Colin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AIB and an Executive Director on the AIB Board in March 2019. He joined AIB in August 2016 as Managing Director, Wholesale, Institutional & Corporate Banking Division.

Prior to joining AIB, he was Managing Director at Macquarie Capital where he led the development of its business in Ireland. Previously, he was a Special Policy Adviser at the Departments of Transport and Finance, Research Director and Chief Economist at Goodbody Stockbrokers, Head of Trading Research and Senior Economist at Bank of Ireland Group Treasury and a country risk analyst at NatWest.

He has a PhD in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin and degrees in Commerce & Economics from University College, Cork. He served as a Non-Executive Director of Aer Lingus Group plc from 2008 to 2014. Colin is the Deputy President and Board member of Ibec, a Board member of The Ireland Funds, Ireland Chapter, and was President 2021/2022 of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland.

Dearbhail McDonald is an award-winning Journalist, Author, Broadcaster and MC. A global Eisenhower Fellow, Dearbhail has won a series of awards for her contribution to public affairs journalism including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Smurfit Business School, the Mary Cummins Award for Women of Outstanding Achievement in Media, an inaugural Dublin City University Special Alumni Achievement award, as well as Irish Tatler’s Media Woman of the Year. The author of Bust: How the Courts Exposed the Rotten Heart of the Irish Economy (Penguin), Dearbhail has used her platforms to consistently highlight a range of diverse issues affecting women including workplace equality, gender based violence, the socio-economic impacts of declining birth rates (Fertility Shock, RTE,2019) and the contribution of women religious in Irish Life (The Last Nuns in Ireland, RTE, 2024).

President of the Strategy Committee of the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, Dearbhail has served on the boards of Fighting Words, Ireland’s national creative writing centre for children and young adults, the St. Stephen’s Green Trust and the External Advisory Board of Maynooth University Department of Law. Dearbhail holds an LL.B (Law) from Trinity College Dublin as well as a Masters Degree in Journalism from Dublin City University.

Award-winning actor, screenwriter, director and producer, Edward Norton is also a committed social and environmental activist and entrepreneur. He is the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, President of the Board of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, founder of the Yale University Middle East Peacemakers Fund, and an early member of New York’s High Line Urban Redevelopment Project. For nearly 20 years Norton has served as the Board chair of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT), an organisation he helped create. MWCT is a community-based Kenyan organisation working to preserve the endangered wildlife and threatened forest ecosystems in Kenya’s southern rangelands. It has developed a portfolio of sustainable, natural capital-based revenue streams for Maasai communities. Norton speaks personally about his fundraising efforts and our responsibilities, particularly with regard to sustainability and natural resource management, in our industrial economy.

One of the world’s most respected advocates for climate justice and Ireland’s first female President, Mary Robinson is a sought-after speaker who has moved audiences around the world with her passionate and hopeful call for all nations to work together to fight for a sustainable future. Her TED Talk received a standing ovation. Her latest book, Climate Justice, has received glowing reviews from former world leaders and the environmental and human rights community. Barack Obama, awarding Robinson the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, praised her as an “advocate for the forgotten and the ignored,” noting that she has “not only shone a light on human suffering but illuminated a better future for our world.” President Robinson first rose to international prominence as President of Ireland from 1990-97. She is widely regarded as a groundbreaking and transformational leader who elevated the public role of the Irish presidency, helping to shape modern Ireland in a period of rapid and unprecedented economic growth. From 1997-2002, Robinson served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also transforming that office through highly visible public advocacy. She is a founding member and the former Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders formed by Nelson Mandela to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. President Robinson served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, sounding the alarm as extreme weather events dramatically affected the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Gonzalo is the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion from the COP25 Presidency, appointed by the Chilean Presidency in 2019. From that position, he co-led with Nigel Topping the Race To Zero, Race To Resilience and GFANZ campaigns, and now co-founded the global NGO Ambition Loop. Previously, he co-founded and led TriCiclos, one of the most recognised Latin American companies in circular economy and recycling. Gonzalo also co-founded Sistema B (Bcorps in Latin America), Manuia and Polkura Winery. Currently, he is the chair of the Food strategy for non-state actors at COP28. He also sits on the board of the Global Foodbanking Network, TED future forum, Chapter Zero Chile, among others. Gonzalo has been recipient of the Chilean national awards on environment, innovation and social entrepreneurship; and was awarded the honour of CMG in Queen Elizabeth’s final honours list in 2022.

Professor Kapoor has a long track record of successfully tackling important public policy, business, investment and societal challenges. His portfolio career spans investment banking, asset management, economic policymaking, strategy consulting, geopolitical advisory, technology startups, interdisciplinary research, board roles, investment committees, and expert advisory roles for dozens of governments.
Currently, Sony is Professor of Climate, Geoeconomics, and Finance at the European University Institute, CEO of NIFTYS, Chair of Re-Define, and a Trustee of Friends of Europe. He advises several MNCs, SWFs, the EU, the G-20, and multilaterals including the IFIs and the UN on macroeconomic policy, long-term investing, risk, geopolitics, AI and sustainability and is a member of several boards and expert committees.
His successes in helping diffuse the Euro crisis, promote global financial reform, accelerate climate action, and scale up development finance have led to being recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a European Young Leader by the Friends of Europe, election as Fellow by the RSA, and the award of a Presidential Fellowship by George Soros for being an accomplished Policy Entrepreneur and influential Thought Leader.

Nick is truly passionate about sustainability and the important role business need to play to support the transition to a low carbon economy and more inclusive societies. Nick comes from a consulting background, where he supported business across all sectors, in developing and implementing their sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategies, during his time at PWC South Africa and Business in the Community Ireland.
For the past three years at O’Brien Fine Foods, Nick has been responsible for the continued development and delivery of their sustainability strategy, while preparing the business for the regulatory and reporting requirements ahead.

Lisa was appointed as Tirlán Chief Environmental, Social & Governance Officer in 2022. Lisa is responsible for driving the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) targets and ambitions outlined in the organisation’s comprehensive sustainability strategy, Living Proof. In this role, her areas of responsibility also include Corporate Communications, Governmental Affairs and Sustainability Ventures. After many years working in senior retail roles with Lidl in Ireland, Lisa was appointed Head of CSR/Sustainability for Lidl in Germany. Lisa also previously worked as a lecturer and researcher at the Technological University Dublin and the Technische Universitaet Dresden. Born in Germany, Lisa came to Ireland to study and since then has been passionate about combining sustainability and communication to drive sustainable development. Lisa holds a BA in Economics & Geography from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in PR and Communication and PhD in Business, specialising in CSR Communication from Technical University Dublin.

Bruno Giussani was for almost 20 years, until 2024, the global curator of TED, the organization behind the popular online TEDTalks, and the co-founder of TED's climate initiative, Countdown. He has curated hundreds of TEDtalks (including two, now famous, by Pope Francis) and led interviews with leading figures on the world's most pressing issues, in addition to being a member of the organization's leadership team for a dozen years and hosting numerous conferences around the world.
He has a keen eye for happenings at the intersection of politics, the economy, climate and technological innovation. Prior to joining TED he was an Internet columnist for the New York Times and a writer for numerous other outlets in Switzerland, where he lives, and internationally; the Head of Online Strategy at the World Economic Forum; and a Knight Fellow at the University of Stanford. He has also co-founded three Internet startups, and advises a number of companies and nonprofits.

Solitaire is a renowned sustainability expert who works with the world's most influential organizations to activate positive and optimistic change. Her ‘solutionist’ vision of solving climate change is desperately needed in our gloomy world.
She is Co-founder & Chief Solutionist at Futerra (Edie's 2023 Consultancy of the Year) and Trustee of the Solutions Union. In 2023, she was named both a 'Leader of the Year' at Adweek's Sustainability Awards and UNGC’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer’ for the UK. She was also named by Vogue Business as one of their 100 Innovators for 2023.
Her previous accolades include ‘Ethical Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2008, chair of the Green Energy Scheme, trustee of Ashden, a founder member of the United Nations Sustainable Lifestyles Taskforce and a London Leader for Sustainability. Additionally, she sits on the Board of the Hollywood Climate Summit.
Solitaire holds master’s degrees in both Sustainability and Shakespeare, she lectures at Imperial College and the Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
She has a popular TED talk, Forbes column, and an award winning book – The Solutionists: How Businesses Can Fix the Future

Michael Stanley co-founded Cairn Homes plc and was appointed CEO prior to its IPO in June 2015. The IPO and subsequent capital raises in 2016 and 2017 resulted in Cairn having nearly €750m of equity available to scale and importantly to take a new approach to how a homebuilder in Ireland was structured. At the time of Cairn’s IPO, Ireland’s homebuilding output was at an all-time low and attracting this level of investment was challenging. As a result of Cairn’s timing and its subsequent success, the business has grown from a turnover of €4m in its first trading year to one approaching €1bn turnover nine years later, with over 25,000 residents living in the nearly 10,000 A-rated, energy efficient new homes delivered. From the beginning, Cairn’s approach to homebuilding has always been focused on sustainable development with an established track-record in delivering large-scale, well-designed communities in predominantly urban areas serviced by multi-modal transport links. Having adopted nZEB standards across its portfolio since 2020, Cairn recently took the next step by adopting the Passive House standard on four large developments comprising nearly 1,750 new homes, with a target to grow this to c. 3,000 new homes by the end of 2025. Michael also has experience in the packaging, energy, agritech and healthcare sectors and is currently a Board Member of IBEC Ireland.

Michael's journey began with a business degree from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and a hospitality management degree from Shannon College of Hotel Management. These academic foundations prepared him for his role at the Griffin Hotel Group, which he joined in 2005. Michael has worked in various management positions in hotels in Germany, the UK, and Ireland. He returned to the family business in 2005 with the development of Monart Destination Spa. As CEO in 2012 at the height of the recession and during this period of economic uncertainty, Michael, with his bother Liam Anthony, completed a companywide change management programme, strategic repositioning, multiple refinancing rounds and concluded a family business succession plan. Michael, as CEO, has made sustainability a core strategic value of the family business.