Dr. Sharad Sapra is the inaugural Director of UNICEF’s Global Innovation Centre. The UNICEF Innovation Centre now has a network of Innovation Labs around the world. Through the center and labs, and through a network of partners locally and labs globally, his aim is to find solutions to stumbling blocks in delivering services, reducing inequities and achieving results for children. When those solutions are successful, they can be adopted and adapted by others and scaled to address the most pressing challenges around the globe. Dr. Sapra began his distinguished career with UNICEF in July 1983 in New Delhi India after completing his degree in Medicine and Surgery and his post-graduate degree in Preventive and Social Medicine from Jiwaji University in India. From there, he has served in various positions representing UNICEF across the globe, including posts in Maldives, New York, Iran, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Uganda.

Thomas White is a co-founder and CEO of C-Suite Network, home of the world’s most powerful network of C-Suite leaders. The C-Suite Network enables thought leaders, CEOs and other professionals to maximize the potential of peer networks and social media to expand their audience, increase revenue and grow their personal and business brands. Prior to C-Suite Network, Thomas started 10 companies in the fields of technology, publishing, market research and corporate consulting. He also holds four patents and is co-author of a book on business process technology, executive producer of a syndicated radio program, and a professional speaker.

Thomas White looks beyond the obvious to find the extraordinary. His strength is creating leading-edge companies that employ innovative use of technology, coupled with unique business models that deliver strong shareholder return. He knows the key to success is people. He creates cultures where people love what they do, work at their best, and produce extraordinary results. As a corporate consigliere he inspires CEOs to successfully weather continuously changing business environments so that their companies exceed the expectations of their stakeholders.

Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic. As the finance director and later CIO for Manor, TX, a small city outside Austin, Haisler quickly built a track record and reputation as an early innovator in civic tech. A member of Code for America’s original steering committee, Haisler pioneered government use of commercial technologies not before used in the public sector – including Quick-Response (QR) barcodes, crowdsourcing and gamification. In 2010 Haisler launched Manor Labs, a website that let residents submit their own ideas and vote other peoples’ ideas up or down. The most popular suggestions went to city officials for review and possible implementation. Haisler looked to the private sector to help broaden the adoption of these and other civic innovations, joining California-based Spigit as director of government innovation. While at Spigit, a company that makes crowd-sourcing and innovation management software, Haisler helped design and deploy innovation programs for New York City; Bogota, Columbia; and even part of the space program (through NASA’s Langley Research Center).

Notably, Haisler helped design and launch one of the first government open innovation programs in the United States in 2010, which received global recognition as a new model of citizen engagement and innovation. Among other first-in-nation innovations, Haisler architected a Crowdsourcing Master Land Use Plan (Harford County, MD) and patented a crowd-based business process (Crowd-as-a-Service). Named a Government Technology Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver in 2009, his work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, Inc. and the Today Show on NBC. An in-demand speaker, he has given two TEDx speeches – one on Disrupting Government (TEDxAustin) and the other on Disrupting Education (TEDxLivermore).

As Chief Innovation Officer at e.Republic, Haisler has a strategic role to help shape the company’s products, services, and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector.

Paul is a Veteran Technology Entrepreneur. He has created, enabled and successfully sold, floated or merged a series of International Telecommunications, Technology Operations, Software and Consultancy practices and continues to invest in early stage technology business through his Private Equity fund Livewire Capital Partners. He is a recognised International Business leader and expert on Data Forensics, Framworx, SaaS hosting and Media Content distribution and brings his technology expertise as a Non-executive director to the companies he participates in. As the European and Entertainment Editor for the on-line publication TeleMediaStrategy.com he keeps in-touch with latest trends and comments on industry issues on a real time basis. He also acts as Chairman of several companies in the B/OSS, Big Data Analytics, Digital Content, Games and Wealth Management sectors as well as continuing his work in the Design, Build and Operations of advanced Telecommunications network and Data Centres enterprise organisations, working closely with VC’s and Private Equity to secure funding and drive these entities to profit. He has been intimately involved in these types of Ventures since 1999. In addition, he undertakes strategic consultancy assignments, where his technology expertise can be effective to drive organisations to profitability or exits.

Paul is the Global Ambassador for the TMForum, with responsibility for Big Data Analytics and Customer Experience. He is also currently the Head of the Data Analytics Group at TM Forum. In 2010 he was awarded a Professorship by the School of Mathematics and Computing at Liverpool John Moores University for work surrounding University technology spin-out companies. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and considered a Global expert within the Data Analytics, OSS, SaaS and Computer Security. Paul works closely with VC's and PE Groups to identify and exploit opportunities in these markets.

Mpule K. Kwelagobe is the founder and CEO of the MPULE Institute for Endogenous Development. As a researcher, Mpule’s areas of interest include traditional knowledge systems and culture, and how they inform endogenous development. Prior to this Mpule served as President of the Botswana-based MPULE Foundation, which she established in 1999 to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Botswana. To date the MPULE Foundation has partnered with nearly 20 multi-stakeholders in launching health and youth empowerment programs in two dozen urban and rural areas across Botswana. In 2001, Mpule Kwelagobe and the MPULE Foundation were awarded the Jonathan Mann Human Health Rights Award by the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC).

In 2000, Mpule was appointed as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and HIV/AIDS by the UN’s Population Fund, UNFPA. In this capacity, she has addressed members of the United States Congress, the UN Least Developed Countries conference, the UN World Youth Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN General Assembly. In addition, she participated in numerous policy forums in Washington DC and lobbied European donor governments on behalf of the United Nations Population Fund. In 2003, Mpule was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, which also selected her as a Young Global Leader in 2006. She was awarded the highest honor by the Lions Club International in 2001 during Lions Day at the United Nations for her work as a member of the Leo Club (junior Lions) in Lobatse, Botswana. Mpule had previously been honored by the Lions Club UK and the Lions Club Botswana in 1997. Mpule holds Freedom of the City Keys to Gaborone (Botswana), Port-Of-Spain (Trinidad & Tobago) and Asuncion (Paraguay).

Ceasar McDowell has a deep and abiding passion for figuring out how people who are systematically marginalized by society have the opportunity to voice their lived experiences to the world. Over the past few decades, Ceasar has been involved in many activities to bring this belief to life — from his work at MIT’s Co-Lab, where he uses the critical moments reflection method to help communities build knowledge from their practice, to his work with the global civic engagement organization, Engage The Power. At MIT, Ceasar teaches on civic and community engagement and the use of social media to enhance both, and is working to create a model of equitable partnership between universities and communities and to support communities to build their own knowledge base.

Ceasar is now delighted to be lending his wisdom and expertise to his role as president of the Interaction Institute for Social Change where the work is about designing and facilitating for positive social change. IISC is unique among collaborative capacity builders for viewing collaboration through three essential lenses: power, equity and inclusion; networks as the unit of action for social change; and love as a force for social transformation. IISC is now seeking to apply its expertise to addressing the challenges presented by the increasing demographic complexity of cities across the world.

Shashi Buluswar is the co-founder and Executive Director of Lawrence Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies (LIGTT). Before founding LIGTT, Shashi was a Partner at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, an organization which gives strategic advice to governments, the UN, NGOs and foundations on issues such as economic development, health, agriculture, climate change, education and post-conflict reconstruction.

In recent years, Shashi has worked with the UN's Peacekeeping Department to restructure global operations, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch large-scale agricultural development programs in Africa and Asia, with the US government on post-conflict development in Afghanistan, with several multinational corporations to improve their social responsibility agendas, and dozens of NGOs fighting for human rights, health, education, and economic empowerment. Shashi also teaches International Development at UC Berkeley, and is currently writing a textbook on the topic.

He holds a Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and an MBA from the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Before his career in Global Development, Shashi taught at Northwestern University, and was an Associate Partner at the consulting firm, McKinsey. Beyond his professional interests, Shashi spent a decade competing on the Indian national rowing team, and recently made a critically acclaimed documentary film about the India-Pakistan conflict. Shashi was born and raised in India, and has traveled to about 70 countries.

Ashwani Bhasin is an Executive known for his understanding of the operational aspect of Global IT Services Industry. He is proficient in transforming global sales organizations for achieving higher level of productivity and growth.

Presently, Ashwani Bhasin is the Senior Vice President for Tech Mahindra responsible for Technology, Media and Entertainment, and Healthcare Payer Business Units. Earlier, Ashwani was the SVP & Chief Client officer for NESS Technology where he was directly accountable to the Board of Directors for establishing and executing a global sales and solutions strategy for NESS-SES. Prior to that, Ashwani was the General Manager at UST Global, Inc. as well as Business Head of UST Global’s Latin America business. Throughout his career, Ashwani has established C level Relationship with Fortune 1000 clients.

Ashwani holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Sales and Marketing).

Experienced Global CMO with 25+ years of product, channel and corporate marketing in the technology sector. Known for building world-class international teams; with proven track record of driving revenue, brand and market share growth

Recognized by The Economist as one of the Top 25 Social Business Leaders and by Forbes as one of the Top 50 marketers and BtoB Magazine as one of the World's Best Marketers. Work has been profiled in books on marketing; including John Ellett’s "The CMO Manifesto", Dr Dave Chaffey's "E-Marketing Excellence. Chair of Portland State University School of Business and a member of the CMO Council CauseTech and MyPlanet Advisory Boards.

Janice Limson is a Professor of Biotechnology at Rhodes University where she heads the Rhodes University Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC) and the discipline of Biotechnology. Her research focus is in the area of biosensors (diagnostics) and biofuel cells utilizing nanomaterials. These studies are firmly aimed at societally led innovation in the sector, an overarching goal for postgraduate research at RUBIC. She is at present developing an accredited facility at Rhodes that will support testing and validation of product and processes developed within Biotechnology and aligned disciplines, including Pharmacy. RUBIC launched its first products, catalysts for sensors this year, with sensors for CD4 and malaria currently under development in a partnership with UNICEF and the Medical Research Council. Nationally Prof Limson is engaged in policy making for the new Bioeconomy Strategy for South Africa, serves on the advisory board of the Public Understanding of Biotechnology Programme and is editor of Science in Africa magazine and of the National Nanotechnology Public Engagement e-newsletter. Internationally she has formed a Sensors for Africa network of scientists aiming to collectively work at bringing low cost diagnostics of relevance in Africa towards the forefront of research in the area. She is a former recipient of the National Science and Technical Forum Award for Outstanding Contribution to SET in South Africa, first Runner up in the DST Women in Science (Life Sciences), winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award at Rhodes and twice featured as one of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian’s Young Leaders.

Pieter Nel is a technology executive, engineer and entrepreneur with leadership experience in both Fortune 500 and startup companies. As CTO of Mxit, he helped build Africa’s largest social network, going on to co-found Kuza Mobile, a venture-backed company that used mobile technology to empower emerging market entrepreneurs. He has advised a range of mobile technology companies including Tencent and NTT DoCoMo. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Operations at YouNow, a New York-based mobile video streaming company backed by Union Square Ventures and Venrock.

Pieter holds a Masters degree in electronics engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, where he specialized in machine learning and artificial intelligence as applied to speech recognition. As a Sloan Fellow, he gained an MBA from MIT, pursuing his interest in mobile technology and emerging markets with funding from the Legatum Center and Mastercard Foundation. Pieter is a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

He spends his free time as a licensed pilot, yacht skipper, scuba diver and mountain rescue volunteer.

Paul Scott is a sustainability & global development specialist focused on social innovation & entrepreneurship, public private partnerships and global supply chains (ESG). Currently, Paul is leading the ASME ISHOW, a global competition for “hardware led social innovation” established to infuse engineering rigor into social ventures taking physical products to market at scale. Paul has experience across various sectors and industries, having led sustainability activities for a multi-national and also having worked on Cleantech innovation and inclusive business at the World Bank and UNDP.

Paul also helped develop the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (CIC) Business Plan, sponsored by infoDev, UKaid, and the World Bank. Paul helped in preparing the business plan by engaging Kenyan stakeholders in conducting an assessment of the climate innovation landscape and thereby examining the feasibility of a CIC as a mechanism to maximize innovation in Kenya. By analyzing current capacity and market gaps, Paul’s business plan outlines the focus, implementation strategy, investment requirements and impact of a CIC in Kenya. Paul also served as an advisory board member for The Resolution Project, a global non-profit fostering youth leadership development through collaborative social entrepreneurship.

Paul holds an MPA (Columbia University, NY), a BSc (Durham University, UK) and as a geographer can name most capital cities and color maps really well!.

Vivek Bhaskaran is the founding member and Executive Chairman of Survey Analytics, one of the industry's leading providers of web-based research technologies. As Chief Executive Officer, he plays a key role in defining the company strategy and using technology and innovation continuously to maintain its leadership in the industry.

He has played a pivotal role in the Survey Analytics journey. In 2008, Survey Analytics made Inc. magazine's list of the fastest-growing private companies, ranking 172nd overall and 25th among business-service providers.

Vivek is also the Executive Chairman of IdeaScale, CauseTech’s platform provider and the leading innovation management software platform for the enterprise, government, and education.

Vivek completed his primary education in India before moving to Russia and then US. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, Utah.

Jeppe Dorff, a native of Denmark, brings a wealth of global knowledge and experience to his role as the president of Suretap, an open digital wallet and contactless payment system supported by Canada’s three largest mobile carriers, Rogers Communications, Telus Mobility and Bell Canada. Suretap operates as an independent mobile commerce company and works with Canada’s merchants, global payment networks and financial institutions to streamline the process of offering secure, virtual payment, loyalty and gift cards on smartphones.

Jeppe’s 20-year career spans most continents and more than a handful of individual mobile payments and mobile banking deployments. Most recently, Jeppe served as Vice President of Transaction Services at Rogers Communications, heading up transactional technology, product and business strategy. He was responsible for the negotiations, which led to the first commercial agreement between a wireless operator and a bank in Canada, and operated product portfolios in the area of mobile wallets, mobile identity, mobile point of sale and authentication infrastructure.

Prior to joining Rogers Communications, Jeppe held senior executive roles including Vice President, Product, Strategy & Innovation with Mobile Money Ventures (A CitiGroup & SK Telecom Joint Venture); Senior Vice President, Mobile Transaction Services - Clickatell, where he was responsible for the company's mobile payments division; and Head of Product Development at EnStream (a Rogers, Bell and TELUS Joint Venture). Earlier, he was the Founder & CTO of Secure Wireless Transfers where he developed the award-winning KushCash platform, one of the first mobile payment deployments in North America.

Jeppe is a recognized global thought leader in mobile payments and financial inclusion globally and advises several companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is a member of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, and an advisor to Mobile Money Africa and the African Center for Financial Inclusion. He also serves on the board of CauseTech.Net, a private sector innovation ecosystem designed to crowdsource breakthrough ideas, inventions, products, and emerging technologies that can advance the work done by the UNICEF in 190 countries. Jeppe has been a presenter at leading industry events including Mobile World Congress, Money2020, GMIC, AITEC, Payments Compliance Summit, Finovate and Cartes. He speaks five languages and is a graduate of the Copenhagen Business School.

Mindy Manes works with some of the world’s most innovative organizations in her role as Chief Operating Officer of the Edison Awards, where she manages and directs all aspects of the Edison Awards--the "Oscars of Innovation"--where innovators and their innovations are honored and recognized. Her past experience includes over eight years at Johnson County Community College, one of the top ten U.S. community colleges where she served as the Innovation Strategist; this included producing multiple platforms for ideation work, connecting JCCC to outside groups for powerful inter-organizational collaborations, while concurrently supporting the development of three newly-created divisions. These divisions included Sustainability, Learner Engagement and Corporate Outreach & Strategic Partnerships. While in this position, Mindy helped to serve over 30,000+ students.

Mindy’s business experience includes creative staffing and artist liaison roles at Hallmark Cards and financial operations work at Morgan Stanley. She has enjoyed mentoring young women as a Girl Scout leader for the past 18 years, and regularly volunteers as a Kansas Supreme Court-approved mediator to help resolve cases in small claims court.

Connect with Mindy here!

Anne Pao is CEO and co-founder of Weaverlution, a community engagement platform that empowers businesses, NPOs and individuals to coordinate and collaborate around social impact projects. Anne also acts as Head of Analytics at Quirk, one of the largest digital marketing agencies in Africa. Her experience spans analytics, strategic planning, technology implementations, business development and community development. Anne is fascinated about how people engage in meaningful, relevant ways with their community, and how technology can be a catalytic force for social change.

Anne earned her MBA with distinction from University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, and focused on social innovation, entrepreneurship and emerging markets. She also studied Sustainability, Entrepreneurial Finance and Open Innovation at Esade Business School. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from UCLA.

Anne has served as a board member in multiple non-profits across Africa. In 2011, she joined the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Swaziland to lead operational reporting and Information Management strategy for a national HIV program run in partnership with the Ministry of Health.

Anne stays busy competing in half marathons and triathlons and is a passionate supporter of youth, women and entrepreneurs.

DeKoven Ashley is Co-Founder and COO of thrdPlace, an online platform for community planning and development.

DeKoven’s experience is diverse but focused on urban design. He describes himself as an urbanophile – someone who specializes in articulating what makes space have a sense of ‘place.’ As such, he has positioned thrdPlace to disrupt community outreach so that the City can serve as a digital platform for community engagement.

Prior to founding thrdPlace, DeKoven worked in federal and municipal policy, built environment design and community organization. He was a first-responder on the ground in post-Katrina New Orleans. While there, he witnessed the difficulty of the City to bring diverse community stakeholders together to build their shared communities. He brings those insights to thrdPlace.

DeKoven is a graduate of Tulane University and received his master’s degree in urban planning from University of California, Los Angeles. He is a serial entrepreneur, an Advisor to Non Profits like Net Impact Los Angeles and a Founding Member of HUB Los Angeles.

DeKoven may work for a digital company but his passion is in boots-on-the-ground development. As he would say: “I believe in the ‘[Digital] City as Platform.’ But we are all local. So we are all designers, too.”

Learn more about DeKoven here: www.linkedin.com/in/dekoven/

Dr. Raju L. Bhatia is a Change Management and Organisation Turnaround Specialist. He holds a PhD in Human Resource Development from University of Missouri, USA. An Alumni of Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad, Dr. Bhatia also holds a Law Degree & Double Masters in Commerce from Bombay University & Madras University. He also has a Diploma in Training & Development.

DeKoven’s experience is diverse but focused on urban design. He describes himself as an Dr. Bhatia’s experience with Tata Group, especially with Tata International and Tata HRD Network, Standard Chartered Bank and Ernst & Young in senior positions won him recognition amongst CEOs, HR Heads and Marketing Professionals. After leaving as Director with Ernst & Young, he set up the Centre for Change Management (now called Fun and Joy at Work). Fun and Joy at Work caters to corporate houses in Indian and a few Asian countries in HR Design and Structure, Change Management Processes, Performance Management Systems, Job Evaluations, Assessment Centers, Training and Management Development, etc. Dr. Bhatia pioneered in bringing Emotional Intelligence to India. He has presented Who Moved My Cheese, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Present and The Leadership Pill. He has conceived a Theatrical Performance titled Sleeping with Success.

Dr. R. L. Bhatia is passionate about writing. He is the author of a multitude of books on Management, many of which are best sellers. In the past, he has written for Economic Times Crème De La Crème & Times of India’s Ascent. He has been featured in almost all the business magazines and newspapers of prestige and significance, including Business India, Business World, Business Today, The Indian Express, The Hindu Business Line, Dainik Bhaskar, DNA, MidDay, Hindustan Times and Financial Express. He is also an internationally acclaimed speaker and can be found at conferences across the globe. And if that weren’t enough, he has also produced and directed a number of management films, which have been screen in several countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Dr Verhaeghe’s career spans over 20 years. She is CEO of the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) and championed the SA Innovation Network (Saine). She spearheaded the commercialisation of the SA Innovation Summit as an Southern African Institution and main innovation event for the country. RIIS was born out of a passion for the successful implementation of innovation. It is based on the recognition that our future impact, economic growth and overall sustainability will depend on how well we are able to develop our own innovative capabilities as well as harness the innovative opportunities that present itself in the organisations we work for. The need for organisations to instill continuous corporate renewal has become imperative for their sustainability in the environment and industries of the future.

Audrey’s most recent passion in business is for Open innovation as Great minds think outside. RIIS has an agreement with NineSigma, the world’s largest Open Innovation platform, to bring the concept and tools of Open Innovation to South Africa. Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business Sustainability are Audrey's primary focus areas in business. She has been an adjudicator at various innovation competitions. Innovation projects include strategy, audits, surveys, consulting, implementations, research, and training. She has also published a number of articles and conference papers on innovation as a business process.

Lisa was recruited in 2008 to lead Blue Planet Network and increase the impact of safe drinking water programs for people around the world. Blue Planet Network’s 90+ member organizations have empowered one million people with clean water. In 2012, Lisa was awarded The Silicon Valley 100 Women of Influence Award. “There is nothing more important to life than water. Blue Planet Network uses the power of the Internet to unlock the knowledge and increase the impact of the global water community, delivering lasting water solutions that change lives." Lisa has 25+ years of domestic and international experience building brands and customer communities at companies that include Yahoo!, E*TRADE, Charles Schwab, VISA and American Express.

Lisa lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters. Lisa holds a B.A. with Honors from Swarthmore College and a Graduate Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from National Taiwan Normal University.

Robert Alvin founded NetLine in 1994 and has served as CEO and Chairman since the company's inception. Netline’s multi-channel content delivery models allows for brand customization, content adaption and flexible market access through publisher web sites, expert blogs, email, search engines, social media networks, eNewsletters, and mobile. Alvin yields over twenty years of technical and high-tech management experience that is the driving force in NetLine's success.

Alvin has served as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for HardwareStreet.com, a premier Internet reseller of computer hardware and software. While there, he authored three Internet e-commerce patents. Prior to that, Alvin was Director of Research and Development at Cirrus Logic, plus numerous Silicon Valley start-ups. Alvin has an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University and a B. S. with honors in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida.