Lesley is the founder of www.bemz.com, www.kinship-collective.com and co-founder of school2school.se. Lesley is a seasoned entrepreneur having founded and developed several companies during her career. Most recently she is completely focused on social impact business models and the creation of stakeholder value. She believes that every company has a responsibility to be socially responsible, and to create value beyond profits. In addition to running and managing entrepreneurial start ups, she has had extensive Business Development/Marketing background in the technology industry having worked both in Silicon Valley and in Europe for Apple Computer, as well as having worked for several technology and internet startups in Europe. Languages: English I Swedish

Claudia is Vice President and Co-founder of Dugga, a research-based digital assessment platform to improve learning outcomes and wellbeing. Dugga won the Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award 2020 in Education and has quickly grown with users in more than 130 countries. Claudia is a much appreciated speaker being an advocate for improving quality and equality in learning and assessment. Claudia has worked as Asst. Professor, researcher and lecturer at Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Economics. For her research, Claudia has been awarded the prestigious Wallander stipend from the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius foundation, Handelsbanken. Her research is published in several scientific journals, books and articles. After nomination by the European Edtech Alliance, Claudia was selected to the first cohort of most promising female founders in Edtech by the Female Edtech Fellowship (FEF). She is a mentor of the Ester Foundation Accelerator Program, to support and empower female entrepreneurs with foreign backgrounds to grow and expand their business ventures. For her expertise in sustainable business models, Claudia is a member of the Swedish government’s National Platform aiming to disseminate education, research and innovation for a more sustainable industry. Languages: English I Swedish

Yalle is the Chief of Staff at Microsoft Sweden and part of the Leadership Team. He is also leading Microsoft Sweden’s National Transformation Program, focused on enabling a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and trusted economic growth in Sweden through digital transformation. He has worked for United Nations, in biopharma, and been part of building several IT-companies. Throughout his career spanning entrepreneurship, leadership, strategy and technology, he has helped many teams achieve outstanding results. He believes that at the core of successful change, there is always people having a vision and willingness to lead. He is also convinced that technology can help make visions come through.

Specialization Focus

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• Strategy

• Business Development

• Digital-enabled business models

Languages: English I Swedish

Heaven is an Investor board member and entrepreneur. Heaven Bereket is the Founding Trustee of Pangea Trust catalyzing innovation through social businesses that stimulate the economy in Africa by creating enabling environment to harness skills, provide technical expertise and capital, spur and accelerate social-economic transformation, increase job creation, and improve the quality of life at the base of the pyramid. Heaven also serves as Board member and investor. Heaven's journey started in 2011 as a pharmacist & economist who later became Keynote Speaker, tech-entrepreneur, investor, bitcoin enthusiast, trading school founder, and the heart and brains behind Bambino Foundation. Languages: English I Swedish

Nazanin is a part of Microsoft Sweden's management team as sales director for the Small, Medium & Corporate (SMC) segment. She is responsible for sales to small and medium-sized companies and organizations in both the private and public sector and is a business sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion issues in the management team. Nazanin has many years of experience in sales and leadership from Dell, where she led the company's Large Commercial team. She has a passion for value-based selling with a focus on customer obsession, sales culture, diversity, sustainability, inspirational leadership and enabling future growth for customers through digital transformation. Nazanin is also named on BreakIT's 2023 list of top female names who take over boardrooms and came as top 3 in the leaders' list The female leaders of the future. 

Specialisation Focus

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• Sales

• Culture

• Change management

• D&I

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Languages: English I Swedish

Samra is the owner and operator of multiple successful businesses, namely the Founder of Långholmen Kajak and Co-founder of Outventure AB- Bookspot. She has 10 years of demonstrated experience leading businesses to achieve record-breaking growth and holds a Master of business administration, University of Westminster in London. Languages: English I Swedish 

Nedim is the CFO and Investment Manager of the publicly listed investment company MTI Investments Sweden. He was previously the CFO at TransferGalaxy and Program Manager for their accelerator program Founder Institute in Stockholm. Nedim has previously worked for UBS Investment Bank, Raiffeisen Investment and KPMG. He has a PhD from the Stockholm School of Economics, where he researched and taught in entrepreneurship. Languages : English I Swedish I German I Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

Patrik is a serial entrepreneur and expert in marketing. He has been a co-founder of Kontanten, which with just over 1,000 ATMs is one of the largest independent operators of ATMs in the Nordics. Patrik has also been CEO of PDF Brasserie Group with roughly 400 employees. Driven and result-oriented strategic leader with solid experience in business development with an entrepreneur's mindset. With a strategic and thorough understanding of effective marketing and communication, I use my social skills and ability to bring together both employees and stakeholders to create lasting results and winning teams. Languages: English I Swedish

Carl is an economist and a geoscientist. He is good at entrepreneurship with a global outlook. His vast work experience also includes more than 30 years at KPMG as an auditor with a main focus on listed companies and the financial market. Among the companies where he has been an auditor are Nordea, Investor, NCC, Castellum, KF, Alecta, Skandia and Kinnevik. From 2008 to 2012, he was chairman of the board of KPMG. Nowadays, he is an independent consultant working with both commercial and non-profit organizations. At present, he is on the board of Skogshögskolans kårråd, Birthe och Per Arwidssons stiftelse, Combient AB, Världsnaturfonden AB, Nordea Asset Management, Plan International, The Tenure Facility and Amexci AB Languages : English I Swedish

Miguel is a serial entrepreneur and startup founder in several fields, from mindfulness apps and e-learning, to digital health and coliving spaces. He has been a team member of the Founder Institute Stockholm and Decelera Investment to coach and mentor participants in their startup journeys. He is specialized in using mindfulness to keep psycho-emotional balance and reduce stress associated with running a business. Miguel holds a PhD. in psychology and has being post-doctoral research fellow at Karolinska Institutet. Areas of expertise: startup building, digital health, e-learning, soft skills training and UX Research Languages: English I Spanish

Åsa holds a MA in European Affairs, BA in Political Science specialized in democratization processes, and a BA in Middle Eastern Studies. She spent several years working on strengthening the private sector in the Balkans and the Middle East, primarily through foreign missions at the Embassies of Sweden in Riyadh, Baghdad and Sarajevo respectively. Åsa has been working for the Swedish Armed Forces, Business Sweden and the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA) designing and managing projects such as Challenge Funds, Private Public Development Partnerships and other support modalities directed towards micro and small enterprises . She is also a consultant within the field of corporate social responsibility, economic development and private sector collaboration. She has a versatile set of skills deriving from her experience in the areas of economic development, private sector collaboration and project management. For the past years Åsa has been running her own business consultancy and also pursued a long-time dream - designing and creating jewelry and accessories celebrating the legendary Norse heroines. She now runs an e-commerce business (www.soldiser.com) and her jewelry can be found at the Viking Museum in Stockholm. Languages: English I Swedish

Gabriele is a customer focused executive, innovation leader, board member and coach focusing on new technologies, business development strategies, innovation & venturing. He loves designing, launching and growing new businesses and organizations from vision to scaling. His work spans across different business domains & technologies e.g. IoT, AI, Data analytics, Saas, Smart mobility, Digital experience, Fintech always with the same relentless focus on understanding customer needs and developing business models and culture to foster sustainable growth. Languages: English I Swedish (Basic)

Pontus is the CEO and founder of the publicly listed investment company MTI Investments Sweden. He has more than 25 years of experience in finance and business management as well as a background in portfolio investment and property management. Pontus is the Chairman of several of MTIs portfolio companies and was previously the CFO of the Swedish Mission Church. Pontus has an academic background and has conducted research into microfinance both in Africa and South America. He previously worked for BCG and Credit Suisse. Pontus has research experience in financing of entrepreneurship and human resource management and holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Agder. Languages: English I Swedish

Katarina is an experienced, strong value driven leader with proven results from FMCG companies including Procter&Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Orkla, Henkel and RFSU AB.She has over 30 years of deep knowledge of B2C as well as B2B and with CSR/ESG always top of mind to reach high expectations. Today she is an independent consultant focusing on mentorship, advisor, coaching and board member. She is involved in several start-up networks focusing on building and launching new products and services. Strong in management and building successful cultures and teams and engagement in order to deliver sustainable growth, value and developing people. She has long experience in business development, marketing, brand building, route to market, production, negotiations as well as consumer insight. Unique and extensive experience from combining the commercial arena with non-profit organisations and reaching strong growth. ”Do good, have fun and the money will come!” has always been her motto during all years as a successful leader. Languages : English I Swedish I French I German

Originally from Gambia, Lamin is the Founder and CEO of Bantaba. A knowledge and funding platform for African tech companies. He has a background in finance, consulting and venture capital. Lamin has worked as Consultant at a global provider of governance services for investors in Ireland. He was also part of the financing team of a major telecom company. Lamin's work experience extends to venture building, portfolio and investment management after stints at Stockholm Innovation and Growth (Sting), Propel Capital and Talent Venture Group. He has BSc. in finance from Bocconi University in Italy and an MSc in finance from Stockholm School of Economics. Languages: English

Sofia is one of the founders and the Chairperson of the Ester Foundation. She holds a PhD focusing on credit ratings of Indian microfinance institutions from the Stockholm School of Economics Languages: English I Swedish

Patrik Ugander is and innovator focused on business and product development within multiple industries from start-ups to publicly listed companies. As a mentor he has supported start-ups in leadership and day to day operations as well as in offering and pricing strategies. Among others for Bantaba, a company connecting capital and knowledge to African startups and for the app Angelchat supporting young people suffering from mental health problems. He has also started several businesses and held leading positions for operative and strategic roles within Telecom, Insurance and recently as CEO for an IT-security company. Languages : English I Swedish 

Nargis Rahimi is the Founder, CEO of Laprica. Laprica has two focus areas: 1) support to working parents to raise thriving children by equipping parents with knowledge and tools to help them in their parenting journey and 2) help organizations to be more resilient, prevent mental illnesses and promote wellbeing. Laprica’s solutions are based on evidence and focus on practical application in daily life. She is also a Co-founder of Shifo Foundation that has developed Smart Paper Technology, an information and support system to strengthen health systems in countries with high child and maternal mortality. Nargis has been working at the World Health Organization during 2020-2022 with global strategy development. Nargis has been recognised for her work and awarded:

● The IT Woman of the year by CGI

● The best social entrepreneur in Sweden by Ashoka

● Digital inspirer by CIO Awards

● European Union Women Innovator by EU Research and Innovation Programme

● Atlas award for her contribution to research that could significantly impact people’s lives.

Languages: English I Swedish I Tajik I Russian I Uzbek

Vik Li holds the position of Investment Director at Ericsson Ventures for 3+ years where she is responsible for startup investments in Europe focus on the areas of AI/ML, data analytics, cloud/edge, web3, and quantum technology; she’s worked on investment deals across Europe and the US. She has over a decade of Telecom and IoT experience across sales, commercial, strategy and technical management, with a strong track record of closing deals with new customers in new industries. Vik earned her BS in Computer Science from Sun-Yat Sen University in China and an MBA from University of Surrey in the UK. Languages: English I Chinese I Swedish (Basic)

Rodrigo is an impact entrepreneur and investor. Rodrigo has more than 15 years of impact entrepreneurship in Sweden and internationally. Rodrigo has experience developing companies from ideation to annual turnover of over SEK 100 million. Rodrigo shares his time between being an impact entrepreneur and investor with being a coach and educator in impact entrepreneurship at Jönköping University He is the Founder of The Fintech company Ponture AB - a newly started company in Sweden that offers a marketplace and financial solutions for businesses run by immigrants. The vision is to empower entrepreneurs with foreign background and unlock their business potential - Diversitas - a recruitment & staffing agency that try harder to find the best talents, regardless of gender, race / ethnicity, etc. - The consultancy company NGO Factory. - International rating organization AIDS Accountability International Languages : English I Swedish

Marie works with your most valuable asset – YOU! I coach/mentor, inspire and challenge you to progress. Make your dreams into goals, break them down and plan for success. As an entrepreneur and business owner you need to take care of yourself, your health, make room for what’s most important in your life and still have time to develop your business. Easy? Your Personal Leadership is the key. If you break down – no business. I’m also a public speaker/lecturer and can help with your pitch, story telling or presentation technique. Languages : English I Swedish

Linn has a background in international business and has also served as an officer in the Swedish Coast Artillery. She has held senior positions in multinational companies including Microsoft and also been working with fast growing start-ups and as a consultant establishing companies in emerging markets. She now works as a consultant with a focus on socially sustainable projects and start-ups. Having worked in countries around the world for the past 20 years, Linn has extensive experience in intercultural communications and a strong commitment to foreign-born entrepreneurship in Sweden. Linn has been involved in the Ester Foundation since 2016. Languages : English I Swedish I French I Russian