Aigerim Khafizova is a co-founder of LinchPin Effect, education startup with a mission to
empower the youth of Eurasia with skills and prepare for successful career. She is an e-learning
designer and a Fulbright Fellow from Kazakhstan passionate about education technology and
youth empowerment.

Aigerim has more than five years of experience in higher education, youth employment, and
professional development. She has worked designing youth employment and professional
development programs in Kazakhstan, conducted international learning research at the leading
e-learning platform Udemy in the U.S., was an entrepreneur in residence at Pathbrite in San
Francisco, and volunteered for a social entrepreneurial organization in Peru.

Aigerim is a Global Shaper, initiative of World Economic Forum, co-organizer of Global
Entrepreneurship Week in Kazakhstan, as well as the co-founder of Cafe Scientifique and One
Salon in Kazakhstan. She holds MS in Education Administration and Policy Studies from State
University of New York at Albany and BSS in International Relations from KIMEP University.

Alexey Li, internet entrepreneur. Co-founder of the largest Online Travel Agency in Kazakhstan,
Aviata.kz. Earlier founded first kazakhstani movie ticketing service, Ticketon.kz. Speaker of
TEDxAlmaty.

Speaker with experience of speeches
at major conferences, such as “NGO Sustainability Forum”, “Collisium international musik
convention”, “Laboratory of media and social innovations #inLab2017” and many others. She is
convinced that in Kazakhstan, as in the whole world, there is a large number of smart, talented
people who have their own interesting, unique ideas and projects that could and should be
implemented. One of the main problems in the implementation of any project is funding.

Brandon Andrews is a senior consultant at Values Partnerships. He leads the company's work on technology and entrepreneurship including leading a nationwide casting tour focused on bringing more diverse ideas and voices to ABC’s Shark Tank. Brandon also advises and invests in entrepreneurs. He is a consulting producer on Steve Harvey's Funderdome; a new seed- capital show on ABC.

In addition to working with entrepreneurs Brandon has helped lead nationwide engagement campaigns including Fences (2016), ROOTS (2016), and Concussion (2015).

In 2015, he worked with A+E Networks, iHeartMedia, and the United Way to develop the Shining A Light Concert for Progress on Race in America, Shining a Light Fund, and Conversations on Race in America documentary.

Previously, Brandon worked as a consultant assisting disruptive and social impact organizations with digital strategy, online advocacy, and navigating the federal system. He spent 5 years in the United States Senate where he handled technology, small business, and defense policy.

Brandon currently serves as a Director of IMPACT. He was appointed to the D.C. Commission on National and Community Service by the Mayor of Washington, D.C., where he is Vice-Chair. He is also a Commissioner on the DC Commission on Fashion, Arts, and Events. Brandon serves on the Board of Advisors of the OpenGov Foundation; an organization that builds tech tools to bridge the gap between citizens and government.

He provides commentary on policy, politics, and technology on TV, radio, and the web. A former Division-1 track athlete, Brandon is a graduate of Oral Roberts University.

"After winning $1.3 million in scholarships himself, Christopher Gray founded Scholly, an app that helps students easily find scholarships for college. Scholly was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, landing a deal with Daymond John and Lori Greiner and sparking the biggest fight in Shark Tank history. To date, Scholly has over 1 million users and has helped students raise over $70 million in scholarships. Christopher was named a 2015 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Social Entrepreneurship. He also made the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship, making the top of the list. Christopher is also one of Oprah’s Inaugural Super Soul 100 honorees, Oprah’s list of her favorite people"

Co-founder of (CrossFit Astana, A2 supermarket chain), CEO of The Shoreditch restaurant Being a graduate of University of Arts in London,Instituto Marangoni in Milan, and Bellerbys College in Brighton, Miras Ibraimov is a specialist in the field of marketing, advertising, design and business foundation. After his studies, Miras co-founded and launched several projects in Astana, Kazakhstan, in which he serves as a Founding Partner and Marketing Director now. These projects include opening of the first official CrossFit training center in Astana and building of A2 supermarkets chain. One of the most notable and recent projects of Miras is co-founding and serving as CEO of The Shoreditch restaurant, which gained No.3 position on TripAdvisor.com in first 2 month of operation.

Starting his career as a research assistant in the field of atomic physics, Murat Yuldashev subsequently retrained as a financier, and during last 20 years he founded and launched a number of projects in the financial sphere. Afterwards, he worked as CEO, Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors in various financial companies and commercial banks in Kazakhstan, CIS countries as well as in Turkey and Vietnam. After returning to Kazakhstan, Murat together with his partner founded and began working on a new project CROWDBL. Crowdinvesting online platform CROWDBL serves as an alternative tool for attracting funding to startups, various investment projects of SMEs from a wide range of microinvestors.

Ronald Binkofski, General Manager of Microsoft CIS and a member of the Microsoft Central Сamp; Eastern Europe Board, oversees all of Microsoft’s business in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Together with a dedicated team of sales and marketing, customer service and professional services colleagues, Ronald focuses on ensuring a positive experience for Microsoft customers and partners in the region. As General Manager CIS, Ronald engages with senior government officials, business leaders and members of the community. He also devotes a significant portion of his time to developing talents for Microsoft worldwide.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Ronald ran his own consulting firm focused on IT and insurance verticals. He supported several leading system integrators working on central IT systems in Poland and abroad, as well as a number of foreign insurance takeover projects in Poland.

Ronald began his career in the IT industry with Software AG in Germany. During almost 10 years there, he held numerous positions, including with responsibility for sales and marketing in Central and Eastern Europe as Area Lead and as Head of the Representative Office in Russia.

Ronald Binkofski holds a degree in Mathematics from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Program with almost 25 years of professional experience.

Stephanie Pereira is Kickstarter’s Director of Learning and Engagement. Since joining Kickstarter in 2011 she has advised thousands of projects, and has helped to shape the narrative on what Kickstarter is. Her most recent role before Kickstarter was at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center. She holds an MA in Arts Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Yorgos Krassakopoulos was born in Messinia, Greece, in 1969. An undergraduate student at the Finance department of the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, he soon found his true calling in cinema. He was one of the founding editors of “Cinema” magazine, where he started working as a film critic in 1987, moving up to become editor in chief, and a founding member and chief programmer at the Athens International Film Festival up to 2001. Since then, he has worked non stop as a film critic in numerous print and electronic media, amongst others as chief film critic for the weekly newspaper Athens Voice. He is one of the founders of one of the most popular and influential Greek movie websites, Flix.gr. From 2011 to 2016 he was one of the programmers at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, while he has also been editor for several of the festival’s monographs. On 2016 he became the Head of Programming of the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Since 2015 he is also a member of the European Parliament’s LUX Prize selection panel.