Three-time GRAMMY nominated musician and activist, Rocky Dawuni, straddles the boundaries between Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. to create his appealing Afro Roots sound that unites generations and cultures. A galvanizing performer, Dawuni has shared the stage with luminaries including Stevie Wonder, Ozomatli, Sauti Sol, Janelle Monae and John Legend, among many others. Named one of Africa's Top 10 global stars by CNN, he has showcased his talent at prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and The Hollywood Bowl. Rocky is a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment for Africa, a UN Foundation Ambassador for the Clean Cooking Alliance and an Ambassador of Born Free USA. Rocky was also named the Global Ambassador for the World Day of African and Afrodescendant Culture which is a globally recognized by UNESCO. Through these and other designations he uses his music to shine a light on crucial issues facing humanity cross the globe through live concerts, speaking roles, panels, youth empowerment and more.
Influenced by the soulful beats of Fela Kuti and the positive messages of Bob Marley - Rocky Dawuni's infectious, sing-along sixth album, Branches of the Same Tree, (Cumbancha) was nominated for a GRAMMY for “Best Reggae Album” (2016) featuring the Afro Dancehall mashup video "African Thriller.” Branches highlights Dawuni's ability to communicate a universal, uplifting message that crosses borders and reaches out to the hearts of millions. The influential “Songlines Magazine named the album one of the “Top 10 Most Essential Reggae Albums of All Time!”
Tien Nguyen is the founding partner at Earth Venture Capital, a deep-tech VC firm focusing on energy transition, green manufacturing and agriculture with investments in 7 countries. Tien is also an expert at Rockefeller Foundation Asia for AI and climate actions. He serves on the steering committee of Impact Investing Readiness Vietnam by IIX and Global Affairs Canada, as well as an advisor at CarbonX Capital. An Irish Government fellow, he's a key player in expanding Irish influence across Southeast Asia through the "Team Ireland" vision. His guidance fuels innovation in climate-tech as a mentor for Google for Startups, She Loves Tech, and MoveSG Accelerator, making a global impact from Southeast Asia.
Andrew Chang is a startup ecosystem builder and marketing specialist, having founded and built new accelerator chapters and climate tech programs in China, Thailand, Indonesia and the UAE. He specializes in open innovation and identifying new deal flow and startup technologies for corporations specializing in electric vehicles, batteries, renewables, and grid-edge. He helped launch the Free Electrons global utility-startup accelerator and is now facilitating innovation programs within China servicing leading Chinese SOEs such as Towngas, State Grid, and Baowu Steel.
Prior to New Energy Nexus, Andrew was a Project Manager at Powerhouse, the world’s only incubator and accelerator dedicated to solar. Andrew has helped Powerhouse quickly become the nation’s leader in fostering solar innovation and entrepreneurship by hosting annual Solar Hackathons in Silicon Valley, launching Australia’s first Solar Hackathon, leading international competitions and designing the accelerator program for solar startups. Lastly, Andrew’s extensive marketing and communication experiences comes from 3+ years at two internationally renown advertising agencies; TBWA China and Y&R Shanghai. He managed accounts with Porsche, Pepsi, Bacardi and Adidas. His most notable achievement was managing and pitching Pantone ‘The Power of Color’ creative that won Bronze at Cannes in 2014. Andrew started his career as a marketing manager at Sungevity, the Oakland based rooftop solar company.
Nicoletta is an environmental engineer and holds an Executive MBA from Bocconi University in Milan. Nicoletta is a sustainability and sustainable finance expert and has 15 years of experience spanning from environmental and social due diligence, Corporate Social Responsibility review and implementation within companies around the globe, responsible sourcing and sustainable finance. She is committed to support financial players and companies transition towards increased sustainability and impact. Nicoletta is enthusiastic about impact investing, social businesses and Environmental Social Governance drivers. In short, anything that contributes to a better world.
Orchlon Enkhtsetseg is the Founder and CEO of URECA - a Singapore based climate-tech company with the mission to empower a global movement of climate action through technology. Mr. Orchlon has been a passionate clean-tech investor with 10+ years experience in management across project finance, clean energy, and infrastructure. As an NYU Economics graduate, Orchlon has held key positions at Newcom Group and Rio Tinto, and was recognized in Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 in 2019. Notably, he steered the development of the first wind farm in the Gobi Desert with Clean Energy Asia, a company backed by SoftBank Energy.
Jamil Wyne is an advisor, investor and educator working on climate technology and investment around the world. He is the co-founder of Riffle Ventures and was the lead author of the Climate Tech Opportunity. He is a climate investor and has worked with USAID, the Development Finance Corporation, the World Wildlife Fund, Clean Energy Ventures Group, UNICEF, and national governments on climate projects. He is a Forbes contributor, and his work has been featured in Stanford, Brookings, McKinsey, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and World Bank publications. He has been a Fulbright, New American and Truman Fellow and resides in Washington DC.
Heather Buchanan is the Chief Executive Officer of Bankers for Net Zero, an initiative that brings together banks, businesses and regulators to support the financial sectors transition to net zero in the UK. She has extensive experience advising Government, trade bodies and civil society on the commercial relationship between banks and their customers. In 2021, Bankers for Net Zero was announced as the UK Country Chapter of the UN Convened Net Zero Banking Alliance, the first initiative of its kind in the world, to provide the bridge between the high level commitments that banks have made and implementation on the ground. Since COP26, Heather has been tireless in her efforts to focus on the role of finance and banking in supporting the real economy in a just transition. She was thrilled to see this work culminate with Bankers for Net Zero taking to a global stage as a core partner of the UK Pavilion at COP28. In 2024 Heather was recognised as one of the twenty Trailblazing Women in Climate (Reuters) and shortlisted as Sustainability Leader of the Year and Women in Green Business (Business Green).
Poonam's career spans continents, focusing on brand & organizational restructuring, digital transformation, risk management, leading public consultation roles for emerging economies and advocating ESG & regulatory compliance.
Her contributions earned her the CIBC Achievers Award during the financial crisis, she also advanced the Clinton Global Initiative's impact investing initiatives. A recognized cross-sectoral strategy leader. Her role as an ESG consultant for trade and SMEs highlights her dedication to embedding sustainable practices across industries.
Luma is the Director- Middle East, Africa and India- for the UNPRI Principles of Responsible Investment and is a recognised sustainability and sustainable finance thought leader. Prior to Joining UNPRI, Luma drew on three decades at the forefront of finance, Islamic finance, sustainability, entrepreneurship and investment in MENA and Europe to advise corporates, financial institutions, funds and asset managers on sustainable finance and transition strategies. Luma’s work also focused on the creation of a sustainable finance ecosystem in the MENA region through close collaboration with regulators, financial markets and other market stakeholders in MENA on sustainable finance initiatives and regulations, including the recent UAE Green and Sustainability-linked Bonds and sukuk Regulations of 2023.
A former finance partner and global head of the Islamic Finance Group at Linklaters, Luma is a pioneer in the development of the capital markets and ground-breaking capital and financial markets transactions across MENA and globally, in particular in Islamic finance.
Luma is a regular speaker on sustainability and Islamic sustainable finance topics and is a regular contributor to finance and sustainability sector publications.
