Marisa Schiestl-Swarovski is a fifth-generation member of the Swarovski family. She studied international business in Vienna and New York and graduated from Durham University in the UK with a Bachelor of Business.

Marisa began her professional career as an events and marketing manager in Austria, where she organized major cultural initiatives, including a large-scale cultural event for the City of Vienna. During her master’s studies, she conceived and realized several exhibition and communication projects for cultural institutions across Austria.

In 2010, she founded the Swarovski Family Council to strengthen connections among the globally dispersed members of the Swarovski family, enhance shareholders’ understanding of the family business, and prepare future generations for their roles as responsible owners. She subsequently served for many years as Chair of the Shareholders’ Meetings of the Swarovski Group.

After living in Spain and Switzerland, Marisa now resides in Vienna with her family. She is a Member of the Management Board of Tyrolit Family Holding and the Chair of Swarovski Foundation.

Markus Langes-Swarovski has held senior executive positions as well as various board seats within the Swarovski Group for many years. After starting his career at the company from the ground up – from Trainee to Executive Board Member, Company Spokesperson and Chairman of the Board – he shaped key developments and implemented significant innovations over more than two decades. These include the expansion of the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, the establishment of new production sites as well as the Crystal Factory of the Future and Swarovski Manufaktur in Wattens. Today, Markus Langes-Swarovski serves on the Board of the Swarovski Family Holding.

Constantly driven to broaden his perspective and contributing his wealth of entrepreneurial experience, he is also involved in a wide range of companies, start-ups, philanthropic initiatives and institutions. Wattens holds a special place in his heart: through initiatives such as Destination Wattens, the Kristallmäuse childcare center, and the Erfinderkinder talent development program, he actively supports the sustainable development of the region and its local business ecosystem.

Markus Langes-Swarovski was born in 1974 and studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Bavarian Academy of Advertising and Marketing. He is based in Wattens, Austria, is happily married and father of four children.

Heinz Fassmann is President of the Austrian Academy of Science. He has been serving as Austrian Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research between January 2020 to December 2021 and served in the same capacity from December 2017 to June 2019.

Fassmann concluded his studies in Geography and Economic and Social History at the University of Vienna with a PhD in social history and a habilitation in Human Geography and Spatial Planning. In 1992 he became the director of the Institute of City and Regional Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

After being appointed Professor of Applied Geography (Geo‐Informatics) at the Technical University Munich in 1996 and a Professor for Applied Geography, Spatial Research and Regional Planning at the University of Vienna in 2000, he was nominated the Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences, Geography and Astronomy of the University of Vienna in 2006.

In 2011 he became the Vice‐Rector for Human Resources and International Relations and in 2015 the Vice‐Rector for Research and International Affairs of the University of Vienna. Fassmann was the Chair of the Expert Council for Integration at the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, a founding member of the Expert Council of German Foundations for Integration and Migration in Berlin and member of the Commission on Migration of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior.

He is a permanent member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea and his achievements have been recognized with a number of awards.

Ryan Gawn is Head of the Positioning and Outreach Division for the European Central Bank’s Digital Euro Directorate, as well as Co-Founder of Stratagem International, an international public affairs consultancy. Formerly Director of The LEGO Foundation, he designed and led a $70m philanthropic initiative, and as Head of International Communications for ActionAid International, he provided senior leadership to a global team working across the federation’s 46 markets. He has previously led international campaigns, served as a UK diplomat, and advised leading nonprofits and businesses. He is an advisor to the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, education charity Big Change, and former Council Member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). Educated in Scotland, Sweden, the United States, and Argentina, he is a Rotary World Peace Fellow (MA International Relations) and a Salzburg Fellow.

Maximilian Haim-Swarovski is a fifth-generation member of the Swarovski family. He completed his undergraduate studies in Nonprofit, Social and Healthcare Management at the Management Center Innsbruck and in 2016 he graduated from Bayes Business School with a Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management. To gain a better knowledge of sustainability he completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership.

His first work experience was in Asia which helped him to improve his interaction with people from different cultures. He joined the family business in 2020. His current role as Sustainability Manager gives him the opportunity to lead different projects, from sustainable packaging to long-term initiatives to reduce transport emissions. Since 2014, Maximilian is also a founding member and deputy treasurer of the non-profit organization Tugende Together, an organization that supports children and young people in Uganda in their Education.

Laura Amaya is a Partner and the Director of Dalberg’s London office, one of the world’s leading impact consultancy firms. She has worked extensively with companies, investors and philanthropies to deploy the power of business towards socio-economic development. Laura has shaped sustainability strategies for global corporations, designed co-funding and fundraising models for multi-stakeholder initiatives, and advised philanthropic foundations on grant-making strategy and organisational design. She previously was an Associate Director at FSG, where she co-led the firm’s Gender and Latin America practices.

Prior to working in international development, Laura was a practicing architect and anarchitecture journalist. She holds degrees from Cornell University and London Business School. Laura is Colombian, has lived in six countries and worked across Latin America, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the United States and Europe. She is based in London.