Paul Comrie

Paul Comrie took a BA Honours in English and Russian Literature from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, Canada, and an MA in Creative Writing, gained from the University of East Anglia course. He completed an Erasmus year at the former British University of Malta in Valletta, where he was a member of a professional German yacht team, arriving first in their class during the 2001-2002 Middle Sea Race. In 2006 he graduated from the Cambridge University Officers Training Corps as a Non-Commissioned Officer and was offered a position in the elite Royal Armoured Corps, tank division. During his studies he travelled widely throughout the republics of the former USSR, published articles in The Moscow Times and witnessed the brutal emergence of the market economy in communism’s wake.

In late 2006 he became an intern on The Hindu, India’s national newspaper since 1877, with a current circulation upwards of 3 million daily. He earned the designation of Special Correspondent and wrote long-form features on globalization and free trade in the new Indian economy and traversed the subcontinent for his work. He also began liaising and interviewing many of India’s leading political, entrepreneurial and artistic elite. India’s long history of international trade due to the legacy of the British Empire gave it, in his opinion, an important edge on other emerging markets.

In late 2008 Comrie began studying full time at the Chambre de Commerce de Luxembourg to gain the administrative tools necessary to successfully operate an international consulting firm. He incorporated LUXIND on August 3, 2009 and signed his first client two months later in October.

Comrie sees his role as primarily that of the facilitative partner – a mixture of the ‘rapid response’ field reporter yet retaining the decorum of the ambassadorial representative who can compile essential information and provide the European client with key introductions to Indian powerbrokers from the Public to the Private sectors. Increasingly, Comrie negotiates a PPP or BOT structure for the deal-flow of his European and Indian clients, and provides support in the crucial 6-18 months of post-entry period. He does not seek to replicate large consulting firms but to operate as a ‘niche consultant’.

He would also like to meet Not-for-Profits and individuals interested in working with disadvantaged Indian youth, in the hope that some of globalization’s positive effects might be felt at the lower stratums of the social hierarchy.

Burton Gintell

A Director and Treasurer of Sophia Business Angels, Burton Gintell actively participates in its Entrepreneurship Programme as a coach / mentor to participating early-stage companies. Burton is also a Director / Founding Shareholder of Innovation Europe S.A., an investment vehicle created by SBA to invest in a portfolio of innovative young companies. American born, educated and trained, with now 30 years in Europe, he has had the practical experience of actually having run businesses, two of which received the Queen's Award for Export Achievement in the U.K. during his tenure as Chief Executive. Burton Gintell has formed/headed companies in seven European countries, including emerging markets in Eastern Europe, and operated within corporate environments and as an entrepreneur in media and consumer products. He also serves on the International Advisory Board of a Turkish university-based company.

U.S. financially trained (Certified Public Accountant), Burton directed corporate/financial planning for two New York Stock Exchange-listed companies.

Resident in Cannes for the past 10 years, Burton is Vice-Chair of the Côte d’Azur – Monaco Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce in France, President of the American Club of the Riviera, and supports several French arts organisations.

Amar Latif

Amar Latif is a dynamic, blind, 35 year old world traveller, entrepreneur, TV actor and director with a unique personal magnetism and an astonishing track record of facing up to major challenges. Through sheer determination, he has managed to turn an unpromising tale of inherited disability and loss into one of truly inspirational world achievement.

Amar’s multi-faceted career, entrepreneurial achievements and international television profile have been built against a background dominated by teenage onset of blindness due to the incurable eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa. By the age of 20 he had sustained 95% sight loss.

He received the accolade: ‘The Outstanding Young Business Entrepreneur of the World’ (TOYP award) from the Chamber of Commerce International (JCI) at their World Congress. Previous fellow TOYP awardees have included U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton and actors Orson Welles and Christopher Reeve.

Amar is the founder and director of ‘Traveleyes’, the world’s first commercial air tour operator to specialise in serving blind as well as sighted travellers. Traveleyes is an international company with a world-wide customer base.

His inspirational public speaking engagements for major organizations and charities have included key speeches to: The United Nations (Ethiopia), The Arabian Travel Market (Dubai), World Travel Market, The Royal College of Art, and The Royal National Institute for the Blind (London).

He was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious 'Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award', presented by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Easy Jet / Leonard Cheshire Disability), the highest award of its type for entrepreneurship.

Amar has advised on inclusive design in a range of product testing situations. His diverse experience and world travel profile give him a keen insight into the global disparity that exists in provision for those who live with visual disability.

As well as directing documentary films, including work for UK’s Channel 4 TV (featured at the British Film Institute), Amar has also appeared in a number of TV productions, both as a documentary contributor and as an actor. He became known to millions through his participation in the groundbreaking BBC2 TV / Discovery Channel four-part series, “Beyond Boundaries” (series 1), a jungle endurance expedition across Central America. Screened worldwide, this was a gruelling 220 mile trek on foot across the rugged interior of Nicaragua, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.
The group made history by taking a route that had never previously been attempted. Amar had to ford swollen rivers, cut through dense jungle, cross waterfalls, climb a 5,000 ft. active volcano and navigate the second largest lake in Latin America. The aim was to challenge common preconceptions about disability, aspiration and achievement, and to prove that disabled people need not merely follow in the wake of the able-bodied, but can actually be the trail-blazers.

Amar’s acting roles have included parts in various BBC TV drama and comedy features, as well as theatre productionsranging from musical revue to serious drama. He has played music in various parts of the world as a guitarist and singer in a duo. His charity fundraising work has included abseiling down the side of major public buildings, dressed as Batman!

Amar speaks at a diverse range of international functions on a variety of themes: entrepreneurial, motivational, inclusive design, world travel, equality and diversity. Blindness is a challenge to which he responds on a daily basis. As a free spirit, committed to making the most of an extraordinary life in a positive, multi-cultural world, Amar has a unique story to tell that is both moving and inspirational.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou – who prefers to be known as Stelios, the Serial Entrepreneur - is best know for creating easyJet in 1995, at the age of 28. In 2000, he floated - on the London Stock Exchange - the low-cost airline that revolutionized European air travel. Nowadays, the company has grown into one of Europe’s leading airlines with some 170 aircraft flying over 400 routes between 103 airports in 26 countries. Approximately 45 million people a year fly with easyJet enjoying more value for less!

Stelios is the son of a highly-successful Greek shipowner, the late Loucas Haji-Ioannou, who provided the seed capital for Stelios’ independent business career, which started when he created a shipping company - Stelmar - at the age of 25. Subsequently, Stelios floated Stelmar on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001; the company was successfully sold to a rival in 2005, creating significant shareholder value. Today, Stelios remains the biggest single shareholder of easyJet PLC and a non-executive director. In parallel, before the IPO in 2000 - and true to his beliefs in serial entrepreneurship - he consolidated the ownership of the easy brand into his private company, easyGroup, and launched several easy-branded businesses. The group currently includes easyCar (car rental), easyHotel (budget hotels), easyBus (airport transfers), easyOffice (low-cost, serviced office rental for small businesses), easyPizza and easyCruise - all dedicated to offering more value for less to millions of consumers.

In 2006, at the age of 39, Stelios received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship. Since then, Sir Stelios has expanded his dedication to making a difference to society by launching a number of philanthropic initiatives supporting entrepreneurship, higher education and environmental sustainability. Stelios has pledged 200 scholarships over 10 years to the London School of Economics and Cass Business School in London - his almae mater - supporting young, exceptional scholars who want to make a difference in their chosen fields. Similarly - in partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability in the UK - Stelios created the "Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year" award given to exceptional entrepreneurs who have overcome significant physical and perceptual limitations in starting their businesses. (www.lcdisability.org/stelios).

In Cyprus, the birthplace of his parents, Stelios co-founded CYMEPA in 1992 (www.cymepa.org) - an association dedicated to preserving the marine environment. In his own birthplace, Greece, he continues his commitment to environmental protection by supporting the Pendeli Reforestation project. Additionally, in Greece, Stelios strives to further inspire entrepreneurship through the Kouros award, a 50,000EU prize given to the outstanding business start-up of the year. More likely to be on an aircraft than in an office, Stelios is 42 years old and lives in Monaco.

Franco Quillico

Franco Quillico received an MS Summa Cum Laude in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan, in 1979. In 1984 he graduated with a Master in Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the Beta Gamma Sigma Scholarship Award for achieving the highest academic performance in the M.B.A. class. After an experience in industry, his professional career has been in strategy consulting, with McKinsey and Bain, and in investment banking, with Salomon Brothers.

Mr. Quillico has advised clients in various industries: oil & gas, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking, information services, computers, chemicals, real estate, construction materials, machine tools, automotive, railroad, utilities, air courier, textiles, printing, food processing, fast food, entertainment; and in different countries: Italy, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Monaco, Switzerland, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Mr. Quillico is Professor of Finance and Strategy at MIP, the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan, visiting lecturer at the Wharton School, Professor of Mergers & Acquisitions at the International University of Monaco (where, in June 2006, he received the "IUM Outreach Award" for excellence in teaching which was presented to him by Prince Albert II of Monaco) and Faculty Member at SCILs in Helsinki.

Mr. Quillico is fluent in Italian, English and French.