Peter Altmaier, MdB, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy

Since March 2018 Peter Altmaier is Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy. His previous positions include Head of the Federal Chancellery, Federal Minister for Special Tasks and Refugee Coordinator of the German Federal Government (since 2015), Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and Chief Whip of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. He holds a degree in Legal studies from the Saarland University. As of 2006 Peter Altmaier has been the President of the Europa-Union (German branch of the Union of European Federalists) and since the end of 2011 he took over the office as Honorary President.

Sabine Bendiek, Chairwoman of the Management Board, Microsoft Germany

Sabine Bendiek has been Chairwoman of the Management Board, Microsoft Germany since January 2016. She holds a Master of Science degree in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge (MSc) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Mannheim. At the beginning of her career, Bendiek worked for McKinsey, Booz Allen as well as Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems. Subsequently, she was responsible for Dell’s Small and Medium Business in Germany, Switzerland and Austria where she contributed a significant share to the company’s earnings. Prior to joining Microsoft Germany, Bendiek held the position of Vice President and General Manager for EMC Germany. In her capacity as General Manager of EMC, Bendiek assumed responsibility for all business activities in the German market. She focused on the transformation of the company into a provider of hybrid cloud and software solutions. Meanwhile, Bendiek looks back on more than 20 years of professional experience as an executive in the technology industry. She is also a member of the executive board of the industry trade association BITKOM.

Roland Boehm, Divisional Board Member, Corporates International at Commerzbank AG

 
Roland Boehm is Divisional Board Member, Corporates International at Commerzbank. Roland is responsible for the business with international corporate clients and Commerzbank's network of international branches and subsidiaries. Before taking on his current role in January 2016, Roland served as the Divisional Head of Debt Capital Markets Loans, which includes Commerzbank’s Syndicated Loans, Schuldschein, Strategic Asset Finance and Aircraft Business sectors. Prior to its merger with Commerzbank in 2009, Roland was responsible for the loan syndication business at Dresdner Kleinwort for Europe and Developing Markets.
From 2012 until 2017, Roland has been Chairman of the Loan Market Association (LMA), having been elected as a member in 2009.

Katharina Dröge, MdB, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

Katharina Dröge is the Green's spokesperson for Trade and Competition in the German Bundestag and member of the Bundestag's Committee on Economics and Energy. She studied Economics in Cologne, where she still lives with her family. Ms Dröge has been a member of parliament since 2013. Previously she worked for the Department of the Environment of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2018 she has been elected parlamentarische Geschäftsführerin (Whip) by the Green's parliamentary group.

Peter Flanagan, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP; Co-Chair of Covington's International Trade Practice Group

Peter Flanagan counsels clients on a broad range of compliance requirements affecting international trade and investment. These include most notably export controls, economic sanctions constraints, defense trade limitations, and the implications of related non-U.S. requirements. He has deep experience in assisting multinational clients with complex compliance, enforcement, and licensing matters before the key U.S. trade controls agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Commerce, and State.

For more information, see his full CV.

Olaf Gersemann, Chief Editor Business, Finance & Real Estate, DIE WELT
Olaf Gersemann has been Chief Editor for Business, Finance and Real Estate at DIE WELT since 2010. Before joining DIE WELT, Mr. Gersemann was the team leader of the foreign correspondents at the "Financial Times Germany", the Washington Correspondent and Business & Policy Editor for "Wirtschaftswoche", as well an editor for Careers and Young Careers at "Handelsblatt".

Annette Green, Vice President DACH, SAS Institute

Annette Green has managed the German, Austrian, and Swiss operations of SAS in her role as vice president of the DACH region since January 1, 2019. Green has been part of the global SAS team for nearly 30 years. Before returning to her native Germany, she held many leadership positions in sales and marketing during her career at SAS corporate headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, most recently as vice president of the Commercial Division. From 2005 to 2015, she achieved success managing a business unit focused on vertical sales to large organizations (annual revenues in excess of US $1 billion) as its general manager. In her prior role as general manager of the East Business Unit, she managed a team of more than 100 employees and expanded the unit’s focus to the entire US East Coast geography. During her long tenure at SAS, Green has acquired extensive experience in working with global enterprises.
Green holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from North Carolina State University, where she also completed graduate-level studies in the School of Management Sciences.

Eric Holder, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP & former 82nd Attorney General of the United States

Eric Holder advises clients on complex investigations and litigation matters, including those that are international in scope and involve significant regulatory enforcement issues and substantial reputational concerns. Mr. Holder, who was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009, rejoined the firm after serving for six years as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States.
Including his tenure as Attorney General, Mr. Holder has served in government for more than thirty years, having been appointed to various positions requiring U.S. Senate confirmation by Presidents Obama, Clinton and Reagan.

For more information, see his full CV.

Dr. Thomas Hueck, Chief Economist, Robert Bosch GmbH

Dr. Thomas Hueck was appointed Chief Economist of Robert Bosch GmbH in 2010. In that function he is responsible for conducting macroeconomic forecasts and economic as well as political analysis supporting strategic developments of the company. Since 2017 he is also responsible for Corporate Strategy Asia Pacific.
Hueck was born in Goslar, Germany on June 28, 1966. He studied business sciences in Hannover and economics in Munich where he also made his PhD. He started his professional career as an economist at Deutsche Bundesbank – the German Central Bank – in Frankfurt and continued at HypoVereinsbank,  Munich to become head of the economic department. 2005 he joined Bosch where he had been responsible for business development in China 2008 - 2010.

Dieter Kempf, President, BDI (Federation of German Industries)

Dieter Kempf is President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), a position he has held since January 2017. In addition, he serves on various supervisory boards and as honorary professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Previously, Kempf has been President of Bitkom and has held positions at Datev, including 20 years as Chairman, and Arthur & Young (now Ernst & Young).  For more information, see his full CV.

Jack Kingston, former Member of U.S. Congress & Principal, Squire Patton Boggs

Jack Kingston is former US Representative and Squire Patton Boggs Principal and helps clients address public policy challenges in legislatures and regulatory agencies around the world. In Congress, Rep. Kingston earned a reputation as an effective legislator with a keen ability to resolve complex matters by reaching across the aisle. Rep. Kingston’s leadership of the largest domestic appropriations subcommittee and his senior position on the defense appropriations subcommittee give him a deep understanding of the policy and financial challenges global clients face. In addition, Rep. Kingston assists with business development and strategic counseling for the firm’s leadership in specialty areas, including agriculture, defense, education, energy, financial services, healthcare, tax, transportation, trade and international business. Rep. Kingston served Georgia's 1st Congressional District in Southeast Georgia from 1993 to 2015. He also served as vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference, the sixth-ranking post among House Republicans, from 2002 to 2006.Prior to his service in Congress, Rep. Kingston was a member of the Georgia State Legislature, and was vice-president of Palmer & Cay Insurance Services. He was the only Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) in Congress.

Throughout his career in public service, Rep. Kingston received more than 40 awards from various non-partisan interest groups on a diversity of issues. He has been named in each term as a "Taxpayer’s Hero,” and has been recognized as "Senior Friendly" and "A Guardian of Small Business." He was also awarded the "Watchdog of the Treasury Award," and the US Chamber of Commerce’s "Spirit of Enterprise Award.”

Dr. Anastassia Lauterbach, Technology Entrepreneur and Expert in AI and Cybersecurity, Member of the NACD

Dr. Anastassia Lauterbach is technology strategist possessing unique knowledge of the high-tech ecosystem, particulary with regard to Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Blockchain. She is board member of easyjet, Wirecard and Dun&Bradstreet. After 20 years in top positions at Munich Re, McKinsey, Daimler, Deutsche Telekom and Qualcomm, she founded her own company 1AU Ventures, which delivers machine learning and cybertech solutions to businesses. In addition, she advises the US stock exchange Nasdaq, is author of and contributor to various books. She holds a degree in psychology and linguistics.

Inga Michler, Economic Reporter, WELT

Dr. Inga Michler is an economist and business reporter for WELT, where she started as a financial editor in 1998. Her writing focuses primarily on major economic trends as well as on family businesses in Germany, philanthropy and education. Michler is also an experienced moderator, chairing large conferences for the paper such as the "Welt-Waehrungskonferenz" and "Weltkonferenz Frauen im Top-Management" and has published three books. For more information, see her full CV.

Gordon Riske, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), KION GROUP AG

Gordon Riske has been the Chief Executive Officer at KION Group since 2008. He counts three decades of board-level experience at well-known German engineering companies. Previously, Riske was the CEO at both DEUTZ AG and KUKA Roboter GmbH. He was born in the US and studied electrical engineering at the Lawrence Institute of Technology in Southfield, Michigan. He also holds a BBA from the Oekreal School of Business, Zurich, and participated in an MBA program with the GSBA, Zurich. He is a member of the Executive Board for the non-profit Hertie-Stiftung GmbH, Frankfurt, and a Non-Executive Director at Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang, People's Republic of China.

Dr. Rob Smith, Senior Vice President & General Manager Europe and Middle East, AGCO Corporation   

Previously, Rob served as Vice President and General Manager at TRW Automotive, where he also was Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prior to this, he served in various general management, operations, and supply chain positions in the global automotive and transportation industries, with Tyco Electronics, Bombardier Transportation, LucasVarity PLC and BMW. Dr. Smith was a combat engineer officer in the United States Army and has received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University in 1987, followed by MBA and Diplom-Kaufmann degrees in 1994. In 2001, he received his German doctoral degree in International Operations Management from the WHU – Graduate School of Management in Koblenz, Germany.

Frank Sportolari, President, AmCham Germany & President, UPS Germany

Frank Sportolari is AmCham Germany's President and has been President of United Parcel Service Deutschland since September 2011. Frank Sportolari joined UPS in 1986 as a management trainee in the Finance and Accounting department in Munich, Germany. He held various positions of increasing responsibility within the Finance and Accounting function, including working as the Controller in Munich, Cologne and Neuss for UPS in Germany, before moving to Madrid in 1996 where he was the Controller for UPS Spain & Portugal. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Sportolari had Controller assignments at UPS Italy and the Europe Region headquarters in Brussels, where he coordinated the UPS Controllers across the Europe Region. In 2002, Frank was appointed Country Manager of UPS Italy, a position he held until 2004, when he took on the role of European Region Strategy Manager for 3 years before returning to Italy as Managing director from 2007 until 2011.

Tim Stratford, Former U.S. Trade Representative, Chairman of AmCham China & Partner at Covington & Burling Beijing

Tim Stratford is managing partner in Covington & Burling LLP’s Beijing office. He is also presently serving as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Mr. Stratford’s practice is focused on advising international clients doing business in China. As a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. Stratford is the most senior former U.S. trade official working as a member of the U.S. business community in China. Except for the five years he spent in Washington, DC in government service (2005-2010), Mr. Stratford has lived and worked continuously in the greater China region since 1982.

For more information, see his full CV.

Dr. Nadine Galandi is Head of the Deloitte Neuroscience Institute, where she develops new service offerings using neuroscientific technologies. She has several years of consulting experience and has managed CX and UX improvement projects for companies in the pharmaceutical, MedTech, and several other industries. Before joining Deloitte, Nadine Galandi led a strategic planning department at an international pharmaceutical company. She holds a PhD in Biophysical Chemistry.

Dr. Andreas Becks, Head of Business Analytics DACH, SAS Institute

Andreas Becks is responsible for Business Analytics in the DACH region. He is specialized in artificial intelligence, cognitive computing and machine learning and he has been designing analytical solutions for data-based decisions in complex business applications for 20 years. Andreas Becks holds a degree in computer science, a doctorate in artificial intelligence from RWTH Aachen University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen.

Frank R. Samolis, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs

Frank Samolis is co-chair of Squire Patton Boggs' International Trade Practice division. He advises clients on international trade matters, including trade law, trade policy and legislation, and international trade negotiations. He is also chair of Squire Patton Boggs' India Practice Group and the leader of our Colombia Desk, Latin America Task Force.

For more information, see his full CV.