Urs Bucher - Interviewer
Urs Bucher once handled punch card programming. A sharp and creative mind combined with a vast management experience in the IT industry now makes him your guide for all strategic (IT/online) decisions. These days he's a partner and the CEO of Amazee Labs, a Zurich-based web agency. Urs is one of the minds behind TEDxZurich and an enthusiastic TEDster.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” Oscar Wild
Chris Darwa
Chris Darwa is originally from Australia but has lived in Qatar, Germany and London before moving to Switzerland. He worked as a trainer in the fitness industry for 8 years before committing to stand up comedy and acting in London in 2012.
AMBITION: To tell all the stories I have to tell.
Daniel Drummer
Daniel Drummer is a specialist in Big Data and advanced analytics at McKinsey & Company, where he focuses on digital technologies and disruptive innovation. Daniel graduated from The University of Oxford and received his MBA with Distinction. He also holds a Masters Degree (LL.M.) in Corporate Law. Daniel has been appointed to lead the ‘Future of FinTech’ team on behalf of the World Economic Forum and its Global Agenda Council on the Future of Financing & Capital.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein
Laurent Goetschel
Laurent Goetschel is the director of Swisspeace and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Basel. He is president of the Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries at the Swiss Academy of Sciences. Not just an academic but a person of action, Laurent has directed a Swiss National Science Foundation research program on Swiss foreign policy and served as the political advisor to the Swiss Minister for Foreign Affairs.
AMBITION: To improve people’s behavior by means of adequate knowledge and coaching.
Shlomo Graber
Schlomo Graber is a painter and writer. Born in Russian Carpathia in 1926, but raised in Nyirbator, Hungary, Shlomo and his family were sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz in 1944. Having been freed by the Red Army in 1945 and emigrated to Israel, Shlomo has been in Basel since 1989, where he lives with the love of his life.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Be strong and never let hatred enter your heart. Always remember, love is stronger than hate." Shlomo’s mother, to him as a child.
Joël'n Jazette
Voix & Guitare : L-Joël BERNHARD
Guitare & Voix : Tony MANIAS
Contrebasse : André SCHORNOZ
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Music is a touch of paradise”
Cansu Kandemir
Cansu Kandemir is a bioengineer and musician from Istanbul, Turkey. She has pursued two concurrent careers in Turkey, the USA and Switzerland. She records sounds in different cities and countries around the world, reflecting on her experiences through music and combining these sounds with the different stories she writes.
FAVORITE TED TALK: Larry Smith: Why you will fail to have a great career
Barbara Krieger
Barbara Krieger is an independant media professional, video maker and story teller. Having worked for Swiss Television for over 20 years, she gained vast experience as a journalist, documentary filmmaker, producer and head of Swiss School Television. Barbara acts as a critical sounding board, out-of-the-box-thinker and trustworthy researcher in the wide field of content and communication.
AMBITION: To replace fear of the unknown with curiosity.
Liz Lian
Liz Lian is passionate about empowering parents and kids to build purpose-driven networks. She works at this daily as a social entrepreneur, writer and mother.
She worked previously as an education catalyst and information technology consultant. Liz holds degrees from MIT and INSEAD.
Esther Meduna
Esther Meduna has loved plants since childhood, a love which eventually led her to study botany in Zurich, where she gave tours for schools through the university’s botanical gardens. Esther came to ProSpecieRara with an extremely broad professional experience in the fields of botany, databases and didactics. Previously, she has worked as a high school teacher, at the Swiss Youth in Science Foundation and in applied biodiversity research.
FAVORITE TED TALK: Birke Baehr: What’s wrong with our food system?
Kristen Pressner
Kristen Pressner is the Global Head of Human Resources, in a major international company. She graduated from Purdue University with top honors and received her MBA from The University of Dallas. Kristen is a passionate advocate and tireless campaigner for women in the workplace. She is married with 4 children.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Elliot
Peter Sandbach
Peter Sandbach is the Head of Communication Training at Roche and set up the Roche Academy of Business Communications. No stranger to controversy, he is a well versed veteran of issue management and has set up communication plans for many controversial topics in small companies around the globe. Less well known is Peter’s passion for Morris Dancing.
FAVORITE TED TALK: Benjamin Zander, The transformative power of Classical Music
Reto Schegg
Reto Schegg is an expert in eHealth projects, who has been involved in many recent big eHealth initiatives all over Europe. With a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering & Business Administration, he has been responsible for international health tech business lines and sales teams. Reto drives the idea of encouraging citizens to make better decisions about their own health in order to receive the best possible care.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “If you are not paying for the product, you are the product."
Dorothée Schiesser
Dorothée Schiesser-Peyrouzet (originally French but Swiss for many years) has an educational background in Management and Political Sciences. Following a career in marketing and journalism, she has lived all over the world including in the USA, Polynesia and Cameroon. Before founding SapoCycle, she worked in project management at FHNW and for a British communication agency. She is married and has two grown-up children.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop
Enno Schmidt
Enno Schmidt is an artist, filmmaker, author and spokesman. He is a founder of the people’s initiative for an unconditional basic income in Switzerland (vote on June 5th), and co-founder and managing director of the Enterprise Economy and Art - Expands. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, he lives in Basel.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "He who wants something finds a way. He who doesn't, finds a reason", Götz W. Werner, entrepreneur
Marco Serra
Marco Serra is the Global Chief Architect at Novartis. His primary projects have been the design for the campus Main Gate in Basel and for the Abadia Retuerta-Hotel conversion in Spain. Of Italian descent, Marco was born in Zürich and attended the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich where he graduated as Dipl. Arch. ETHZ under Professor Hans Kollhoff.
AMBITION: To leave the world in a more beautiful shape than I found it.
Bret Simner
Bret Simner is a native of Queens, New York, and a graduate of the Juilliard School. An early music specialist, he has studied at preeminent music schools across Europe and North America. He currently serves as principal bassist of Barockorchester Cantus Firmus. He has appeared as a guest lecturer and soloist on the Viennese bass, and in ensemble work in the US and across Europe. He lives in Basel with his wife and son.
FAVORITE TED TALK: Adam Grant: The surprising habits of original thinkers
Samuel Vonäsch
Samuel Vonäsch studied game design in Zurich. He organized competitions for the Ludicious Zurich Game Festival, worked a lot in theater and in the exploration of the interactive. He is currently a developer at ZAAK Zürich and co-producer for the game Schlicht.
FAVORITE TED TALK: Reggie Watts: Beats that defy Boxes