in business, marketing and finance and a M.Sc. in Neuromarketing and Consumer behavior.

HARTMUT RIESTER

Hartmut has almost 30 years' experience in the media, marketing and advertising sector with an extensive business background in the Communications Business in international and multi-cultural environments.
The former Dentsu Country & Cluster CEO is a result-proven and growth-oriented leader with repeated success in multiple markets, focused on go-to-market strategies, expanding international footprint, driving vision and achieving critical strategic goals.

ONUR GUZELMERIC

Board Member, IKAR Global Advise

Former Business Development Director at Dasal Aerospace, a subsidiary of Aselsan in UAV Technology, Turkey.

Onur started his Career in durable goods sector by leading several international positions in companies such as Beko Electronics by Koc Group in Turkey, Grundig in Germany, Chinese Giant Haier in Europe, Japanese Sharp Cooperation in Poland & Slovakia and Mitac Group in Turkey. 

During his career he had collected extensive experience in Product Management, Business Development, Marketing & Sales on an international level mainly in Europe including Balkans, China, Africa, Middle East and CIS Turkic Republics. Some product or product group projects he led has been awarded with Red Dot and IF design prizes and the turnovers reached closed to 1 bn Euro’s. Onur also had a good experience in retail and e-commerce sectors.

The last period of his carrier turned to Security and Defense industry with Italian Leonardo Company where he worked primarily with far east, south east Asia and Africa. He also participated as business developer and solution provider in solar energy, tourism retail, construction, indoor design and some lifestyle consumer products in different sectors. 

Onur graduated in Industrial Engineering from Istanbul Technical University.

REX WONG

Independent Board Member

Rex is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience on the Internet, technology, media and software industries. Rex is currently the CEO & Co-Founder of Famecast Media, an all-in-one technology and branding platform for Creators, and the Co-Founder of iVideoSmart, a global Internet TV network with over 500 million addressable users. Previously, Rex was the CEO of uCast (previously known as Qello), an OTT Video Platform technology provider, CEO of Qello, the "Netflix of Music Concerts" with over 700K music lover subscribers, CEO & Co-Founder of 8sian Media (acquired 2017), the leading Asian multi-channel network with over 5 billion online video views, Co-Founder & CEO of DAVE.TV (acquired 2008), one of the first IPTV platforms, Founding Investor of Applied Semantics (acquired by Google, 2003) that developed AdSense, CEO & Co-Founder of Einux (acquired 2003), a leading high performance computing server manufacturer, and Envision Computers (acquired 1998), a leading PC manufacturer. Rex have founded and run multiple startups and achieved numerous successful exits creating shareholder value in excess of a billion dollars. Rex's companies have won numerous awards including Best of CES, Best of Internet World, Red Herring 100 and Always On 100.

DENNIS LEE

Independent Board Member

Mr. Lee is Co-Founder and CEO of 1of1 Custom, a bespoke professional audio company.  As CEO, Mr. Lee has grown 1of1 Custom’s user base to include 50% of the worlds’ top musicians and brands, including Zedd, Steve Aoki, Marshmello, The Recording Academy and NASCAR.

Mr. Lee is the Chief Business Officer of FameCast, a Creator incubation platform.  Mr. Lee is responsible for facilitating FameCast’s celebrity partnerships and platform revenue.

Mr. Lee is Sr. Advisor to HUMBL ($HMBL), a Web3 company built to simplify technologies, like blockchain.  Mr. Lee provides business guidance as was instrumental in the success of HUMBL’s NFT Marketplace, including the procurement of celebrity sponsorships.

Mr. Lee was CEO of Healthware Technologies, a data-ingesting AI company, where Mr. Lee contributed to reducing the impact and dependencies on America’s healthcare system with its emphasis on chronic pain.  Healthware’s clients included Premera Blue Cross, Amazon and Boeing.  Mr. Lee led Healthware through first product, revenue, and eventual acquisition exit to ACOVA Health.  

BORIS VERHEY

Seasoned Entrepreneur and Investor.

Boris has successfully founded over a dozen companies across the US and EMEA region, and managed the full life cycle of start-up businesses (from foundation, through gaining international market leadership and doing acquisitions up to the exit of a company) with very strong leadership skills and focus on hands-on execution.

A very strong believer in success with specialities in business sense, financing, strategic management, restructuring, controlling, industry expertise in IT,VR, Mobile, Internet, Gaming.

THOMAS VON HEESEN

Thomas von Heesen is a former German football attacking midfielder, and a current coach. Most of his professional career was spent, as a player, with Hamburger SV, with which he won several accolades, both domestic and continental, appearing in nearly 400 official games for the club.

Born in Höxter, North Rhine-Westphalia, von Heesen made his professional – and Bundesliga – debuts in 1980–81 with Hamburger SV, then went on to feature prominently for the club in the following two seasons, as the club won in that timeframe two leagues and the 1982–83 European Cup.

Von Heesen remained with Hamburg until 1994, with exactly 99 first division goals scored. He then switched, at nearly 33, to Arminia Bielefeld, being very important in the club's return to the topflight. In the following campaign, although appearing very rarely, he found the net on 28 August 1996, in a 1–1 home draw against MSV Duisburg, for his 100th, retiring at season's end.

Von Heesen was appointed as the head coach of 1. FC Nürnberg on 12 February 2008. He resigned on 28 August 2008. He finished his Nürnberg tenure with a record of four wins, eight draws, and eight losses. Two and a half weeks later, von Heesen joined Apollon Limassol and helped the club to a fifth place in his debut season.

WOLFGANG ROLFF

Wolfgang Rolff is a German football manager and former player.

Rolff played in 356 Bundesliga matches for Hamburger SV, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer 05 Uerdingen, Karlsruher SC and 1. FC Köln. He further took part in 126 2. Bundesliga matches for OSC Bremerhaven and SC Fortuna Köln, having a spell in France with RC Strasbourg for whom he scored four goals in 30 games in Ligue 2. In his years with his clubs, he won the Bundesliga title with Hamburg in 1983 and was part of the Hamburg side that clinched the European Cup against Juventus in Athens the same summer, five years later he won the UEFA Cup with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1988.

Reputed as a tireless midfielder, Rolff debuted for West Germany in 1983 and was part of the UEFA Euro 1984 and the UEFA Euro 1988 squad of his nation. On both occasions he featured twice each in games of West Germany, also making two appearances for the West Germans in their runner-up campaign at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. In total he played in 37 international matches until 1989.

His former Hamburg teammate Felix Magath appointed Rolff as assistant at Hamburger SV in 1997. In 1998 Rolff took sole charge of SV Meppen for six months until the club's relegation from the 2. Bundesliga. He went on working as assistant to his former Karlsruhe manager Winfried Schäfer at VfB Stuttgart and was, shortly after, named caretaker manager of Die Schwaben. In 2000–01, he worked in the coaching staff of former Germany coach Berti Vogts during Vogts' reign as manager of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, also one of Rolff's ex-clubs. Subsequent to Vogts' departure from Leverkusen in 2001, Rolff worked as assistant to Vogts after Vogts had been hired to guide Kuwait. Rolff did not follow Vogts to Scotland, indeed, and was in July 2004 employed by SV Werder Bremen as assistant manager. After the sacking of Thomas Schaaf, Rolff, along with Matthias Hönerbach, was interim head coach from 15 May 2013 until 27 May 2013, when Robin Dutt became the new head coach.

KIMMY PALUCH

Independent Board Member

Kimmy Paluch is the founder and Managing Partner of Beta Room an early-stage venture fund that invests in software companies that are building the future for women and multicultural consumers in the U.S.

Kimmy is an acclaimed investor, tech entrepreneur, former software engineer, and diversity advocate. She’s been named one of VC Journal's Women of Influence, Impact Magazine Women of Impact, and Utah Business Women of the Year. Kimmy has a B.A. in Computer Science and Spanish from Dartmouth College and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

DILARA KARAYAZI

Dilara is the designer and owner of the Fabricca Design. She is an industrial engineer and had her MBA in Entrepreneurship. Fabricca Design is a hand-made and sustainable accessory brand which is inspired by colors and multi-cultures of Africa, established in 2014. Fabricca Design is the first upcycled accessory brand by using the waste fabrics of the textile industry.  Brand continues today physically in 6 countries, including the United States, England, Dubai, Colombia, Morocco and Canada, and in many provinces of Turkey. Fabricca Design brand already has 3 franchises including Paris, Colombia and Canada. With our 20 female employees from different provinces of Turkey. 

AISHA SHUAIBU

Aisha established her own F&B brand in Abuja Waffle Way Nigeria and is already in the process to establish multiple branches.

She has also established her own consulting firm SWA Global Services Ltd to help Nigerian startup companies in the development of their business and branding and her latest baby is a Sports Group SWA Sports which is promoting Sport in Africa through live events and media and serving as the company’s President.

Aisha is a big advocate for young entrepreneurs in her country and dedicated not only to her own success but at the same time helping other future leaders to realize their dreams!

DOT WILSON

~.DoT. Wilson….born in Germany & made in N.Y., is now growing her brand in California. 
She's an emerging Fine artist, with several of her original pieces published or commissioned via the likes of STARZ Network, BET, & Tyler Perry Studios. As an accomplished songwriter, ~.DoT. has won both a Georgia Music Association & an ASCAP Award. She is also the owner & CEO of DRKBLU Industries, LLC….This family business is a premiere design firm which fuses high end Moto apparel with Sports Licensing, and has recently successfully completed an NBA license, boasting all 30 teams.

A true PolyMath & Creative, ~.DoT. is forging her own path #ForTheCulture.

DON MCPHERSON

Don McPherson is the 2021 recipient of the William Pearson Tolley Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Lifelong Learning, presented by Syracuse University’s School of Education and, the 2020 National Football Foundation’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football.  These honors signify a lifelong mission to use a unique social position to serve the greater good.

McPherson was an All-America quarterback at Syracuse University and is a veteran of the NFL and Canadian Football League.  As captain of the undefeated 1987 Syracuse football team, McPherson set 22 school records, led the nation in passing and won more than 18 national “player of the year” awards. 

In 2019 McPherson published You Throw Like a Girl: The Blind Spot of Masculinity, which chronicles 37 years of harnessing the power and appeal of sport to address complex social issues and focuses on a quarter century of work on gender-based violence prevention.

McPherson emerged as a national leader and advocate for the prevention of sexual and domestic violence. He has conducted workshops and lectures for more than 350 college campuses, community organizations and national sports and violence prevention organizations.  His programs and lectures have reached more than 1 million people.  He has provided commentary on numerous national news programs and was featured in O Magazine and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.  

Don also created and hosted “Training for Life” on MSG Varsity, a life-skills TV show that examined a myriad of social issues and sports.  In 2012, Training for Life's episode on "Sports Parenting" was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Don McPherson has served as a board member, consultant and advisor for several national organizations including the Ms Foundation for Women, the US National Committee for UN Women and the National Football Foundation.  

ANGELA BUNDRANT

Angela R. Bundrant, CEO of PlayersTV, a sports & lifestyle entertainment network housing an ecosystem of owned and operated media verticals for athletes to story tell and connect with fans. As CEO, Bundrant has the overall responsibility for creating, planning, implementing, and integrating the strategic direction of the company, ensuring opportunities for expansion of the customer base, markets, new industry developments and creating, communicating and driving forward the vision, mission, and overall direction for PlayersTV, while serving as the Company’s chief spokeswoman.

Prior, for eight years Bundrant was SVP, Marketing & PR with REVOLT Media & TV, instrumental in the launch of the Black-owned multiplatform, Millennial based music & culture content provider founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs. She developed and executed strategic marketing plans to drive demand and carriage, and led efforts with partners like AT&T, Charter Spectrum, Comcast Xfinity, among others as well as internationally and OTT platforms. Angela was also charged with building REVOLT’s unapologetic brand value with trade and industry organizations.  As well, she managed PR strategy and planning for content launches, tune-in, and tentpole events.

Angela’s distinguished career includes content marketing roles at Sony Pictures Television where she managed affiliate partnership efforts and also held roles at FOX Broadcasting, Turner Broadcasting, and Lintas: Cable-Ewald, an Interpublic Group of Companies. 

Bundrant is a graduate of Syracuse University, recognized by the S.I. Newhouse School as a distinguished alumnus.  She has completed executive education programs at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and UVA’s Darden School of Business.

DAVID WOLFE

Mr. Wolfe is the Chairman and sole shareholder of Aaron Capital Inc. a full-service Broker Dealer, which specialties in Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Placements, EB5, Medical devices, real estate syndications and other core market segments.

He has been licensed as an investment banker for 40 years starting in 1980 as an Executive Vice President with United Resources, a division of Integrated Resources, Inc., marketing life and annuity products nationally in the 403b TSA vertical and built it to 250M annual sales and managed over 200 sales persons nationwide. David was the President of the broker dealer which marketed mutual funds, real estate limited partnerships and equipment leasing programs in the early 1980’s.

He is the owner of Public Properties Management which owns office buildings, retail centers and development sites. Additional experience was gained while performing family trust and pension services for the Guardian Life Insurance Company specializing in small to medium sized businesses. Aaron Capital, while under his watch, has cleared and structured Billions of dollars in transactions.

David currently holds General Securities Series 7, Securities Principal Series 24, Financial Operating Principal Series 27, Options Principal Series 4, Mergers and Acquisitions Series 79, Uniform Securities State Law, Series 63, Life and Disability Insurance and a Real Estate Broker License. He is also a military veteran serving honorably from 1969-1973.

EVA HABERMANN

Eva is a famous German actress who has appeared in numerous films and TV series. She is best known for playing the role of Zev Bellringer in the television series Lexx.

While studying for her Senior High School , Habermann received singing and dancing lessons. Soon after graduation, she obtained her first television role in Lexx. She also moderated the children Pumuckl TV broadcast on German TV (1995/1996). Lexx was on a two year hiatus between seasons 1 and 2. During this time Habermann appeared in the ZDF series Rosa Roth and the ARD series Gegen den Wind as well as appearing in the Rosamunde Pilcher film Two Sisters.

In 2005, she was in the new episodes of the twenty-year-old series The Black Forest Clinic and in 2006 she was seen in the TV movie In Heaven You Write Love Differently alongside Erol Sander.

In 2008, she played again with Sander the role of Olivia O'Rourke in the film Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman.Her comedy roles included Angel Express (1997), Feuer, Eis & Dosenbier (2001) and Angst (2002).In The Clown: Payday (2005) she played the role of Leah Diehl. 

ROC CHEN

Roc Chen is one of the biggest names in China’s film, television, and video game industries. He’s scored over 200 projects both within and beyond China’s borders, proving that one can write film score in both western and eastern style. He has worked with major Chinese and Hollywood film studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, Universal, Wanda, and China Film Group.

He now works from his 2 cutting edge music studios based in Los Angeles and Beijing. Barry Morrow (screenwriter of Rainman) speaks highly of his music for US-China coproduction film Forbidden Kiss, which was nominated for Best Original Score at the New York City International Film Festival. 

Jackie Chan spoke highly of Roc’s music for his blockbuster film Chinese Zodiac at the film’s premiere. Roc works with orchestras around the global and has access to session players who specialize in both Western and Eastern instruments. The soundtrack album A Bite of China, which he worked on, has reached top seller at Amazon China on their film music catalogue. Roc’s successes in China has brought him the attentions of Hollywood studios DreamWorks, which hired him as Chinese Music Consultant for Kung Fu Panda 3, joining music production process with DreamWorks music team.

KEITH CLINKSCALES

Keith Clinkscales is a producer, entrepreneur and media executive who’s award-winning career has impacted media and urban culture across platforms. 

He is the CEO of KTC Venture. Through his company, Clinkscales partnered with AT&T on several endeavors, including the creation and development of the “Humanity of Connection” series. In 2012, Clinkscales established the sports digital platform, The Shadow League, which is especially relevant with the current racial climate in America. Keith held several senior positions at ESPN, where he notably constructed a Content Development unit recognized for building a forum for innovation and experimentation at the sports network. During this tenure, Clinkscales earned over 60 credits as an Executive Producer of films and documentaries as one of the creators of ESPN’s critically acclaimed “30 for 30” series. He also earned an Emmy nomination and two Peabody awards.

Earlier in his career, Clinkscales worked alongside the legendary Quincy Jones to launch Vibe magazine a premier publication for hip-hop/R&B music, fashion, and entertainment news. Clinkscales served as CEO of the publication and established Vibe’s successful digital presence vibe.com.

Clinkscales is a proud member of the Producers Guild of America. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he received the “Professional Achievement Award” from the business school’s African American Alumni Association.

WISE INTELLIGENT

Wise Intelligent is an internationally known artist/activist, songwriter/producer and the front man of the critically acclaimed - legendary Hip hop trio known to the world as the Poor Righteous Teachers – pioneers of “conscious” rap music. Throughout his career Wise Intelligent has released a total of twelve studio albums and has collaborated and performed with world renowned artist such as: Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, The Fugees, Mos Def, Public Enemy, KRS ONE, Ice Cube, Too Short, X Clan, Junior Reed, Ms. Jones, and many others.

Apart from launching his own record labels – Slangspit (1995) and Intelligent Muzik Group (2007) - for nearly 25 years, in 2007 Wise established IntelligentMINDZ – an inner-city tutoring initiative focused on youth academic performance and achievement and in 2009 Wise partnered with award winning film director – Stacey Muhammad to launch IntelligentSEEDZ – a not-for-profit youth media organization teaching middle and high-school children documentary film production, investigative journalism and how film can be used to promote social awareness and change. 

Today, as President of The Rap Snacks Foundation and Director of the Foundation’s Boss Up entrepreneurship initiative, Wise Intelligent is focused on financial empowerment, entrepreneurship and community economic development in under-resourced communities through various initiatives and sustainable economic model.

MARK ROWEN

Mark Rowen is a seasoned executive with over 25 years in the film and television business. He is the founder of Blue Collar Productions, Inc. a leading company  in the creation of original live-action and animated content and has produced hundreds of hours of material for the television, theatrical, home entertainment and new media markets. Most recently, The Documentary film group at Blue Collar completed a film on the cultural impact of Goodfellas ( a Martin Scorsese film)

During his vast career, he worked closely with all the major television networks, cable channels, and film studios to produce hundreds of home entertainment products that have garnered over $5 billion in gross revenues and received acclaim around the world. He has also worked with notable filmmakers and celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brett Ratner, James Cameron, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey, Jr.,  Denzel Washington and many more. 

 Mr. Rowen was the former head of home entertainment production for DreamWorks SKG from 1997 to 2000.

ESRA VESU OZCELIK

Esra is a British writer, composer, creator, producer and director, and completed all her education in the United Kingdom.Her career began after she graduated from London Film Academy and Kensington School of Business in 2011.After graduating, she worked in the British film industry for a while.She performed as the creative director and content producer for the prestigious brand, “Select Fashion” in the UK.Esra then started to shoot her first ever movie called “Hicran ve Melek”, which she produced, wrote and directed. 

Her movie received multiple accolades such as:

- Toronto FE Film Festival: BEST FOREIGN FILM AWARD 2016
- London Film Festival: BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARD 2017
- India Film Festival: BEST FOREIGN FILM AWARD 2017 
- India world Film Festival: BEST FILM

After that she was the creator for the film “Vlad the Impaler” which was shown in 2018.The same year she published the art magazine “Charizma” which is a Turkish British magazine in London.

JIM DELLI SANTI

Jim is a Silicon Valley technology and business executive with over 25 years’ experience successfully leading and advising companies on digital innovation, GTM channels and acquisitions to drive material growth in the SaaS, FinTech, Media, Monetization, E-commerce, Search, Sports and Entertainment industries.In addition to serving as CEO/Co-founder of his own VC-backed startup, Jim has served or advised companies ranging from start-ups to later stage growth companies and start-up business units in publicly traded companies. 

Jim has authored digital transformation strategies that generated incremental annual revenue from $5M to $300M, and helped teams formulate investment theses on successful corporate acquisitions with valuations from $10M to $60M resulting in billion-dollar revenue streams or valuations at Tier 1 brands such as Idealab’s CarsDirect, Inc., Yahoo Search Marketing and Yahoo Media Group.Most recently, he has led strategic digital transformation initiatives for identity, trust and safety in the banking, telco and fintech sectors.

DR. FRANK A. SHEPARD

Experienced corporate director, capital markets and investment banking professional, collegiate finance professor, and department chair. Dr. Shepard has 23 years of experience as a capital markets and corporate finance investment banker and 7 years as a professor of finance, chairing a business department, and providing curriculum reviews. 

Dr. Shepard began his 17-year career as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers where he became a Senior Vice President in derivative and capital markets products and head trader and risk manager for US dollar and foreign currency swaps. He served as Managing Director during the launch and expansion of minority-owned and new firms involved in capita capital markets and alternative assets including the Standard Chartered Bank and Hamilton Lane

FADI SAAB

Chairman of the Board

Founder and Chairman of Trans Capital Finance, U.K. 

He has an extensive track record of more than 45 years experience in private equity, investment banking, corporate finance, aviation, logistics, tourism, hospitality, management consultancy, fintech services, information technology, telecommunications, renewable energy, and real estate.He started his career as a banker in London’s financial centre (the City) at Saudi International Bank, then in New York (Wall Street) at Morgan Guarantee Bank, thereafter with Bankers Trust on Park Avenue as Vice President of International Investment Management Group. 

In addition to his private business activities, Fadi held numerous responsibilities as advisor to government ministers, public sector organizations, and prominent private companies; while being member of major business associations or professional organizations on entrepreneurship & SME development, business ethics & anti-corruption, transparency & accountability, governance principles, and quality standards.

Fadi holds an MBA in Finance from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and a BA in Economics– Statistics from American University of Beirut-AUB. 

GERT-JOHANNES HAGEMAN

General Hageman (Retired) has served almost 43 years as a Paratrooper and Infantryman in the German Army.

Between 2016 and 2020 he was the Deputy Commander of Headquarters Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ RRC-FR) in Lille, France. Created in 2005, HQ RRC-FR is a French NATO certified headquarters able to command a national or multinational high intensity warfare force of between 15,000 and 60,000 personnel deployable worldwide.

Prior to this appointment he commanded the Infantry School and the Infantry Training Centre in Hammelburg, Germany and served as General and Director of the German Infantry, Paratrooper and Mountain Infantry.

From 2011 to 2013 he was the twelfth Commander of the German-French Brigade in Müllheim.

Throughout his entire career the General focused on military leadership (platoon, company, battalion, brigade and corps level), operations and on political-military affairs.

DR. SUSAN WALSH

Susan is the Founder and Director of Globe Business College Munich in Germany, the college provides customized business degree education to the sons and daughters of Mittelstand and family run companies around the world. She completed her PhD in marketing and management at the Ulster University, which was sponsored by Bank of Ireland and  she was also appointed as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

EDWARD BRENNAN

Proven executive and leader with 25+ years combined experience in the Blockchain, Internet, Software, Hardware, Healthcare, and Financial Services industries. Edward has an extensive domestic and international experience supporting all operational functions at Fortune 500 corporations. Participated in over 200 corp dev deals and have successfully raised over $440M.

JOSEPH A. MOLLOY

Founding Chairman Jam Sports Ventures. Joe served as a senior executive in the New York Yankees for eleven years and is a former Owner and Managing General Partner of the New York Yankees. He served as the General Partner of the Yankees for six years, from 1992- 1998, and from 1992-1995 he was the Managing General Partner, responsible for all baseball and business operations.

EMRE KIZILIRMAK

Actor, Producer and Director. Emre started his career as a model and was appointed as Mr Turkey. He then started his career as actor in soap operas.

Since a few years he acts also in action movies, dramas, comedies and romantic movies.

Recently he produced for the first time his own movie called “Fuad” and financed it completely on its own. The movie will be in theaters soon and received already several awards.

In 2008, he was selected as the "World's Best Podium Model" at the Manhunt International men's beauty contest held in South Korea.

DR. ULF GARTZKE

Distinguished global tech advisor and strategist. Advising expert highly experienced in government policies and new age technology solutions across Pan regions of both America and Europe. Former Director of the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation’s US, responsible for US Canada relations. An Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute and previously worked at the World Economic Forum

DR. REINHARD DETHLOFF

International leading advising expert and turnaround specialist, having very high competence in complex carve-out, restructuring and strategic growth mandates within family offices, and PE funds. Former Operating Partner for multibillion- dollar group, Aurelius AG, popularly known as German Berkshire Hathaway. Former partner Droege Group.

JAY SCHWEID

CEO, IKAR Human

Jay is a native New Yorker and serial entrepreneur in the sports, entertainment, and technology industries. As an inspiring pro tennis player, he founded JCS, a bespoke racket customizing and stringing service, which led to a Concierge Service, Travel Company and the role as the Managing Partner at the SPOT – a South Beach lounge he owned with Mickey Rourke.

In 2012 Jay launched ephelants – an entertainment brand focused on film, commercial, and event production. Jay’s desire to seamlessly blend technology & human interaction to streamline and democratize the production process, engaging creatives, fans and investors fuels his passion for this current venture and drives the momentum behind the company.

In addition to his role as CEO at ephelants, Jay currently serves as a Partner and Board Member on various Sports, Tech, Fashion & Entertainment companies and is the CEO of IKAR Tech Group.

ALEXEY BOTVINOV

Musical Maestro, President and Founder of Odessa Classic Festival. Regarded is one of the most famous Ukrainian pianists and known
as the premiere specialist in Rachmaninoff music worldwide. Alexey is the only pianist having performed Bach‘s Goldberg Variations more than 300 times on stage.

CHRISTIAN UNGER

Former Head of FIFA World Cup office 2007-2018. A sports management professional with unique expertise in the production of mega sporting events.

NOAH CROOM

Former Counsel NBA. A Major League Sports professional and mentor. Accomplished executive at the National Basketball Association (NBA) with  decades of operational expertise in both league  and team management. Former Assistant General  Manager of the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies and  Minnesota Timberwolves.

LISA MORRIS

Impact investor and entrepreneur. An investor and founder of various impact companies.Member of NEXUS Impact Society and Top Tier Impact. Also consults numerous NGO’s. Former Broadway Actress and former founder of  entertainment travel company Road Concierge

BILL PRUITT

5 x Emmy Winner, Film and television producer.Bill has produced television for channels such as CBS, NBC, MTV, NAT GEO, Amazon, Animal Planet, HBO, History and Discovery and was nominated four times by the producers Guild of America as Outstanding Non-Fiction Producer.

SEANNE N. MURRAY

Born in Detroit, raised in Westport, Connecticut and educated with academic scholarships at Howard University and Temple University School of Law where she co-founded the Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review, Seanne N. Murray, aspired to change the world from the early age of seven.

She practiced law, was a Director on the institutional side of Wall Street, and was recruited to manage large scale entertainment organizations associated with her family’s Motown legacy where she managed a music copyright asset portfolio valued at $53,000,000.  Ms. Murray has authored several works on social and environmental issues including an op-ed in the Miami Herald and published her first book, The Art of Submission, The Woman’s Guide to Fulfillment, a guide to self-actualization establishing of a new genre of content. She is a co-founder and was an editor of the Political and Civil Rights Law Review at Temple University School of Law and produced and chaired a panel on clean drinking water at Harvard Law School in 2018. She is a creative strategy consultant and has collaborated with entertainment icons including Ted Field, Berry Gordy, Larry King, Jerry Levin, and Smokey Robinson and received a Gold Record for her work in that capacity. 

Since 2001, following her personal experience on 9/11, she has been devoted to social impact through media and social enterprise including Stop Stuff to mitigate gun violence, 90 Minutes of Solutions for social change, The Ara Initiative for clean water and now, The Elevator for impact enterprise.

Ms. Murray is the CEO of IKAR Hera, London and the Founder of Elevator Holdings. She is also the creator and executive producer of Robert and John, formerly known as Chicago 1919, which she is co-producing with 3-time Emmy award winner, Keith David, and NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony. She is the creator and executive producer of The Elevator with 5x Emmy award winning show runner Bill Pruitt, and IKAR Holdings founder, Mario Diel, Ray Lewis, Master P, etc.

Ms. Murray is on the Management Board of IKAR Industries. She is also on the Board of  ETA Creative Arts Foundation and The Humanity Channel, Inc.

SANI TIRYAKI

Managing Director, MFT Energy Group

MURAT SEITNEPESOV

A trained plasma physicist and founder and Chairman of Integral Group, a leading commodities trading & logistics player in the Greater Caspian Region with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Also founder and Chairman of Caspian Week Forum in Davos.”

STEVE EGGERS

A pioneer in the energy industry. Steve privatized and operated a complex refinery in the former Soviet Union, owned and operated large power, chemical, and gas processing plants. Steve has run petroleum systems for entire nations and served as an official delegate for multiple countries, including representing Nigeria at OPEC.

NOOSHIN BEHROYAN

One of the most influential business leaders and innovators in the oil, gas and energy industry.Nooshin is the CEO and founder of Paxon energy, the #2 fastest growing company in America.She serves as the board president for National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and advisory board member at the American Gas Association (AGA).She was awarded as top female CEO in 2019.

PAVEL BONDAR

Head of Ukrainian-American Biofuel Council. A new emerging leader having started his career in the energy business at an early age, where he took part and formed several international strategic alliance with top energy companies of Europe and Asia. Pavel holds a degree in international affairs and is an alumni of Vesalius College, Brussels.

ANDREA GRAESER

Owner Graeser Real Estate

SINEM ALTINEL

Owner Altinel Hotel Group

SHAHAL KHAN

Chairman, Trinity Hospitality LLC.

OZLEM GOKCE

Managing Partner at Corvus Invest, London. Chairwoman Belgium- Turkish Business Counsel.

GURAM TSANAVA

A Leading investor and entrepreneur, having established numerous companies across various industries such as Pharma, real estate F&B and retail. Founding Partner and CEO of Georgian Outlets & Resort Group, and board member of various leading associations such as international chamber of commerce, business association of Georgia. Former partner of Synergy Group and CERMA. Guram is an alumni and Global Ambassador of Stanford Graduate School of Business

ORLANDO CARLO CALUMENO

Group’s CFO, and Member of the Executive Board, NET Holding.CEO of Merit International Hotels and Casinos.

JAMES OWEN ROBERTS

2 x Paralympian, Beijing and London. Entrepreneur, TEDx speaker. A highly skilled sports professional, motivational speaker and a highly reputed coach where he specializes in coaching disabled athletes.

ALYSSA CARSON

“Young Leader and Space Ambassador ”

Alyssa was recognized by NASA as the first to visit all 14 NASA Visitor Centers in the United States and sat on the NASA Mer 10 panel at age 12 discussing future missions to Mars in the 2030s. 

BERT CARSON

Finance and insurance Specialist. During his career Bert worked with Federal, State and local governments and police departments and was actively involved in getting federal aid to the countries of West Africa 

SCOTT KELLY

Retired astronaut, retired US Navy Captain, former military fighter pilot and engineer. Commanded the International Space Station on 3 expeditions and was a member of the yearlong mission to the ISS. Set record for the total number of days in space, the longest by an American astronaut.

SUAT SAGIROGLU

General Manager of TSI Aviation, a Joint Venture between Turkish Airline and Kibar Holding.

DANIEL HOPE

World renowned Violinist. During his 30 years of successful solo international  career, he has been awarded  with numerous prestigious awards such as  'Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany' and the 2015 'European Culture Prize for Music'.

SABRINA BEN SALMI

Social entrepreneur, Author, Multi award winner. A proud mother of 5, Sabrina's all children are published authors, youth coaches and public speakers since the age of 11 and 7. She has been awarded with numerous accolades most recently as 'mother of the year' and 'No: 2 most inspirational black women in UK'.

RORY MOORE

Founder of the world’s largest Covid-19 volunteering organization, which he was praised by the UN and OECD. He was appointed as a 'Global Shaper' by world Economic Forum. Rory also advises the UK Government on volunteering strategy and received the Point of Light award from UK Prime minister.

GRAZIELLA THAKE

Graziella brings 32 years of dedicated leadership experience as both a Chief Executive Officer (CEO and is highly in risk, major events management, sport, corporate, government, and education sectors having worked with 26 multinationals . Her commitment to economic and community development is guided by 30 years of committed experience in human performance, risk, psychology, and leadership. Holding a Master’s in Psychology, with specialist qualifications in forensics, business and sports psychology, her current work is dedicated to small nations development and is both a Ceo of the optimisation Hub, a  trustee  of 100 Rugby Legends, is a Global Ambassador of the IKAR Institute Vienna, leadership mentor for SIGA and leads the eHMIC round table on e-mental health for sport with 13 nations. advising significant leadership teams & organisations, contributing to change and economic growth around social responsibility, media, economic and health infrastructure, sports entertainment and  community development. She was voted most inspirational female leader of the years IWD 2020 with Health economics, governance and leadership is in her DNA delivered with her drive and passion to contribute to every sector of humanity with ethics and responsibility for a better world around us.

JIMMY MISTRY

Social Entrepreneur, Hotelier Philanthropist and Community Builder. Jimmy is the Founder of Della Leaders Club.

NICOLAS KANELLOPOULOS

Managing Partner of the Law Firm Kanellopoulos – Zerva and Associates” (NKLAW FIRM). President of the “Institute for Justice and Growth”. Former Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice in Greece. Former President of the Greek National Tourism Organization

HE ADNAN AL NOORANI

Chairman of the Board of The Private Office of Sheikh Saqer Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi and Group of Companies.

HRH PRINCE MICHEL OF YUGOSLAVIA

Global Investor, Socialite, Artist and Philanthropist. Grandson of the last King of Italy and of the last Regent of Yugoslavia and the oldest son of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and Princess Maria Pia of Savoy.

SCOTT OMELIANUK

Global Business Media Leader Chief Editor of Inc. magazine, US.

MICHAEL SPINDELEGGER

Chair, IKAR Global Institute

Former Vice Chancellor of Austria, Former Finance and Foreign Minister of Austria.

WERNER SCHÜNEMANN

Former Global Investment banker/co-head of international relationships with Morgan Stanley, Robert & Jardine Fleming and JP Morgan based in London, Singapore and New York. With a career spanning some 30 years, Werner has a deep knowledge and investment experience across asset classes with a current strong focus on sustainable investment opportunities. 

ERRAN PERSLEY

Former Kentucky Commissioner for Business Development

ZURAB GOZALISHVILI

Former Board Member, Georgian Industrial Group.

ANDREAS TOLAROS

Entrepreneur and renowned lobbyist. Andreas supports new businesses and their commercial interest in Greece and helps in bridging government and investor relations.

RAINER SCHORR

CEO, IKAR Industries

Former Managing Director of Bayer in Switzerland and Head of Bayer Material Science for Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East.

Passionate Leader of High Performance Teams – Strategic Thinker and Executor. 

On the one side Turnaround of underperforming businesses by applying the whole nine yards of management tools and as well creating new market spaces and taking businesses global.

Strong advocate for Corporate Governance and Compliance.

MELIH AKGUNGOR

Board Member, IKAR Global Advise

Security Policy Expert. Former Strategic consultant on EU relations, Ministry of Turkey. Former Protocol Director for the office of the Istanbul Governor

TERRY V. WILLIAMS

Brigadier General USMC (ret).As a U.S. Marine Corps led multifunctional highly complex organizations, developing significant advanced & executive level expertise in logistics, city management, construction planning and management, strategic communication, enterprise recruiting, resource management, strategic planning and innovation. Senior Vice President for Global Fixed Assets and Corporate Security at PenFed Credit Union. 

KURT VOLKER

Global geopolitical leader. Former US Ambassador to NATO. Founding Director of the McCainInstitute.Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

JOSEPH WHITLOCK

Former Global advisor, for the office of Joint chief of  staff on international affairs. Former DeputyDirector of Global Policy and partnerships for the Office of  Joints Chiefs of Staff. Retired US Army 2-Star Major General.

PHYLLIS NEWHOUSE

Co-founder and leader of the world’s first women led influencer fund, creating new business opportunities for women globally. First Black Female CEO with a SPAC listed on the NYSE. First woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY)  Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the  technology sector.

CHARA D. ZERVA

Managing Partner of the law firm “Kanellopoulos – Zerva and Associates” (NKLAW FIRM).Chief Legal Officer in Enterprise Greece SA. Legal Advisor of the BoD at the Hellenic Development Bank & the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments.

VADIM BONDAR

Owner of United Marine Group, one of the largest shipping company having its business presence across six continents. Vadim also owns a huge personal portfolio of investments in Energy and Real Estate sectors.

THOMAS D. WALDHAUSER

4-Star USMC General (ret).Former Combatant Commander for United States Africa Command, responsible for all United States military engagements and operations across the African continent.

JOHN MEHAS

Former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, President of Tory Burch, & CEO of Club MonacoI

AARUNI KUMAR

Chief Operating Officer

Formerly worked for the Government of India, overseeing national health care initiatives. MBA, Engineer.

ORKUN OZKAN

Chief Legal Officer

Partner at OGB Attorney Partnership, Former Legal counsel at MET Capital Partners.

LAILA NASR

Head of Chair Office

MBA Bahchesehir University, Turkey.Laila also holds a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and Management from Arab University, Saudi Arabia.

RUSSELL DEAKIN

Successful Investor , fundraiser and alternative asset executive with over 25 years’ experience in North America, Europe, South America, India and China with industry-focusing on  private equity/venture capital, real estate, infrastructure/renewable energy and credit. Russell is an alumni of UCLA Anderson School of Management and  completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford University and Tufts University. 

DR. MAGNUS SEDLMAYR​

With 35 years of professional experience in international finance, he held various high level positions in organizations such as E.ON and founded, developed and managed various organizations.Former investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Bankers Trust in corporate finance, he has been engaged in numerous M&A transactions and several billions of financing in the corporate world as well as in the renewable energy sector.

KEITH THURGOOD

Group CEO

Retired 2-Star Major General. Legendary strategy and logistics visionary in both the military and the corporate world. Major General Thurgood has served over 28 years leading large military organizations on active duty. He was also a C-level executive guiding corporate strategy, development, structure and logistics. Past executive leadership roles include, PepsiCo, Sam’s Club where he led one of three $15B operating divisions, and as CEO of  “the DOD’s retail operation

MARIO DIEL

Founding Chairman

Mario is the Chairman and Founder of IKAR Holdings Limited, London which is a multi-tiered investment holding.

In addition he is the co-founder of the business think tank IKAR Global Institute, headquartered in Vienna.

With more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, he is driven to lead IKAR in the new future of entrepreneurship.

His mission through IKAR is to accelerate wealth creation and prosperity in balance with driving sustainable economic opportunity, significant positive impact, democratized prosperity, and innovation into the future.

He is the creator and intellectual founder of the World's First HUMICORN™ in business: IKAR!