Archives: Speakers

Maria is an accomplished professional with a passion for driving sustainability and innovation within organisations. As an enabler who excels in building relationships and connecting people, she is dedicated to delivering value for individuals and businesses alike

Currently as Head of Sustainability for the Wealth Management and Insurance (WM&I) division at Santander UK, she plays a pivotal role in developing its Sustainability Strategy. She is recognised for her proactive engagement as a spokesperson on sustainability, both internally and externally.

Maria holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School, where she specialised in Strategy and has demonstrated her commitment to professional development through certifications in Sustainable Finance and Investment, from Yale University, Business Sustainability Management from The Institute for Sustainability Leadership at Cambridge University and Disruptive Strategy at Harvard University. She is a versatile and reliable professional, always seeking collaboration and knowledge-sharing opportunities to promote a culture of growth and change.

Douglas has spent 24 years building a global career in finance, strategy, and corporate and business development.

Prior to co-founding Phazemos, Douglas was the Vice President of Corporate Development for a full-service CRO headquartered in Boston.  Douglas also worked as a management consultant at Alvarez & Marsal in New York.  He started his career as a Transaction Advisor for Ernst & Young in Chicago.

He holds a BS from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kevin Ahonen is an independent consultant with 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry.  Most recently he was the Head of Digital Patient Engagement within Global Clinical Operations for Biogen where he used digital assets like websites and social media ads to educate patients about clinical trials.  He holds an MBA from Babson College and an undergraduate degree in Engineering Management from the University of Vermont.

Dima Hendricks is the Founder and Executive Director of Through The Pain, a non-profit organization that provides patient-centered services for sickle cell warriors and caregivers.

Dima is a wife, mom of two boys, an author, and has an extensive pageant resume that includes: Mrs. Massachusetts International, Miss Black Dorchester USA, and Miss Black Massachusetts USA. She also lives with sickle cell disease.

Christine Slater is the Associate Director of Patient Recruitment at Editas Medicine, where she oversees the strategy and execution of patient recruitment and retention for rare diseases including sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. Prior to joining the biotech industry, she spent nearly a decade recruiting and training women from underrepresented areas how to run for elected office.

Iain Cowell is Head of Global Technology & Distribution Partnerships, for the asset management firm, Franklin Templeton.

Working with private banks and wealth managers, Iain’s team blend investment solutions with cutting edge technologies; identifying tech-partners and collaborating on scale-up opportunities.

Before joining Franklin Templeton in 2019, his background was in portfolio management, delivering multi-asset funds, pension products and model portfolio solutions  (HSBC, Allianz Global Investors, Federated Hermes and AXA) His passion for financial wellbeing and delivering through digital channels has seen him working with a number of the early stage robo-wealth firms in Europe, both as an investor and product provider, and now increasingly bringing this to the traditional channels. He is an enthusiastic cyclist and was previously an international rower.