Stephan Born, CEO and President for the Americas region (NCSA) at HUGO BOSS, boasts a distinguished global career spanning Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas. Renowned for his adeptness in navigating fashion and consumer brands through dynamic market shifts, Stephan joined HUGO BOSS in 2009 as Managing Director for Spain and Portugal. He later expanded his leadership to the Northern European region, as well as the Middle East and India from the UK, before assuming responsibility for all company activities in the Americas region.

Stephan's leadership style is characterized by his remarkable ability to balance precision with agility, fostering growth, resilience, and cultural adaptability across diverse markets. Under his guidance, teams across the Americas region are committed to executing the global HUGO BOSS growth strategy with excellence. By prioritizing consumer needs and market particularities in their decision-making processes, the company has achieved outstanding results in a dynamic and exciting environment full of opportunities.

Sandro is the Founder and CEO of Sanzo. He started Sanzo with a mission of bridging cultures by highlighting unique Asian flavors through clean, natural beverages. Sanzo's flagship line is a flavored sparkling water, crafted with real fruit and offering a refreshing experience that honors the authenticity of these bold, beloved flavors.

Prior to founding Sanzo, Sandro was chief-of-staff at a twice venture-apparel brand, and he previously worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan and as a nuclear power engineer for Exelon.

Jihan Lee is a Chef Partner at Nami Nori, the Japanese restaurant specializing in open temaki with locations in New York’s West Village and Williamsburg, and Montclair, New Jersey. A second generation sushi chef, Jihan spent years working in notable kitchens like Morimoto and Zuma, before joining Masa under chef Masa Takayama, the only 3-star Michelin sushi chef in the country. During his time at Masa, Jihan met his Nami Nori partners – and the trio went on to open Nami Nori in Fall 2019. Nami Nori has received two stars from The New York Times and was highlighted as one of Esquire’s “Best New Restaurant in America 2020”, Robb Report's "10 Best New Restaurants in America" and Bloomberg's "Best Restaurant Dishes of 2019.”

Sophia Cheng is the founder and CEO of Oddball. Currently based in New York, she grew up in Singapore and Hong Kong, where she was used to eating local and fresh fruits all the time. When she got to the US, she noticed the issues plaguing today’s snack industry. Prior to founding Oddball, she joined Bridgewater Associates, working for Ray Dalio at the Dalio Family Office & Dalio Foundation, and was the youngest ever director at Estee Lauder as part of the CEO's strategic initiatives team.

Andrew M. Gellert is the president of Gellert Global Group headquartered in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Gellert Global Group bring a broad variety of imported food products to all aspects of the food industry. The combined revenues of the Group exceed $1 billion. Andy is an active member of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Food Industries Incorporated (AFI). He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) New York Metro Chapter and is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in food marketing.

Samantha is founder and CIO at Private Equity firm 8 Pillars Capital, which focuses on Consumer buyout and opportunistic growth investments. 8 Pillars Capital uses active deal sourcing via an algorithmic sourcing strategy that the team developed to identify quality and proprietary investments at inception.

Samantha is also a founding member of Ouroboros Group. Prior to that Samantha was on the investment team at Generation Equity Capital and has been active in sourcing, evaluating, and executing on investment opportunities as well as developing investment theses across various sectors. Prior to joining Generation, Samantha was at Corporate Fuel Advisors where she advised clients on a variety of M&A and financing transactions.

Prior experience includes working at a start-up quant hedge fund as an algorithm/back tester and Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley with a focus on the consumer sector. Samantha received her BBA in Design & Management, Summa Cum Laude, from Parsons The New School For Design. Most recently, she received an MBA from Brandeis University where she graduated top 5% with a concentration in Finance & Economics and a minor in Social Policy. Samantha’s interests include Golf, Blackjack, Skiing, Electric Guitar, Competitive distance running, and Mixed Martial Arts.

Samantha is passionate about incorporating fitness-for-a-cause into her routine and is an active fundraiser for The Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Charity events include boxing for cancer research with Haymakers For Hope, running the 2018 Boston Marathon, and most recently running the B.A.A. Half Marathon with Team Dana Farber to raise awareness and funding. Her firm also sponsors and teaches rising division one athletes about money management as they go on to become draft picks for the NFL and NBA. Samantha is also passionate about Broadway, music and the arts and serves on multiple committees within these spaces including at The Met, Frick, and MOMA where she hopes to instill learning and interest within the next generation. Samantha currently sits on two Non-Profit boards. World Being, which focuses on young women’s education in developing countries and Young Audiences, which focuses on encouraging academic learning through music and the arts.

Nate Kline is The Wellness VC, a notably experienced executive, investor, and entrepreneur (4x founder, Inc 5000 honoree), boasting a multifaceted institutional finance career spanning more than two decades. As an expert strategist and award-winning visionary, he’s added value across every business sector, company size and stage, from fledgling startups to multinational conglomerates. His latest venture, Cistern Capital, is a product of his personal passion for health and dedication to nurturing early-stage founders. To date, it has made sixteen primarily pre-seed and seed stage investments offering solutions across eight targeted wellness dimensions; Financial, Physical, Social, Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, Occupational and Environmental. The strategy identifies societal, health, and wellness problems, and supports purpose-led founders building holistic and preventative solutions that promote human wellbeing.

Mike provides buy- and sell-side financial advisory services to middle market focused private-equity funds, strategic acquirers, and entrepreneur-owned enterprises. For the past seven years, Mike has focused on transaction advisory and financial due diligence projects, specializing in pre-acquisition and sell-side services primarily to companies in the consumer products industry.

In addition to Mike’s role in the transaction advisory practice, he also serves as a consumer products senior industry analyst, analyzing and forecasting economic, business and technology trends impacting the consumer products industry. As part of this work, Mike’s commentary has been included in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, Barrons, Axios, as well as other national and industry specific publications.

Brian Choi is Managing Partner and CEO of The Food Institute, the leading source for food industry news, data, and market trends. He is an experienced financial executive in the food industry, having previously worked in investment banking, consulting, and private equity. Brian serves as a strategic advisor to multiple food and beverage organizations. He is also recognized as a leading food industry expert and thought leader and has appeared on international media networks such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, and the BBC.