Speaker Categories: Impact Architects

Beatrice of York

Founder, By-Eq Limited and Trustee & Co-Founder, The Big Change Charitable Trust

Beatrice York founded By – Eq Limited in 2022, an advisory organisation focused on adding more exceptional emotional intelligence in an age of artificial intelligence. Beatrice York is an Executive in Residence at Liontree advisors, working to support Liontree with their global growth strategy. Beatrice is advisor to Scale.ai and Healwell Ai, an AI healthcare tech solution.

Beatrice is a trustee and co-founder of The Big Change Charitable Trust, which identifies and supports charitable projects throughout the UK, to reimagine education. Beatrice is a champion of women in leadership and has worked and spoken at a range of events across the world working to promote role models for positive leadership development. She is dyslexic and as such, is a champion for neurodiversity in the workplace as well a supporter of a range of organizations working with dyslexia.

Beatrice is also Patron of a variety of education and leadership-focused organisations. She is a board member of Opus, a not-for-profit membership organisation for the next generation. Beatrice joined the Generation Connect Global Visionaries Board of The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies.

Omar Ben Yedder

Group Publisher and MD, IC Publications

Profile bio coming soon.

Will.i.am

Founder, FYI

Profile bio coming soon.

Frederic Werner

Chief Strategy and Ops, AI for Good, ITU

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Frederic Werner is a recognized leader at the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, and global development. As the Chief of Strategic Engagement at ITU, the United Nations’ specialized agency for Digital Technologies, and Chief of Strategy and Operations for AI for Good, Frederic drives initiatives that shape the future of AI’s role in solving humanity’s greatest challenges.

Frederic is a co-creator of the United Nations AI for Good Global Summit, a landmark platform connecting AI innovators with real-world problem owners to collectively advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under his stewardship, AI for Good has become a global hub for innovation, collaboration, and actionable solutions, redefining how AI is used for social good.

At ITU, Frederic leads transformative strategic initiatives, driving global collaboration in digital transformation and standards development to address critical challenges. His leadership ensures the organization remains a leader in setting international standards and leveraging AI to advance the SDGs.

Before joining ITU, Frederic held pivotal roles that shaped global ICT collaboration. As Communications & Program Director of ETIS in Brussels, he established a pan-European network of CIOs and cybersecurity leaders. Earlier, as Head of Marketing and Communications at the European Organization for Conformity Assessment, he spearheaded capacity-building projects with the European Commission, strengthening ICT infrastructures in EU candidate countries.

A recognized figure in the AI sphere, Frederic is a regular keynote speaker and panellist at global tech and AI events, such as Davos, Vivatech, SXSW, World AI Festival Cannes, AI Africa Expo, World AI Summit Amsterdam, AWS Reinvent and GITEX to name a few. His insights on AI capacity building, governance and standards have led to numerous interviews and features across international media, books, and podcasts.

Academically, Frederic holds a B.A. in Business & Human Resources Management with a Communications Minor from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, an MBA in International Business from United Business Institutes, a Technical MBA in Telecoms Technology from Informa Telecoms, and a certificate from the MIT Sloan School of Management on AI’s Business Strategy Implications.

Having lived in diverse countries such as Belgium, Senegal, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Austria, Turkey, Hungary, and Switzerland, Frederic brings a unique and global perspective to his partnerships and collaborations.

Sam Warach

Founder, NextStep Health and Angel Investor

Kaye Vitug

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Unlocking Eve

Kaye Vitug is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Unlocking Eve, a foundation developing and advancing a new paradigm of Integrated Leadership through original research, global engagement, and new metrics and tools that redefine how leadership is practiced and measured. Their work is supported by an ecosystem of partners and grounded in real-world experience, powered by a growing global community of leaders committed to reshaping leadership.

Kaye is also a former global healthcare and finance executive, with over two decades of leadership experience across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Most recently, she served as CFO of US Roche Diagnostics and held senior finance and strategy roles at Roche Group headquarters.

Kaye currently serves on multiple nonprofit and advisory boards and focuses her work at the intersection of leadership, healthcare and education.

Adela Villanueva

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, TIO (The Impact Office)

Adela is an experienced executive, entrepreneur, and impact investor at the intersection of innovation, technology, systemic collaboration and sustainability. She co-founded The Impact Office (TIO), a collective of families investing for change and positive impact . A seeker & practitioner of wisdom, she embodies the unity of opposites, blending pragmatism & spirituality, intellect & intuition, external collaboration & inner work.

Juan Pablo Villani

Co-Founder, Aquí Estoy Chat

Profile bio coming soon.

Risto Väyrynen

Founder, The Impact Office

Risto Väyrynen is the founder of The Impact Office, where he brings together families to leverage their “unfair advantage” for scalable, meaningful impact. As chairman and fourth-generation member of his family’s Finnish bakery business, Risto combines his background in family enterprise with experience as a former Managing Partner at a Geneva-based investment firm. For over a decade, he’s been using what he’s learned from both worlds to support impact investing and back projects that help keep us within planetary boundaries. Risto holds an MBA in Family Business from EDHEC Business School. 

He previously led the Family Business Community at the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Council of Wisdom at the Family Business Network, helping mobilize family enterprises for positive change. Risto is known for a practical, results-driven approach to impact investing, and regularly advises and speaks on finance for good.

He also founded the Polaris Cycling Team, which challenges family members to tackle Tour de France stages for charity, and is a snooker champion in both Switzerland and Finland.

Laura Vartiainen

Principal, Takoa Invest family office

Laura Vartiainen is the principal of Takoa Invest family office, which invests broadly and in a diversified manner across multiple asset classes, with roots in retail and real estate. Laura leads the family’s private equity investments and brings deep insight into the family office mindset, shaped by her five-year tenure as Chair of the Family Office Committee at the Family Business Association Finland.