Theme: Tomorrow's Mindset

Disrupting today’s thinking to pave the way for a sustainable tomorrow. Our diverse line up of speakers will be using the UN's Sustainable Development Goals as cornerstones of their talks to encourage and inspire our attendees to think for the future.

ESMT Berlin
Schlossplatz 1
Second Floor - Auditorium Maximum
Berlin, Berlin, 10178
Germany

Chengwei Liu

Associate Professor of Strategy and Behavioral Science

Trained as an economist in Taiwan, Chengwei Liu (Ph.D., Cambridge) is associate professor of strategy and behavioral science (with tenure), and faculty lead of the Global Online MBA Program at ESMT Berlin. He held research and teaching positions at Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, Wharton, NYU, INSEAD, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Warwick and won more than 20 research and teaching awards. Thinkers50 name Chengwei a leading management thinker and Poets&Quants name Chengwei a Top 40 under 40 MBA Professor. Chengwei’s book "Luck: A key idea for business and society" summarizes his research on how to quantify and strategize with luck in sports, investment and business, as well as its implications on judging merit and social inequality. His current research focuses on how organizations should manage diversity and (re)design themselves in the age of algorithms and AI.

Chengwei Lui

Associate Professor of Strategy and Behavioral Science

Trained as an economist in Taiwan, Chengwei Liu (Ph.D., Cambridge) is associate professor of strategy and behavioral science (with tenure), and faculty lead of the Global Online MBA Program at ESMT Berlin. He held research and teaching positions at Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, Wharton, NYU, INSEAD, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Warwick and won more than 20 research and teaching awards. Thinkers50 name Chengwei a leading management thinker and Poets&Quants name Chengwei a Top 40 under 40 MBA Professor. Chengwei’s book "Luck: A key idea for business and society" summarizes his research on how to quantify and strategize with luck in sports, investment and business, as well as its implications on judging merit and social inequality. His current research focuses on how organizations should manage diversity and (re)design themselves in the age of algorithms and AI.

Danijel Višević

Managing Director and Cofounder

Danijel is a recognized climate tech thought leader and Founding Partner of the World Fund, a European climate tech VC investing in technologies that can save at least 100Mt of CO2e emissions. He previously worked for Project A, one of Europe’s most successful venture capitalists. Before that, he was co-responsible for the audio-visual appearance of Angela Merkel.

Dr. Nina Fechler

Head of the Berlin University Alliance

Nina currently works at Charité, one of Europe’s largest university hospitals, where she leads all activities of Charité within the Berlin University Alliance – the strategic partnership of FU Berlin, HU Berlin, TU Berlin and Charité with the aim to overcome institutional and disciplinary boundaries in order to create an integrated research environment. She holds a PhD in Chemistry and has extensive experience in science; in 2021, Nina joined the Executive MBA program of ESMT.

Dr. Tobias Ernst

CEO

Tobias Ernst has many years of cross-sectoral work and leadership experience in the public and social sectors, particularly in the field of education. Since February 2018, he has been the managing director of Kiron Open Higher Education. At Kiron, Tobias Ernst leads a team of over 60 people which has its headquarters in Berlin and branch offices in Amman and Beirut. Tobias Ernst is a Doctor of Laws and previously worked for Teach First Germany as deputy managing director, as a Manager at Foundations and Consulting Firms and as a Lecturer in Sustainable Management and Leadership.

Dr. Zoé von Finck

Development Expert

Zoé von Finck is a development expert. Zoé has worked and lived in Syria, Yemen, Ghana and Lebanon. She holds a PhD in International Politics from the Freie Universität Berlin, an MBA from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), Berlin and a MSc Econ in Middle East Politics and Arabic from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. She also hosts the Podcast “Ich bin so frei” on women, freedom and how to shape our future - https://ichbinsofrei.podigee.io

Ella van Niekerk

Growth Associate

Ella grew up in South Africa, studied in Italy and is now living in Berlin. She is currently a growth manager at an international recruiting firm, Avomind GmbH. A large part of Ella’s focus at Avomind is managing and strengthening our initiatives, Enhancing Diversity and Women in Power. The goal with these initiatives is to place more minorities in dynamic, impactful roles.

Günter Nooke

Africa Expert

Günter Nooke is an expert on Africa. He has published on a wide range of topics regarding Africa, Human Rights, the Peaceful Revolution and German Reunification.

Karin Heinzl

CEO

Karin is the Founder and CEO of the Berlin-based Social Startup MentorMe. MentorMe is Germany’s biggest mentoring program for women. It helps female graduates and young professionals and professionals to enter the working world through 1) individual mentoring with job-experienced mentors 2) training and 3) a multitude of networking events and platforms. MentorMe has over 1400 registered mentors and 500 mentees per year. Karin Heinzl is also a member of the board of the German Association for Mentoring as well as a speaker, consultant and network expert.

Leon Reiner

Managing Director and Cofounder

Leon is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Impact Hub Berlin (berlin.impacthub.net), where he and his team help entrepreneurs to scale their impact through tailored support, a collaborative coworking community, and connection to the global Impact Hub network.

Lesley Li

CEO

Lesley is the CEO and co-founder of U Impact. Prior she has worked for leading investment banks such as JP Morgan and Barclays in London for over ten years. She graduated with two Masters in Finance and Industrial Management from the University of Cambridge. She founded U Impact in Berlin in early 2020 with the mission to establish the emotional connection between people and finance by demystifying the world of sustainable investing.