G100: Group of 100 Global Women Leaders
Shelli Brunswick
She is an eminent figure in the realm of space exploration and innovation. With a wealth of experience spanning a dynamic career, Shelli’s profound insights and visionary perspective have established her as a guiding force within the global space community.
Having embarked on a remarkable journey from distinguished roles within the U.S. Air Force to her current position as the CEO & Founder of SB Global LLC, Shelli’s leadership acumen is nothing short of exceptional. Her focus on strategic engagements and advocacy reflects a deep understanding of the intricate tapestry that constitutes the global space ecosystem.
Championing key values nurtured during her military service, Shelli is a fervent advocate for space technology innovation, diversity, and inclusion. Her collaborations worldwide, uniting the commercial, governmental, and educational sectors, underscore her commitment to fostering a harmonious and progressive space landscape.
Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen
She is the Former Chairman of the Executive Board of Aon Holdings B.V. and Aon Group International B.V. (part of Aon Plc; NYSE AON), and other Holdings entities in the Netherlands, consolidating USD 7bn of Aon’s total global revenue. Aon operates in 120 countries globally with 55,000 employees. Marguerite has over 33 years of international experience in the financial services and insurance industry.
In addition, Marguerite holds various non-executive and ambassadorial roles, including Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kelp Blue, Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the international law firm NautaDutilh, member of the global Alumni board of Harvard Business School (USA), member of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Royal Military Museums, and member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands. Marguerite is also an Ambassador of UWC Maastricht and supports their MENA Women Empowerment initiative.
Dr. Gordana Nikolic
She is a prominent businesswoman, featured among the top 100 Croatian leaders. She is the founder, owner, and Dean of PAR University College, Croatia, the only independent higher education institution in the northern Adriatic region and among Croatia’s top 20 educational centers for entrepreneurship.
She is also the owner and director of Business Academy Rijeka. She has received many prestigious awards, including Best Woman Entrepreneur in Croatia in 2015 by the Croatian Association of Business Women – KRUG. In 2016, she received an award from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County for the promotion of science, education, and female entrepreneurship in the region. The same year, she was also honored with the annual award from the City of Rijeka for her outstanding contribution to higher education and entrepreneurship, particularly for launching the first private higher education institution.
She is Vice President of the Global Women Leaders Committee, which brings together women in the global network of business angels. She states that these awards “have made PAR a strong promoter of women’s entrepreneurship and higher education quality on a national level”.
Marianne Egelund Siig
She is a recognized strategic leader dedicated to creating value and purpose for people, businesses, and society as a whole. For more than 20 years, Marianne Egelund Siig has led successful business transformations in the fields of leadership, talent, and organizational strategies and development.
She is an expert in gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. Marianne currently works as CEO for Mannaz, an international consultancy and education programs company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with offices in Sweden and the UK. (https://www.mannaz.com) In 1994, Marianne started her career as the Managing Director of the Nordic consulting firm KaosManagement.
She has collaborated with over 200 companies as a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and facilitator of transformational training programs to co-create innovative solutions.
Karen Duys
She is a highly experienced senior advisor to governments and social organizations who has worked for governments at local, regional, and international levels for over 30 years. She has been committed to concrete cooperation between governments (municipalities, ministries), institutions, and small and medium-sized companies between the Netherlands, Europe, and the rest of the world. She has greatly contributed to building Netherlands-India exchange.
During her work with the municipality of The Hague for more than 15 years, Karen put cooperation with India on the Dutch agenda, resulting in many delegations led by the Mayor of The Hague to Bangalore and resulting in many MOUs with the State government of Karnataka in the areas of care, economy, water, and infrastructure. For the past 10 years, Karen has also served as a senior advisor to the Mayor of Rotterdam and aldermen of various municipalities. She also led the implementation of the noted Healthcare and Participation Act at the Department of Health and Welfare of the City of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as at the Care, Welfare, and Culture department of the province of North-Holland, and the Strategic Economic Projects Unit of the province of South Holland.
Prof. Dr. Lizbeth Goodman
She is the Chair of Creative Technology Innovation and Professor of Inclusive Design for Education at the College of Engineering & Architecture, University College Dublin, where she also directs the Inclusive Design Research Centre of Ireland, in partnership with SMARTlab. This partnership developed the award-winning practice-based PhD Programme along with the associated MAGIC Multimedia and Games Innovation Centre and Gamelab, which Lizbeth designed with industry collaborators.
Prior to joining UCD, Lizbeth was the Director of Research for Futurelab—Lord David Puttnam’s think tank for the future of education—and served in that capacity on the Prime Minister’s SHINE Panel.
As Chair of the Royal Irish Academy’s Social Sciences Committee in 2012 and Athena Swan lead for Engineering & Architecture, Lizbeth and her teams specialize in developing ground-up technology solutions with and for people of all levels of cognitive and physical ability.
H.E. Segolene Royal
She is the President of Cop21, former Minister of Environment, Energy and Sea, President of the DA Planet Foundation for solar energy and women in Africa, author of 15 books, and mother of four children. She was the first woman in France to be a finalist in a presidential election.
She was also Minister Delegate for Family Affairs, Childhood and Disability (March 2000 – May 2002), Minister Delegate for School Education (June 1997 – March 2000), and Minister for the Environment (April 1992 – March 1993). She was President of the Poitou-Charentes Region from April 2004 to May 2014 and was a member of the French Parliament for the Deux-Sèvres department numerous times between 1988 and 2007.
Minister Royal was also Vice-President and Spokeswoman for the Banque Publique d’Investissement (French Public Investment Bank), Vice President of Socialist International, and an advisor to French President François Mitterrand from 1982-1988.
H.E. Ouided Bouchamaoui
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. Tunisia is a businesswoman and the past president of UTICA (Tunisian Industry Confederation), the first woman elected to this role.
Ouided Bouchamaoui is the co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize 2015 as a member of the National Dialogue Quartet, where she played a historic and legendary role in helping her country navigate through a time of crisis during the Arab Spring, moving Tunisia towards a more transparent and collaborative society with democratic processes, a constitutional framework, and transparent elections.
Ms. Bouchamaoui has also been a member of the Oslo Business for Peace Award Committee since January 2016. She describes the open secret of her success as the ability to build win-win partnerships and relationships, even among opponents.
Charlene Doak-Gebauer
She is the Founder and Chair of the federal Canadian charity “Internet Sense First,” and the AICET Council (Anti Internet Child Exploitation Team). An eminent expert in child protection, she is the author of two books – “Digital Sexual Victims: True Cases,” which was nominated for an international award by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society of educators, and her newest release, “The Internet: Are Children In Charge?”. Both books are available on 40,000 distribution channels worldwide. The objective of her organizations is to educate the public regarding the Theory of Digital Supervision for proactive online child protection. Internet Sense First provides funding for therapy for victims of Internet child exploitation.
She has researched and written her Theory of Digital Supervision for proactive online child protection and is considered an expert in her subject. She travels globally to share her expertise and leads audiences toward digital child and family protection. She is a global speaker and has been a keynote speaker for several conferences, including Crime Stoppers, schools, teacher conferences, corporate conferences, international conferences, and others.
Michelle Ferrari
She is the CEO of Great Culture to Innovate®️ in Mexico, a global firm promoting and developing innovative cultures, and Partner of Great Place to Work, which she led as CEO for two decades. She works with many multinationals and Fortune 500 companies such as Manpower, UBER, Baxter Pharmaceutical, Edenred, Newell Rubbermaid, USANA, and KPMG. She is credited with building a pioneering certification program, now benchmarked by corporations throughout Mexico, making it the gold standard for measuring workplace culture. Michelle chairs several boards, including AmCham and Young President Organization (YPO), and is a member of the Global Leadership Council of Great Place to Work.
Her work has impacted hundreds of companies with thousands of employees, reaching more than 1 million people through this methodology, which has transformed how leaders view human capital and Human Resources, and the impact it has on their business, social responsibility, and employer branding. Her efforts have also involved many important media partners and strategic alliances to distribute content, especially for the Women Economic Forum (WEF) Iberoamerica editions, generating more than 3 million media impressions, streaming on the most visited platforms, and several universities with a reach of 110,000 persons per day.
H.E. Justice Carmen R. Velasquez
She is a NY Supreme Court Justice and the Immediate Past President of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Judge Carmen is recognized for her dedication to public service. She serves as a Supreme Court Justice in the 11th District of the State of New York and is the first Ecuadorian-American judge in the U.S. She previously served as a judge for the New York City Civil Court of Queens County. She is a founding member and past president of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County.
Her other leadership roles include NAWJ-NY Board Member, IAWJ International Committee’s Commissioner, US Chapter of the Pan American Commission of Judges on Social Justice, Vice-President of Supreme Court Justices for the City of NY, Founding Member-Advisory Board of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, and Founder & CEO of Brigada de Esperanza NY. Judge Velasquez says, “It has not been easy for me, but I am grateful for the opportunity to attend school and get an education, and the opportunity to help others through my extensive pro bono work when I was a lawyer and now to preside in court with dignity and respect.”
H.E. Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor
She is the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia and President of the Liberian Senate. H.E. Dr. Taylor is Liberia’s foremost advocate for increased and improved opportunities for women. Her Excellency Dr. Taylor is a visible and highly involved stateswoman, with a vision for affordable yet quality education, a transparent justice system, an improved and accessible health system, women’s economic and political participation, and an accountable public service system. She is a critical voice on cross-cutting issues at many frontlines in the battle to reposition Liberia for vibrancy, productivity, and good democratic governance.
Dr. Taylor currently serves in many capacities, including Vice President of the Republic of Liberia. She has also served as a senior ranking member of the Liberian Senate on several strategic committees such as: Chairperson of the Women Legislative Caucus of Liberia; Chairperson of the Education and Public Administration Committee; Co-Chairperson of the Planning and Development Committee; Member of the Joint Legislative Modernization Committee; Member of the Committee on Judiciary; Member of the Committee on Autonomous Commissions.
Lucia de Luca
She is an equity champion and community-builder, and the former Managing Director of Women Political Leaders (WPL) (2019-2021), the worldwide network of women politicians. With more than 20 years of experience in international cooperation, strategic communications, and community creation, Lucia has been instrumental in steering WPL through the unprecedented times of the pandemic, setting it on a path of growth. She mobilized communities and partners, motivating staff to create impactful societal change.
Previously, Lucia worked for the European Food Safety Authority (2004-2018), where she managed reputational crises and international relations. As an expert in stakeholder engagement, she redesigned stakeholder policies for various public bodies. Lucia also worked as a policy and media specialist for a renowned consultancy in Brussels, and in public relations for an innovative international airline. She has experience at the European Parliament (2007-2009).
Diah Yusuf
She is very enthusiastic about involving and dedicating her time to various social communities and working on government projects to develop SMEs in Indonesia since 2005, as well as developing her own business. She founded Indonesia Prima, a strategic business support organization with a global network dedicated to developing accountable Indonesian enterprises aligned with sustainable development for a better life. The organization serves as a development center for exploring, maintaining, and leveraging entrepreneurial mindsets, skillsets, and spirits for a better life. Indonesia Prima provides continuous improvement acceleration for entrepreneurs seeking the best support for their optimum achievement, including preparation for connecting with investors. Diah has also actively learned from and completed several local and international entrepreneurial workshops and certifications.
She holds a Ph.D. from Rai University in India, awarded in 2022. The honorary doctorate was given in appreciation of her dedication to empowering small and medium enterprises globally.
Tove Lovisa Bergkvist
She is the Founder and CEO of Real Dubai, a real estate company in the UAE. An entrepreneur and author of the book “Sixth Sense Success – Embrace Your Feminine Intuition in Business,” she provides a guide for women to utilize their natural abilities while navigating their professional journeys. A business consultant with a natural passion for empowering others, she is driven by the potential to make the world a better place. She believes that we are all part of the collective evolution, and her mission is to accelerate social, environmental, and financial sustainability worldwide through global collaborations and bridge-building between people, businesses, cultures, and economic levels.
Her goal is to co-create opportunities for people to work together towards a positive shift for humanity and support the vision of a better future. She was honored with the “Global Women for Change” award from the Women Innovation Entrepreneurship Foundation in 2022. She started her journey with women’s empowerment in 2011 by co-creating the business concept for the Norwegian social enterprise “Sisters in Business,” with a commitment to make a difference for immigrant women in their social and professional lives. This was realized through innovative partnerships with Norwegian companies, aiming to enable the women in the network to become financially independent and own their future.
Brunhilde Schram
She is the Founder and Honorary President of the CSR Dialogue Forum, Association for the Promotion of Sustainable Business in Consultative Status with the United Nations. She is also the Managing Director of ECCOStandards & More KG, Austria. Her company specializes in sustainability management and is a strategic cooperation partner with Quality Austria, which is represented in 48 countries. They focus on the measurement and assessment of development measures for companies, enabling sustainability ratings for organizations that wish to see themselves as impact investors. An accredited member of the Club of Rome, she is also the founder of WIKOM, the Institute for Work, Culture and Learning, and the Implacement Foundation (a cooperation with the government and various companies and organizations). She has been part of Boardsearch, a platform for female supervisory board members, and the national spokeswoman of the CSR Experts Group/WKO for sustainable management.
A consummate community leader across a wide spectrum of interconnected fields, she is a founding member of the Human Health Development Institute for Organizational and Structural Health, as well as the Association for the Promotion of New Entrepreneurship.
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati
She is a renowned spiritual leader, author, and motivational speaker based in Rishikesh, India. She is the President of the Divine Shakti Foundation, which runs free schools, vocational training programs, and empowerment programs. She is also the director of the world-famous International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh, which has been covered in Time, CNN, the New York Times, and other prestigious publications and has been addressed by both the Prime Minister and Vice President of India.
She serves on the United Nations Advisory Council on Religion and on the steering committees of the International Partnership for Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) and the Moral Imperative to End Extreme Poverty, a campaign by the United Nations and the World Bank. She is the author of the newly released #1 bestselling memoir, “Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation.” Originally from Los Angeles and a graduate of Stanford University, Sadhviji was ordained into the sacred order of Sanyas by her guru, HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, and has been living at Parmarth Niketan Ashram for the past twenty-five years.
Adriana Basulto
She is a prominent businesswoman, recognized for her extensive 20-year career in the luxury real estate industry. She has successfully established influential enterprises in this field, including Bya Inmobiliaria, which was recognized as “Mexico’s Best Luxury Real Estate Office.” Anael Capital Investment has become a benchmark, distinguished for its strategic focus on investments in high-end properties, both domestically and internationally. Adriana has led this company with vision and passion, fostering strong relationships with clients and collaborators and building a portfolio of luxury properties that reflects her commitment to excellence.
In addition to her business accomplishments as founder and leader, Adriana Basulto was recognized by the Senate of the Republic as a “Mexican Woman Who Inspires” for her outstanding work. She was also awarded for her dedication as a “Social Leader” for her commitment to humanitarian causes. These recognitions underscore her significant contributions to society.
Ambassador H.E. Liliana Fernández
She is the Ambassador of Panama and has represented her country in various parts of the world in diplomatic, consular, and commercial roles, in addition to handling issues in multilateral organizations. Her degrees are in Economics and Political Science, with a master’s in Development. Excellency Fernandez has been an advisor in development and international business, with expertise in public and private sector liaison. With more than 20 years of experience, she has served in national and international organizations.
In recent years, her focus has been on “South-Global Cooperation,” seeking collaborative solutions to the development challenges that countries face. Her focus has also been on foreign policy with a gender perspective, promoting female empowerment, supporting victims of gender violence, and fighting for women’s rights, inclusion, and gender equality. In her position as Ambassador, she is a great leader, an image of female empowerment, and committed to the well-being of her team. A dear soul sister, she wishes to share the knowledge acquired throughout her career and forge a path of progress and prosperity for people across continents.
