Dirk Harbecke has more than 25 years of experience as an international manager, entrepreneur and investor. Over his career, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group and was co-founder and CEO of ADC African Development Corporation AG, which under his direction developed into a leading pan-African financial services provider. He received his MBA from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

‍Stefan Krause is a former Chief Financial Officer of BMW. He has extensive experience in the automotive industry, especially in the e-mobility sector. After heading the finance organization at BMW Group, he held the same position at Deutsche Bank. Additionally, he held senior positions at e-mobility companies Canoo, Fisker and Faraday Future. Recently, as Chief Investment and Financial Officer, he listed Levere Holdings, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) focused on the mobility industry in Europe, on the Nasdaq.

Peter Kausch has a PhD and a Master of Science in mining engineering and more than 40 years of experience in the raw materials sector. He held top international positions at Rheinbraun AG (now RWE Power AG) and has served as a consultant to the United Nations, Chairman of the German-Chinese Coal Group and the German Fachvereinigung Auslandsbergbau, among others. Dr. Kausch has also served on the boards of Uranerz Exploration and Mining Ltd, Consol Energy Inc, Energy Resources of Australia and SSM, Rotterdam, as well as several other companies in Canada and Australia. Furthermore, he was a lecturer and honorary professor of International Environmental and Resource Management at the Technical University Freiberg.

Simon Bodensteiner is a mining engineer with over 15 years of professional experience in Germany and Australia. He gained extensive knowledge in corporate, operational and technical roles and worked for both world-class firms, including Rio Tinto and The Boston Consulting Group, as well as junior mining companies.

Markus Bruegmann has over 20 years of experience as an executive manager in the energy sector. Over the course of his career, Markus worked at international corporations in various leadership positions. Most recently he built up and managed global business units and was leading the sales force. He brings extensive experience in plant engineering, renewable energies, battery applications and hydrogen.

Esther Bahne has more than 16 years of experience in the car industry. Reporting directly to the Board of BMW Group, she served as the Global Head of Strategy at BMW and CMO at MINI after taking on the relaunch of the MINI brand in 2015. At Audi, she set up the corporate sustainability strategy and ran the social innovation practice. She started her career here as spokeswoman of the Board. Esther also founded the influential start-up accelerator URBAN-X, built a design center in NYC and steered the world’s largest co-living company as co-CEO.

Don Stevens is a chemical process engineer with a career spanning almost 30 years across a variety of industry sectors, including leadership positions as VP Processing at Tata Steel Minerals Canada and GM Operations at Vale Base Metals. He has extensive experience in process and project development in the extractive metallurgy industry and possesses expertise in research and development, process engineering, project management and operational leadership.

Klaus Schmitz possesses broad and global operational expertise including comprehensive experience in the field of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) for both conventional and renewable power generation and industrial plants. He was previously the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board for Hitachi Power Europe and the Executive President and Head of the Power Division for Bilfinger SE. Additionally, he has served as an advisor for Dussmann, McKinsey, Nippon Denka Kogyosho, Osaka, INP and DSD Steel Group.

Wolfgang Voigt is Professor Emeritus in Inorganic Chemistry at the Technische Universität Freiberg, Germany. His research focus for the last 20 years has mainly centered around salt chemistry, particularly lithium chemicals. He has previously been engaged in several brine and hard rock lithium projects around the globe and combines technical knowledge of proven processes with innovative technological concepts for more efficient spodumene conversion.