| row-start col-md-10 #top-section top-section new-section |
Speakers
| row-start col-md-10 #top-section top-section new-section colour-section |
Christina Liaos, Regional Director Europe North & Foreign Direct Investment Lead Europe, Department for International Trade
Christina Schiøtt Liaos is responsible for the leadership, strategic alignment and coordination of the UK’s inward investment activities in Europe. She leads a team of 90 investment professionals operating on the ground across 25 European markets.
In parallel, Christina is also Regional Director for the DIT Europe North region, leading the 8 trade and investment teams in the Nordic and Baltic region, focusing on deliver of trade services to over 5,000 UK companies and assistance to over 100 Nordic and Baltic companies establishing a UK business platform for global growth per year.
Currently, Christina and her teams support businesses to continue to trade and invest despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to ensure that British and European companies are well equipped to continue trading during implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Christina has been with the Department for International Trade for over a decade, holding positions as Director for Denmark and Director for the Nordic Region. Prior to this, she has many years of business development experience within international trade and investment organisations, including Schneider, PowerPlant, Invest in Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She holds a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Business Administration. Additionally, Christina is actively supporting local business as mentor for local founders and through her work at a variety of advisory boards.
| row-end col-md-2 col-md-2 |
| row-start col-md-10 #top-section top-section new-section |
Abi Mohamed, Cyber Programme Manager, Tech Nation
Abi Mohamed a Programme Manager at Tech Nation, an organisation focused on accelerating the growth of digital businesses in London and across cities in the UK through growth programmes, digital entrepreneurship skills development and championing of the UK’s digital tech sector through data and media campaigns.
Additionally, she is the co-founder/Tech Lead of Community Growth Ventures, a London-based angel investment firm, investing time, capital and resources to help passionate founders from minority and underestimated backgrounds. Community Growth Ventures specifically works with startups at the Pre-Seed/Seed stage.
| row-end col-md-2 col-md-2 |
| row-start col-md-10 #top-section top-section new-section colour-section |
Shalini Khemka, Chief Executive, E2E
Shalini founded E2E in 2011, where is the Chief Executive and serves on it’s Board. E2E has developed into an exciting and ground-breaking powerhouse of entrepreneurs, investors, non-execs and SME focussed corporate organisations. It’s mission is to develop the largest and most active entrepreneurial ecosystem in the UK to enable extraordinary entrepreneurship. E2E’s current community consists of 24K SMEs who contribute £230bn in turnover to the UK economy and employ 1.15 million people. E2E has built one platform focused on making extraordinary connections for Founders, raising capital for high growth businesses, securing talent and world class NEDs. As a part of this E2E champions entrepreneurship through access to human capital, corporate services, investment capital and creates peer-to-peer communities.
Shalini is a Deal Maker, UK Government, Department of International Trade, where she brings the internationally leading high-tech SME’s to the UK. She is a Member of the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board and, alongside Baroness Kramer she is on the Supervisory Committee of Market Finance, one of the UK’s leading Fintech firms. She is a Fellow of Burton and South Derbyshire College and believes that turning knowledge into wisdom is the elixir of life.
| row-end col-md-2 col-md-2 |
| row-start col-md-10 #top-section top-section new-section |
Olivia Sibony, Dealmaker, Global Entrepreneur Programme, Department for International Trade
Liv Sibony is an award-winning entrepreneur (Awarded Top 10 UK Women Entrepreneurs 2019 -- Wise100 Top Women in Social Business) and trailblazing ethical investment champion who left a career at Goldman Sachs to launch her foodtech startup, GrubClub, which she sold to Eatwith in 2017. She went on to launch SeedTribe, a platform focused specifically on connecting “impactful” businesses marrying profit and purpose, with investors.
She is a Board member of UCL's Fast Forward 2030, which aims to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to launch businesses that address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as being Vicechair of the Mayor of London's Women in Cleantech board. She also co-runs The Hot Breakfast which curates and hosts intimate early morning breakfast gatherings that connect great people across different disciplines and demographics in order to spark ideas and build networks that drive momentum for positive change. She's recently also become an advisor for the UK Department for International Trade, enabling more impactul entrepreneurs from around the world to scale their businesses in the UK.
Liv is driven by the desire to see a world where all businesses marry profit and purpose; she feels that entrepreneurship and meaningful collaboration play a key part in achieving this goal.
| row-end col-md-2 col-md-2 |
