We feature voices that inspire Berlin’s Youth.
At our Economic Forums and our events, we are fortunate to host some of the most brilliant speakers with tremendous professional expertise, formative career advice, and unique perspectives on pressing issues in fields such as finance, economics, politics, and technology. Speakers at JEC have ranged from professors to some of the most important people in the world’s economy.
Prof Ulrich Weinberg
Prof. Weinberg's global influence is evident through his roles as a Visiting Professor at the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing since 2004 and the Honorary Director of the Design Thinking Innovation Center at CUC since 2014. He has also actively contributed to various organizations, including his honorary chairmanship of the WeQ-Foundation and membership on the advisory board of TEDx Berlin. Moreover, he has co-authored several books and is the author of "Network Thinking - What Comes After Encyclopedia Thinking," positioning him as one of the top 100 innovators.At the HPI School of Design Thinking, Prof. Ulrich Weinberg guides students and professionals alike in cultivating a mindset that fosters creative collaboration and holistic problem-solving. By emphasizing user-centric approaches, he aims to integrate the Steve Jobs quality of thinking into daily business practices, driving innovation and transforming the way we tackle challenges.
Frank Riedel
Frank Riedel is an entrepreneur, investor and digital-savvy executive who has achieved significant success in building lifestyle brands in the food and health sector. He currently serves as the CEO of Mondarella, one of the most rapidly growing startups in Germany. He is a Venture Partner at Berlin Ventures and Blue Horizon and was the Managing Director of McCann World Group, a global creative solutions company with roughly 15,000 employees. Additionally, he has invested in and acts as an advisor to many different companies. With a strong track record, he is a passionate growth-hacker who is known for his unconventional thinking, impactful brand visions, and cross-channel execution strategies that drive measurable, sustainable results in the market.With over 10 years of experience as a global brand leader in consulting and advertising, Frank has worked with some of the world's most successful B2C and B2B companies. He has managed advertising budgets of over $100 million and has led teams across all continents. Frank has also built a strong reputation in the industry as a hands-on, high-integrity, and plain-spoken professional.
Yoav Flam
Yoav Flam is a prominent software engineer in the startup scene and the current CTO of dating site Bumble Inc. Yoav has an impressive background, having previously worked for Hello Fresh and fintech company N26, as well as being a lecturer at a university.
Dr. Dale Rickert
Dr. Rickert is Head of Product for the Greentech Festival Global Series where he's responsible for topic, speaker and program planning for our festivals in Europe, Asia and the USA. Coming to this role as the former Head of the IAA Conference and director of the global "Industry of Things World" series, Dale brings unique insights into the power of events to bring people together to discuss ideas, collaborate and change the world. Alongside his work with the Greentech Festival, Dale is a lecturer in Marketing and Events Management at the University of Applied Sciences, Berlin.
Juan Garcia
Juan Maties Garcia is an experienced Head of International Business with a demonstrated history of working in the international trade and development industry. He is a strong business development professional skilled in negotiation, business planning, operations management, sales, and international Business.
He focused on what the TIC business is, what exactly Testing, Inspection & Certification is, which services are under the TIC business, who are the clients of the TIC Business, and the TIC business' progress and future.
Sylvius Bardt
Sylvius Bardt started his career in the corporate environment (P&G, BCG, Campbell Soup) before founding his own company Adviqo in 2000. After a succesful exit in 2017 he became an entrepreneurial investor for mulitple start-ups (e.g. Stackfuel, Spreaducation, Chattyco) and a strategic and operational coach for companies in growth challenges. He is a father of three boys and has a passion for education.
Daniel Bulkin
Daniel Bulkin is a 28-year old Private Equity Investor, Angel Investor and Founder of Healistic, a healthtech venture that recently raised its £1m pre-seed funding round in London. Before starting Healistic, he was the youngest Investment Manager at H.I.G. Capital Europe, covering TMT and Healthcare investments. In parallel, he founded and scaled multiple businesses and built a pre-seed angel investment syndicate. Previously, he worked at Terra Firma Capital Partners, where he was top-ranked both years in a row, and managed angel investments for Private Equity fund manager and billionaire Guy Hands. He passed two CFA levels and had board level involvement at FoodFolk (McDonalds Nordics), HCS, and Welcome Hotels. While being scholarship-funded at LSE and graduating First Class honors, he co-founded the LSE Business and Finance Society (now largest society at LSE with 4,000+ members) and worked part-time with KKR Partner Lucien Schoenefelder on building a non-profit digital platform from scratch. In his spare time, he sits on the Executive Committee of the London School of Economics Alumni Association, gives speeches on Private Equity at major academic institutions (LSE, UoM), and advises other startups.
Lilly Salus
Lilly Salus is a student at Stanford University in California where she is hoping to major in economics and minor in mathematics and chinese. Aside from her role with JEC Berlin as the former President and a founding member, she also leads EconIR WEB.
Florian Bonanati
Florian is a former BCG Principal and Roland Berger consultant, with a focus on turnaround management. He holds a Diploma in Business Administration and spent 9 years in consulting. With his bright mind and fast brain, Florian guides the company through any commercial and financial uncertainty. He is CEO at R3 Solutions together with Mathias Bohge.
Dr. -Ing. Mathias Bohge
Mathias did his PhD in Wireless Communications, developing LTE for Ericsson, before he became a strategy consultant at BCG, after which he decided to refocus back into technology. With his empathetic and connective character, Mathias wins employees and partners for the company’s ideas. He is CEO at R3 Solutions together with Florian Bonanati.
Bindu Balakrishnan
Bindu Balakrishnan is Country Head India at DCMN and GINSEP (German Indian Startup Exchange Program) Ambassador.
DCMN is the Growth Solution Provider for digital brands. Their approach is based on developing and executing individual growth strategies that combine marketing services with their proprietary ROI-optimisation (return on investment) technology. Previously Ms. Balakrishnan also worked as the Vice President at 1SDK, a software as a service startup, and as a healthcare professional. She attended GOA University and completed her MBA at the Indian Institute of Management.
Georgia Lee
Georgia Lee is an expert in market analysis and is in charge of translations, as well as being the manager of Champ Home Decorations. This export-oriented company plays a large role in the global market, including the shipment of reusable non-medical face masks to the USA during Covid-19 pandemic.
Kirk Neureiter
In addition to his role as the president, Kirk Neureiter works as a Protfolio Manager in the Japan Equity division at Fidelity Investments. He entered the company in 1994 and has gone through numerous job roles prior to his current position. Bfore beginning his journey with Fidelity Investments, Kirk Neureiter worked at Sony after graduating form the College of Wooster.
Erich Möller
Mr. Möller has been working for UBS for the past 12 years. He started as an Investment Advisor in March 2018. Prior to that, he served in several departments including Private and Corpatate Clients in Switzerland and the COO Office for the UBS Dubai Branch. Erich Möller holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and specializes in Banking and Finance.
In addition, he is a certified Wealth Management Advisor CWMA by the SAQ Swiss Association for Quality.
Delphine Mousseau
Delphine Mousseau began her career in 1995 as Project Manager at the Boston Consulting Group. In 1999, she joined the start-up Plantes-et-Jardins.com as Head of Operations.
Between 2007 and 2011, she held the position of Director of E-Commerce for Europe at Tommy Hilfiger. She then worked as an Independent Consultant, primarily for the former Primondo Specialty Group then owned by Carlyle.
Finally, from 2014 to 2018, she has been VP Markets at Zalando. She is currently non-executive Director at Fnac-Darty and advisor at Decathlon Germany, Flaconi and Holland & Barrett.
Delphine Mousseau is a graduate of HEC with a Master's degree in Business Administration. She is the Founder of Rising Pineapples, a non-profit organization aiming at empowering women to reach their full potential.
Priv. Doz. Dr. Dirk Pappert
Dr. Pappert leads anesthesiology, intensive care, and OR management at Klinikum Ernst von Bergmann, Potsdam. Educated and a researcher in Germany and California, he's also lectured at universities in Berlin and Shanghai. In addition to his medical and leadership duties in one of Brandenburg's principal hospitals, Dr. Pappert co-founded the HCMB – Institute for Health Care Systems Management Berlin eG, focusing on evaluating healthcare products and processes.
Ole Tillmann
Ole Tillmann is a Berlin-based innovation consultant, executive communication coach, professional event host and author. In 2012 he founded PEAK, an agency specializing in innovation and communication.
Being a professional actor and trained acting coach, Ole Tillmann has prepared more than 450 entrepreneurs, startups, politicians, managers, tv-presenters, researchers and artists for public appearances before general audiences, investors, clients, or the press.
Florian Heinemann
Dr. Florian Heinemann is a Founding Partner at Project A, an international venture capital firm based in Berlin that invests in early-stage digital entrepreneurs across Europe. With his expertise in marketing Florian has greatly contributed to the success of companies like Zalando and Global Fashion Group. Florian is also an active investor in over 80 startups and a member of various supervisory boards as well as the digital advisory boards of companies like Henkel, Koerber and Oetker.
Jörg Rocholl
Jörg Rocholl has been the president of ESMT since July 2011 and holds the Deutsche Bank professorship in sustainable finance since 2022. He advises the German Federal Ministry of Finance and leads the GNAM network of leading business schools globally. Rocholl, with advanced degrees in finance and economics from Columbia Business School and a distinguished economics degree from Witten/Herdecke University in Germany, focuses his research on sustainable finance, corporate governance, and central banking. His work is published in top academic journals and featured in major international media. Additionally, Rocholl contributes to various academic and professional boards, including the economic advisory board of Deutsche Welle and the sustainability advisory council of Deutsche Post DHL Group, and has garnered numerous teaching and research awards.
Timo Kamp
As a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Berlin office, Timo co-leads the McKinsey Transformation Practice in Germany and Austria. In the past 18 years, he has mainly served clients in automotive, basic materials, consumer goods & retail, electronics, and machinery. Before McKinsey Timo Kamp was a Partner with Roland Berger. He focuses on holistic, rapid, and sustainable performance transformations in distressed and good-to-great situations. Timo Kamp has completed restructuring processes involving refinancing, complex stakeholder negotiations, and insolvency proceedings.
Asad Zaidi
Asad Zaidi was born and raised in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. He holds a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering and an MBA in Marketing.
Altogether, he has over 17 years of experience working in some of the world's biggest and best engineering companies like Philips, Schneider Electric, and Kohler. Mr. Zaidi used his expertise in marketing and sales, specifically in product management of IoT and connected technologies, to discuss what product management is in the context of the 5th industrial revolution.