Thomas Vellacott: Thomas Vellacott BA MBA MPhil FRSA (4 March 1971) is CEO of WWF Switzerland, the conservation organisation. WWF Switzerland has 260,000 supporters and forms part of WWF’s global network. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Thomas holds degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Durham, in International Relations from Cambridge and in Business Administration from IMD. Previously, he worked in private banking for Citibank and as an engagement manager for McKinsey & Co. Prior to taking on the role of CEO in 2012, Thomas spent 9 years heading up WWF Switzerland’s programme division and was responsible for the organisation’s national and international conservation projects. Thomas has been a member of WWF since he was 8 years old.
Prof- em. Dr. Silvio Borner: Silvio Borner (1941) professor emeritus for Economics and Politics at the University of Basel and Program Director of the “Summer School for Law, Economics and Public Policy”, which he founded. He is also a senior advisor at Hoffmann & Partner, a founding member of the Carnot-Cournot Network for economic studies for economic studies, member of the program commission of Avenir Suisse and columnist for the “Weltwoche” magazine. After studying at the University of St. Gallen and Yale (USA), he qualified as a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen in 1973 before becoming a tenured professor in Basel in 1978. There, he taught economics for over 30 years, with spells as a visiting professor at Stanford University, Vancouver, Buenos Aires and Sydney. He was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Business and Economics (WWZ) at the University of Basel and in setting up the university’s own Faculty of Business and Economics. He has been a Professor emeritus since August 2009 and now serves as the Director of the WWZ Summer School for Law, Economics and Public Policy, which he founded. As the author of some twenty published books and over 150 academic articles and essays, Professor Borner has always been in close contact with the business world and public life.
Stephen Tindale: Stephen Tindale has 26 years of experience working in various roles within the energy and climate sectors. He is currently the Director of the Alvin Weinberg Foundation, advocating innovation and delivery of safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power. He does consultancy work for Tidal Lagoon Power and for the ReEnergise Group, and is an adviser to the Shale Gas Task Force. Stephen also runs the website Climate Answers (www.climateanswers.info), which tries to present information on climate issues in an accessible way, and to identify what should be supported rather than simply what should be opposed, as most NGOs do. He tweets @STindale. Stephen has long been in favour of community energy having co-authored, with Prashant Vaze, „Repowering commmunties: Small scale solutions to large scale problems“ (Earthscan, June 2011). Previous roles have included: Head of Communications and Public Affairs for RWE npower renewables; Executive Director of Greenpeace UK and Chairman of the Greenpeace European Unit; adviser to Environment Minister Michael Meacher; founder of IPPR Environment Group; adviser to Shadow Environment Secretary Chris Smith, diplomat at UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Daniel Ben-Ami: Daniel Ben-Ami has worked as a writer for over 25 years, during which he has contributed to numerous national, specialist and international publications. Ferraris For All, his book defending economic progress, was published in 2010. A paperback edition, including an additional chapter on the inequality debate in the West, was published in 2012. His book on global finance, Cowardly Capitalism (Wiley, 2001), was recommended by the Baker Library of Harvard Business School. Daniel writes regularly for the Financial Times on wealth and related topics. One day he hopes to untangle all the different ways in which the term “equality” is used.
Chair
Sabine Beppler-Spahl: Sabine Beppler-Spahl studied economics at the University of Hamburg. She went to school in Hong-Kong and Germany. She currently works in adult education in Berlin and lectures at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam. She speaks English, French (Diplome approfondi in 2001) and Spanish. She is also a regular contributor to the German magazine NovoArgumente and has published articles in Die Welt, Berliner Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Zeitschrift Merkur and other publications. She is married and has two children.
