Sofia is an architect with 15 years of experience in bespoke manufacturing and material consultancy for prestigious projects across Europe and the US, including museums, fashion houses, and large-scale architectural ventures. Originally from Venice and now based in London, she co-founded Matter of Stuff in 2014, establishing one of the world’s largest online material libraries and delivering custom manufacturing projects that champion sustainable design practices. Her architectural training at the University of Ferrara earned her a nomination for Archiprix Italy 2010, and she has since worked on award-winning projects with renowned firms such as Acme, 3xn, Foreign Office Architects, and Squire and Partners. 

As the leader of Materials Assembly, Sofia continues to empower designers and architects to push the boundaries of sustainability in material design while also lecturing at institutions such as Istituto Marangoni and Westminster University. In 2025, she joined Piercy & Company, where she leads the research department, driving innovative material solutions and advancing the firm’s sustainable design strategies.

Susana is an ecopreneur, a thought leader disruptive innovator, a visionary designer, an advocate for positive change and a pioneer with over 15 years of experience in the field of construction, circular economy and climate solutions.

In 2014 Susana founded ALDStone, a multi-award-winning London based company which she then went on to launch with Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2018. Susana’s work has led to collaborations with the likes of H&M Group, Cosentino, Heathrow Airport and RAK Ceramics.

Susana and her team are on a mission to align human flooring needs whilst considering the limited natural resources of Planet Earth. Their goal is to reduce carbon footprint and embodied carbon by implementing and scaling ALDStone FUF, the world’s first reusable dry lay underlay which optimises the usage of a wide range of flooring materials.

Applied behavioural scientist and behaviour change consultant specialising in the green transition, circular economy, and decarbonisation. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of behavioural science, strategy, and stakeholder engagement, Maria has designed interventions for UN agencies, governments, NGOs, and global corporations. She focuses on creating processes and products that shift behaviours, scaling evidence-based solutions, and crafting narratives that move people and organisations to act.

Sustainability and ESG consultant with over 10 years of cross-sector experience in strategy development and project management. Vitalina helps organisations transition to ethical, circular, and future-ready business models by embedding sustainability into daily operations and long-term planning. Her expertise spans circular economy integration, ESG strategy, operational sustainability audits, stakeholder engagement, and impact-driven reporting.

Drawing upon a strong academic foundation in biology and biochemistry (MSc and PhD) and research experience at the Institut Curie and Imperial College, Cecile’s career has revolved around scientific communication.

Whether as a journalist, author or teacher, Cecile has always succeeded to convey complex scientific concepts in accessible and engaging ways.

Rokiah coordinates sites, fundraising, and operations while advocating for micro anaerobic digestion (AD) technology in urban public spaces. She promotes the closed-loop ethos to educate communities on sustainability and resource recovery.

Alani’s journey through agroforestry, eco-construction, and holistic living led to a deep passion for fungi and food justice. They are committed to holistic alternatives to extractive capitalist structures while fostering abundance and equity for all living beings.

Cristina is a purpose-driven educator, mentor, and business leader with over 20 years of experience across industries including fashion, banking, and telecommunications. Her career spans blue-chip corporations to startups, with a strong focus on the fashion sector, where she most recently served as Global Head of Sales, leading 360° go-to-market strategies.

Currently a Senior Lecturer at Ravensbourne University, Cristina specialises in ESG and researches sustainable behaviours through behavioural insights. She also teaches at Kingston University at the postgraduate level and supervises dissertations at both institutions, bridging academic theory with real-world application.

Cristina’s expertise lies in sustainability, strategic planning, and purpose-led international business and marketing. She holds two MAs, a PGCHE, SFEHA, and is an accredited mentor. With a unique blend of academic and corporate insight, she is passionate about shaping future-ready professionals and creating meaningful impact.

As a sustainable marketing strategist and sustainability trainer, Anne is committed to driving impactful change. She equips teams with the insights and knowledge necessary to develop purpose-driven actions that advance their organisations’ sustainability agendas.

Sought-after consultant, speaker and writer driving systems change within the fashion industry. Rachel has dedicated her career to transformation; tracking and interpreting signals of change, and working with organisations on implementation. She is obsessed with rethinking long-term value creation in order to secure a sustainable future for people and planet, and believes fashion the ideal case study for the economic shift required.

Rachel is currently the Advocacy Lead for Sustainable Fashion at the United Nations Environment Programme, where she focuses on challenging industry norms and accelerating circularity in the sector. This work includes exploring narrative shift as a lever for reducing overconsumption and addressing the elephant in the room of production volumes. Both were the basis for the UNEP x UN Climate Change Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook she authored in 2023. She also hosts UNEP’s Transforming Textiles podcast, interviewing global policy leaders about change.

She has further worked with Textile Exchange, the UN Climate Change-convened Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, and previously led the strategy for Google’s environmental data platform with WWF and Stella McCartney. She also advises various multinationals and mentors start-ups similarly focused on driving change, and has contributed to accelerator programmes including Farfetch’s Dream Assembly and John Lewis’ JLAB.

By background, Rachel is an award-winning business journalist, with work featured in heavyweight titles including Vogue Business, The Business of Fashion, The NY Times, Wired, Forbes, The Guardian and more. She has also delivered a TED talk about the role of innovation for a more environmentally sustainable fashion industry.

Rachel was named one of 50 Future Icons Power People for 2025, a sustainability thought leader in the Vogue Business 100 Innovator list in 2023, a LinkedIn Top Voice for sustainability in 2022, one of 30 people changing the face of fashion by Glamour in 2020, and was awarded trade/B2B fashion journalist of the year by Fashion Monitor in 2015. She is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University.

Rachel also regularly mentors young people in the industry, hosting monthly open office hours call for anyone to join and talk about careers and sustainable fashion.