Speakers

As one of the first female submarine officers in the United States Navy, Taylor Sheppard has completed eight deployments and seven maintenance periods, including a stint in charge of the submarine’s nuclear reactor-plant. She works full-time for McKinsey & Company and serves as a uniformed project manager in the Office of Naval Research.

Koza Yazgan is the founding director of Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, where she now manages its museum and contemporary-art programming. She is leading the dialogue around the importance of the hammam to Istanbul’s cultural heritage. Koza also oversees collaborations and education programmes, ensuring that the site remains a vibrant centre for community exchange and learning.

Agapi Sbokou is the co-owner and CEO of Phaea, one of Greece’s leading hospitality companies. As vice-president of the Greek Tourism Confederation and Marketing Greece, as well as a board member of the Greek Tourism Institute, she is an expert in luxury product development, operations and commercial strategy.

Zeynep Fadillioglu founded her eponymous design studio in Istanbul in 1995. Known for her ability to transform local cultures into universal designs, she is credited with being the first woman to design a mosque – the Şakirin Mosque in Istanbul – which was nominated for the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture. She recently designed the elegant interiors of The Peninsula Hotel Istanbul.

Barbara Nadel is the award-winning author of the ‘Cetin Ikmen’ series of crime fiction novels set in modern Istanbul. These have been recently adapted for television as The Turkish Detective, which was broadcast by the BBC. A psychology graduate, Nadel worked in mental health, both in hospitals and the community, until she became a full-time writer in 2010.

Aires’s Porto-based graphic design studio is known for creating the city’s visual identity in 2014. Among its clients are companies and institutions such as Esporão, The Portuguese Mint, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Amorim Group. In 2023, Aires directed the rebranding of the Portuguese government. Aires also develops self-initiated projects merging editorial and product design.

Designers and sisters Basak and Defne Kocabiyikoglu make clothes with a narrative tied to femininity and Turkish heritage. Nackiyé, named after their great-grandmother, is an ode to the women of their family, as well as the cultural legacy of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Mehmet Kalyoncu founded the Türkiye Design Council (TDC) with associates in 2016. TDC aims to contribute to the social and economic development of Turkey through a design-oriented approach. Kalyoncu is currently working to support the design-led revitalisation of Hatay and Adiyaman following the February 2023 earthquakes.

Smet has more than 25 years’ experience in government in Belgium. He first served as commissioner general for refugees and stateless persons but has since worked extensively across mobility and public works in the Brussels capital region. During this time he spearheaded the transformation of Brussels from a car-centric city to a people-first city by placing a bigger emphasis on public transport and space for cyclists. He is now a member of the regional Brussels Capital Parliament.

With more than 20 years of experience working at the highest levels of government, Verjee now serves as executive director at Expo City Dubai. Her work is centred on driving strategic partnerships and collaborations, shaping the city into a global hub for sustainable growth. Verjee sits on the board of the UN Global Compact Network UAE as an advocate for the advancement of the UN’s sustainable development goals.

England is an award-winning architect, poet and artist who aims to give “poetry to the pragmatic”. During a distinguished career England has created a cannon of regionalist architecture, particularly in his native Malta, that is built from a strong sense of place and rooted in local materials. He is an Officer of the Order of Merit of Malta and was granted the Freedom of the City of London in 2023.

Freitag founded his eponymous recycled-accessories brand in 1993 with the aim of “connecting committed people and good design to create a bright green future”. As an advocate of public transport and a keen cyclist, he then launched Flinc, which produces compact, cargo bicycles. Freitag is also the co-founder of the Made in Zürich Initiative, which helps support local producers.

Erion Veliaj was re-elected for his third term as Mayor of Tirana in May 2023. Before joining the ranks of the Socialist Party of Albania in 2011, Veliaj was the leader and founder of the youth movement “Mjaft”, a civic organisation which gained huge popularity for inspiring peaceful protest. Veliaj has also worked with several international humanitarian organisations in the Americas, Eastern Africa and Kosovo.

Appointed as north Dhaka’s chief heat officer by Arsht-Rock (Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center), Bushra Afreen is working with various stakeholders to develop equitable ways to make the city cooler and safer – particularly for women and children. Her priorities include involving Dhaka’s most vulnerable people in climate policy, research and action, and shaping its heat-resilience plan.

Ekrem Imamoglu studied business administration at Istanbul University before earning a master’s in human resources management. In 2009 he became the head of the CHP Beylikduzu district, then the municipality’s mayor in 2014. He was elected as the mayor of Istanbul in 2019, securing a second term in 2024, and subsequently became the president of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye.

Elected as Chefchaouen’s mayor in 2009, Mohamed Sefiani is working to make the Blue Pearl the world’s first tourist eco city. He is a special envoy for food systems for the United Cities & Local Governments network and ambassador for Africa for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. An engineering graduate of Mines Rabat, he is passionate about Africa’s role in driving innovation.