Presidente, País Digital; Director Relaciones Institucionales, Universidad del Desarrollo; stars Alumnus, Santiago, Chile

Co-Founder and CEO, RepRisk, Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Philipp Aeby is the CEO and co-founder of RepRisk. He is an expert in business conduct risk management, with a special interest in machine learning.

Before joining RepRisk in 2006, Philipp served in various managerial positions across Europe at Amgen, a global biopharmaceutical firm, and worked on a broad range of international assignments with the Boston Consulting Group. He started his career as a visiting scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia.

Philipp holds a PhD in Environmental Physics and a Master’s degree in Climatology and Hydrology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, where he earned the ETH Medal for outstanding research that involved applying neural networks to pattern recognition.

Strategic Advisor, Microsoft; Four-Star General (Ret.), United States Marine Corps; Member, stars Global Advisory Panel, Washington DC, United States

General John R. Allen, USMC (Ret.) is a four-star Marine Corps General and a global leader in defense strategy, emerging technologies, and international security. He commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and served as Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. A Strategic Advisor to Microsoft and Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, he is also co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Future War and the Defence of Europe. He previously led the Brookings Institution and served as Director of Asia-Pacific Policy for the Pentagon, where he led regional initiatives involving China, Taiwan, and Korea. He advises on securing U.S. innovation and supply chains against geopolitical risk and helps align technology investment with national security priorities.

CEO, PwC Switzerland; stars Alumnus, Zurich, Switzerland

Gustav is CEO and senior partner at PwC Switzerland, focusing on strategy and operations at Swiss-based and multinational clients. He has extensive experience leading large, complex technology and deals driven transformation programs with a worldwide span.

Prior to joining PwC, Gustav worked as a management consultant with Accenture and later as an investment manager.
Gustav has an MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Zurich.

He is member of the Swiss PwC Management Board, the European and Global Advisory leadership team at PwC.

Managing Director, Mainau Island; stars Alumnus, Mainau Island, Germany

Count Björn Bernadotte is the eldest son of Swedish Count Lennart Bernadotte and Countess Sonja Bernadotte. He grew up on Mainau Island with his four siblings. After attending the Rudolf Steiner School and subsequently obtaining a commercial degree in Switzerland, Count Björn Bernadotte began his community service with the Maltese Order. This was followed by several stays abroad, including an internship at the Vorarlberg Tourism Association in Austria and a management internship at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, Great Britain. In 2000, he took on the position of assistant at the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation for one year. He then completed another internship at the Douglas Forestry Administration at Langenstein Castle. 

After successfully completing his studies in Switzerland in 2007, the certified social pedagogue started his own business and gave communication and team-building seminars. In the same year, the Bernadotte family underwent a change of leadership and Count Bernadotte took over the management of the foundation as an existing member of the board of the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation. In 2011, Count Bernadotte joined the management team and is now managing director of Mainau GmbH, which he runs today together with his sister Countess Bettina Bernadotte. As part of his voluntary work, Count Bernadotte has – among other things – been president of the University Society of Konstanz e. V. since 2015. 

Managing Director, Mainau Island; stars Alumna, Mainau Island, Germany

Countess Bettina Bernadotte, born 1974 in Scherzingen, Switzerland, is the oldest daughter of Countess Sonja and Count Lennart Bernadotte. Following her degree in Business Administration in Tourism (Destination Management) at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in Ravensburg and work as an independent corporate consultant for companies in the tourism industry, she prepared to assume direction of the Mainau enterprise by serving as Personal Assistant to her mother and as Authorized Signatory from 2004 to 2007.

Countess Bettina Bernadotte assumed leadership of Mainau GmbH in 2007 with the goal of leading the family business into a successful future. Above all, she wishes to make a meaningful contribution through Mainau island, so that visitors and guests of the island experience relaxation and deceleration in contact with the garden culture, as well as derive impulses for a sustainable way of life from their visit. Herein, the continuous pursuit of the contents of the “Green Charter of Mainau” from 1961, which calls for the responsible treatment of nature, is another important aspect for Countess Bettina.

Since October 2008, Countess Bettina Bernadotte is president of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and member of the Board of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. She has been a member of the Council since 2005.

Aside from her commitment to the Lindau Meetings, Countess Bettina Bernadotte holds several other honorary positions. She is a member of the Council of Plan International Hamburg and member of the Administrative Council for the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. As patroness, she is committed to the European Mini Cooks (Europa Miniköche) and has initiated the European Mini Gardeners project (Europa Minigärtner). Both organisations offer children the opportunity to learn the sustainable handling of nutrition and the environment. Since 2016, Countess Bettina Bernadotte is chairwoman of the board of directors for the Mentor Foundation Germany.

CEO, Anapaya Systems; Member, stars Scientific Board, Zurich, Switzerland

Martin Bosshardt is the CEO of Anapaya Systems and has 20 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the SD-WAN network and security space. Until 2019 he served as a CEO of Open Systems, a leading SD-WAN provider with a follow-the-sun operation managing a global footprint in over 180 countries and representative offices in the US, Germany, Austria, the UK and Switzerland. Martin is a member of the board of directors at Open Systems and he is also an active Chairman of Westhive Coworking. He works closely with the Swedish Private Equity company EQT. Furthermore, Martin is a recipient of the SVC Entrepreneurs Award 2020.

Circular Economy Consultant, Managing Director MGT OPEN; Supervisory Board Member, Circle Economy Amsterdam; President, stars South-East Europe Alumni Chapter, Grižane, Croatia

Circular Economy Mentor, Trainer and Consultant, Managing Director and Co-Founder of EntrepreneurCircle.World

Gordana Kierans has over 24 years of business experience at the interface between leading Business Schools, companies, and governments. Her last 10 years have been primarily dedicated to teaching and consulting for circular economy initiatives. During her career, she has worked with students, entrepreneurs, SMEs, multinationals and the Public Sector in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. During her time at a global network of universities and multinationals in Brussels, she worked with top academics in the area of the circular economy which inspired her to create a practical programme with focus on entrepreneurs that can be found on Udemy (with over 11,000 subscribers currently). Her career is further underscored by her invitation to deliver a TEDx Talk in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Dr Kierans was born and raised in Croatia, but she lived abroad for nearly three decades, including Italy, Germany, Belgium, and - most recently - China, where she spent four years as a Professor of International Business at Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU). She completed all her academic studies in Germany, including a PhD in Business Administration. In addition, Gordana is an alumna of the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education and the School of System Change.

Today, Gordana is back in Grižane (Crikvenica), Croatia, but she still spends much of her time travelling and giving workshops in London, Dubai, Paris, and Amsterdam. She is also a Co-Founder of the membership platform EntrepreneurCircle.World – a network for circular entrepreneurs.

Former Group President, GIC; Former Head of Singapore Civil Service; Member, stars International Board, Singapore

Siong Guan Lim was Group President of GIC from 2007 until the end of 2016, after which he was Advisor to GIC's Group Executive Committee until March 2019. The GIC manages the financial reserves of the Singapore Government. He was Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from October 2006 to June 2009. The Board is the Singapore government’s lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Much of its work is attracting international corporations to set up manufacturing and services activities in Singapore as critical links in the global supply chain.

Siong Guan was Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore from 2005–2023, instructing on leadership and change management, as well as a Senior Fellow of the Civil Service College from 2006–2023.

He was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from September 1999 to March 2005. Siong Guan was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense (1981-1994), the Prime Minister’s Office (1994-1998), the Ministry of Education (1997-1999) and the Ministry of Finance (1999-2006). In every appointment he introduced innovative policies and practices which enhanced the drive, capacity, capability and performance of the organization. Siong Guan has chaired the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (2004-2006), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (2004-2006) and the Central Provident Fund Board (1986-1994), and was a board member of many companies including Temasek, the other sovereign wealth fund manager of Singapore.

President, Basel Institute on Governance; Former President, International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC; Member, stars Global Advisory Panel, Berne, Switzerland

Peter Maurer is President of the Board of the Basel Institute on Governance and a leading voice internationally on humanitarian and related issues. He joined the Basel Institute in October 2022, following over 10 years as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Born in Thun, Switzerland, Peter Maurer has had a distinguished career in the Swiss diplomatic service. Among various positions he served for five years as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, where he worked to integrate Switzerland into multilateral networks. Prior to joining the ICRC, Peter Maurer was the Swiss Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in charge of five directorates and around 150 diplomatic missions around the world.

In recognition of his long humanitarian and diplomatic service, Peter Maurer has received the prestigious awards of Commander of the Order of the Oak Crown by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and of Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by Germany.

Among other engagements, he is Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Good Governance, a Member of the Advisory Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a Member of the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance.

Peter Maurer holds a PhD in History and International Law from the University of Bern. He has been awarded honorary PhDs from the University of Basel and Waseda University.

Senior Advisor, German Institute for International and Security Affairs; Former Under-Secretary-General, United Nations; Member, stars Scientific Board, Berlin, Germany

10/2023-03/2024 UN Under-Secretary-General, Head of Independent Strategic Review Team for UNAMI (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq)

02/2021-10/2023 UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative for Sudan and head of UNITAMS (United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan)

10/2005-09/2020 Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and Executive Chairman of the Board of SWP

2015-2018 Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria; Chairperson of the Ceasefire Task Force (CTF) of the International Syria Support Group

2006-2019 Professor, Humboldt University Berlin

1992-2005 Senior Research Associate at SWP, Head of Middle East and Africa Division up to March 2005

1999 Habilitation, Duisburg University

1991-1993, Assistant Professor, American University of Beirut

1990 PhD, Duisburg University

Founder and Executive Chairman, stars Foundation, Weinfelden, Switzerland

• 2014 – present: Executive Chairman and Founder of the stars Foundation Board, Weinfelden, Switzerland
• 2008 – 2014: Chairman and Co-Founder of the stars Foundation Board, Weinfelden, Switzerland
• 1994 – 2016: Member of the Board of UBS Wolfsberg and Congress Hotel Seepark AG
• 1994 – 2014: CEO, UBS Wolfsberg. Emphasis on Business Development, i.e. initiating, supervising, and conducting UBS Briefings, UBS Health Forum, UBS Arts Forum, UBS Study Trips, UBS Think Tanks, Wolfsberg Podium (www.wolfsberg.com)
• 1981 – 1994: Various responsibilities for UBS Management and Executive Development, Member and Chairman of the Board of UBS Art Collection
• Concurrently: Member of the Board of various companies and foundations in Switzerland

Dr Yu Jie is senior research fellow on China in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, focusing on the decision-making process of Chinese foreign policy as well as China’s economic diplomacy.

She frequently comments in major media outlets such as BBC News and the Financial Times and regularly briefs senior policy practitioners from the G7 member governments and the Silk Road Fund in Beijing. She also advises major FTSE 100 corporates and leading European financial institutions on China’s political landscape.

Yu Jie has testified on China’s foreign affairs at various UK Parliament committees. She was previously head of China Foresight at LSE IDEAS and remains as an associate fellow.

Prior to LSE, she was a management consultant, specializing in Chinese state-owned enterprises investments in Europe and Chinese market entry strategies for European conglomerates at the London office of Roland Berger.

LSE recognized her as one of its ‘Leading Women’ in 2018 for her contribution in teaching and engaging the public debates on China’s foreign affairs.

She is also a Young Leader for the Asian Security Summit Shangri-La Dialogue.