Organising committee

A serial entrepreneur, resident in France with an MBA degree from Imperial College, London, Max has been in business for over 25 years. He set up and successfully developed a number of start-ups in such areas as international events management, property development, hospitality and education. Max is currently organising a series of high profile sustainable investment conferences across the globe whose mission is connecting the savviest of the investors with the brightest of startups. He is a sought-after speaker at major international conferences, an investor and an advisor to several global projects.

Chief Ken Lukins, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired), Founder and Senior Owner of Lukins International, has 45 plus years in oil and hazardous materials response, law enforcement, occupational safety and health, drug enforcement, maritime security, anti-terrorism, emergency response and hazardous materials operations. Throughout his career he has responded to numerous incidents of national and international significance in over 100 countries to include the EXXON VALDEZ oil spill in Alaska and the Deep Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Ken has been involved in humanitarian operations including serving as President of the Board of Directors for United Way of Southeast Alaska, and as President of the Chief Petty Officers’ Association and was involved in the humanitarian operations in Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010. He has volunteered his services to MERCY SHIPS, training their crew and staff on security and safety in West Africa.

Christine Koetsier is an international board and executive searcher, strategy consultant and entrepreneur , and mother to three grown sons. She honed her strategic talent expertise during a 15-year tenure at a leading global search firm. Simultaneously, she developed the Soul Language Method, repositioning soul—our Self Truth—at the core of existence. Both endeavors culminated in GEM. PARTNERS and SOUL.PARTNERS, offering Strategic Talent Services for Sustainable Solutions. Recently, Christine unveiled the first edition of her book, 'The Soul ID—how to spur your success by leveraging ancient wisdom for purposeful personal growth.'

Enzo di Taranto is a visionary investor and sustainability strategist. A former diplomat, recipient of multiple awards, Enzo has been managing for three decades multi-billion sustainability programmes, including as Campaign Manager of the United Nations Secretary-General in New York. Since 1990, Enzo di Taranto has been featured in major global media outlets for his work fostering the “Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” in conflict and disaster zones worldwide, from Colombia, Nicaragua and Haiti, to Laos, Mali and Sudan. More recently, he has been articulating “PLANET GOLD” – an innovative eco-investing portfolio – and promoting the concept of “Sustainable Luxury Living” in key industries, such as: Real Estate, Hospitality, Energy, Technology, Wellness and Fashion.

Valentina Castellani is an Award Winning Film Producer, President of Quinn Studios Entertainment which continues the Legacy of Academy Award Winning Actor Anthony Quinn, in the fields of art and entertainment. Mrs. Castellani produced many Academy Awards candidate films Internationally recognized and distributed. She won the prestigious US CONGRESS AWARD, The HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD, the English WIFTS Award as a "Visionary Producer" together with Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel and actress Gal Gadot. Because of her ethical work as a producer, and her service to global society, Valentina Castellani was invited to speak at many International Organizations, including, The US Congress, United Nations, UNESCO, The YPO/Young President Organization and a number of International Universities.

Steven O’Brien is a widely published writer, academic, journalist. He is Editor of The London Magazine, Britain’s oldest literary journal (est. 1732). His current roles also include Secretary General of the G20 Foundation, Trustee of the Patrons of the Vatican Art Treasures, Advisor to the Vatican’s Institute of Human Dignity, Advisor to the Centre for Issues and Crisis Management and Peace Ambassador for Iraq.

Diplomatic World (of which Ms Barbara Dietrich is the owner, CEO and Editor-in-Chief) is the only magazine published on paper in or around Brussels (with four editions a year distributed in high-quality paper form), counting amongst its subscribers all the Embassies in Brussels, all Members of the European Parliament, the DG’s of the European Commission, the European Council, Members of the Belgian Government, the Belgian Royal Family and other Heads of State plus many influential economic forums and organizations, advocacy and consultancy bureaus and think tanks in Brussels, providing this community and a wider public of interested readers with profound and trendsetting insights in the latest diplomatic, international and European evolutions and tendencies (with a special focus on cultural diplomacy, diplomatic economy, trade, business, art and health). The high-level content of Diplomatic World is based on a full-time engagement and direct/constant contacts with European and international officials - from Ambassadors and Ministers to European Commissioners, Prime Ministers and national and EU Presidents – of Barbara Dietrich. Through the high-quality paper publication, followed and circulating intensively inside the Brussels bubble and in other diplomatic capitals, and through the further online dissemination of the editions published under the supervision of Ms Barbara Dietrich, Diplomatic World has a very wide reach and can claim the status of a key diplomatic-journalistic medium and very influential global think tank and opinion-maker.

Pierre Quintard has been President of Jane Goodall Institute France since 2017. Its main areas of focus include promoting gender equality, access to education and sustainable employment across 12 African countries. Pierre participates in numerous conferences over over the world related to education, climate change action and biodiversity. An engineer by education, he is also a serial entrepreneur and investor in multiple projects.

Michele Bongiovanni is the CEO and Founder of HealRWorld® LLC (a fintech for good and private company ESG big data social impact business) , Disruptive Data Network (a human trafficking big data sharing consortium), Angels.Inc–a social impact media business, and the founder of Music4ClimateJustice (a non-profit initiative dedicated to raising funds for climate refugees, adaptation and resiliency.) Michele’s led corporate strategy, marketing, and online product development/management for over 25 years in the financial services sector and as an innovator has created multiple patents for Fortune 500 companies. Michele feels very blessed to have been able to leverage her passion for innovation and entrepreneurship at BlackRock, Dow Jones & Co., D&B, McCann Erickson & Merrill Lynch & Company.