The potential of collective power

Jordi was part of the founding team at Open Cosmos, a private-sector aerospace company which brought the first qbee satellite from concept to flight readiness in under 6 months. In his role as Vice-President of technology at Open Cosmos, he combines his expertise in satellite systems, mechanical design, systems engineering, integration and testing. Prior to joining Open Cosmos, he worked as a senior mechanical design and analysis engineer at SSTL, where he led the structural analysis of the first commercial application of a new SSTL LEO, having already been involved in the design and mechanical qualification of the avionics. During the time he spent studying aerospace engineering at university, Jordi was an active member of several organisations that pushed for a deeper collaboration between students and the aerospace industry.

Polly is the Director of UK100 – a network of UK cities and local authorities committed to 100% clean energy. She was previously special adviser at DECC 2008-10 and Director of Communications on Sadiq Khan’s selection campaign to be Labour’s candidate for London Mayor. She devised and led the 100% London campaign, getting both Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq to commit to London adopting 100% clean energy. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist at the BBC, working as the first ever dedicated Political Reporter for Radio 1’s Newsbeat as well as Radio 4’s Today programme, and was also Head of Communications and Campaigns at Citizens Advice. During the referendum campaign she was Campaign Director of Environmentalists for Europe.

As Executive Director, Fran has led the UK and international expansion of Positive Money, a non-profit think tank, which campaigns for systemic change of the money and banking system to support a fair, sustainable and democratic economy. Positive Money Europe was launched in 2018 and there are plans to set up Positive Money US in 2020. On top of her commitment to wider financial reform, she is a Director of Finance Watch and a Senior Fellow at the Finance Innovation Lab. Fran was also recognised as one of the most ‘Inspirational Women in the City’ by Brummell Magazine in 2017. Fran has a PhD in Geophysics, as awarded by Cambridge University. She has worked at various international organisations, including the UN, Greenpeace, and BP, and is currently the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Gloucester.

Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, which in 2011 launched both its citizen’s platform, Debating Europe and its European Young Leaders Programme. In 2015, Friends of Europe integrated the Security and Defence agenda thinktank. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, coordinating the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairing the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

 In 2019, Geert founded TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership) and in 2020, he co-founded the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) in partnership with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).

 Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

 At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission as a deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

 He also worked briefly as a teacher and TV journalist for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1.

Ed is the Behavioural Design Lead at Warwick Business School (WBS), where he applies insights and methods from behavioural science to support the design of products and services with a social purpose. He joined WBS in the aim to set up and run the Behavioural Design Lab, a partnership with the Design Council. He now focuses on ways to support collective action, helping people work more effectively together to achieve their own common goals. Ed is also Course Director for the Behavioural Science in Practice executive education programme and teaches across a range of programmes at WBS. Additionally Ed is a Founding Member of Common, a problem-solving collective that brings a diverse suite of skills to today’s increasingly complex social issues.

Amara is a senior planetary scientist who has worked in the planetary science field since 1980. She also founded the Baltics in Space programme. Having accumulated 37 years of experience working with a variety of different astronomy and planetary science teams on two continents, Amara was the deserved winner of the 2018 Europlanet Public Engagement Prize. She is known for integrating space capacities from the ground up while working with policy decision-makers on initiatives like the asteroid mining community of scientists and industry for the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, of which developments started in 2016. Amara oversaw the initiation, development and implementation of the Asteroid Science Intersections with In-Space Mine- Engineering (ASIME) conference of 2016 and was the co-lead of the Scientific Organizing Committee, established in 2018, which included 85 participants, comprised primarily of asteroid scientists, space mission engineers, technology transfer specialists, venture capital companies and Luxembourg sponsors.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

*Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is the head and co-founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation. Established after the death of Rosamund’s beloved daughter, Ella, following her diagnosis with a rare form of asthma, the Foundation aims to improve the lives of children affected by asthma in South East London by campaigning both for more effective treatments to combat asthma and for cleaner air. Drawing on her experience as a teacher, her work today focuses on raising awareness of the impact of air pollution, namely through events in schools and local communities and through the representation of parents with asthmatic children. Rosamund continues to fight for public recognition of the link between her daughter’s death and London’s air pollution, having recently been granted the right to seek a new inquest at the high court.

Zanny is the Editor-in-Chief at The Economist. Appointed in 2015, she is the first female to hold this title. Throughout her 24 years at the British newspaper, she has occupied a number of different roles, most notably as Economics editor and as correspondent for emerging markets. These roles have seen her write numerous analyses of Eastern European and Latin American countries, as well as surveys of the global economy and Asian and Latin American finance. Prior to joining The Economist, Zanny was an economist at the IMF and an advisor to the Polish Minister of Finance. Her articles have been published in Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs and she has made regular appearances on the BBC, MSNBC and CNN.

Geoff has been Chief Executive of Nesta since 2011. Under his leadership, he has helped drive the expansion of the UK’s innovation foundation and has led its move away from the public sector to become an independent foundation. He also co-chairs a World Economic Forum group looking at innovation and entrepreneurship in the fourth industrial revolution. Having previously worked in the UK government, Geoff’s former roles have included Director of the Government’s Strategy Unit, head of policy in the Prime Minister’s office and Chief Advisor to Gordon Brown MP. He has advised many governments around the world and is currently chair of an international advisory committee for the Mayor of Seoul, in addition to being a member of a number of advisory committees for the Prime Minister’s office in the UAE, the Scottish Government and SITRA, the Finnish Innovation agency.

Justin is a Senior Fellow and Special Envoy for WRI’s Conflict & Natural Resources and Sustainable Ocean Initiatives. He has thirty years’ international experience of working in development, climate change, environment and energy issues, having done so at senior levels within the public, multilateral and private sectors. Prior to joining WRI, Justin was HRH the Prince of Wales’ Special Representative, the Director of the Prince’s Charities’ International Sustainability Unit (ISU) and Funding Partner of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Partners. In addition to advising the British Government on topics such as Russia, India, China, climate change and energy issues, he was the principal architect of the 2005 G8 Energy Investment Framework. Justin has also worked for the World Bank, WWF, IUCN, IIED and was the Director of the Foundation for International Security.

Claire Perry is a Conservative Party Member of Parliament and Ministery of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She has pushed for more ambitious emissions reductions targets for new vehicles on the European level and has spurred the UK’s efforts to become a zero-net emitter by 2050. Throughout her political career, she has held various positions, including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport from 2014-2016, Government Whip in 2013 and 2014, and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on preventing the sexualisation and commercialisation of children. Prior to being elected, Perry pursued a career in business and finance and proceeded to set up her own company, an organisation specialising in offering online financial advice to women, before becoming policy advisor to the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, in 2007.

Thomas Raines is head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House. Previously, he was manager and research fellow with the programme. Prior to joining Chatham House, he worked as an analyst in the Strategy Unit of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. He is a regular frequent media commentator having previously contributed or been cited by the World Economic Forum, Reuters, CNBC and BBC News. He is also the author of a number of Chatham House reports and papers, including most recently, Europe’s Political Tribes: Exploring the Diversity of Views Across the EU and The Future of Europe: Comparing Public and Elite Attitudes.

Paola is Professor of International Economics at Queen Mary University of London and the Founding Director of Essential Economics (E-Economics), which provides advice on complex land use, property and policy matters. She is an expert on the functioning and governance of international monetary and financial systems. She is also a frequent advisor to governments, international organisations, non-profits, and corporations and has written several books on the subject, including her most recent work, The People’s Money: How China Is Building a Global Currency. Paola is a media commentator who regularly appears on the BBC and who frequently contributes to Foreign Policy, Project Syndicate, the Financial Times and Huffington Post Italy.

Jean Jacques is the Director of the European Space Policy Institute, which provides recommendations on how best to manage challenges linked to space exploration and exploitation. His notable high-level roles within the aerospace industry includes the position of Secretary General of ESD-Eurospace, Head of the French Space Agency (CNES) office of North America, during which time he was also Attaché for Space and Aeronautics at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. and Deputy Director for Strategy and Programmes at CNES, where he oversaw its industrial strategy. His previous responsibilities saw him fill the role of France’s representative in the ESA Industrial Policy Committee and the Joint Communication Board, as well as act as Advisor to the French Government on the new space applications and competitiveness support.

Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF), in addition to her roles as Chair of the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD) and Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. Prior to joining the ECF, Laurence was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and was therefore a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21, she was appointed High Level Champion for Climate Action by the UN. Aside from founding and directing several organisations in the field of food security and sustainable development, Laurence served as Senior Advisor for the Environment to the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition. In 2018, President Macron appointed her to France’s High Council on Climate Change.