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Gilbert Achermann is Chair at Straumann, the global leader in implant dentistry, and a board member at Julius Bär, the private bank, Ypsomed, a selfcare solutions company, and Vifor, a pharma company. In addition, he is a jury member at Venture Kick and member of the Board at the Swiss MedTech association.

Prior to becoming Chair, Achermann served as CFO and CEO at Straumann. His previous positions include Chair and Co-CEO of the Vitra Group, a family-owned furniture and shopfitting company. Prior to that he held positions as Chair at Siegfried, a listed pharma service company, and Vice Chair at the Moser Group, a privately owned luxury watch company. He began his career at UBS in investment banking.

He holds an EMBA from IMD (2000) and joined IMD in July 2016 as Executive-in-Residence.

Hana Al Rostamani is Group CEO at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). As the only female Group CEO of a major UAE-headquartered bank and publicly listed corporation within the UAE, Al Rostamani is recognized for being a change leader and for her forward-thinking vision with a focus on embedding a culture of innovation and diversity and inclusion in her leadership.

A seasoned C-suite executive with more than 20 years’ experience in banking and financial services, she previously served as Deputy Group CEO and Head of Personal Banking at FAB, responsible for leading the transformation of FAB’s consumer bank, instilling a customer and digital-first mindset.

A graduate of George Washington University in the US, Al Rostamani is currently Chair of the Global Council on the Sustainable Development Goals, with a key interest in Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. She is also a member of MasterCard Advisory and has served as an independent director in Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (Du) and Vice Chair at the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Services.

Her most recent accolade includes her nomination in Forbes Middle East, being ranked third as featured in the Middle East’s Power Business’ Women 2021 list.

Liselott Kilaas is Chair at Coala Life. She has over 20 years of international top management experience, resulting in a proven track record in strategic and operational performance development across a broad spectrum of businesses. During the last 10 years she worked in the healthcare sector and was CEO at Aleris 2013–2017.

Kilaas has extensive non-executive board and committee experience including central banking, investment funds, telecom, technology, branded consumer goods, healthcare, medical technology, aluminum, media and shipping. Her first two board assignments were with the Central Bank of Norway (also responsible for the Norwegian Sovereign Fund), a position she held for 12 years, and Telenor, a position she held for 10 years.

She is currently working with companies that are listed, private equity owned, and governmental owned. She is currently a member of the board of directors at Norsk Hydro ASA, Orkla ASA, Ambea AB, Peab AB, Nobina AB, Norwegian Sovereign Fund, and Chair of the Board of Directors at Coala Life, Implantica AG, and Avonova AB.

She has a Master’s in mathematical statistics from the University of Oslo, Norway and is an IMD MBA.

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp is Executive Chair at LEGO Brand Group and a member of the board at LEGO A/S. He also holds positions as member of the board at Starbucks and Merlin Entertainments Limited, and as Chair at BrainPOP.

Knudstorp joined the LEGO Group in 2001 and was appointed President and CEO in 2004.

He began his career at McKinsey & Company in 1998 and holds an MSc and PhD in economics management from Aarhus University in Denmark.

Damien O’Brien is a non-executive director at Ardagh Group and St Vincent’s Health Australia. He has enjoyed a global career with roles in China, Sydney, Paris, London, and Zurich. He retired from global management consulting and executive search firm Egon Zehnder in 2018 after 30 years, including six years as CEO and the last eight years as Chair.

Prior to this, he held various management positions at Red Rock Leisure, a family-owned group of companies in Australia, and worked as an associate with McKinsey. His current boards include Ardagh Metal Packaging SA in the US, Ardagh Group SA, and the Advisory Board of Conduit Funds Management in Sydney.

O’Brien holds an MBA from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales. He also has a diploma in theology and philosophy from Saint Columban’s College in Sydney, which included two years’ study and community work in Mindanao, the Philippines.

He has been a member of the supervisory board at IMD since 2008.

Woods Staton is Executive Chair at Arcos Dorados (NYSE: ARCO), the world’s largest independent McDonald’s franchisee. Arcos Dorados operates or franchises more than 2,200 restaurants, with over 100,000 employees and greater than US$3bn in revenue across 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Often recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Latin America, every year Arcos Dorados generates first-time, formal employment opportunities for tens of thousands of young people in the region.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Staton’s business life has focused on consumer goods in Latin America. His grandfather founded Panamco, which became the largest Coca/Cola bottler in the world with operations in seven Latin American countries. After many years in the family business, he branched out, starting his own entrepreneurial career as McDonald’s joint venture partner in Argentina. He later served as President of McDonald’s South Latin America Division. He founded Arcos Dorados in 2007, when he led a consortium of investors in the purchase of McDonald’s Corporation’s operations in Latin America. In April 2011, Arcos Dorados executed a successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Staton is actively involved in several non-profit organizations. He is Co-Founder of Endeavor Argentina, promoting entrepreneurship, as well as a founding partner of Ashoka Argentina, a global organization committed to investing in innovative solutions through social entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Chair’s International Advisory Council of the Council of the Americas and currently serves as the Chair for the Latin American Program’s Advisory Board at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a think tank in Washington DC.

Su-Mei Thompson is CEO at Media Trust, a non-profit organization based in London which works with media industry partners to give charities, under-represented communities, and young people a stronger voice. 

Thompson started her career as a corporate finance lawyer at Linklaters, before spending many years in leading media companies including The Walt Disney Company and the Financial Times. She was a member of the FT’s Global Management Board and Managing Director for Asia, before going on to be Co-Head of Christie’s Asia. 

Her career in the non-profit sector began in 2007 when she became CEO at The Women’s Foundation Hong Kong. Under her leadership, The Women’s Foundation emerged as a leading NGO, known for its innovative and impactful community and mentoring programmes and effective partnerships with multiple stakeholders. Su-Mei also founded the 30% Club’s Hong Kong chapter to advocate for more women on boards and TWF’s Male Allies HeForShe network. At TWF, Su-Mei started to make her mark as a leading advocate for gender equality on the international stage. She co-produced the award-winning documentary “She Objects” and was invited to discuss female media representation at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Meanwhile, her TED talk ”Dying To Be Thin” has attracted over 150,000 views. 

Having previously served on Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission, in 2020, Thompson was appointed to the Board of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, the UK’s national human rights institution. She is also a Trustee at the Orwell Foundation, a Member of the English National Opera’s Insights Council, an Editorial Board Member for IMD’s I publication, and a Council Member of Cheltenham Ladies College, her alma mater. 

A law graduate of Cambridge and Oxford, she was the first woman to make the Dean’s List for IMD’s MBA program and was recently named by IMD as one of its 50 MBA Laureates. She was also recognized by Charity Times on International Women’s Day 2022 as one of 15 women leaders making a difference and inspiring other leaders in the charity sector.