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Edit is General Director of the strategic foresight company, Vision & Values situated in Brussels. She served two consecutive terms in the European Parliament as MEP 2004-2014.

She is a member of the Research Data Alliance Global Council. She is co-chair of the RDA FAIR Data Maturity Model Working Group and is Senior EU Liaison Adviser for GÉANT. She is a member of the Administrative Board of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and is a Member of the Board at the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN) and RDA Europe. Edit was a member of the ITRE, IMCO, BUDG, and CONT committees and of a number of parliamentary forums.  Prior to her election to the EP, she was a member of the Hungarian Parliament in which role she was a delegate to the Council of Europe.

Before her political engagement, she worked for the private sector as regional sales and technical manager for a specialty chemicals company, National Starch & Chemical (belonging to Unilever and later to ICI).

Edit has an MSc in food conservation engineering. She was a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Edit holds a Certificate of Company Direction for strategic marketing, financial management, and company law from the Institute of Directors.

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Padmini Gupta is an award-winning banker and a World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, who is now re-imagining financial services for 250 million migrant workers worldwide, and the billion people who depend on them through Rise, and now Xare. Rise is Entrepreneur’s “MENA Fintech startup of the year” and one of the fastest-growing fintechs globally.

Padmini began her career in banking in the 1990s in California, where she was responsible for running a $200 million+ portfolio in commercial banking. She was one of the early pioneers dedicated to bringing financial products to women and minority-led businesses; and, as a result, was twice awarded by the US Small Business Administration. She also sat on the Banker’s Board of Accion and was a part of the San Diego City Redevelopment Task Force.
A passionate advocate for society’s ignored voices, Padmini has always been a strong proponent of the importance of financial independence and co-founded rise in 2016, as a way to combine her financial expertise with her desire to drive important social change.

Padmini continues to be a mentor and advisor to several startups and plays an active role in supporting women entrepreneurs through her involvement with Dubai Business Women Council, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (SHERAA), to name but a few. As a global citizen who has lived and worked in more than 10 countries, she brings a unique understanding and passion to redefining migrant banking and helping a billion people to build a better, more equitable, and more sustainable future.

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Maria Syrengela is the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, responsible for Demography and Family Policy and Gender Equality. Prior to her current assignment, she was appointed Secretary-General for Family Policy and Gender Equality (2019-2020), while she still serves as Vice President of the Women of the European People Party (EPP Women).

From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Syrengela had held the post of Vice-President of the YEPP (Youth of the European People’s Party) and served as YEPP Representative in the Western Balkan Democracy Initiative and the Southeastern European Forum.

She is a graduate of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens. She also holds a master’s degree in Business Administration for Executives from the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), with her thesis focusing on the Policy and Strategy of New Public Management. Maria Syrengela has served in key positions, both in private and public sectors, specializing in human resources and she is a Member of the Economic Chamber of Greece.

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Sheikha Alanoud bint Hamad Al-Thani is the Managing Director of Business Development at the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority since 2017. Previously, she held the roles of Vice President of Strategic Alliances, CEO Office, and Associate Director of Economic Affairs for the MENA region.

Prior to joining the QFC, Alanoud served as the Qatar Country Director for Silatech, a Qatar-based social initiative that connects young people to employment opportunities across the Arab region. She has also held other positions working with various UN agencies and international organizations specializing in issues covering economic development, focusing on education, private sector development, and youth employment. She has authored numerous reports on the subject matter. Alanoud has been a board member of a number of organizations, including Vice-Chair for the Bedaya Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance, Tomouh, How Women Work, i2Co School of Transformative Leadership, Qatar-UK Alumni Board – British Council, and Future Foreign Policy in the UK. She is currently a Global Ambassador for Qatar for Women Entrepreneurship Day and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community.