Dr. Jens Baas is CEO of Techniker Krankenkasse. His vision is a public health insurance for the digital age. TK is Germany’s largest statutory health insurance with more than 11 million people insured. Baas is overseeing Business Development, Finance/Controlling, Information Technology, Brand/Marketing, Politics/Communications and the Board of Directors/Executive Board. Previously he worked for the Boston Consulting Group as a Partner and Managing Director responsible for payers & providers, and also serving the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. Baas holds a degree in human medicine from the University of Heidelberg. After graduating, he worked in the surgical department at the university hospitals of Heidelberg and Münster.

Ottmar Edenhofer is professor at the Technical University of Berlin and is considered one of the world’s leading experts on the economics of climate change. He is director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and founding director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), as well as a member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. From 2008 to 2015, Edenhofer served as one of the co-chairs of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this capacity, he chaired the Fifth Assessment Cycle and co-edited the reports “Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change” and “Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation.” The Fifth Assessment Report provided the scientific basis for the Paris Agreement. Edenhofer advises the German government and the World Bank, among others. In April 2022, the EU appointed him, along with 14 other experts, to the European Environment Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, which he now chairs. He is also a member of numerous national and international committees. The FAZ has repeatedly ranked Edenhofer among Germany’s 15 most influential economists. He is among the 1% of the world’s best-known scientists based on his significant publications in scientific journals. In 2020, the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) awarded him the prestigious German Environmental Award for his scientific work.

2019-2021 Head Berlin Office, Institute for Peace Research and Security Studies at the University of Hamburg
2014-2019 Advisor to a Member of Parliament, German Bundestag
2012-2013 PhD-Scholarship, Forum Ebenhausen e.V.
2008-2013 Research Assistant, German Institute for International and Security Affairs
2007-2008 Consultant, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 

Bill Gates serves as the Founder of Breakthrough Energy and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads efforts around the world to solve the energy, health, and food security challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable people.

Paolo Gentiloni has been European Commissioner for Economy since December 2019.
He served as Prime Minister of Italy (2016-2018), Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2014-2016), Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies (2013-2014) and Minister of Communications (2006-2008).

Since joining Pfizer in 2010, Dr. Sabine Gilliam worked in various leading commercial and managerial positions at the global and regional level and was responsible for different business units in the US and Japan. In 2016, she moved to Tokyo, Japan, where she was Country Lead for Rare Diseases and Inflammatory Diseases. Since 2021, she managed the Oncology business unit at Pfizer in Japan. Prior to joining Pfizer, she spent several years in variety positions of sales, marketing, pricing and market access with other pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis and Schering-Plough in several European countries. In September 2022 she was appointed Chairman of the Executive Management Board, Country President of Pfizer Germany. With her international and intercultural experience, as well as her openness, Sabine is committed to the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For her it is important to support colleagues in their individual development. In her role as Country President, she wants to contribute to shape a sustainable healthcare system in Germany.

1987 to 1993 Studies of Computer Science and Biology in Bonn,
1993 to 1995 research associate GMD – Information Technology Research Center,
1996 to 2002 knowledge management consultant at an IT company (September 2000 to September 2002 in an advisory capacity),
2000 to 2018 Member of the German Bundestag,
Won the direct mandate in the city of Bonn in 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017,
2005 to 2013 Deputy Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, and Sustainability,
December 2013 to March 2018 Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection,
Since January 2019 Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information,
Since July 2019 Honorary Professor for Data Ethics at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences 

Since graduating in Economics in 1996, Anne-Kathrin Klemm has been working in the German health care system. Besides her senior positions at BKK Dachverband, landmarks in her career were Techniker Krankenkasse, AOK Bundesverband and Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Südbaden. She also performed as a consultant in the context of international health care conferences as well as for projects of GTZ in Asia. She sets value on looking abroad and thinking out of the box in order to adapt best practice experience and find new ways for the German healthcare system.

Gerald Knaus (Austria) is the Founding Chairman of the European Stability Initiative (ESI). He studied at Oxford, Brussels and Bologna and taught economics at Chernivtsi State University in Ukraine. He worked in Bosnia for five years for various NGOS and international organisations and was Director of the Lessons Learned and Analysis Unit (LLA) of the EU Department of UNMIK in Kosovo (2001-2004). He wrote the book “Can Intervention Work?” (2011), as well as over 90 ESI reports and film scripts for television documentaries. He was an Associate Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Governance for five years. In 2020 he published the Spiegel bestseller “Welche Grenzen brauchen wir?” on the future of refugee and migration policy. He lives in Berlin.

Peggy Maguire, a Political Scientist Peggy has worked at the international, regional and national level over the last twenty-five years highlighting the need for gender equity in biomedical research, public health and social policy. Prior to her role as Director General at the EIWH, Peggy was Director of Development at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin and Director of the Research and Education Foundation at the Irish College of General Practitioners.
As an advocate for a health literate public, Peggy developed a cancer communication and information initiative for and by women to ensure cancer information was women led. As part of her commitment to gender equality, Peggy has been a member of the WHO expert group on gender mainstreaming and contributed to the WHO Women’s Health Strategy for Europe. In 2014 Peggy worked on amendments to the Clinical Trials Regulation to ensure gender and age were included. Peggy is also former President of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA). Peggy has initiated and contributed to EU projects such as Engender-Inventory of good practices in Europe for promoting gender equity in health; Engendering Research Ethics Committees (RECs) and EUGenMed, leading the research and the workshop on the inclusion of Sex and Gender in Healthcare Professional Education. In 2019, the Minister for Health in Ireland appointed Peggy co-chair of the Women’s Health Task Force. Peggy’s research and advocacy work supports gender equity, ageing, patient and disability rights as well as the implications of social determinants on health and wellbeing. In October 2021, the WHO Academy Quality Committee announced the appointment of Peggy to its Board.

Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). She is winner of international prizes including the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She was named as one of the ‘3 most important thinkers about innovation‘ by The New Republic, one of the 50 most creative people in business in 2020 by Fast Company, and one of the 25 leaders shaping the future of capitalism by WIRED. She is the author of three highly-acclaimed books: The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths (2013), The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy (2018) and the newly released, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism (2021). She advises policymakers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth. Her current roles include being Chair of the World Health Organization’s Economic Council on Health for All and a member of the South African President’s Economic Advisory Council, the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisors, and the United Nations High-level Advisory Board (HLAB) on Economic and Social Affairs, among others.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher has been appointed Minister for Energy transition in May 2022.
She was before Minister Delegate for Industry, attached to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery Bruno Le Maire between July 2020 and May 2022. She was before Deputy Minister to the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, appointed in October 2018. Before joining the Government in 2018, she was Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Compagnie des Alpes (2013-18), a leading listed player in the European leisure industry and world leader in managing ski areas. Beforehand, Agnès was Customer Business Unit Director at Faurecia Interior Sustems (automotive industry) (2011-13), Executive Director at Fonds stratégique d’investissement (€16 bn AuM, €1.5 bn of investment / year, now BpiFrance; 2009-11), Deputy Director of Finance and Strategy at Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (public financial institution, 2006-08) and chief of staff at Assistance Publique – Hopitaux de Paris (Paris Hospitals, €6 bn budget, staff of 93,000; 2003-06). She started her career at the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry. She was a Board director and chairperson of audit committees of various industrial and financial companies between 2006 and 2018. She graduated from HEC and ENA civil service school. She holds CEMS Master’s degreee (HEC-Köln-Universität).

Jeremy Rifkin is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin is the author of 21 bestselling books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. The books have been translated into more than 35 languages. His most recent books include the international bestsellers, The Green New Deal (2019), The Zero Marginal Cost Society (2014), The Third Industrial Revolution (2011), The Empathic Civilization (2010), The European Dream (2004), The Hydrogen Economy (2002), The Age of Access (2000), The Biotech Century (1998), and The End of Work (1995).

After studying at the Ecole normale supérieure a degree in economics and social sciences, Marisol Touraine studied at the Institut d’études politiques of Paris and at the Harvard University in the United States. Advisor to the French Prime Minister from 1988 to 1991 on geostrategic issues, she became a member of the Conseil d’Etat in 1991. She then served at political positions at local level and within the French Parliament for several years before being appointed Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Women’s Rights (2012-2017). Her support to authorize and ensure financial coverage for innovative preventive HIV treatments were particularly recognized at this position as well as her fight for the neutral cigarette pack, acknowledged by the WHO prize in 2016.
Mrs Touraine is now a senior member of the Conseil d’Etat and an international consultant for social policies. In June 2019, she was elected Chair of the Unitaid’s Executive Board.

Dr. Rainer Esser studied law in Munich, Geneva and London. He continued his studies in the United States with a Master of Law at the University of Georgia before receiving his final degree in 1986. After graduating from the German School of Journalism (Deutsche Journalistenschule) in Munich, he worked as a lawyer for various law firms. Since 1989 he also holds a PhD in International Law of the University of Regensburg. From 1989 -92 he served as Editor in Chief at Bertelsmann International in Munich and eventually joined Munich-based Spotlight Publishing House (Spotlight, écoute, ECOS and ADESSO) as Managing Director. After serving as Managing Director of Main-Post Publishing House in Würzburg in the late nineties he started his current position as CEO of DIE ZEIT in 1999. In 2011, he also took on the role as Managing Director of DvH Medien GmbH.

Malte Fischer studied economics at the Ruhr University in Bochum. He then worked as a researcher in the business cycle research department at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. During this time he was involved in the reports of the economic research institutes on behalf of the German government. In his research he focused on the determinants of German foreign trade. He then switched to business journalism, first as an editor at the business news agency VWD, and from 1998 as editor of WirtschaftsWoche. In his work Malte Fischer focuses on the business cycle, monetary policy, macroeconomics and economic science. Since 2010 he is chief economist at WirtschaftsWoche.

Gregor Waschinski has been the Handelsblatt’s France correspondent since June 2021. Before that, he spent three years as a political correspondent in Berlin. Before Handelsblatt, he worked for the news agency AFP in Washington and Berlin. Trained at the German School of Journalism, studied political science and economics at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, master’s degree in European studies at Sciences Po Paris.

Anja Wehler-Schoeck is the International Editor at the German newspaper Tagesspiegel. Prior to that she served as editor-in-chief of IPG Journal, a debate forum for international and European policy. Previously, she worked as Political Counselor at the German Embassy in Washington, DC and headed the Amman office of the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung as Country Director for Jordan and Iraq.