Archives: Speakers

Heinz has been working in the timber industry for more than 20 years, and is currently in charge of the international projects department at ZÜBLIN Timber. He supports teams of architects, engineers and contractors in their project work from the beginning in technical and economic terms. A high standard of quality and close cooperation with the project participants motivates him in his daily work.

Dr. Dr. Norbert Streitz (Ph.D. in physics, Ph.D. in cognitive science) is a Senior Scientist and Strategic Advisor with more than 35 years of experience. Founder and Scientific Director of the Smart Future Initiative launched in 2009.

Joakim has a long history in the IT industry. He has worked for 15 years with international business development in the IT group Readsoft. Through his own company Brilink, he has served in several corporate boards, including DH Solutions, before becoming CEO for the company in 2013. Since the spin-off in 2016 he is CEO of DH Anticounterfeit. As the CEO of the company, Joakim has always been focusing on business development and sales management based on his core values commitment, respect, loyalty and trust of his team. His role is to lead the company in becoming the world leader in brand protection systems.

Narit Gessler is responsible for overseeing all development functions at Free the Slaves, an anti-slavery and anti-human trafficking nonprofit headquartered in Washington D.C. Over the past decade, Narit has dedicated her time to advancing the human condition through rights based nonprofit organizations. She started her career working within the disability community before shifting her attention to socio-economic services. Prior to joining Free the Slaves, Narit focused her energy on global NGO capacity building, which took her from a food security program in rural South Africa to an anti-human trafficking organization in northern Thailand. Narit holds dual Master of Arts degrees in International Policy and Business Administration from Monterey Institute of International Studies. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, trying new foods and traversing the world. Narit also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pink Pack Project, a girls’ education and empowerment project recently established in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Severine Louapre is Brand Protection Coordinator at G-Star RAW. She is responsible for the Brand Protection activities of G-Star RAW worldwide. Her role is to coordinate all operations, online and offline, related to the possible distribution of infringing products. To ensure that she runs an efficient Brand Protection program, she collects relevant data and analyses patterns, routes and trends. Prior to joining G-Star RAW in 2017, Severine worked for the navigation company TomTom. She was then handling the company’s trademark portfolio administration and prosecution, and tackling piracy and counterfeit issues.

Renown in the industry for decades, and showing a proven track record of over 200 hotels under her lead, Anne has developed a vast skillset that allows her to connect business & operations,  architecture & engineering, design & art likewise. Having worked on numerous developments across the globe it is fair to say that there are no limits when it comes to quality aspiration and attention to detail throughout the delivery of each individual project. In her current role as Senior Vice President of ACCOR Design & Technical Services Ultra-Luxury, Luxury and Lifestyle brands – EUROPE, she feels privileged to explore cross pollination between lifestyle and ultra-luxury concepts, studying changing guest behaviour and challenging industry norms. Her involvement in brand positioning and visioning is crucial for the success for each of her and her assigned projects together with her passionate team.  

Based in Prague, Sean joined Jestico + Whiles in 2001, and is responsible for Jestico + Whiles’ operations across Central and Eastern Europe, India and Africa. Jestico + Whiles’ Prague studio was established in 1990 and boasts 20 highly talented people with architectural and interior design commissions for masterplanning, hotel, residential, offices, education and leisure projects in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Germany, Holland, Croatia, India, Pakistan and Tanzania, all under Sean’s management. Having completed many award winning international architectural and interior design commissions, Sean has particularly broad international skills and experience for projects up to £250 Million. Sean has a particular passion for both site specific and sustainable design, and is currently responsible for the five star bare-foot luxury Zuri Hotel Resort under construction in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Ricardo is co-founder and managing director of XCO2. He is responsible for the company’s overall management and strategic business development, and also leads some of its key international projects. With both architectural and engineering backgrounds, and over 15 years of experience in the industry, he is a firm believer in collaboration between disciplines and design integration as major enablers for delivering robust sustainability solutions. A CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessor, Ricardo holds a masters degree in Environmental Design and Engineering from University College London, where he received Commendation for his innovative research. More recently, he has been leading efforts on CarbonBuzz and other industry collaborations. He has also lectured at Central St Martins College, University College London and Imperial College, and numerous international conferences in Europe, Asia and South America.

Laura Lepeska is the Senior Brand Protection Specialist for Daniel Wellington AB (DW). She is responsible for DW’s global online brand protection, their global customs and domain program, and their offline enforcement in Europe, India, the Middle East, and Africa. Before joining DW, Laura worked as a Brand Protection Specialist at NetNames Ltd/CSC, an online brand protection service provider in Stockholm, where she gave clients of various sectors insight and expert advice on brand protection and also managed online anti-counterfeiting projects for them. Prior to this, Laura was a Brand Protection Manager at the Finnish mobile-gaming and entertainment company Rovio Entertainment Ltd (now “Rovio Entertainment Corp.”) in Helsinki, where she managed Rovio’s offline and online brand protection strategy for their FMCG products, mobile apps and digital content. Laura holds a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration degree. In her presentation, she will talk about her experiences and share insights into both anti-counterfeiting online enforcement and the latest challenges for brand rights holders, focusing on social media.

Fiona is supporting brand owners with their Asian related matters, by building up a great relationship with platforms, hosting providers, registrars and local governments. She believes that especially the Chinese market represents a major part of the global counterfeiting problem, targeting a brand’s counterfeiting problems here will help elevate any brand to new levels.