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Now in the fourth year, the annual World Biz Magazine CEO Awards celebrates business leaders across the globe that are making major strides in their industries.
The WBM Top 100 Innovation CEO Awards recognizes product, service, functional, strategic, and managerial innovation in companies. The Awards also recognizes individuals showing exceptional commercial insight and market integrity. Sustainability forms a key cornerstone of the Awards and is an integral part of our selection criteria.
This year there were over 40,000 leaders shortlisted for the Awards. There are only 100 CEOs across the world selected to receive this distinction. Winners were selected regardless of the size of company they lead, the most important determining factor being their role in driving innovation within their industry.
Only 0.25% of the shortlisted leaders have been selected by our researchers and independent judges for this recognition. We are honored to share this showcase of our deserving Award Winners with you.
51 - GLENN GONZALES - CEO OF JET IT
Prior to Jet It, Glenn was the Regional Sales Manager for the Eastern United States for Honda Aircraft Company. In this role, Glenn developed and executed a sales, communication, marketing business plan, and strategy to sell Honda’s first venture into aviation, the $5M+ HondaJet. Preceding his efforts with Honda Aircraft Company, Glenn performed a sales support role as an International Demonstration Captain for Gulfstream Aerospace Company.
Glenn began his career in the USAF as a T-38A Instructor Pilot and his military career culminated as an F-15C Flight Commander and 4-Ship Flight Lead. Glenn also participated as an active member of the US Embassy Kyrgyz Republic Country Team.
Glenn has an MBA from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, and a Masters in Aeronautical Sciences from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He completed his undergraduate studies at the US Air Force Academy earning a B.S. degree in Behavioral Sciences with a concentration in Human Factors Engineering.
In the community, Gonzales has served as a spokesman for Make a Wish, founded a military community outreach organization, The 71st Fighter Squadron Iron Foundation, and served as Program Coordinator for the Special Olympics.
52 - MICHAEL GABAY - CEO OF TRIGO
As co-founder and CEO of Trigo, Michael brings more than 15 years of experience to managing teams and cutting edge projects in complex, multidisciplinary environments.
Trigo is a computer vision company that is reshaping the retail experience. Leveraging world-class AI and algorithmics experts, the company's advanced retail automation platform identifies customers' shopping items with exceptional accuracy, creating an entirely seamless checkout process.
Trigo's technology streamlines retail operations, prevents shoplifting, provides invaluable retail insights, and presents new levels of customer engagement within retail environments.
Trigo is a technology company that builds AI-powered infrastructure for retail stores. The world’s leading retailers use our system to provide frictionless shopping and automate operations.
Before founding Trigo, Michael served in elite units of the Israeli Defense Forces' intelligence corps. There he led technology development groups, oversaw hundreds of employees and managed numerous cutting-edge projects.
The future is Trigo: "Our mission is to accelerate the digitization of store spaces"
www.trigo.tech
53 - SOPHIE BOISSARD - CEO OF KORIAN
Sophie Boissard, is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA). After having held various positions in the public sector, notably at the State Council, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, she joined the SNCF group in 2008, where she first created and directed the Gares & Connexions department (management and development of train stations), before moving on in 2014 to oversee SNCF Immobilier.
Between 2012 and 2014, she was also responsible for the SNCF group’s strategy and development. Since 26 January 2016, Sophie Boissard is Chief Executive Officer of Korian. She is also a member of the supervisory board at Allianz SE.
Korian’s strength lies in its European network and the dedication of its 57,500 employees. Korian is unique in the way it delivers compassionate and long-term care services to elderly or vulnerable people, with an emphasis on preserving their independence.
Korian also cares about the quality of life of its residents and employees. Everything Korian does is guided by the Group’s resilient, socially inclusive and sustainable vision.
Korian has more than 850 care facilities and networks in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium.
54 - RAYMOND LIN - CEO OF CLPS INC.
Mr. Raymond Ming Hui Lin is the CEO and Director of CLPS. Mr. Lin joined CLPS in February 2009 as CEO. From January 2008 to January 2009, Mr. Lin was business consultant of VanceInfo, a Beijing-based IT solutions and software development company. Prior to VanceInfo's acquisition of A-IT Software (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mr. Lin acted as general manager from April 2002 to December 2007.
Mr. Lin is an IT outsourcing service veteran with a deep understanding of IT talent acquisition, training, development and service delivery. He has developed and pioneered the first training programs for mainframe and VisionPLUS (a credit card processing solution) in China, which has made CLPS one of the largest mainframe resource powerhouses and the VisionPLUS project team in Greater China. In 2015, Mr. Lin became the MSE senior advisor in Fudan University, Shanghai.
CLPS is a NASDAQ-listed and global information technology, consulting and solutions service provider focused on delivering services to global institutions in banking, insurance and the financial sectors, both in China and globally. CLPS is dedicated to providing a full range of services and solutions across technology needs in finance. In recent years, we maintain one of the largest IBM mainframe teams and the largest VisionPLUS team in China.
55 - JONATHAN MEDVED - CEO OF OURCROWD
Jonathan Medved is a serial entrepreneur and according to the Washington Post (2007) “one of Israel’s leading high-tech venture capitalists.” In the 2008 NY Times Supplement “Israel at 60" Medved was named one of the top 10 most influential Americans who have impacted Israel.
Medved is the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors which has raised more than $1B for over 170 companies since its launch in February 2013. Bloomberg Businessweek said that OurCrowd “has blown up the exclusivity around tech fundraising” and The Jerusalem Post added that “It has taken OurCrowd only a matter of months to become one of Israel’s most active funds.”
TheStreet.com said that OurCrowd is “Crowdfunding for Real Investors.” Prior to OurCrowd, Medved was the co-founder and CEO of Vringo (Nasdaq:VRNG) and the co-founder and General Partner of Israel Seed Partners, with $262M under management.
OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies. The most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its capital, and provides its network with unparalleled access to co-invest and contribute connections, talent and deal flow.
56 - TEAGUE EGAN - CEO OF ENERGYX
Teague Egan is the Founder and CEO of EnergyX, responsible for all aspects of building the company into the world leader in renewable energy technologies.
Teague’s background is one of serial entrepreneurship, investing, inventing, and philanthropy and he has been investing in public sector energy assets and sustainable technologies since 2013. Lithium demand is already high and is growing year on year. Over the next 10-20 years, lithium will be the most important natural resource in the world. As our society transitions to a fully sustainable future, EnergyX will tackle the hardest problems for the production of lithium and many aspects of energy storage.
Prior to EnergyX, he started businesses in entertainment, music, and sports, and is also the inventor of energyDNA – a patented multi-component graphene textile fiber technology. Teague founded Innovation Factory VC, a fund focused on tech, life sciences, real estate, and consumer products in 2012. Most of his philanthropic efforts are associated with the Thomas E. Smith Foundation. He is the co-founder of Dance For Paralysis, The Reality Ride Challenge, and The Kindness Project. Teague is an alumnus of University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and went on to complete the Executive Program in exponential technology at Singularity University.
57 - ROBERT A. ECKEL - CEO OF AWARE, INC.
Robert A. Eckel has been Aware’s Chief Executive Officer and President since September 2019.
Mr. Eckel also serves on the board of directors for the International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA), as a strategic advisory board member of Evolv Technology, and as a consultant for Digimarc Corporation. Over his distinguished career, he has held many positions of note within the biometric and identity space, including: Regional President and Chief Executive Officer of IDEMIA’s NORAM Identity & Security division from 2017 to 2018; President and Chief Executive Officer of MorphoTrust USA, LLC from 2011 to 2017; Executive Vice President and President of the Secure Credentialing Division of L-1 Identity Solutions Company from 2008-2011; and President of the Identity Systems division of Digimarc Corporation from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Eckel has received his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles, and his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
"My passion has always been to build and lead companies that enable people to experience the life they deserve through technology. Aware is just such a company, with a purpose to Bring Biometrics to Life™ and an aspiration to create a world where you Own your identity™."
58 - BRANDON NEWMAN - CEO OF XEVANT
Brandon Newman has a dynamic, 30-year leadership career spearheading several health technology businesses with an emphasis on growth, revenue, and operational excellence.
He has run many high-growth environments, including start-ups, turnarounds, and $1B+ dollar businesses. As a serial entrepreneur, he has a proven record of founding new businesses and advancing them through growth and acquisition, merger, or roll-up including ScripPoint, Veridian, and AviaraMD.
Since co-founding Xevant in 2017, an innovative business intelligence company delivering client optimization solutions that create value for its customers in the payer, consulting and PBM markets, Brandon has led a diverse team of employees spanning 3 continents comprising data and software, sales and marketing, account management, and operations. He has proven to be a driving force for vision, new market strategy, revenue growth, technology development, and partner alliances.
Xevant is entirely focused on bringing meaningful value and delivering solutions and services to payers, PBMs, TPAs, consultants, and brokers. Xevant delivers highly-functional and customized solutions to our clients to better navigate and compete in a complex and changing market.
59 - JULIE CANE - CEO OF DEMOCRACY INVESTMENTS
Julie Cane is co-founder and CEO of Democracy Investments, an asset manager and index provider focused on shifting capital flows toward democracies.
Her 20+ year background in financial services includes developing market leading innovations at Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab Advisor Services, SEI Investments and Autodesk Ventures. In 2002, Julie developed the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s first high net worth and segmentation strategies resulting in more than a 100% increase in the division’s profits during the next three years. At SEI Investments, she launched and marketed eleven new mutual funds and led the conversion of $500 million in common trust funds to private-label public mutual funds.
Julie began her career as a U.S. Naval Aviator flying the SH-3 Sea King helicopter. Julie is the Chairman of the Board of Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit helping 3,000+ military veterans, and she currently serves as a Captain in the California State Guard supporting the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. The Democracy International Fund incentivizes democracy by influencing capital flows in financial markets. Our international equity portfolio is similar to other international equity index products, except it is weighted toward democracy and away from authoritarianism.
60 - APU PAVITHRAN - CEO OF MITSOGO
Apu Pavithran is the founder and CEO of Hexnode UEM, a unified endpoint management solution designed to simplify device management in the workplace.
Hexnode is the culmination of Mr. Pavithran's passion for entrepreneurship coupled with an interest in enterprise security. A firm believer in sharing the wealth of knowledge, he often tries to take a little time off to meet with young entrepreneurs to lend an ear to their queries and give some pointers.
Mr. Pavithran has been recognized in the IT management community as a consultant, speaker, thought leader and a firm advocate of IT governance and Information security management. He has been highlighted by media including Forbes tech council, Entrepreneur India, Security Boulevard, Security Magazine, Vator News, and Your Story.
Hexnode, the Enterprise software division of Mitsogo Inc. was founded on a mission to build the future of business mobility around intelligent tools that simplify the way people work. Hexnode's award-winning UEM has now empowered organizations in over 100 countries with a centralized platform for enterprise-wide device, app, content, identity and threat management. Hexnode is now fueling the transformation to a seamless ecosystem of connected tools.
61 - RUSSELL HANCOCK - CEO OF JOINT VENTURE SILICON VALLEY
Russell Hancock is President & CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a position he has held since 2003. In this role Dr. Hancock is best described variously: as a civic leader, community gatherer, institution builder, social entrepreneur, and outspoken advocate for regionalism.
Since taking the helm of Joint Venture he has quadrupled the size of the organization; assembled a potent board filled with mayors, CEOs and university presidents; built strategic partnerships; recruited a highly talented staff; and launched initiatives that are delivering measurable results to the region. Russell is also the founder of the annual State of the Valley conference, a “town hall” meeting attracting more than 1,500 leaders for a day spent in dialogue and discussion about the Valley’s challenges and opportunities. The conference features the release of Joint Venture’s Silicon Valley Index, a document now receiving national and international attention.
Educated at Harvard in the field of government, Russell received a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University where he currently teaches in the Public Policy Program. Fluent in Japanese, Russell returned to Stanford in 2000 to become the inaugural director of the Shorenstein Forum for Asia-Pacific Studies, a gathering place for ranking officials, senior executives, journalists, and scholars.
62 - MICHEL SPAGNOL - CEO OF NOVASEP
Michel Spagnol joined Novasep in June 2013 as CEO. He was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board in March 2014.
Holding a PhD from Stanford University (USA), he has worked in Europe, UK, India and the USA in various executive positions including R&D, sales, marketing and global business management.
“Novasep’s differentiation to win business will always be the quality of our services, the passion of our teams supported by high added value technologies. We want to become a leader in all our markets, more agile, more transparent and we are aiming for nothing less than excellence to serving our customers."
Novasep is a leading provider of services in the field of molecule production and purification for the life science industries, based on an unrivalled pool of specialized and differentiating technologies, and on fully committed teams.
Novasep is established in Europe, Asia and North America and is constantly expanding its presence to better serve its customers. Novasep aims to be a highly respected, and an innovative partner providing life sciences solutions for patients in all its market segments through the passion of its people and the excellence of its processes.
63 - JEAN MARIE RAYMOND - CEO OF PHARMACTIVE
Jean Marie Raymond studied marketing and information technology at the University of Wolverhampton and an Executive MBA at the Instituto de Empresas (IE) in Madrid. His professional career comprises nearly twenty years in the field of botanical and natural ingredients for food supplements. In 2006, he was awarded the National Top Sales Award by Actualidad Económica Magazine (Spain).
Jean Marie is the founder of Pharmactive Biotech Products, SL (2009). It is a pioneering biotechnology company that produces high-quality saffron extract for mood, anxiety, stress, and sleep support. Currently, Pharmactive has more than 40 employees, with 7 clinical trials and several scientific publications, and produces the highest-quality extracts.
Pharmactive Biotech Products, S.L. is a privately-owned Spanish company that develops, and manufactures differentiated natural ingredients supported by scientific evidence. Pharmactive makes these innovative ingredients available to other companies in the Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical and Veterinary Industries for marketing/distribution.
Quality is one of the fundamental pillars on which Pharmactive is based. Its products undergo rigorous quality controls at all stages of development, from crops to final product, ensuring full traceability of ingredients.
64 - SIMON YENCKEN - CEO OF FANPLAYR
Simon Yencken has had a lengthy career as an entrepreneur, investor and corporate executive.
Simon co-founded Fanplayr and has held the role of Chief Executive Officer since 2012. Additionally, Simon has been a Non-Executive Board Member of Damstra Technologies, an Australian-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of an enterprise protection platform to a global array of industry segments since 2019.
Simon also served 10 years as a Board Member of Aconex Limited including 3 as Chairman, a provider of cloud-based collaboration software which went public on the ASX, and subsequently acquired by Oracle in 2018 for approximately US $1.2 billion. Simon is also an active investor in other start-up technology companies including Blackbird VC, Matrak Industries, Moda Operandi, and Dokio.
Fanplayr's mission is to make ‘behavioral data actionable’. Its breakthrough approach consists in analyzing site traffic and providing intelligence and real time segmentation to improve and personalize every interaction with users.
Fanplayr’s patented ‘Segmentation as a Service’ provides a powerful real-time segmentation engine across the enterprise to multiple data bases & applications.
65 - JESSICA BILLINGSLEY - CEO OF AKERNA
Jessica Billingsley serves as Akerna’s Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair. She is an accomplished innovator, executive, and board member in public and private international technology with over 20 years of experience.
She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as President until April 2018, and later as the CEO until MJ Freeway was acquired by MTech to form Akerna. Shortly after, as CEO, Jessica led Akerna to become the first cannabis technology company listed on Nasdaq. Akerna provides the most comprehensive technology ecosystem for cannabis operators, governments, and brands, from seed-to-sale, providing transparency along virtually every piece of the supply chain.
Akerna is the first cannabis software company to be listed on a major U.S. exchange. Since that time, Akerna has continued to grow and evolve, focusing on key acquisitions of technology companies specifically designed to support the cannabis industry.
Through its growing family of brands, Akerna connects data points across the global cannabis supply chain to create one of the world’s most transparent and accountable consumer packaged goods supply chains on a global scale. Akerna believes connected data and information will modernize and propel the cannabis industry forward.
66 - CHRIS ADAMS - CEO OF PARK PLACE
As President and CEO of Park Place Technologies, Chris Adams is an architect of leadership, innovation and change.
Park Place is the world’s largest post-warranty data center organization, with operations in 154 countries, supporting more than 21,000 customers.
Prior to becoming CEO, Chris’s most recent role was President and Chief Operating Officer for Park Place, where he oversaw global operations, Information & Technology, new product development, international expansion, finance and all Mergers & Acquisitions activity. During his 15 years at Park Place, Chris has served in a wide range of leadership positions across operations and finance, impacting all areas of Park Place. Chris drove the M&A strategy, orchestrating 18 acquisitions since 2016 and growing Park Place from a North American to a Global organization. Under his stewardship, Park Place has grown from fewer than 100 employees to a global employer that counts over 2,200 people in its family.
Chris received his BBA in Accounting from the University of Toledo and his MBA in Entrepreneurship from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He was a winner of the Crain’s Cleveland 40 Under Forty award in 2011, the Crain’s COO of the Year award in 2016 and the Smart Business Dealmakers Award in 2018.
67 - PAUL K. WOTTON - CEO OF OBSIDIAN THERAPEUTICS
Dr. Paul K. Wotton is Obsidian’s Chief Executive Officer, bringing significant experience spanning scientific research, product development and corporate growth gained over a thirty-year career.
Dr. Wotton most recently served as the Founding President and CEO of Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to Sigilon, Dr. Wotton served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocata Therapeutics until its acquisition by Astellas Pharma where he was also Co-Chairman of the Office of Integration.
In previous roles, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Antares Pharma as well as Chief Executive Officer of Topigen Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Wotton is a named inventor on numerous patents and was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional (NJ) Winner Life Sciences in 2014. He serves on the Boards of Directors of Vericel Corporation , Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S and Cynata Therapeutics as its Chairman.
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies to deliver transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases. Obsidian’s proprietary cytoDRiVE® technology provides a way to control protein degradation using FDA-approved small molecules, permitting precise control of the timing and level of protein expression.
68 - KOJI TANABE - CEO OF I PEACE INC.
Dr. Koji Tanabe, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of I Peace, Inc. Dr Tanabe has been involved in iPSC research since its inception and is the second author of the first ever paper that reported the successful creation of human iPS cells. He studied the mechanism of reprogramming for 7 years in the laboratory of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka.
As a post-doctoral researcher at the laboratory of Dr. Marius Wernig of Stanford University—who succeeded in the world’s first direct reprogramming of skin cells to neurons— Dr. Tanabe’s work focused on the mechanism of direct reprogramming from blood cells to neurons and iPSC reprogramming. He has contributed to numerous iPSC papers and papers on direct reprogramming to neurons.
I Peace has succeeded in developing a technology that simplifies the manufacturing process of iPS cells using high biotechnology and automates the manufacturing process of iPS cells using high engineering technology.
In addition, we are also working on automation of factories that produce cells using automation equipment (cell production automation factories) to improve production efficiency and reduce prices. At the cell manufacturing base, we have set up a production system by clinical incubators and obtained permission to manufacture specific cell processed products for the production of clinical grade cells.
69 - MARCELO GONZÁLEZ - CEO OF VERITRAN
Marcelo González serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of Veritran, a global company that speeds up and simplifies the development of digital solutions through its Enterprise Low-Code Platform. Mr. González founded the company in 2005 alongside his business partner with the objective of giving financial institutions the opportunity to develop immersive digital channels easily and quickly, without the need to write a single line of code.
Mr. González has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry promoting digital transformation projects. Initially, he worked in different technological entities dedicated to the financial industry, including as a Sub-Manager of Electronic Banking at a major international bank where he led home banking initiatives and one of the company’s vital internet payment projects. He has a degree in Systems Engineering from the National Technological University of Argentina (UTN) and an MBA from the University of San Andrés.
Veritran has developed innovative and award-winning solutions around the world such as PagoRut - Best Financial Inclusion Project by Celent - for Banco Estado in Chile, Mobile Payment - Most Innovative Company for the Development of Pagomóvil by Netmedia Research - for Banorte in Mexico and BBVA Móvil - Most Innovative Bank in means of payment by Global Finance - for BBVA in Colombia.
70 - TIM MOORE - CEO OF HAVN LIFE
Tim Moore is the former CEO of Green Growth Brands, leading the company from its IPO through to January 2019, reaching a nearly billion dollar market cap.
Prior to that, Mr. Moore had a successful career in packaged goods where he spent 18 years at Clorox, with the last eight serving as president. Before that, he spent seven years at Brita as managing director of the North America foodservice and retail businesses. Mr. Moore joined HAVN Life in 2020 and is now leveraging his past leadership experience in the cannabis industry to create an effective path to success for HAVN Life, whose mission is to use evidence-informed research to unlock human performance and help to define and standardize the future of modern medicine.
HAVN Life is a part of a global community taking an active part in supporting research addressing mental health disorders. Working with Veterans and thought leaders in the military, HAVN Life is developing innovative formulations to support clinical trials addressing PTSD recovery and other trauma related disorders.
We are focused on standardizing extraction of psychoactive compounds, the development of natural health products, and developing innovative mental health treatment to support brain health and enhance the capabilities of the mind.
71 - BJARNI ÁRMANNSSON - CEO OF ICELAND SEAFOOD
Bjarni Ármannsson is the CEO of Iceland Seafood International. A private investor, he is currently the largest shareholder in Iceland seafood international.
Bjarni is a computer engineer from University of Iceland in 1990 and graduated as MBA from IMD in Switzerland in 1996. Bjarni spent a lion share of his career in the banking industry in Iceland, originally as a CEO for Kaupthing a investment and financial service company, later for the Icelandic Investment Bank and as a CEO of Islandsbanki – a leading seafood service provider out of Iceland. He exited the banking sector in spring of 2007. In 2008 he became an Operating Director for Paine and Partners a US based Private equity fund focusing on food and Agri business.
Since 2013 Bjarni has been focusing on his investments and developing them as a long term active industrial owner.
Iceland Seafood is a worldwide sales, processing and marketing group for a variety of frozen, fresh, salted and dried seafood and value added seafood products. We serve all major seafood markets worldwide, where we have depth of expertise and understanding to meet our customers needs, combined with innovative flexible solutions and strategic global distribution. Our headquarters are in Iceland, and we operate 3 divisions with 12 businesses in Europe and North and South America.
72 - RATANA STEPHENS - CEO OF NATURE’S PATH
Ratana Stephens founded organic breakfast foods company Nature’s Path Foods with her husband Arran 35 years ago. As CEO and co-founder, she has grown the company to become North America’s largest independent certified organic breakfast and snack food company, while remaining firmly committed to Nature’s Path mission of leaving the earth better than they found it.
Ratana remains at the center of every development within the company, which operates on the triple-bottom line of social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and financial viability, in that order. Since 2008, Ratana and Arran personally, and additionally through Nature’s Path, have committed to donating almost $40 million to various philanthropic and community service efforts. A dedicated student, Ratana studied psychology and Sanskrit at Arga University in India, where she also obtained an MA in English literature.
Ratana has been recognized by the business community through a variety of awards, including being named by the Vancouver Sun as one of 150 noteworthy British Columbians. Ratana has also been awarded the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for entrepreneurship and innovation. In 2013 she was listed as one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. Most recently, she was honoured with an Influential Women in Business Award by Business in Vancouver.
73 - KURT BUSCH - CEO OF SYNTIANT CORP.
Kurt Busch is the chief executive officer of Syntiant Corp. He has extensive experience in product development, having driven the successful launch of new products, ranging from SaaS and semiconductors for telecom and broadcast video to consumer electronics and data center systems.
Prior to Syntiant, he was president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors at Lantronix (NASDAQ: LTRX), a global provider of secure data access and management solutions for Internet of Things (IoT) and information technology (IT). He also served as a senior vice president and general manager of high performance analog business unit at Mindspeed Technologies, acquired by MACOM. Prior responsibilities include technical sales and marketing roles at Analog Devices, Intel, Digital Equipment Corporation and two start-ups. Mr. Busch is an engineering hall of fame inductee of the University of California at Irvine, where he earned Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and biological science. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara University.
Backed by some of the world’s leading tech companies, including Amazon, Applied Materials, Bosch, Intel Capital, and Microsoft and Motorola, Syntiant’s ultra-low-power, high-performance, deep neural network processors are making AI at the edge possible.
74 - TROY HARVEY - CEO OF PASSIVELOGIC
Troy Harvey co-founded and leads PassiveLogic. He is an American technologist and entrepreneur. PassiveLogic is developing the market’s first platform for Autonomous Buildings.
As the co-founder and CEO of PassiveLogic, Troy leads the product design, engineering and manufacturing of the company's autonomous systems platform, deep physics computation engine, and digital twin standard. Troy has led companies and teams developing products in the consumer, industrial, and computer industries, including several award-winning high performance buildings. His expertise spans building science, AI tool chain development, embedded IoT systems, and control theory.
PassiveLogic was founded to reimagine our relationship to the built environment — to streamline the complexity of the building life cycle while simultaneously addressing the largest climate and energy opportunity in the global economy. We see incredible potential to improve the effectiveness of buildings, from better comfort to better energy efficiency, by solving the problems of the installers who actually purchase and implement building controls.
We aren’t settling for anything less than a revolution in the way we design, build, operate, manage, and maintain our buildings.
75 - MICHAEL STATTMANN - CEO OF CASTLABS
Michael Stattmann is CEO and CTO at castLabs GmbH, a company specializing in digital video delivery solutions. With over 20 years of technical development expertise, Michael pioneers software and cloud services for businesses to deliver protected premium content to customers online with player technology, DRM licensing, and encoding/packaging services.
castLabs pioneers software and cloud services for digital video markets worldwide to easily enable premium movie, TV, and audio distribution. Their range of applications and services are designed to help businesses deliver high-quality video experiences through protected content playback over a large selection of consumer devices and platforms.
castLabs solutions include DRMtoday DRM and CAS licensing PRESTOplay cross-platform player SDKs, Video Toolkit cloud encoding, Widevine certification, and expert technical consulting. At castLabs, we’re all about pioneering software and cloud services for video markets worldwide. Our mission is to push the limits of digital content distribution while making it accessible.
Our squad of dedicated developers have created a range of fresh monetization and secure playback technologies designed to navigate deployment challenges. Our streaming solutions are used by companies in over 35 countries.
76 - PETER CHAPMAN - CEO OF IONQ
Peter Chapman is President and CEO of IonQ, the leader in universal quantum computing.
Previously, Peter was Director of Engineering for Amazon Prime. He has over 40 years of leadership in software engineering, from when he began his career at 16 working with Marvin Minsky in the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.
Shortly after the sale of his last company, Peter came out of an early retirement to help build tools for the blind at the helm of Ray Kurzweil's company, K-NFB Reading Technologies. Peter has had a lifelong interest in AI and one of the reasons he joined IonQ is because he believes that quantum computing may have an important part in solving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and many other important problems facing mankind.
Quantum computers are a revolutionizing technology — they have the potential to transform business, society, and the planet for the better, and IonQ is at the forefront of this revolution. On October 1st, 2021, IonQ began trading as IONQ on the New York Stock Exchange, making it the world's first public pure-play quantum computing company.
We remain hard at work realizing the world-changing potential of quantum computing.
77 - STEVE EHRLICH - CEO OF VOYAGER DIGITAL
Steve Ehrlich is currently Chief Executive Officer of Voyager Digital and its U.S. Subsidiaries. Mr. Ehrlich was CEO of E*TRADE Professional Trading LLC, the professional trading arm of E*TRADE FINANCIAL and led the Management Buyout of the Lightspeed division in July 2006. As founder and the CEO of Lightspeed Financial, LLC – a US based retail broker-dealer – Mr. Ehrlich was responsible for eight major acquisitions for Lightspeed over a seven-year period.
Prior to his executive position, Mr. Ehrlich was a Vice President at E*TRADE responsible for brokerage strategy. Mr. Ehrlich was also responsible for the planning and execution of three major business acquisitions for E*TRADE FINANCIAL. Mr. Ehrlich graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with a BS in Accounting. He holds a CPA and is a member of the AICPA. Mr. Ehrlich also holds licenses with FINRA. He is the founder of the Hockey in Norwalk Foundation, a non-profit serving over 300 youth hockey players.
Voyager Digital Ltd. is a fast-growing, publicly traded cryptocurrency platform in the United States founded in 2018 to bring choice, transparency, and cost efficiency to the marketplace. Voyager offers a secure way to trade over 60 different crypto assets using its easy-to-use mobile application, and earn rewards up to 12 percent annually on more than 30 cryptocurrencies.
78 - YARA BURGAN - CEO OF ELEVATUS
Yara Burgan graduated from the University of Toronto School of Business and Professional Studies, with a degree in Project Management. She then ventured into completing an esteemed certificate in “Entrepreneurship in emerging economies” from Harvard Business School. An avid technology lover, leader, and creative thinker, Yara’s enthusiasm about leveraging cutting-edge technology led to the evolution of the innovative tech company, Elevatus.
With her extensive industry knowledge, leadership skills, and overflowing enthusiasm, Yara paved the way for companies worldwide to utilize Elevatus’ one-of-a-kind AI technology; that is transforming the future of HR and allowing them to build talented workforces, one great hire at a time.
Hire top talent successfully: For the past few years, Elevatus has helped global enterprises gain a competitive edge in the modern talent marketplace with our award-winning hiring platform and next-generation video interviewing software. Elevatus uses AI and cutting edge technologies to create software that is transforming the future of HR – and allowing companies to build talented workforces, one great hire at a time.
Elevatus has created a world where there’s no barrier between talent and opportunity. And today, it is breaking new ground with its transformative hiring technology.
79 - ALBERT NIETO AND JORGE POYATOS - CEOS OF SEEDTAG
Albert Nieto is an entrepreneur passionate about the digital world and converting ideas into actionable business. Equipped with a dual degree in economics and business administration, he possesses extensive experience in areas including sales, operations, strategy, and business intelligence.
On a professional level, he worked as an Asset Manager in Spain and on a global scale until he decided to take a leap and join Google. After gaining instrumental expertise during his time at Google, Albert developed the motivation to seek new and more challenging opportunities in the digital market. This ambition led him to say goodbye to Google and start his own company: Seedtag.
Jorge Poyatos is an entrepreneur and an expert of the digital world. With his educational background in industrial engineering and a thesis in computational fluid dynamics, he decided to introduce a business approach to his career path. His professional experience merges areas including engineering, business development, and product innovation.
After working for Oliver Wyman in Europe, the U.S., and LATAM, he transitioned to Google where he became adept with the digital business sector. Eager to face new challenges and with a clear idea in mind, he decided to leave Google and embark on a new and exciting adventure: Seedtag.
80 - JIM ANDERSON - CEO OF LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR
Jim Anderson joined Lattice Semiconductor in September 2018 and focused the company on a mission to be the leader in low power programmable solutions. Since then, the company accelerated its cadence of innovative product introductions with industry-leading power efficiency and achieved record profitability.
Prior to joining Lattice, Jim served as the senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s Computing and Graphics business group, where he was responsible for global sales, marketing, and engineering. Prior to AMD, Jim held a broad range of leadership positions at companies including Intel, Broadcom (formerly Avago Technologies), and LSI Corporation.
Jim sits on the Board of Sierra Wireless, the Semiconductor Industry Association, and the MIT Sloan Americas Executive Board and the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota.
Jim holds an MBA and Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Purdue University, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He holds four patents for innovations in computer architecture.
81 - RYAN LUPBERGER - CEO OF CLEANCULT
Passionate about bridging the gap between sustainability and excellence, Ryan Lupberger co-founded Cleancult in 2018 with Zachary Bedrosian to disrupt typical notions on zero waste living and bring ingredient transparency to the masses, changing how the cleaning industry operates.
After working with numerous social ventures and the leading social impact accelerator in the USA, The Unreasonable Institute, Ryan wanted to combine his love of social impact with design and product excellence, leading to the inception of what is now Cleancult. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science from Babson College of Entrepreneurship and is an active mentor for the entrepreneurship community there. He’s been named a top Colorado Entrepreneur by NFIB, awarded Retail TouchPoints 40 Under 40 for innovation in retail, is a TEDx speaker, an author for Conscious Company, and has been a guest on American Express Changemakers.
Cleancult: We believe your clean routine should be easy on you, your home, and the planet. That’s why we made the switch to a sustainable clean routine, and we’re inviting you to join us. From packaging to shipping to the science behind our soaps, our model is easy, eco-friendly, and effective. Simply tell us which products you want and how often you want them, and we’ll deliver the cleanest clean right to your door, on your schedule.
82 - ALEX KLENMAN - CEO OF AZINCOURT ENERGY
Alex Klenman is an experienced mining executive whose career spans over 30 years in the private and public sectors.
Over the past decade he has held and continues to hold leadership roles with numerous private and publicly traded resource companies, including senior officer and/or director positions with Azincourt Energy, Cross River Ventures, Leocor Gold, Nexus Gold, Manning Ventures, and others.
During his career he has built and launched several public companies while leading over CDN$80M in financings. He began his professional career in television broadcasting which evolved into communications, finance and marketing roles principally for publicly traded companies.
Azincourt Energy is a Canadian-based resource exploration and development company focused on the alternative fuels/alternative energy sector. Our core projects are in the clean energy space, with uranium exploration projects in the prolific Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, and lithium/uranium projects on the Picotani Plateau, Peru.
Azincourt’s expanding focus will allow the company to grow its evaluation in correlation to macro energy and fuels trends. Uranium for the nuclear industry, and battery metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite, are at the forefront of a changing focus in energy development.
83 - FRANZISKA LEONHARDT - CEO OF AVE+EDAM
Dr. Leonhardt is the CEO of Ave+Edam, a company that leverages advanced technology in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide superior skin care products. Dr. Leonhardt is a high profile entrepreneur, angel investor, lawyer and blockchain enthusiast, who is based in Berlin.
Currently the founder of two businesses, she formerly worked in Private Equity and Venture Capital. Dr. Leonhardt was also previously General Counsel, CCO and interim member of the Supervisory Board of Rocket Internet SE with responsibility for executing board decisions within Rocket Internet‘s network in 110+ countries with 50+ founder teams. She is an active player in the Berlin startup ecosystem as senior advisor and board member for several companies.
AVE+EDAM creates personal skincare as unique as you. Clean and ecologically made-to-order. Backed by science, made in Germany. Ave+Edam was founded by Dr. Franziska Leonhardt (high profile entrepreneur, investor, lawyer and blockchain enthusiast) and Professor Dominik L. Michels (scientist and tech expert focused on algorithms). AVE + EDAM is on a bold journey to create a new generation of skincare: personalized by advanced technology and powered by the cleanest, high-performance ingredients.
"Using the means of technology can really make a difference when it comes to taking the guesswork out of skin care."
84 - JERRY DITTMER - CEO OF FLEXSTEEL INC.
Jerry Dittmer, President and CEO, leads Flexsteel, a 128-year-old company that’s transforming into a true omni-channel organization. Under his leadership, Flexsteel has become a top 10 manufacturer and marketer of residential furniture under the Flexsteel and Homestyles brands. Jerry is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of managing organizational transformations and complex, customer-focused businesses. Using this experience, he’s assembled a management team that’s accelerating the company’s evolution and growth initiatives while contributing to a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future for all.
For over 120 years, Flexsteel Industries has been meticulously crafting exceptionally high-quality residential furniture because we believe that lasting beauty and comfort improves everyday lifestyles. Using perfected processes, patented technology, and the best-sourced materials available, we transform customer transactions into opportunities that delight and inspire loyalty.
Headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, USA, Flexsteel was founded in 1893 and incorporated in 1929. The company went public in 1969 on the NASDAQ and trades under the symbol FLXS. Operating under the brands of Flexsteel and Homestyles, our products are distributed nationally through over 1,300 independent retailers and via eCommerce sites.
85 - JK CHELLADURAI - CEO OF ONEBILL SOFTWARE
JK Chelladurai is the Founder & CEO of OneBill Software and have over 32 years of experience in software development including 26+ years of experience in building BSS/OSS solutions for the Telecommunications industry.
Furthermore, JK was also one of the founding team members of Portal Software which was acquired by Oracle in 2006. Portal Software were the pioneers in providing real-time billing solutions for telecommunications and internet service providers, such as Vodafone, France Telecom, Telstra, and many tier-1 telecom companies.
JK is a techie people’s person who loves solving problems! He brings an unbridled passion for both the technology and the company that is truly contagious. Wherever he is in the world, he inspires clients, partners and the OneBill team with his vision and forward looking solutions. JK holds a BS degree in Computer Science from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India.
OneBill is transforming the consumption economy with an end-to-end consumption-based billing and revenue management software that powers the entire customer lead-to-revenue generation experience. OneBill also supports other billing models, such as one-time billing, subscription billing, recurring billing, hybrid billing, and dynamic billing.
86 - BRIAN HARRIS - CEO OF MEDRHYTHMS
Brian Harris is a passionate and motivated leader and entrepreneur who strives to make the world a better place by helping others.
Brian discovered his love for music and the brain in college and was inspired to receive his master's in Music Therapy. He went on to become a Board-Certified Music Therapist with a specialization in Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) and one of 350 individuals in the world with advanced training in the clinical application of the neuroscience of music.
Brian is a founding member of the Arts and Neuroscience Group at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, which provides a platform for clinicians, researchers, and artists to advocate and collaborate on topics related to the clinical application of the arts in neurorehabilitation. In 2015, Brian founded MedRhythms’ clinical division at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the No. 2 rehabilitation hospital in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report, in Boston, Massachusetts and built this program to be the most comprehensive program of its kind in the country.
Under Brian’s leadership, MedRhythms pivoted to digitize this therapy in a scalable, digital therapeutics system that could be used in the comfort of patients’ homes without the need for a Neurologic Music Therapist.
87 - SOHAIB ZAHID - CEO OF RAILZ
Sohaib Zahid is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Railz, a company that puts your data on track with our financial data API. Sohaib is a serial entrepreneur with a decade of successful experience in building teams, products and companies. He focuses on Sales and Marketing.
Prior to founding Railz, Sohaib founded Vanhawks, where he led product, sales and operations. Vanhawks was acquired in 2016. Originally from Pakistan, Sohaib dropped out of medical school to pursue entrepreneurship and is a strong believer of open access to data.
Outside of work, Sohaib enjoys time with his family, and nerds out on air-cooled engines.
“We’re on a mission to build the largest financial data network so we can enable innovators to build the next generation of data-powered financial services.”
Railz is building the foundation for the future of finance with the largest financial data network. Railz is a fintech startup created by two former tech founders. They were inspired to solve this problem by building a solution that would automate the data collection and analysis process so that accounting data could be used for real-time decision-making - all through an easy-to-implement API. Railz is supported by stellar investors and advisors.
88 - KONRAD WASIELA - CEO OF ESE
Mr. Wasiela is the Founder and CEO of ESE Entertainment Inc.
A graduate of the University of British Columbia and a CFL (Canadian Football League) alumni. Mr. Wasiela played professional football for the BC Lions, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Allouettes.
Through his business ventures and international holdings, Mr. Wasiela has worked alongside global leaders in the gaming and entertainment industry. This included successful collaborations with EA Sports, Flutter Entertainment Inc, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc, Full Tilt Poker, Betfair, and the RGA (Remote Gaming Association).
"The exposure to the industry highlighted how big the gaming industry really was and where the industry was heading, I saw an opportunity gap for the infrastructure required in the Esports industry."
"That is how I founded ESE Entertainment, to become an infrastructure provider for leading video game developers, publishers, and brands by providing technology, infrastructure, and fan engagement services internationally. ESE now operates its own e-commerce channels, esports teams, and gaming leagues. I successfully took ESE public in 2021 on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSXV:ESE."
89 - RADHA RAJAPPA - EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON OF FLUTURA
Radha currently serves as the Executive Chairperson with Flutura Decision Sciences & Analytics; an Industrial AI start up that impacts Yield, Uptime and Sustainability outcomes for large scale industrial facilities.
She is also engaged as an External Advisor to Bain & Company, consulting with firms in the Private equity and Technology space working on Strategy, Market acceleration by crafting the right offerings and go-to-market, Value creation and in navigating the nuances of Digital transformation. Radha serves on the board as an Independent Director in two public firms, Zensar Technologies in the Information Technology industry and in BATA India, the iconic brand company.
Radha has had the great opportunity to work for the global Big Tech companies IBM and Microsoft during her career, as well as for a nascent start-up Mindtree that phenomenally scaled globally to over a Billion dollars. Till 2019, Radha was leading Digital and Services in Microsoft India. As a member of the India Leadership team, she was driving the transformation; adoption for customers to the Cloud and Digital world.
For a large part of her career, she was a key member of the Executive Leadership team at Mindtree. Radha is an ardent believer in building and nurturing high performance teams, driving towards a transformational vision.
90 - TIM DEBUS - REUSABLE PACKAGING ASSOCIATION
Tim Debus is a trade association executive who manages industry affairs and creates stakeholder business opportunities through company collaborations involving research, education, project management, issue advocacy, and market promotion. His career and experiences have formed a champion of sustainability initiatives that achieve both environmental protection and economic value creation and growth.
Debus is leading the Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) as president & CEO to advance the common business interests of member companies by promoting reusable transport packaging systems. Reusable transport packaging products like pallets, bins, and containers combine to form a $100 billion market worldwide. He works with the RPA Board of Directors on the association’s strategy development, organizational planning, resource support, and program execution. He serves as an industry spokesperson at events and conferences, writes perspectives on industry topics, advances key messaging through media outlets, and communicates association positions to policymakers. Prior to RPA, Debus worked in the commercial sector leading new business development activities for companies marketing reusable containers. Debus holds a master’s degree in political management and a bachelor’s degree in political science.
91 - SHAHAR FOGEL - CEO OF ROOKOUT
Shahar Fogel is the CEO of Rookout. He's spent the last 2 decades leading data-driven businesses, products, and R&D teams, from early-stage start-ups to government organizations. Shahar is passionate about software architecture and observability; as a cyber Security team lead, product manager, VC investor, and a Cambridge University MBA alumni.
Prior to Rookout, Shahar served in the Israeli intelligence corps (Captain) - Cyber security department head between 2000 and 2009, achieved his Cambridge MBA 2009-2011, and was a VC investor (early stage) - 2011-2015. He served as VP Prod → CEO of Brandtix - March 2015 to February 2020 and became CEO of Rookout- February 2020 to present.
Rookout helps software engineers to understand their code by getting the data they need, wherever it is running, instantly. Increase code quality and dev velocity, while empowering your team, reducing MTTR, and supporting easier compliance and access management.
When running code in production you are constantly trying to figure out what your code is actually doing and why. Even though it’s your code, running on your servers, there’s no easy way to see what’s going on. You have to write more code, test it, approve it, deploy it, and only then do you get a new sliver of data. We’re here to change that.
92 - MIKA TIENHAARA - CEO OF ROCSOLE
Mika Tienhaara has engineering degrees in production technology (B.Sc.) and energy technology (M.Sc.) as well as a Master in Business Administration.
He is an award-winning innovator and executive, a serial entrepreneur with an excellent track record, a best-selling author and an energy industry professional. He has built successful companies in various countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Malaysia, USA, Brazil and Mexico. Mika has commercialized more than 30 technologies. His passion and drive are to actively contribute to the sustainability of industries through improved operational excellence by digital transformation. With his experience from all phases of innovation and startups.
Mika has also mentored and advised more than 50 startup companies.
ROCSOLE is the leading smart process imaging company. With AI & deep learning prediction solutions we support operational teams to reduce OPEX, to avoid unplanned shutdowns, and to monitor product quality to increase revenues. Our field proven applications include emulsion, deposition, sand, and flow regime related imaging and our services are applied on offshore and onshore pipelines, tanks, and separators. We aim to support an automated, digitalized and unmanned platform operations.
93 - ASHLEY COLLINS - CEO OF COLLINS BUILDERS
Since 2003, Ashley Collins has been the owner of Collins Builders. A Jacksonville, Fla. native, he is a graduate of the Bolles School and holds a bachelor’s of business administration from Stetson University.
After college, Ashley entered the home-building business with a local company, Trademark Homes, as an assistant superintendent in December of 1999 and worked his way up to superintendent in 2000. From 2000-2001, he managed the construction of more than 70 homes. In late 2001, he moved on to work for another Jacksonville-based home builder, SEDA, in the estimating, budgeting and purchasing department as well as the construction department and in internet-based scheduling software from 2001-2003.
In May 2003, Collins Builders was founded. For the first five years, Ashley led incredible growth for the company, from building one home the first year to 148 homes closed in 2008.
When the economic downturn came in 2008, Ashley led the company through the recession, weathering the tough times and since 2013 has experienced 25 percent year-over-year growth. He credits the success to God, his family, a talented team of professionals at Collins Builders and an unwavering commitment to serving clients. Ashley is happily married to his wife of more than 20 years, Jeanie, and is blessed with four children: Hayden, Rowan, Lawson and Lincoln.
94 - ANNA-MIEKE ANDERSON ANDERSON - CEO OF MIADONNA & CO
Anna-Mieke Anderson is the Founder and active CEO of MiaDonna & Company and the Founder of The Greener Diamond Foundation. She is a dedicated, single mother of 2, an avid philanthropist and successful entrepreneur.
When Anna-Mieke learned the truth behind the conflict origin of her earth-mined diamond in 2005, she committed herself to finding a conflict-free option for fine jewelry. Fueled by a mother’s passion for helping children, she has built a globally admired, ethical fine jewelry company that continues to push boundaries to create a socially responsible diamond trade. Not only did she grow a business, she pioneered an industry. Anna-Mieke has devoted her life to creating diamonds in a laboratory that are superior to earth-mined diamonds in every way, all while helping children caught in the middle of the unethical harvesting of mined diamonds.
Anna-Mieke has made history by becoming a visionary in the new era of the diamond industry. Her dedication to creating gem quality lab-grown diamonds, even before the technology was available, has been recognized by industry authorities and organizations. She personally leads relief missions to diamond mining regions through The Greener Diamond to ensure a better future for communities living in poverty due to diamond mining.
95 - LUCA COSTA - CEO OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WELDING
In 2020 Dr Luca Costa was selected and appointed as CEO of the International Institute of welding, which is his current position. Since 2021, he also serves as chair of the Italian standardization Committee in welding.
He was employed in the Italian Institute of Welding in 2000, after graduating at Genoa University in Mechanical Engineering with a doctorate thesis developed at IIS. He was awarded the diploma of International Welding Engineer in 2000. He was then employed as a teacher in the education and training department. In 2002, he took the responsibility for education and training in the field of Quality, Environment and Health and safety. In 2010, he is appointed as manager of theoretical education and training area of activities. In 2013, he was employed in the company IIS PROGRESS, owned by IIS, in the position of director and in 2014 was appointed manager of the training department.
Researchers, industry practitioners and educators, students and young professionals from over 49 countries are all part of the collaborative working platform of the International Institute of Welding. This unique international cooperation is achieved through regular meetings of IIW working units and boards, technical networking, shared projects, events, publications and web-based communications. The outcomes are shared throughout the world.
96 - TRACEY MULLEN - CEO OF ABVERIS
Tracey Mullen is a chemical-biological engineer from MIT who began her career as a scientist at a startup antibody discovery research organization. In this role, she managed 100+ antibody development projects over the course of two years to help accelerate new drugs to the clinic.
In 2013, she joined the Antibody Discovery team at Biogen where she optimized cutting-edge technologies for the discovery and engineering of new therapeutic antibodies, with a focus on some of the industry’s most challenging and elusive targets. In 2018, Tracey joined Abveris as the Director of Antibody Discovery Operations, where she managed technical project design and management before her promotion to Chief Operating Officer in 2019.
During her tenure as COO, Tracey co-led the implementation of a next-generation antibody discovery platform that has propelled the company's exponential growth, solidifying Abveris as a premium partner to some of the world's top biopharma organizations.
Tracey is now the Chief Executive Officer of Abveris, where she continues to push the boundaries of antibody discovery through strategic organizational improvement and technical development. When she is off the clock, Tracey can be found on the side of cliffs around the world pursuing her primary passion outside of work: rock climbing.
97 - FABIAN BATTAGLIA - CEO OF MOBIX LABS
Fabian Battaglia is a 35-year tech veteran that is quickly building Mobix Labs into a leading global wireless and wired connectivity solutions provider.
He co-founded the company in 2020 by offering True Xero™ latency connectivity solutions for 5G wireless and high bandwidth cable networks. Prior to Mobix Labs, Battaglia served as senior vice president of sales at Microsemi Corp., a provider of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions that was acquired by Microchip Technology in 2018, where he managed over $2B of annual sales from Fortune 500 and well recognized international companies serving communications, medical, aerospace and defense, industrial and data storage markets Battaglia has held multiple management roles in field application engineering for leading semiconductor companies such as Texas Instruments and Maxim Integrated Products. He also worked as a design engineer focused on advanced systems development for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
Founded in 2020, Mobix Labs Inc. provides True Xero™ latency connectivity solutions for 5G wireless and high bandwidth cable networks. Mobix Labs is based in Irvine, Calif., Mobix Labs also has offices in San Jose, Phoenix and Shanghai.
98 - WILLIAM J. ROBERTS - CEO OF NOBAL
Bill has an entrepreneurial business history, with several companies to remarkable success dating back to 1999.
As partner and COO with Construction Software Technologies, an early-stage web-based applications iSQFT continues to day ~$50M USD revenue. As founder and managing director of RSR Engineering, focused on building commissioning. As the founder and president of Stor edge Self Storage in 2013, based in Calgary expanding through western Canada, until selling the company in 2007 ~$70M. Starting a national based self-storage company Real Storage building and consolidating the sector, with operations from British Columbia to Ontario, converting to a private trust and the disposition to Storage Vault in 2019 ~ $275M.
Purchasing Calgary Archives Corp. a records management provider, over 4 years increased gross revenues by ~230%, in 2018 consolidated the sector into was similarly expanded across the country, renamed the national company to Innovative Records Systems Corp. and sold to U.S.-based Access Information Management~$85M.
NOBAL is an interactive AI, VR hardware and software disrupting the retail sector by merging bricks and mortar with digital. By expanding the iMirror to create an interactive digital experience in several sectors, near term primarily focus is retail and hospitality.
99 - VIKRAM SACHDEVA – CEO OF SEED & STONE
For the past few years, Vikram Sachdeva has made his mark in the Cannabis Industry through the establishment of Cannabis Boutiques. He started Seed & Stone in February 2020 with a deep passion for the plant and a motivation to create an open space for positive cannabis culture.
With the stigma and history attached to cannabis, Vikram created Seed & Stone to be an advocate for cannabis culture with promoting wellness and inner growth, and to offer a unique buying experience by providing high quality products that not only lifts your spirits but inspires you to embrace your journey within through cannabis use. With Vikram’s appreciation for the region of British Columbia, Seed & Stone showcases local micro growers in their stores and has partnered with the Songhees Nation of the lək̓ʷəŋən traditional territory in BC to co-operate two stores in Victoria. Vikram’s goal for Seed & Stone is to be the top-of-mind brand for Cannabis within the region, and to be the go-to source for cannabis products and education.
Prior to Seed & Stone, Vikram has 22 years of retail experience in marketing, business development, and customer relations with leading retailers such as Subway and BC Liquor Distribution Branch. Vikram has owned and operated Subway franchises in BC and was a member of the Subway FaF board in British Columbia.
100 - ZACK TEPERMAN – CEO OF ZTPR
Originally from Canada, and now based in the United States, Zack studied marketing and broadcasting at Seneca College. Upon graduating, Zack turned his talents to becoming an on-air radio disc jockey, working across the country from Miami to Yellowknife to Toronto at such stations as the Fan 590, KISS FM, Y100, and Mix100. After leaving radio, Zack focused his expertise on public relations, helping lead many Canadian and American high-profile PR campaigns.
After making the move to Hollywood, Zack served for years as the Operations Manager and as a Senior Account Executive at Lexicon Public Relations, helping guide and advise many celebrities, musicians, athletes and companies to where they are now.
With his years of media experience and his straight-to-the-point attitude, Zack created ZTPR in 2014 to bring his expertise to each client he works with, alongside with his diverse public relations team of hungry go-getters. Since that time he has helped scale unknown companies/products to millions in revenue, worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment/music, and helped billionaires innovate and change the world with their ideas and companies.
ZTPR has also gone worldwide with staff all over the world, as Zack and his team represent people in Australia, the UK, Germany, Holland, China, Israel, Canada and more!
