CTF 2024 will feature inspiring panel discussions, keynotes, and a platform for professionals across the MMCF supply chain to connect, collaborate, and drive change. Explore the line up of speakers below.
Alex is part of the Ekman Pulp Sales team and is based in Zurich, Switzerland. Alex has a background in Forestry having completed his undergraduate degree at the Forestry Department at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Alex has been working in the industry for nearly 10 years starting out by designing cut-blocks in the forests of British Columbia before moving into a pulp sales role that has taken him across the world from Canada to Hong Kong and now to Switzerland. Today, he conducts sales of both paper grade pulp and dissolving pulp grades in Asia.
Alexander is the Recycling and Innovation Materials Manager within the Sustainability team at BESTSELLER. He specializes in fashion and textiles and draws on his background in business economics. With a strong commitment to sustainable practices and innovative solutions, Alexander has been a driving force in his career and has contributed to BESTSELLER’s mission for over nine years.
Andreas Nilsson joined TreeToTextile AB in 2022 as Head of Commercial. He has M Sc in Chemical Engineering from Lund University, Sweden, and brings experience from over 20 years with Pulp & Paper and Chemical suppliers Kvaerner, Kemira and Perstorp AB. He has held global commercial positions within Product and Sales management and has broad experience of implementing innovative chemical solutions in a global business environment. His drive lies with supporting customers to find their competitive edge – always with sustainability high on the agenda. At TreeToTextile, Andreas will focus on commercializing the next-generation cellulose fiber, with a
cotton-like hand-feel. The fiber is renewable and resource efficient and has a low environmental footprint. It has the potential to complement or replace cotton, viscose and polyester in both textile and nonwoven applications.
Anna holds a MSc in Textiles from 2000. From 2000, she started working with textile innovations and developments in various positions in the Swedish textile industry. From 2004 and onwards Anna have continued developments of textiles for IKEA, including leading the renewable textiles, man-made cellulose fiber innovation developments for IKEA of Sweden. IKEA of Sweden is responsible for determining and developing the IKEA range and making it available to stores and customers all over the world. IKEA of Sweden is based in Älmhult, Sweden, the heart of IKEA and centre of IKEA range development and supply chain.
Anna Ronngard is the Commercial Director of TextileGenesis where she plays a central part in enabling traceability in the fashion and textile industry. Anna has 15+ years’ experience working with global fashion brands on their traceability and sustainability agenda. She is passionate about accelerating the betterment of the textile supply chain and believes transparent and verified data will be the key enabler in achieving it.
Baptiste brings together expertise from all corners of the Apparel and Footwear ecosystem.
During his days at Decathlon, an international sports producer and retailer, he held various positions in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, focusing on quality and sustainability. After eight years of field experience, he established and led Decathlon’s first global sustainability department.
He subsequently relocated to Amsterdam in 2014 and joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, launching their European Office, leading their transparency and European activities, and initiating the Social and Labor Convergence Program ( SLCP ).
In 2019, with Bente Bauer, he launched 2BPolicy, a consulting firm at the intersection of sustainability and policy, supporting brands, organisations and actors of the industry ecosystem to understand and operationalize the change brought by legislation. He chairs several Technical Secretariats and Scientific Committees.
He is a Senior Advisor at the BCG.
Baptiste also works on the family organic and agroforestry wine estate in Southern France.
I have been committed to Sustainability for years, starting my career in the Environmental Services (water, energy, waste) having, as a result, a solid understanding of environmental mechanisms. With a strong international experience (Russia and China), I ran several projects of environmental and social performance, in the field of climate change, biodiversity, air pollution, sustainable supply-chain, extra-financial reporting, stakeholders management. I chose to contribute my expertise to Luxury today, deeply motivated by impact reduction and fashion transition, and more particularly pioneering the field of sustainable innovation and next gen materials and fibers. At BALENCIAGA, I am in charge of investigating sustainable and innovative materials and processes to transform the way we are sourcing and reduce the impact of our collections. I am also contributing to social monitoring of our supply chain through special projects to enhance fair practices in the workplace.
30 Plus years within the forest products industry from Printing, to paper and the last 10 years in Dissolving Pulp specifically within the Textile industry.
Passionate about Inclusive Sustainability where each aspect of Sustainability – People, Planet and Prosperity – requires commitment and focus to ensure a tomorrow that is better than today
‘You have to leave the city of your comfort and go out into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover will be something wonderful. What you will discover will be yourself’ – Alan Alda
Brian McClay is Chairman of TTOBMA, a privately-held pulp and paper competitive intelligence and net-price indices provider. Brian founded his company in 1997 after a distinguished career at the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, where he led international trade and sustainability initiatives. Starting as a Wood Pulp Statistician in 1978, he later became Director of Trade Affairs and Markets, playing a key role in early ecolabeling efforts. As Head of Canada’s Delegation to ISO TC 207 SC3, he helped shape global environmental labeling standards, including ISO 14025. He also chaired the committee behind the Environmental Profile Data Sheet (EPDS™). In 1998-99, he contributed to Environics International’s Sustainability Sherpa Team, fostering industry-ENGO collaboration. With decades of expertise, he remains a leader in sustainable trade and environmental reporting.
Brooke is an experienced and respected journalist, consultant and author. She is a leading voice in the fashion and textile industries and her role as senior sustainability contributor at Forbes has earned her a reputation for authoritative analysis and reporting. Brooke recently authored a book charting the past 20 years of sustainable fashion initiatives in which her interviewees included Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia; Annie Leonard, Executive Director of Greenpeace US; and Delman Lee, Vice Chair of TAL Apparel.
In addition to her work at Forbes, Brooke is the founder of Techstyler, which provides sustainability and communications consultancy to brands, manufacturers, fibre and textile producers, NGOs, and investors. Techstyler’s clients to date include Pangaia, Swarovski, FibreTrace, Worn Again, Textile Exchange and Bluesign.
Brooke has prior industry experience in knitwear design, development and production, coupled with a previous career in diagnostic radiography (medical imaging), resulting in a unique skill set for analysing, interpreting and prioritising sustainability solutions for materials, technologies and supply chains.
Carlos holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Coimbra. For over 20 years he has held various positions as Director and board member within the Altri group.
He is currently COO and Deputy CEO.
In addition, he has obtained several postgraduate degrees and long-term programs for executives in business management from the Universidade Católica and the Kellogg School of Management.
Carolina Duarte is a sustainable materials specialist with a background in materials engineering, textile R&D and innovation consulting. She is leading several pioneering projects at Fashion for Good focused on supporting next-gen material innovators to scale, and guiding brands in sustainable sourcing strategies. Her work brings together science, strategy and supply chain expertise with the ultimate goal of driving systemic change in the fashion industry.
Caterina Tonda is the Ready to Wear Sustainable Development Manager of the Kering Material Innovation Lab, which supports the integration and implementation of sustainable and innovative solutions into the collections and supply chains of Kering’s Houses.
After graduating from the Polimoda Fashion School of Florence, this Italian designer spent a decade pursuing a career in product and fabric development for Ermanno Scervino and Burberry. During this time, she focused on sustainable textile sourcing and development as well as embracing regenerative and circular materials re-imagined as innovative.
Claudia de Witte is a passionate advocate for positive change and innovation, focused on fostering a more sustainable future. She firmly believes in the collective effort required to address global sustainability challenges and preserve our planet for future generations. By creating new business models that blend realism with idealism, she aims to drive impactful changes in the sustainability landscape.
Based in the Netherlands, Claudia joined Eastman in 2014 and has held various roles in sales, strategy, sustainability and marketing. Before her tenure at Eastman, she served in similar positions at Philips. As the Marketing & Sustainability Director for Eastman’s textiles division, Claudia is responsible for leading the development and implementation of marketing strategies while driving global sustainability initiatives and innovation programs for Naia™ cellulosic fibers and yarns.
Claudia holds a bachelor’s degree in social responsibility and an MBA in strategic management, complemented by minors in marketing and psychology from Erasmus University Rotterdam. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring new cultures, places, and interests.
Dalena has more than 20 years’ experience in clothing design, textile manufacturing, merchandising and product sourcing for fashion retail. She served as a board member of a clothing factory supplying retail, before joining the wool industry in 2008. She managed brand developments for South African Merino wool products, including styling, wool textile innovation and marketing projects with retail partners.
Dalena was appointed as the Secretary General of the International Wool Textile Organisation, based in Brussels, Belgium, in June 2016. IWTO is the recognized global authority for standards in the wool industry and has been representing the interests of the wool textile trade since 1930. IWTO Members represent 26 countries and all stages of the wool pipeline. IWTO is a registered AISBL (non-profit).
I lead the strategic direction and technological innovation of Positive Materials as Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer.
My career began with a degree in Chemistry, followed by over 25 years of experience in textile innovation. As founder of RDD (Valérius Group), I have developed groundbreaking technologies using revolutionary fibers and advanced dyeing and finishing techniques. Previously I assumed the R&D and Innovation Direction at Tintex Textiles.
I am furthermore a materials development advisor for renowned brands and a distinguished speaker at international conferences, continuously working alongside global textile institutes and universities to further my planet positive vision.
Emily Long is a seasoned expert in sustainability and business development, driven by a passion for innovative solutions that merge technology and circularity. She currently serves as the Sr. Business Development Manager at Circ, where she leverages her expertise in responsible sourcing, circularity, product development, strategic partnerships, and supply chain management to drive impactful and innovative initiatives. Prior to Circ, Emily led sustainability strategy on the brand side, where she developed and implemented forward-thinking initiatives that integrated environmental and social responsibility into core business operations and product creation.
Giancarlo Maroto joined Aditya Birla Group and the Pulp & Fiber Business in July 2023 as the COO Pulp. He is responsible for the Domsjo mill in Sweden, the Athollville, Nackawick and Terrace Bay mills in Canada and for Forestry operations in New Brunswick.
Previously, Giancarlo worked for multinational companies like DS Smith and Mondi where he held several P&L leadership positions across Europe, Asia and North America.
Giancarlo is Industrial Engineer, holds a Master in Management & Marketing, and a MBA in Finance.
Gregor is a key driver of Lenzing Group’s textile-to-textile recycling initiatives, which date back more than 10 years. He focuses on identifying and implementing technologies, partnerships and business models to upscale textile recycling, from strategic planning to operational execution. With a comprehensive end-to-end perspective, Gregor navigates the entire process from understanding waste availability and streams to integrating recycled products into fiber production.
Halit Gümüşer was born in 1978 in Maraş which is a main hub for textile industry. He has studied chemical engineering in Istanbul Technical University. After the engineering education he moved to NY to study MBA at Pace University/Lubin School of Business. In order to stay connected with the fashion industry and keep in touch with key customers in Europe to develop sustainable projects, Halit spends half of his time in London, UK. He is at the factory for the rest of the time. Knowing both market and the production gives a different perspective.
Before becoming the Managing Director and Board Member of Kipaş Holding, Halit set up a New York branch of Kipas Textiles from 2000-2002. Afterwards he returned to his hometown and a new chapter in his career began. Within Kipaş Holding, Halit’s responsibilities include developing and implementing strategic plans and company policies, maintaining an open dialogue with stakeholders, and driving organizational success. He provides strategic advice and guidance to the chair and other members of the board, to keep them aware of developments within the industry and ensure that the appropriate policies are developed to meet the company’s mission and objectives and to comply with all relevant statutory and other regulations.
He initiated Technical Textiles category for Protective clothing industry.
Halit is also one of the co-founders of ‘Sustainability Talks Istanbul’ platform.
“Being part of an industry that has a significant impact on climate change, natural resources, and human rights, we have the opportunity to become part of the solution. By constantly optimizing our operations, and by seeking innovative solutions and collaborations across the whole value chain, we believe real change happens.”
– Halit Gümüşer.
Howard is a passionate advocate for sustainability in sportwear. Under his leadership, PUMA has made significant strides in reducing its environmental footprint. He has championed initiatives to use sustainable materials, minimize waste, and embrace eco-friendly manufacturing processes, ensuring that PUMA remains a responsible and forward-thinking brand.
Howard is known for his ability to inspire creativity and foster innovation within his team and across the industry. He believes that the power of collaboration and diverse perspectives is key to unlocking the next wave of ground-breaking ideas.
20+ years in Asia within woven material research & development. Experienced with supply chain operations and fashion business strategies to manufacture fabrics for the textile and clothing industry.
Recent aims include case study research on fabric waste circular up-cycling with product innovations (both mechanical and chemical recycling), and the evolving requirements within the global textile production industry.
A visionary in her field, Jennie Rosén is dedicated to take fashion forward by encouraging collaborations within and across disciplines. Driven by design, culture and technology her focus is set on innovation to reform the fashion system on a regional and global level.
Swedish Fashion Council (SFC) is an industry organization that aims to guide the fashion industry into the future, establishing Sweden as the global leader of the industry’s new era. Through our thought leadership, initiatives and work with SFC [Incubator], SFC is one of the key players accelerating the transformation of the global fashion industry. With a strong community, SFC works to promote, educate, and innovate the fashion industry to become competitive, sustainable, and relevant in our changing world. SFC is owned by the Swedish Trade Federation.
Jessica has been at the forest owner association Södra since 2021, first as Environmental Manager at the Forest Division and now as Head of Sustainability. She has been working in the forest industry sector for nearly 20 years in different positions with a focus on sustainable forestry, biodiversity, climate neutrality and new business models for ecosystem services.
Jodi supports suppliers and brands with material strategies, innovation, and product development through her consultancy, Konekti. She has 20 years’ experience in fabric R&D in fashion for brands ranging from luxury to mass market. Most recently she was Head of Sustainability at LOEWE, and previously spent 6 years at Filippa K in Sweden, where she led the fabric team before becoming VP of Sustainability.
Jodi is keen to drive change within the industry by bringing together diverse stakeholders to implement new fibres or processes at scale. She was a founding member of the Swedish Wool Initiative, a multi-stakeholder group that enabled more local wool to be used for commercial textiles; she has worked with researchers in Sweden to develop new and alternative materials; and she has driven initiatives to increase the repair, reuse, and recycling of garments and materials for brands.
