Sandrine Ricard was appointed Deputy Director Sustainability & Responsibility of Pernod Ricard in the UK as of July 2022. Prior to that, she was Head of Sustainability at Chivas Brothers since October 2017 to imbed Good Times from A Good Place sustainability roadmap. Previously, she was Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility at parent company Pernod Ricard where she created the department, developed a new structured sustainable strategy, a global sustainable leaders network in all the affiliates, created a unique global event “Responsib’All Day” and new tools such as a global responsible drinking app.
Sandrine has spent over 15 years within the sustainability area and is very passionate. She has also worked in public relations and communications in the USA.
In addition, Sandrine is a board member of the Oceanographic Institute Paul Ricard and has achieved The Cambridge Sustainability Leadership Course.
Michael Lane is Head of Enterprise, U.S. Wealth Advisory and a member of the US Wealth Advisory Executive Committee and the BlackRock Global Operating Committee. Working with financial advisors for three decades, Michael oversees the business that serves the largest BlackRock relationships across the Wealth Industry.
Prior to becoming head of Enterprise for USWA in 2023, Michael was head of iShares for US Wealth Advisory since joining BlackRock in 2018. Prior to joining BlackRock, Michael served as the Global Head of Strategic Retirement Initiatives at Dimensional Fund Advisors, responsible for the strategic development and global distribution of retirement solutions for one of the world’s premier asset managers. During his 14-year tenure at Dimensional, Michael played a range of leadership roles, including CEO of Dimensional SmartNest LLC, providing customized managed account solutions for defined contribution plans. He additionally worked in the office of the chairman as well as leading the development of the retirement, broker-dealer, bank and TAMP businesses. Prior to Dimensional, Michael served as a director of advisor services at TIAA-CREF.
Michael has published three books, including Secrets of the Wealth Makers, as well as a range of articles on financial planning and advisory practices. A member of the Carson Wealth FinServ Advisory Council, he is kicking off the FinServ Foundation’s Next-Gen program – an initiative that will focus on bringing diverse talent to the financial services industry.
An ’89 graduate of Binghamton University in New York, he has served as an Executive Committee member of the Binghamton University Foundation Board and received the Medal of Distinguished Service in 2019. As a former men’s tennis student-athlete at Binghamton, the tennis complex was renamed the “Lane-Starke Tennis Center,” based on his passion for the sport and involvement with the program.
Most importantly, Michael is a father of three, residing with his family in Austin, Texas.
Mr. Baňas has been working in industrial sector on various mid and top management positions between 2000-2009.
Mr. Baňas is a prolific hemp activist since 1998. Founder of “Why not hemp?” non-profit fund in Slovakia. (http://www.konopa.sk). Has been growing hemp for research under Slovak government licenses in 1999, 2000 and 2003. Helped to push Slovak government to adopt EU hemp-related farming rules in 2008.
Fully dedicated to hemp business since 2009. Co-founder and co-owner of HEMP SEED OIL EUROPE LTD (http://www.hempseedoil.eu, www.hempseedprotein.eu), a top-leading supplier of bulk hemp seed derivatives for various industrial sectors: food, cosmetics, feed, paint and varnish on markets of EU and the Balkans.
Since 2014, co-founder and co-owner of CBDepot. A B2B provider of Upmarket Cannabinoid Solutions.
Since 2022 Chief Sales officer of CB21 Pharma, EU GMP certified supplier of CBD API, cannabis extract API.
Mr. Storch graduated from the University of Chemistry and Technology in organic chemistry and completed his Ph.D. at the Czech Academy of Sciences, where he is still the head of the Department of Advanced Materials and Organic Synthesis.
His fascination with chemical processes (not only in the human body) has always pushed him one step further. The development of an industrial method for the isolation of one of the most promising and intensively researched substances of recent times – cannabidiol (CBD) – resulted in the founding of the pharmaceutical company CB21 Pharma s.r.o. and the associated brand CANNEFF®, of which he is a co-owner.
Leslie Wetherell is a clinical research professional with over 25 years of global drug development experience, with a focus in rare disease. In her role, Wetherell’s therapeutic and operational expertise supports biotech and pharmaceutical companies achieve key results in rare disease and pediatric studies. Her focus is producing strategic efficiencies that support patient-centric and timely program delivery.
Wetherell has a depth of experience overseeing operational strategy, delivery, and efficiency in phase 1-3 trials in rare disease, oncology, hematology, and general medicine. Her past roles include data management, project management, procurement, and global strategy development positions. She holds a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University.
Jim has over 25 years of experience in the field of medical imaging. His professional career began in image science, with particular focus on applications to x-ray imaging modalities such as projection x-ray and CT. He is currently a director in Carestream’s research division where he heads up a worldwide team of image scientists focusing on artificial intelligence and computer vision. During his career, Jim has been granted more than 20 patents that span a broad range of medical imaging technologies. Jim earned his Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona.
Lori an imaging scientist in the Data Science Research, Innovation & Platforms division with the responsibility of developing and sustaining advancements in image science and image processing. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology. Over her 40 years of employment (Kodak/Carestream) she holds 19 patents and received the prestigious Eastman Innovation Award (2004). Her recent efforts have focused on software-based scatter suppression (SmartGrid) and deep learning based de-noising (Smart Noise Cancellation).
Ron has over 30 years of experience in medical imaging, holding positions in product management, business development, hardware design, and software architecture/design. He currently is Worldwide Product Line Manager for Carestream’s XRS Software. Ron holds a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, as well as a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology.
Experienced System Director with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Strong information technology professional skilled in IT Strategy, Leadership, Banking, Distributed Engineering, Mainframe, and Kafka Event Streaming.
Ellen Thomson is a Senior Application Specialist for the Minerals group. She has over 20 years’ experience in the Mining industry as a Metallurgist with over 8 years in IT/Operational improvement roles implementing software globally.
