Speakers

Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam has been a member of the Danish Parliament for Siumut since 2019, when she was elected as the youngest member of the Folketing. She grew up in Qaqortoq, Nuuk, Sisimiut, and Upernavik and holds a degree in political science. Before entering politics, she was active in human rights, and both before and after being elected to Parliament she has worked with a focus on Greenlandic self-determination, Greenlandic empowerment, and Indigenous peoples’ rights. As Chair of the Greenland Committee and the Arctic Delegation as well as a member of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, she has been a strong advocate for Greenlandic state formation and is active in both national and international debates about Greenland’s future development.

Anette Grønkjær Lings is an experienced hotel director, board member, and entrepreneur who has made a significant contribution to tourism development in Greenland, particularly in the Sisimiut region. She has specialized in developing locally rooted products based on the opportunities of nature, including wilderness camps and winter tourism, as well as working with product development and marketing to strengthen the region’s appeal.

Anette works as an initiator on projects that empower Greenlandic youth to speak up for themselves.

She runs the Traveling Writers’ School in Greenland together with author Niviaq Korneliussen and, in collaboration with RØST.dk, initiated Nordrøst, which teaches young people in the North Atlantic to give public speeches.

Anette helped organize UNLEASH Greenland in 2022 and continues to work on implementing UNLEASH innovation methods in Greenland.

In 2020, she founded Arctic Action to support youth in developing innovative solutions for a meaningful life through community-based projects, primarily in Greenland.

Bent Olsvig Jensen has over 25 years of leadership experience in Greenland, applied across education, the fishing industry in North Greenland, and most recently the mining sector throughout the country.

From 2011 to 2016, he served as director of companies such as True North Gems Greenland, which originally held the exploitation license for the ruby mine at Fiskenæsset, and subsequently Xploration Services, based in Nuuk, which provides services to active mining companies across Greenland. Since 2020, Bent has been the director of Lumina Sustainable Materials A/S, which holds the exploitation license for the anorthosite deposit at Qaqortorsuaq in Kangerlussuaq and operates the mine. Lumina is currently an active mine exporting products to international markets.

In addition, Bent Olsvig Jensen serves as chairman of the Mineral Resources Industry Committee under Greenland Business, representing the majority of active exploration companies and mining operations in Greenland.

Britta Keldsen is a lawyer and partner at Arctic Law, where she primarily handles business law matters in Greenland for both Greenlandic and international clients. She has run her own business in Greenland since 2012 and has been a practicing lawyer since 2010. Britta is actively engaged in Greenland’s business community as a board member of several Greenlandic companies and serves as chairperson of the Greenlandic Gender Equality Council, which works to promote gender equality in Greenland.

Christian Keldsen has been the Director of Greenland Business since November 1, 2020. He previously served as Commercial Director at Air Greenland and is a co-founder of the consulting firm Visiobox Consulting in Nuuk, which specializes in leadership and strategy development for the public and private sectors.

He holds a law degree (cand.jur.) and serves as Honorary Consul for England and Northern Ireland.

Hansa við Stein Olsen grew up in Sisimiut and has lived in Kangerlussuaq due to work and in Aalborg due to education.

She was educated in Commerce & Office (1998–2001) and as a Tailor, Designer, and Constructor (2011–2013) and has been self-employed since 2021.

Diddan is a small shop/sewing studio where she produces items herself for her small business. She mainly sews custom orders of anoraks/dresses from babies to adults.

Inooraq Brandt is the CEO of Rambøll Greenland A/S and has been a board member of CSR Greenland since early 2023.

He holds a master’s degree in Arctic Engineering, specializing in geophysics and geotechnics.

With a background in musicology from Aalborg University and many years of experience as a musician, producer, business owner, event organizer, and teacher, Jacob Froberg founded Serravik, Sisimiut Music School, in 2006.

Since then, he has worked broadly on developing the musical ecosystem in Sisimiut as well as in Greenland in general. In 2014, he started the Arctic Sounds music festival, which today works year-round with skills development, events, and the export of Greenlandic music through networks in the Arctic, the Nordic countries, and globally.

Jakob Kjærside is a consultant at the Confederation of Danish Industry, where he advises companies on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the Danish labor market. Jakob has a background in business economics and psychology and has also contributed to research on everyday discrimination. He is especially passionate about working with inclusion in the labor market—how we can ensure together that everyone, regardless of who they are, feels comfortable at work—not only from a human perspective but also because it impacts the bottom line.

Jennifer Hall Godfrey became Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Denmark in July 2022.

She has had a long career in the U.S. Foreign Service. She joined the State Department as a Public Diplomacy Officer in 1998 and has served in Jordan (1999–2001), Turkmenistan (2002–2004), Libya (2007–2009), Austria (2010–2013), and Saudi Arabia (2015–2018). In Washington, she worked as a Press Officer in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (2004–2006), as Deputy Director and later Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Media Engagement in the Bureau of Public Affairs (2014–2015), and as Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2018–2021). On January 20, 2021, she was delegated the functions and authorities of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and served in this role until April 2022.

Jennifer Hall Godfrey holds a BA from Brandeis University and a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. She speaks Arabic, Russian, and Spanish.

Krissie has been Chairperson of Greenland Business since May 2023. She is also co-owner and director of Pascucci & Esmeralda in Nuuk.

Krissie grew up in Qeqertarsuaq and Denmark and has been self-employed since 2001. She is trained as a psychotherapist and coach and has studied sociology at the University of Copenhagen.

My name is Lea, I am 25 years old and from Nuuk. I graduated as an AFIS operator when I was 19 and worked there for a year. I have now been at Naviair’s Flight Information Centre in Nuuk (the FIC) for a little over three years, where I talk to aircraft over the radio in Greenlandic airspace and coordinate them with the airports. We have different and varying working hours, which allows me to go boating, hiking, running, and training as I wish in my free time together with my dog.

Malik Berthelsen has been the mayor of Qeqqata Kommunia for the Siumut party since 2017. He was also a member of the Greenlandic Parliament, Inatsisartut, from 2009 to 2013.

He is self-employed in trade and has a vocational foundation course from Aarhus Business College.

Malik Berthelsen has participated in several Greenlandic Championships in football and handball, has taken part more than 12 times in the world’s toughest cross-country ski race, the Arctic Circle Race, and has also run both half and full marathons.

Michelle is a Program Manager at Inussuk A/S, the Base Maintenance Contractor at Pituffik Space Base.

She is educated in psychology and Human Resource Management and has worked in HR, leadership, organizational development, production management, Lean, and project management throughout her career.

In her current role as Program Manager at Inussuk, she focuses on maintaining the base while prioritizing Greenlandic influence and involvement in base operations, including recruiting local staff and creating more attractive internship opportunities at the base.

Palli Lyberth is educated in Service Economics within tourism at Campus Kujalleq in Qaqortoq. He is currently the owner and operator of Sisimiut Fresh Farm, where he combines his passion for hydroponic farming with his commitment to providing fresh produce to the community. With a diverse background in various roles, he has always sought opportunities for self-employment, and he is now excited to embrace the challenges and rewards of running his own business.

Rikke Cilja is a graphic facilitator and runs her own business, Process Ink.

She uses simple drawings to create clarity in projects, teaching, and knowledge so that we can communicate visually instead of only with words. Over the past four years, she has been teaching in Nuuk, where she is passionate about sharing this technique with Greenlanders so it can become part of the strong visual Greenlandic culture.