Master of Ceremony

Alicia Sedgwick has been actively involved in the production and management side of the media/entertainment industry, as well as being a professional performer for over 25 years. A city-trained lawyer, Alicia is also co-founder and Managing Director of Absolutely Monte-Carlo, an Events Management Company and Monte-Carlo Media Inc.

Alicia’s international events planning and management experience include managing the international press conferences for the London 2012 Olympics, Broadcast Services Management for the Laureus World Sports Awards, and Talent Management for the BBC at Chelsea Flower Show in London. She has managed celebrity relations in the Green Room of the World Music Awards in Monte-Carlo and has served as Master of Ceremonies for two TEDx events in Monaco.

Active in the entertainment field, she has performed as a blues singer and stage performer all over the world, and has had her own Internet TV Show, and Radio Show. Most recently, Alicia teaches Public Speaking, Managing People, and Communication in Business, at the International University of Monaco, as well as offering Public Speaking and Leadership coaching and training for both individuals and corporations.

Family Medicine Physician

Dr. Mikhail Varshavski D.O., is a New York-based doctor focusing on family and preventative medicine.

Better known as ‘Doctor Mike’, he is a social media entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a doctor with purpose, stressing the importance of preventative medicine by highlighting his experiences through his unique journey. As a family medicine provider, he has the unique ability to speak about issues that not only fall within the full spectrum of medicine, but also within the full patient experience.

Doctor Mike started documenting his medical journey through his popular social media platforms to motivate students to pursue their medical training. He has been published in several esteemed medical journals, while contributing to multiple popular online publications.

His charity, “The Limitless Tomorrow Foundation” established in 2015, aims to break the financial barrier for unique and capable individuals and seeks to empower candidates to reach their full potential, explore the world and conquer their hardships.

Doctor Mike graduated from the New York Institute of Technology in 2014 with a B.S in Life Sciences and a Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine via an accelerated 7-year track. On June 30, 2017, he completed his 3-year Family Medicine Residency at the Atlantic Health System-Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ.

Partner PwC, Head of Cyber Security

Pat Moran is a cyber specialist and leader of Cyber, IT Forensics and Data Privacy for PwC Ireland. He has worked in Ireland, UK and Asia, helping people with their concerns over protecting their personal data. He has worked in a number of global professional services firms including Andersen, EY and now PwC.

These experiences have resulted in Pat developing a global expertise in advising people how to best protect themselves, their families and friends in a digital age where information sharing has become the way of life.

Pat has one key passion: he wants to keep people, young and old, safe from the adversaries that creep the Internet whilst still feeling free crossing the information super highway.

Entrepreneurial Champion & Behavioral Economist

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli has been referred to as a community development ‘Iron Man’. Starting in 1971, when he began his work in International Aid in Africa, Ernesto has been a passionate advocate for local self-determination. His experiences, working in many of the world poorest communities, confirmed his appreciation for human potential and spurred him to develop Enterprise Facilitation i.e. a model of local economic development based on capturing the passion, intelligence and resolve of local entrepreneurs.

Ernesto resides in California and runs the Sirolli Institute, a social enterprise that teaches civic leaders, governments and corporations how to partner with local people to create long lasting prosperity.

Ernesto received a Laurea di Dottore in Political Sciences from Rome University in Italy and a Ph.D in Local Enterprise Facilitation from Murdoch University in Australia.

Ernesto is the author of two books Ripples from the Zambezi and How to start a business and ignite your life.

In 2012, Ernesto gave a TEDx Talk titled: “Shut up and Listen”. The talk has been translated into 35 languages and has been viewed nearly 3 million times.

Chess Player & Student

From an early age, chess has been Fiorina Berezovsky’s passion. At the age of 6, she learned the game from her parents Igor and Svetlana, who are both chess enthusiasts themselves. Though she is only 10 years of age, Fiorina had already participated in the European and World Youth Chess Championships and was a member of the Monaco team, representing the country at the most recent Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. She was the youngest Olympiad participant and has won two games for Monaco.

Fiorina currently lives with her parents and three older siblings in Monaco. She fluently speaks five languages (English, French, German, Russian and Ukrainian), and hopes to own a dog in the very near future. She does not yet know what she wants to be when she grows up, but in any case, playing chess will be a part of it.

CEO & Founder of MARSS Group

Johannes Pinl is an entrepreneur living in Monaco with his wife and their baby girl.

After growing up in Austria he completed a degree in business at the University of Monaco. As a student, he was the driving force in establishing an association working with like-minded students to fulfill their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Johannes set up his first business at age 22 and has survived five finance rounds, two trade sales and one management buyout. Twelve years ago, Johannes established MARSS with a vision to bring smart technology to the inherently conservative maritime security, safety and defense markets.

Johannes is driven by a desire to build products and businesses by generating new ideas and pushing technology boundaries. He sees the potential in increasing computing power, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things to look beyond the status quo and make the world a smarter place.

Serial Inventor, Artist & Public Speaker

Alex Deans is a 19 year-old serial inventor, artist, and public speaker, recently appointed as the Queen’s Young Leader by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. At age 12, his chance encounter with a visually impaired woman inspired him to develop the iAid, a novel navigation device for the blind. His work on the iAid has taken him from visually impaired communities to winning second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Alex is a highly sought-after speaker and media presence, and recognized as one of “Canada’s Future Leaders under 25” by Maclean’s magazine. He toured nationally with WE Day, speaking alongside Demi Lovato and Justin Trudeau to over 160,000 youth about the importance of creativity. His latest project has him teaming up with McCann Erickson and GM/Chevrolet to create a new technology to stop teens from texting and driving. The technology debuted at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.

Alex harnesses his talents outside of science to tackle problems in unconventional ways. He is an avid artist who was first inspired after painting a portrait of Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl, and competed for Team Canada in the 2011 International Children’s Winter Games in Grand Slalom and Ski Cross.

Director of the International School of Monaco

Francis Gianni began his career teaching philosophy at the high school level and then in preparing some of France’s most able students for entrance to the highly prestigious Science Po and HEC Grandes Ecoles in Paris, before moving to the USA to take up a teaching post at Arizona State University.

With a degree from the Sorbonne in Paris and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Francis is also the holder of one of the most coveted teaching qualifications competed for at the very top level in France, the “Agrégation”, a renowned national competitive exam from which he ranked second overall in the country.

The world of business then beckoned him and he was employed by STMicroelectronics, a multi-national microchip producer, to direct its Leadership programs for the professional training and development of engineers in North America at its Corporate University of Phoenix (Arizona).

During a career in secondary, higher and business education spanning some 30 years, Francis has run international schools in Paris, Lille and Monaco. A regular guest speaker at conferences, he is currently Director of the International School of Monaco.

Fortune 500 Consultant, Singer, Songwriter, Music producer, Author & Social Entrepreneur

Praised as a “coach to the world’s top CEOs, philanthropists, and entertainers”, Tom Oliver has shared his secrets on leadership, innovation and creativity with Bono, the Dalai Lama and Richard Branson. Tom has worked with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, financial leaders like the World Bank Group, the Rockefeller family and the family of Warren Buffet, and the best global brands from Johnson & Johnson to Coca Cola and Google.

As the CEO of the Tom Oliver Consulting Group, Tom and his team shape the future of today’s market leaders from Asia to Europe and America.

Tom is a true self-made modern renaissance man: author of the global leadership bible “Nothing Is Impossible”; founder of the award-winning World Peace Foundation and World Peace Festival (termed “the most influential peace gathering in history” by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu); a Professor of Innovation, Change Management, Strategic HR Management, and Leadership; the architect of the Global Leadership Circle at the Manchester Business School; and a renowned music producer, singer & songwriter and performer who has headlined festivals around the globe.

Tom has been awarded lifelong seats in some of the world´s most influential think tanks amongst world leaders, Nobel laureates and heads of state.

Student

Emily Rolfe is a student at Lycée Albert Premier of Monaco. In April 2017, she ran the Marathon Des Sables, described as “The World’s Toughest Footrace” by the Discovery Channel. The race is a 250km multi-day self-sufficient race in the Sahara Desert and Emily was the joint youngest female finisher ever at only sixteen. She ran the race with her father, who wanted an excuse to run it for a second time. Emily’s passion for long-distance running came when she ran the No Finish Line in Monaco, winning her age group every year since 2013.

The Marathon Des Sables was not Emily’s only challenge. She ran the race to raise money for Diabetes UK to fund a new and very complex piece of technology – a combined transmitted light and fluorescent microscope and imaging computer. Since her sister was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2013, her family has been heavily involved with Diabetes UK, a charity that helps diabetes sufferers and their families. Emily and her father managed to raise 23000GBP, just over their target, to purchase the machine.

Emily now aspires to continue running ultra-marathons whilst applying for university to study Biomedicine in the UK.

Social Entrepreneur, Designer & Engineer

Iris Roussel is a designer, engineer, and social entrepreneur in healthcare innovation. After graduating from the engineering school of INSA, her goal was to focus on the human aspect of each project. After an inspiring trip to South America, she was enthralled with sustainable designs which developed innovations centered on human needs.

Iris decided to be trained at the Sustainable Design School in Nice, surrounded by designers who were passionate about social and environmental issues. She was employed to build the “Antenne Rhône Alpes” for “Ticket for Change”, an entrepreneurial project which now operates worldwide. In 2015, she began another social enterprise named OZ’IRIS, which is assisted by doctors, sociologists, and anthropologists to enhance the experience of both patients and doctors. She develops and adapts an empathic and collaborative approached deemed “design thinking” to help hospitals and companies deliver a care centered on patients.

Supported by organizations such as Ashoka and rewarded the Prize of Excellence by the University Côte d’Azur, Iris is currently working with her team on projects for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, obesity, and endometriosis.

International Artistic Gymnast

Julien Gobaux is an international artistic gymnast, a member of the French national team since 2014, and competes at the national level for the Monaco team (Etoile de Monaco).

His international career actually began by representing Monaco at the Games of the Small States of Europe in 2009 in Cyprus, before winning the all-round and several other titles for his second participation in 2013 in Luxemburg.

As a result of his work, and as a French citizen, he achieved his objective of representing his country at an international level for the first time at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Nanning, China. The next step of his international career was attained the following year, when he qualified for the first time for a World Cup final on the parallel bars in Varna, Bulgaria. The main highlight so far of Julien’s career was finally achieved in 2016 when he became a member of the French team that competed in the Olympics in Rio.

Julien is currently recovering from a shoulder injury and surgery, and expects to be back competing in 2018 for the chance to take part in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Medical Officer, World Health Organization

Teodora Elvira Wi, M.D., FPSVI is currently the Medical Officer, Human Reproduction Team, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland.

In WHO HQ, Teodora leads the development of global Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) guidelines, addressing Antimicrobial Resistance in STI, interventions for key populations, and provision of technical support to regional and national STI prevention and control programs. She has over thirty years of experience in HIV and STI programming in Asia and Africa as a medical officer for HIV/AIDS and STI, Western Pacific Region Office, WHO, senior STI /HIV technical officer of the Asia and Pacific Division, FHI and country director, Philippines.

Teodora was the Director, STI Capacity Raising, Family Health International (FHI) India under the Avahan India AIDS Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) where she led a team of technical specialists in providing quality STI/HIV services. Teodora was a rural health physician and HIV/STI Clinic physician and Reproductive Health Consultant of World Bank on the Women’s Health and Safe Motherhood Project in the Philippines. She received her M.D. degree from Saint Louis University, College of Medicine, Philippines.

Robotics & AI Researcher

Dr. Kohei Ogawa is a robotics and AI researcher at Osaka University in Japan. He studies the interaction between humans and Android robots that resemble actual humans. In particular, he is working to understand the mystery of Androids that can co-exist with humans as a social existence in our daily life.

Kohei has developed the world’s first Android that currently works in the “real” field and he is producing remarkable results, not only in academia, but also in the corporate/industry world.

Moreover, Kohei’s interactive system with Androids is now being applied to the realm of art by collaborating with several artists. For example, the world’s first Android-human theatre play with Oriza Hirata, Sayonara (Good-bye), has been invited to show on stage over 30 times in many countries. His latest art work, self-learning Android “Alter”, won a prize at the Japan Media Art Festival.

Kohei received his Ph.D. from Future University-Hakodate in 2010. Currently, he holds the position of Associate Professor of Intelligent and Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University in Japan.

Security Specialist

Sascha Kunkel is a security specialist with over 20 years of experience ranging from hostile environments worldwide to the French Riviera.

He began his career by joining the French Foreign Legion at 18 where he was trained and sent on several overseas interventions to places such as Ex-Yugoslavia and the Ivory Coast.

Following the World Trade Centre attacks in 2001, the security industry drastically changed. At that moment, Sascha decided to leave the Foreign Legion and convert to the private security sector, by completing extensive training courses in Europe and Israel covering all aspects of international security.

Since then, Sascha has trained, taught and worked in over 70 countries on air, land and sea operations. His experiences range from creating security concepts for yachts, private families, airports, political and sporting events, to providing security services to multinationals, as well as for development projects and NGOs in war-torn and developing countries.

Father of 2, soon to be 3, children, Sascha exchanged his military uniform for one of a businessman, managing ALGIZ Security, a company he established 10 years ago. ALGIZ is an international company that provides both corporate and private security services all over the world.

Comedian & Anesthetist

Hassan Moukfi, also known as ‘Hassan de Monaco’, is a Monaco native. Moroccan of descent, his journey in life is slightly unusual - not only is he a comedian, but also an anesthetist nurse at the Monaco hospital.

At the end of his medical studies, Hassan decided to go into acting. Joining a team of 12 comedians, he represented the Principality at the International Festival of Amateur Theatre in Norway in the play “Chronique d’une Rencontre”.

After meeting Peggy Semeria, an actor and stage director, he discovered his passion for writing and acting solo. He won his first contest titled “Les Fourres de Rire” as a solo comedian in 2014 in Nice. Following this success, Hassan decided to launch his one-man show “Hassan fait son show”. His debut show was sold-out at the Variety Theatre in Monaco. Since then, Hassan has taken his show all around France where he met great success and an enthusiastic audience.

Recently, he was selected to represent the PACA region in January 2018 at the national final of “Best de l’Humour 2018” in Paris.

Hassan is the ultimate proof that, depending on the situation, we can use either laughter or anesthesia in order to cure pain.

Free Diving World Record Holder

The Monegasque Pierre Frolla grew up wearing diving fins and having the Mediterranean Sea as his playground for exploration. While preparing to become a physical education teacher in Nice, he met Claude Chapuis, the record holder in static apnea free-diving and founding member of AIDA. Chapuis launched this promising young man on the adventure of free-diving.

During his career, Pierre obtained 4 World Record titles: 3 in free-diving (diving without fins or mask) and 1 in variable weight diving (diving with the help of a 30kg plumb weight). He reached the unsettling depth of 123m, where only a well-trained body can withstand the pressure force (13kg per cm2), and a strong mind can face the accompanying sensations.

In 2007, Pierre decided to stop competing and dedicate himself to saving the underwater world. He devotes himself to teaching his passion at the “L’école Bleue”, a school he founded back in 2002. Moreover, he uses his experience in filming several documentaries about the fascinating world of the ocean.

Pierre is the ambassador of the Princess Charlene Foundation and Director of the Centre de Sauvetage Aquatique de Monaco. Through these two functions, Pierre promotes his dearest values of courage, humility, sharing, brotherhood, honor and engagement.

Artists

Ride the Clouds is an innovative band based in Nice. Their original music, which is sometimes written, sometimes improvised, can be seen as an invitation to dream and travel through the unique combination of piano, saxophone, (electric) harp, voice and electronics.

Saxophones/electronics: Julien Perez. Julien completed his studies in the arrangement and composition of Jazz and Classical music at the “American School of Modern Music” in Paris. He has performed with guitarist El Sciubba, “Yaki” in the electro scene, Clément Broner and Hugo Corbin in Jazz formations and composes film music.

Piano/keyboards: François Barucco. An impressionist and colorful piano game defines François’ music, the result of his varied journey from the romantic and classical piano to contemporary music and jazz. His pleasure of sharing the stage, and producing an original musical experience made of improvisation and poetry, guides him in his projects.

Song/ (electric) harp: Aliénor De Georges. Passionate about the harp, she completed her degree at the Conservatoire of Antibes. In 2013, she becomes enthusiastic about theater and pursues drama studies at the National Conservatory of Nice. Today she plays the harp in the band “Harpazur” and sings in the group “Ride The Clouds” She also works with several theatre companies.

Maritime Consultant & Conservationist

Louise Harrison is a cross-discipline facilitator who has worked in varied roles in her career to bridge the gap between technologies, markets and people. Currently serving as Triton Submarines’ Director of Sales & Marketing for the European region, she is also a passionate advocate for ocean conservation.

Born in the UK and resident in Monaco, Louise has lived and worked in Europe, West Africa, the Americas, and further afield over the last 25 years, forging a career in consumer electronics, project management and marketing before moving into yachting over a decade ago.

Her first experience with submersibles and sub-sea technology was as a project manager for a serial submersible owner, bringing her into contact with a largely hidden world of trailblazing explorers, engineers, scientists and conservationists. Aware of how new materials and innovative engineering can provide a whole new way to connect with our oceans, Louise’s personal mission is to encourage the use of these technologies to increase people’s understanding and appreciation of our fragile oceans, so they can be protected for future generations.