Paul Castle is Communications Manager at the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Switzerland. His responsibilities there include the areas of volunteering and donations. Paul comes from Cambridge, UK, but has spent all his professional life in Germany and Switzerland. He previously worked in communications at Syngenta AG. Between a decade each in healthcare and agribusiness, Paul was a freelance journalist and translator. 30 years after first graduating from Oxford, he recently completed a Certificate in African Studies at Basel University. His concluding specialization was on radio extension for smallholders in minority languages. In his spare time, Paul is Trustee of a Swiss Children's Cancer Foundation, President of a German rowing club,  and an international rowing commentator. His further interests include modern history, languages and a range of sports. Paul has one son, a law student.

Graduated in Economics at Bocconi University, since 2009 he is CEO of Banca Esperia. He begins his career in Interbanca. In 1989 he takes part to the start-up of Banca Internazionale Lombarda, the first Wealth Management organization in the Italian market where he is in charge of Financial Planning and then Private Banking.  In 1996 he is hired by UBS Italia as Deputy General Director to develop and manage the private banking teams. In 2002 he joins the Board of UBS Italia as Vice-President. In 2005 he becomes Head of Commercial Direction of UBS Italia for key clients in Italy, and in 2006 for South Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2008 he takes the role of CEO of UBS Italia.

Specialized doctor and board member of  Fondazione Giovanni e Annamaria Cottino, he created and coordinates the innovative premio Applico, aiming to empower the connection between research and entrepreneurship buy consolidating biomedical projects with a high technological and social potential. The award proposed for the first time the model of the "Honor Grant". The Foundation, operating in a venture philanthropy model, walks selected projects in an ecosystem of capitals, industrial competences, and entrepreneurial network to accelerate the passage from research to industrial application, and envisioning in specific cases the participation as partner through equity.

Engaged from over 10 years to lead the Corporate Communications Department of the family company, Vittoria Ganassini believes this is not only a matter of communication but of an integrated strategy that pays particular attention to Strategic Planning development in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility. The CSR strategy of Istituto Ganassini supports projects for economic development of depressed areas and innovative initiatives of social entrepreneurship, as the Guri I Zi promoted by Idee Migranti Onlus, that with its women social business of texting represents a concrete and sustainable way out of poverty for women and families in north Albania.

Gaël Lescornec serves as the European liaison at the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF). Based in Geneva, she is responsible for resource mobilization and partnership development in Europe. She brings over 15 years of experience working in international development and managing multi-stakeholder partnerships and processes with the ultimate aim of achieving impact on people’s lives. Before joining WCF, Ms Lescornec was regional director at Coxswain Social Investment Plus (CSI+) in South Africa - a service company facilitating public-private partnerships and managing sustainable supply chain initiatives mainly in Africa. She was responsible for managing a sustainably sourced vanilla supply chain initiative in Uganda involving multiple stakeholders.  Ms Lescornec began her career with the UN, first with the UNHCR in Rwanda in 1999 and then with UNAIDS from 2000-2006 where she contributed to raising the profile of HIV as an international security issue with the UN Security Council. After completing her BA in International Communication Studies at Emerson College (USA and NL) in 1996, Ms Lescornec worked with the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva for one year before completing a Masters in Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1998. Ms Lescornec is bilingual in French and English.

Graduated in Pharmaceuticals at the Università di Bologna, since 2003 he directs Loacker Remedia specialized in the production of homeopathic and herbal medicines of the company founded by his father in 1983. From the beginning, he develops a philosophy focused on his responsibility for the employees, the heart of the company, and at the base of growth, innovation, and possibility to compete. In 2011 and 2013 he is awarded as "Best Employer" and in 2012 he receives the Premio UCID-AGUS Imprenditore dell’Anno” for distinguishing in the sector for his commitment and care to the growth and development of the local community.

Nora Marketos is a Project Officer at the Jacobs Foundation based in Zürich, Switzerland, with responsibilities on the Foundation’s engagement on rural education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the recently launched TRECC (Transforming education in cocoa communities) programme in Côte d’Ivoire, she supports the development and implementation of an innovative payment-by-results framework with leading cocoa and chocolate industry members. Ms. Marketos holds a MA in Social Anthropology and a Master of Advanced Studies in International Cooperation, and has work experience in the areas of refugee protection, migration and development as well as good governance. She has previously worked for different UN institutions, civil society organisations and governmental structures, and lived in Mexico, Syria and Uganda.

Secretary General of Fondazione Lang Italia since 2013, she manages the strategy and development of philanthropy advisory activities for grant-makers and philanthropists and the annual Lang Philanthropy Day. She began her career as and advisor on corporate social responsibility in 1997 at Gruppo Vita. She contributed to the creation of the first donor advised fund in Italy. For twenty years she has been a lecturer on corporate philanthropy and giving strategies for the community. She is member of the Advisory Board of Ashoka Italy and national councillor of Assifero. Graduated at Bocconi University, she was born in Milan in 1971.

Nawaf Obaid is CEO and co-founder of the Essam & Dalal Obaid Foundation, created with his brothers and mother to support ambitious global projects in the social and sanitary field. He has been special advisor for strategic communication for Prince Turki Al Faisal, the Ambassadeur for Saudi Arabia in UK. iVsiting Fellow & Associate Instructor at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, he is Senior Fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies e Lecturer at the London Academy of Diplomacy della Stirling University. He collaborates with several media as  The New York Times, The Telegraph, Washington Post, CNN.

Kurt joined EVPA as new CEO in April 2012. Kurt is a Belgium national with outstanding work experience in both the non-profit and social entrepreneurial sector. He previously worked for Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for which he managed field programs in Thailand, Kenya, Russia, Bosnia and Angola and later became CEO of MSF-Norway. In 2000, he became the first 'philanthropy consultant' in Belgium, with a specific focus on venture philanthropy. After 5 years as a consultant, Kurt managed programs for the city of Antwerp and the Foundation for Future Generations. Since 2010, he was responsible for Ashoka in Belgium.

Carlo Salvato is full professor of Strategy for Family Business at Bocconi University in Milan, where he is Fellow of the CRIOS research centre and Director of the Economics and Management course. He got a Ph.D in entrepreneurship and management of family business at Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden and a Ph.D in Management at Bocconi University. His areas of interests focus on family business strategy and development of strategic and organizational skills. He is a board member of the Family Firm Institute in Boston and Chair of the entrepreneurship area of the Academy of Management.

Giampaolo Silvestri is the Secretary General of Fondazione AVSI, an NGO working in 30 countries for the promotion of human dignity. Graduated in Economics at Bocconi University, he is in AVSI since 1996 - first in charge of projects in East Europe, then as Director of PRojects, finally as Executive Director before becoming Secretary General in 2013. IN 2015 he is chosen by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to become member of the National Council on Cooperation and Development to represent civil society and non profit organizations.

Founder and President of AMI Trustee, Tiziano Tazzi has worked for thirty years as a manager in the financial and banking sector. He graduates in 1977 at Bocconi University and subsequently achieves an MBA at SDA bocconi. In 1982 he joind Citibank, then enters Eptaconsors as M&A Director in 1985.  In 1987 he joins the BNL Group as Director of the Participatory Service. From 1995 to 1999 he is Director of Planning and Organizational Development in BNL Investments SIM, leaving it to found Natam SpA, an Internet start-up specialized in systems of data analysis and comparison. In 2010 he creates AMI Trustee, specialized in the management of internal trusts, and becomes trustee of the Lang Trust (internal non profit trust) that in 2011 gave birth to Fondazione Lang Italia.

Patrizia Venturini, graduated in Foregn Languages and Literature at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, has been working for the BMW Group for fourteen years. Within the Institutional Relations and Communications Department, she manages the group corporate communications and the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Italy.