Speakers 2024 Edition

In previous positions at ICI, Annette served as Associate General Counsel, focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, and as Deputy Managing Director of the Independent Directors Council, providing education resources and advocacy on behalf of fund independent directors. Before joining ICI, Annette held senior management positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission and in the legal department of a large fund complex. Annette began her legal career as a litigator, after a one-year clerkship with a federal judge. Annette received her law degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of North Carolina.

Mr. Christian’s practice has a significant international component. He advises offshore funds on compliance with U.S. regulatory requirements and routinely counsels European retail and institutional funds on organization, registration, corporate governance, and global distribution issues. He has assisted clients in coordinating offering advisory services and various types of investment funds in compliance with local law in jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin and South America. Mr. Christian is also the architect of Dechert’s World Compass, an innovative marketing compliance subscription service that offers investment firms advice in more than 100 jurisdictions. Mr. Christian is the former Chair of the International Bar Association's Investment Funds Committee and was recently selected as Chair of the Irish Funds North America Distribution Working Group. He has spent considerable time working in Dechert's London office and is a frequent conference speaker.

Before joining the law faculty, Sarah served as Chief Legal Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Vice President & General Counsel of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), and as a partner in the law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP. She has written extensively in the fields of corporate law, corporate responsibility, professional ethics, and constitutional law. Sarah is also an Episcopal Priest who serves part-time as Associate Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown Parish in Washington, D.C.

She focuses on the exploitation and abuse of women, children, and the marginalized. She is a recognized expert in the areas of criminal law and procedure, exploitation, human trafficking, missing persons, victimization, technology and the Fourth Amendment. Professor Graw Leary is the Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission’s Victim Advocacy Group and the former co-chair of the Victims Group of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section. She earned her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

He began his career in the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1985. He left the SEC in 1988 for private practice in New York, after which he served as associate general counsel of an asset management firm before returning to the SEC in 1994 as Associate Director and Chief Counsel of the Division of Investment Management. In that role, he supervised the office primarily responsible for interpreting and establishing the Division’s positions under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In 1997, he returned to private practice, joining Dechert, LLP as a partner. Since retiring, Mr. Murphy has served CUA’s Columbus School of Law as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Securities Regulation: Compliance and Introduction to Securities Law. He currently serves as the Director of the school’s Securities Law Program. He has also taught courses in American Business Organizations and American Securities Regulation as part of the CUA-JU American Law Program.

Her research reaches extensively into her peer academic community (both domestically and internationally), the legal community at-large, as well as the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the U.S. government. She has published multiple articles on the intersection of ESG and investing retirement plan assets. During sabbatical in 2021-22, Professor Muir studied South Africa’s regulatory framework for sustainability considerations in retirement plan investments. She has actively supported the U.S. Department of Labor’s regulation on plan investments and shareholder engagement.

She is also listed annually in the international legal rankings of Chambers and Partners and Legal500. She combines her legal practice with her academic activities - she is a university professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw, where she served as Head of the Department of Commercial Law from 2017 to 2020.

Mateusz is also responsible for running ’AmCham 30 Under 30’ - a youth development program, coordinates energy-related issues and the ‘Rebuild Ukraine’ working group. Except that he is a lead of American Investor Desk – an AmCham project supporting Polish companies on their way to the U.S. market expansion. He has 18 years of professional experience in senior management positions, working for both Polish and international companies, where he focused on finance, quality, relationship-building, and sales.

He actively works as within the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, chairing the Sustainable Development Committee.
Prior to 3M he gained his professional experience in various consulting companies incl. Deloitte and as a journalist in Polish nationals dailies & business magazines. Academic lecturer in the areas of social communication and Public Affairs at MBA studies. Graduated from Faculty of Law.

He is a principal investigator of the NCN research grant entitled Rights of Nature - a vehicle for sustainable development ? Operationalisation and critique from an international and comparative law perspective. His research interests are: international trade and investment law, international law of natural resources, comparative legal language.

She began her work in local government in 2014 as Deputy Mayor of Wadowice. For the Municipality of Kraków, she served as Director of the Education Department and later as Director for Didactics and Promotion at the Municipal Park and Zoological Garden Foundation in Kraków.

Since 2021, she has served as a climate education expert at UN Global Compact Network Poland. Since June 2022, she has represented the City of Kraków as Chair of the Climate Committee of the Association of Polish Cities and has also represented the local government side in the Energy, Climate, and Environment Team of the Joint Commission of the Government and Local Government. She is also a columnist for the quarterly journal Zdanie, where she publishes articles on climate change.

Throughout her career, she has consistently focused on climate education and has developed numerous ecological and climate-related initiatives. At the Foundation, she co-created an educational program for the Kraków Zoo and Wolski Forest, aimed at promoting knowledge about endangered animal species, conservation programs, and forest care and maintenance.

While working at the Education Department of the Kraków City Hall, she coordinated the creation of Kraków's eco-starter kits for first-year students and recommendations for schools on reducing plastic use. She is a co-author of the Climate Education in Poland report and co-editor of Climate Education in Poland 2022 – Recommendations of the Roundtable, published by the UN Global Compact Network Poland. Within this organization, she collaborates with a group of distinguished experts involved in the Climate Education Roundtable, which advocates for integrating climate change content into school curricula.

She is also a fellow of the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), organized by the U.S. Department of State.

Member of the board of the Polish Economics Network, as well as the JU Climate Council. His research interests have focused on the issues of international inequalities, global supply chains and economic development in peripheral countries, while more recently he has conducted projects on forestry practices and energy transition.

An author of several books and articles in recognized magazines, co-author of the series of e-books "Make a startup right", free guides for startup originators. Conducts transactional projects from VC to multi-entity and multi-jurisdiction industry transactions. Has extensive cross-border experience and knowledge of international standards and requirements in the area of compliance & ESG as a head of B2RLaw’s Compliance 360 practice.

Before joining Amazon, Mariusz was Executive Director, Government Affairs & Policy CEE at General Electric. Prior career steps include leading roles in Poland and in Brussels with Alstom, the European Commission (DG Regio, Unit Poland), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). Mariusz holds a Bachelor in Business Administration, a Master’s degree in International Relations and a Postgraduate degree in European Law. He is also a graduate of the Stern Leadership Academy program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Has been working at the Polish Chamber of Commerce since 2008. Since 2016, she has been the Deputy General Director. Since 2021, she has been a member of the three-person management board. Initiator of such activities of the Polish Chamber of Commerce as running the Trade Fair Creativity Center, establishing the ESG Committee, and creating the cross-border.pl platform in cooperation with Amazon. On her initiative, the Polish Chamber of Commerce established the ESG School and undertook a number of other educational and development activities to support entrepreneurs in the green transformation. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors and the Budget Committee of Eurochambres. Since 2024, she has been elected Vice-President of the Sustainable Development Committee within Eurochambres. Karolina is also a member of many working groups at the national and European level that deal with sustainable development. These include POLSIF, Chapter Zero Poland, and the Sustainable Finance Platform at the Ministry of Finance.

During her doctoral studies she received scholarships from the Polish National Science Centre and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. Her Ph.D. dissertation dealt with controversial issues of the law on termination of contract for breach of contract, and has received an honourable mention in a nationwide contest organized by 'Przegląd Sądowy' law journal. Her academic interests focus on various topics of civil law including contract law, civil procedure, extra-contractual liability, climate litigation, and the impact of sustainable development initiatives on contract law.

He is a member of the Sustainable Development and ESG Practice Steering Committee at SSW. He is an expert on non-governmental organizations which support climate change mitigation. He obtained his PhD from the University of Warsaw, having written a doctoral thesis on legal instruments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector. He graduated the University of Warsaw and the Warsaw School of Economics and holds an LLM from the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. He also studied at Fudan University (Shanghai) and the China University of Political Science and Law (Beijing).

She completed her postgraduate studies in Washington at the Daniel Morgan School of National Security (now The Bush School of Government and Public Service).

Since 2019 was a United Nations Organization employee. As Director of the Climate Positive Program and National Representative for International Cooperation at the UN Global Compact Network Poland, she shared expertise in UN and EU policies, particularly in the areas of working at the interface of business, government and science, and involving the private sector in the implementation of UN goals, policies and standards.

Expert at the Institute for Sustainable Development and Environment, Lazarski University in Warsaw. Lecturer at the Warsaw School of Economics and the Center for Postgraduate Education at Lazarski University in Warsaw.

Since 2023, in the position of ESG Chapter Leader, she has been responsible for translating sustainability theory into practice, creating green financial products and solutions for retail and SME clients, supporting the transformation of the economy to low- and zero-carbon, and collaborating on the adaptation of international environmental regulations in Poland.

Specialist in development cooperation, multilateral cooperation, and knowledge transfer. Specializes in the implementation of climate policy in Poland, economic diplomacy, social and economic innovation, sustainable fashion, social economics, and designing development leaps and meta-trends in business, particularly in climate change adaptation.

At CANPACK Group, she is responsible for legal and compliance matters, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and communications.

Member of the Polish–Emirati Business Council and the Council of Polish Global Entrepreneurs.

Since 2021, she has served as a member of the Supervisory Board of Pałac Saski sp. z o.o. and of the Social Committee for the Restoration of Kraków’s Monuments.

Legal counsel and member of the Kraków Bar Association of Legal Advisers. From 2011 to 2016, she served as Vice President of the Lewiatan Arbitration Court.

Author of academic publications in the fields of civil law and arbitration.

She was employed as civil servant at the Ministry of Finance (2006-2022) dealing with international cooperation in accounting and auditing (at the EU level she represented Poland in the legislative work on the directives: Accounting Directive of 2013, Non-financial reporting directive – NFRD of 2014, Tax CBCR Directive of 2021 and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive – CSRD of 2022). She represented Ministry of Finance in the Accounting Regulatory Committee from 2006 till 2022. In 2018 she led the project on the first report concerning the NFRD implementation by companies in Poland. In 2023 she was elected as vice-president of the management board of SEG (Polish Association of Listed Companies). Member of a working group on improving ESG reporting by Polish companies at the Sustainable Finance Platform set up at the Ministry of Finance. She is engaged in various educational activities concerning CSRD and ESRS application.

He specializes in developing and implementing business and sustainability strategies. Over the past few years, he led the strategy and sustainable development division at Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka SA. The Bogdanka's transformation strategy he developed was awarded the "Wprost Eagle" for the best strategy of the year and the DISE Energy Congress Award for the best energy transformation strategy. He served as a proxy of the Board in the Lublin Circular Economy Cluster, Lublin Hydrogen Cluster, and Łęczna Energy Cluster. He currently runs ESG+ Consulting (www.esgplus.pl), advising on the implementation of ESG in Polish companies.

She has over 24 years of extensive professional experience in the financial market. In her career, she has focused on developing business areas in financial institutions, mainly in banks, investment firms, and investment fund companies. She has managed numerous projects, creating and implementing business and communication strategies. She is a graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics and the Kozminski University in Warsaw. She is a member of the Project Management Institute, an international non-profit organization that brings together professionals in the project management industry. Her mission is to transform strategic concepts into tangible, measurable results, considering the values and needs of stakeholders.

Assistant in the Chair of Civil Law at UJ, post-doc in the grant project "Homo consumens, Homo ecologicus – Ecological Efficiency Test of the New Directive on Certain Aspects Concerning Contracts for the Sale of Goods" financed by National Science Centre, former (2019-2021) scientific assistant at the University of Osnabrück, European Legal Studies Institute.

Earned his Master of Laws degree with summa cum laude distinction from Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Project Coordinator at the CUA Columbus School of Law in Washington D.C., Principal Investigator of the National Center for Science research grant at the University of Warsaw. Two-time recipient of the international SYLFF grant (in United States and Australia). Completed numerous scientific scholarships and internships at prestigious academic institutions, including University of Cambridge, Melbourne Law School, Bucerius Law School, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and the Program in the EU Private Law for Postgraduates. Graduated with honors from the American Law School at Jagiellonian University and Columbus School of Law in Washington D.C. Founder and board member of the Semper Augustus Foundation, a scientific think tank offering pro bono education in the field of business and company law.

My participation and expert contribution to the substantive content of this event were made possible thanks to the generous support of the Polish National Science Center (NCN) scientific grant “Preludium” No. 2018/29/N/HS5/02977.

member of the Entrepreneurship Council, an advisory body to the President of Poland, member of The Board of Visitors at the Columbus School of Law (CUA, Washington D.C.), recommended lawyer e.g. in Legal 500 Private Practice Arbitration Powerlist - CEE Region.

Recipient of the Sasakawa Young Leaders’ Fellowship Fund (SYLFF, 2001, Catholic University of America). Visiting Professor at the JFK Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin (March–September 2015). He has conducted research and delivered lectures in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and Australia.
Recipient of the First Prize of the Jagiellonian University Student Laudations for the highest-rated instructor at the university based on student evaluations (2013). Eight-time recipient of the Jagiellonian University Rector’s Awards for excellence in teaching and for academic achievements.
Deputy Director for Teaching at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora (2008–2016); Vice-Dean for Teaching at the Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University (2016–2020).

Previously, he worked for Scotia Bank in Canada, and he obtained a certified qualifications to advise and intermediate in transactions on the regulated capital market.

I have been associated with the capital market for over 10 years, gaining experience at Bank Pekao SA and the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW). At GPW, I initially managed media and market communications and, in recent years, led the development of the ESG Strategy for the GPW Group for 2022-2025. Currently, I am working on the implementation of strategic sustainability projects for the GPW Group. I also specialize in diversity management and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging). Actively involved in the 30% Club Poland campaign, I advocate for increasing the participation of women in corporate boards and supervisory boards.

Vincenzo has several years of post-qualification experience in Civil and Common law. Vincenzo has broad experience of UK and international cross-border transactions across a variety of industry sectors as well as international corporate and criminal law. Vincenzo is a formidable litigator with a demonstrable history of bringing transactions to successful conclusions, providing legal support to partners and delivering strategic advice to diverse clientele.
After completing his studies as Erasmus student at the Paris-Lodron Universität of Salzburg (A), Vincenzo graduated at the University of Naples “Federico II” (IT) and moved to the USA to gain his Master of Laws (LLM) in International Business Transactions and Trade Law at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Washington DC.
Vincenzo has worked in the USA where, during his fellowship at the prestigious Stanford Centre for Biomedical and Ethics (Stanford University) he specialised in intellectual property related to human embryonic stem cells. His research was published in the prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Biotech. During that time, he passed the first test (MPRE) to become a California attorney and also became Notary Public for the State of California.
Vincenzo’s professional activities have encompassed, amongst others, being on the scientific organiser committee for the Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats for conferences on Anglo-American Law and as speaker in webinars, lectures and conferences organised by the British Chamber of Commerce (IT), CUA, Columbus School of Law, Washington DC (USA), Lockey Stem Cells Building Research, Stanford University (USA), SKKU School of Business (Republic of Korea), and the Naples Bar Associations, as expert in Civil and Common law arena.
Vincenzo has been recently appointed to the CUA, Columbus School of Law’s Alumni Council, Washington, DC. The prestigious Alumni Council forms the governing body of Catholic Law Alumni Association, formed in 2013 to endorse and advance the values, objectives, and well-being of The Catholic University of America and Columbus School of Law. He is also member of the International Criminal Court Bar Association, the Law Society of England and Wales, the Naples Bar Association, and of the International Academy of Financial Consumers (Korea) where he is also editorial member.
Vincenzo Senatore is to date the only Italian lawyer registered in the List of Professionals of the Italian Embassy in Tokyo and the Italian General Consulate in Osaka. Vincenzo heads the Giambrone's Japanese Desk in Italy and the Firm's offices both in Tokyo and Osaka, through the Strategic Alliances with Kikkawa Law Offices and Meilin International Law Firm.
Vincenzo regularly represents large and medium size Italian and Japanese enterprises in operations in both countries as well as private clients and entrepreneurs doing business with Japanese companies. His expertise includes a range of cross-border transactions, including M&A, joint ventures, opening branches and subsidiaries, and setting up companies in foreign countries, assisting clients to meet their outcomes.

Professor Szumański is a co-author of the draft Commercial Companies Code of 15 September 2000. He authored the draft of the Offset Contracts Act of 10 September 1999, as well as the draft amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure of 31 July 2019 regulating corporate arbitration. He participated in the work on the preparation of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (1999) and the amendment to the Commercial Companies Code of 12 December 2003. From 2006 to 2010, he served as an expert of the Polish delegation in the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). He also participated in the development of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the Transparency Rules in investment arbitration.
He chaired the Expert Team on Group Company Law at the Ministry of State Assets (2020–2022), which prepared the draft amendment to the Commercial Companies Code of 9 February 2022, introducing regulations on corporate group law (holding law) in Poland.
Professor Szumański is the author of textbooks and commentaries on company law and securities law, commercial legal forms, as well as several monographs, and numerous articles, case notes, and reviews in the fields of commercial law, international trade law, and arbitration law. He has served as presiding arbitrator or party-appointed arbitrator in more than 180 arbitration proceedings, both domestic and international.

He started his professional career at the Department of Organisation Theory at the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw. From 1989 to 1990, he was a Counsellor in the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Ownership Transformation at the Ministry of Finance.
From 1995 to 2002, he was Director of the Issue and Guarantee Department and then Managing Director at the brokerage house Centralny Dom Maklerski Pekao S.A. From 2003 to 2012, Director of the brokerage house of Bank BGŻ. From 2013 to 2014, Director and then Vice-President of IDM SA. From 2015 to 2017, President of the brokerage house of Bank BPS S.A., and from 2017 to 2018, President of the brokerage house PGE Dom Maklerski.
Member of the Board of Directors of the European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA). Active in the Chamber of Brokerage Houses (IDM) since 2004. Member of the Programme Council of the IDM Capital Market Conference and the Programme Council of the European Financial Congress in Sopot.
Co-author of the textbook Zarządzanie - teoria i praktyka (Management: Theory and Practice) edited by Prof. A.K. Koźmiński. Lecturer at courses for candidates for supervisory board members in State Treasury companies.
Graduate of the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw, fellow of the International Marketing and Management programme at Copenhagen Business School and many international educational programmes.

Author of 10 books in the fields of personal branding, political marketing, and political analysis.

Author of the first energy trading strategy in Boryszew Group and founder of the Purchasing Office in China and India. For the last 7 years, Managing Director for Procurement in the PZU Group, co-responsible for the synergy project with PEKAO and Alior banks and other strategic projects. Participant in numerous project teams and member of committees including ESG and DORA. Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Armatura Kraków from 2021 to 2024. A budding beekeeping enthusiast for four years.

He has been an entrepreneur since 2009. From the beginning he has concentrated on energy efficiency and renewables, focusing on innovation in his start-ups. During 10 years of Columbus activity, he performed the development and transformation of the company listed on the GPW Main Market, achieving spectacular business success. Through Columbus, Dawid Zieliński invests in innovative start-ups, among others in Nexity, the company connected with electromobility, or Saule Technologies - Polish company developing the technology of perovskite solar cells. Valued expert in the sector of modern energetics, member of the Programme Council OZE Power, winner of a prestigious competition EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 in the category New Technologies/Innovativeness, laureate of the Emblem “Teraz Polska”, he was named one of 200 people who create Polish economy (according to rankings by RMF FM, Money.pl and 300Gospodarka). Charismatic leader and visionary, enthusiast of unconventional solutions and mountain climbing. He lives in harmony with values, which are in Columbus DNA: tempo, talent, thoughtfulness, and technology. His vision, which he implements, among others through Carbon Footprint Foundation, is neutralisation of carbon footprint.

Past member of the Executive Committee of the European Law Institute, the Common Frame of Reference and Committee of Acquis Group drafting teams as well as the Member of the Codification Commission at the Polish Ministry of Justice (until 2015 and from 2024).