PRESENTERS

Aaja is the chairman of Arctic Parliamentarians and a member of the Danish Parliament for Inuit Ataqatigiit since 2015. She is a former member of Inatsisartut, Spokesperson for Children, director of Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq and an Associate Expert at the United Nations in New York.

Aqqalu Jerimiassen is a current Inatsisartut member and city council member for Atassut, as well as the party’s current chairman.

Jerimiassen received an education as a service economist with a specialization in tourism. He has been a co-owner of the tourist company Ilulissat Water Safari in Illulissat.

At the municipal elections in 2017, Jerimiassen was elected to the municipal council for Avannaata Municipality, elected for Atassut. He was re-elected in the municipal elections in 2021. For a period he was deputy mayor in the municipality.

Jerimiassen stood in the inatsisart election in 2018, where he was elected. After this election, Atassut entered the government under Kim Kielsen, and in the following two governments Jerimiassen held the position of minister of business and energy. He took over the post of party chairman for Atassut after Siverth K. Heilmann in 2019.

Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann (she/her, West Greenland Inuit) is an assistant professor at Ilisimatusarfik – The University of Greenland, and the University of Copenhagen. Aviaja works to understand the microbiological, cultural, and societal importance of Indigenous foods in Greenland and is leading the process to develop Greenland’s first university education within the natural sciences: SILA bachelor in biology.

Britta Keldsen is a lawyer and partner in Arctic Law, where she deals primarily with business law matters in Greenland for both Greenlandic and international clients. Britta has been self-employed in Greenland since 2012, and has been a lawyer since 2010. Britta is involved in the Greenlandic business community as a board member in several Greenlandic companies and is also the spokesperson for the Greenland Equality Council, which works with gender equality in Greenland.

Chris Barton is His Majesty King Charles’s Trade Commissioner for Europe, with responsibility for encouraging trade and investment between the UK and other European countries as well as Israel. He started this role in August 2021. 
Before Chris was appointed as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Europe he worked as a secondary school teacher for 5 years and followed that with 15 years of work in the Civil Service. In the Civil Service, he fulfilled several roles in the Departments for Business, Energy and Foreign Office. 

Director of Greenland Business Association since 1 November 2020. Former commercial director of Air Greenland. Co-founder of the consulting company Visiobox Consulting in Nuuk, which works with management and strategy development in the public and private sector.

Christian Keldsen has a master’s degree in law. and is Honorary Consul for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Christian Vintergaard is CEO of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship and board member of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship Kalaallit. He is part of several boards and advisory committees for private organisations, NGOs and public institutions. His career has been dedicated to bringing together diverse professionals in entrepreneurship, new technology, business strategy, economic growth and policy in both private and public organizations. With extensive international experience, especially from the USA, he has a large network and is recognized as an expert in entrepreneurship and technology for young people, both nationally and internationally.

Elna has been chairwoman for IMAK (the Greenlandic Teacher’s Union) since 1 January 2022.

She was born and raised in Maniitsoq and became a teacher in 1996. She has also been head teacher at Atuarfik Kilaaseeraq in Maniitsoq for 15 years.

Emile Hertling Péronard is a Greenlandic film producer at Ánorâk Film and Polarama Greenland and an Academy Award Nominee. He has produced and distributed Greenlandic films on international festivals such as Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale and Sundance. For more than a decade, he has worked hard towards impoving the condiions for the Greenlandic film industry and he is on the board of Arctic Indigenous Film Fund and ARTEF – The Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film.

Emma has been the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark since 2020. She was previously Ambassador in Bulgaria and has a long-standing career in the British government at senior level. She holds a legal degree and has worked on immigration and asylum, human rights, EU justice and home affairs, international criminal law, organised crime, as well as violence against women to name just a few.

Eva Skeel Nolsø is an experienced leader specializing in sustainability, marketing, and organizational development. Currently serving as the CMO at Føroya Tele, she draws upon her background in heading product development, marketing, and HR to drive organizational success. Eva holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration and Psychology from Copenhagen Business School and brings background in banking, providing a blend of academic expertise and practical experience to her leadership role.

Frederikke Antonie Schmidt has founded roccamore with a mission to make more women stand strong and take their place in the world. Roccamore makes beautiful high heels, with insoles that shape the feet to walk as anatomically correct as possible. Handmade in Italy and scientifically tested by Hvidovre Hospital.

Frederikke also sits on ByFounders Collective, the Board of Representatives for Kolding Design School and was Chairman of the government’s Restart Team for Fashion & Textile in 2021.

Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson has served as the Minister of Environment, Energy, and Climate in Iceland since the end of 2021. 
He earned a BA in political science from the University of Iceland and has since filled various roles in Icelandic politics. Guðlaugur Þór has been a member of Parliament for Reykjavík Constituency North since 2016, representing the Independence Party. He has chaired committees such as the Environment Committee and served on others like the Fisheries Committee and the Health Committee.

Before his political career, Guðlaugur Þór gained a lot of experience in managing positions in different sectors, including directorships in banking and insurance. He was involved in community organizations and councils, such as the Borgarness Planning Committee and the Union of Young Independents.

Director of Siu-Tsiu.

Former CEO of the Social Economic Enterprise Grennessminde.

Worked many years in the media industry as a journalist and later CEO.

Professional board member and MBA.

Inga Dóra G. Markussen, with her roots in journalism, has had a diverse career that includes editorial roles in media, serving as Secretary General of the West Nordic Council, political leadership positions within the Siumut and today sustainability and corporate communications as Chief Sustainability Officer at Air Greenland. Inga Dóra speaks Icelandic, Greenlandic, Danish, and English.

Inooraq Brandt is the managing director at Rambøll Grønland A/S and since early 2023 he has been a board member at CSR Greenland.
Brandt has a master’s degree in Arctic engineering with a focus on geophysics and geotechnics.

Jacob Nitter Sørensen is CEO of Air Greenland Group. Jacob, a local of Nuuk Greenland, has spent over 25 years in aviation, out of which more than 20 in Air Greenland. He joined Air Greenland in 2000 as a young co-pilot and besides flying various types, he has held positions as Training Manager, Chief Pilot, Director of Operations and has been CEO of the Air Greenland Group since May 2017.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen is a current Inatsisartuts member and former Minister for Democracy, as well as the party’s current chairman.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen graduated in social sciences from Ilisimatusarfik University in 2016.

In June 2020, Nielsen was elected as the new chairman of Demokraatit, after the party had been without an elected chairman for about a year. Shortly before his election as chairman, he had become a minister in Kim Kielsen’s seventh government. He held this post until 2021 when Demokraatit left the government. In the election for Inatsisartut in 2021, he achieved election despite a large decline in the party.

Jens Heinrich, Head of the Greenland Representation in Copenhagen. Graduated from Ilisimatusarfik, MA and Ph.D. (dissertation on Eske Brun and the making of modern Greenland).

Jess G. Berthelsen has been Chairman of SIK for 33 years. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of, among others, Pension fund SISA, Sulisartut Højskoleat in Qaqortoq and member of, among others, Greenland’s Tax Council, Greenland’s Economic Council and the National Business and Labor Market Council.

Joachim Finkielman has been the DI Danish Defence and Security Industries Association director since 2021. 

Before his current role, Joachim worked in the Ministry of Defence of Denmark for 11 years. After that, he worked as Defence Counsellor in the Permanent Representation to the NATO and EU for 5 years and was the Head of Defence and Security Policy Department for 3 years.

Kalistat Lund is Minister of Agriculture, Self-sufficiency, Energy and Environment.

He has held various political leadership positions in Greenland alongside his career as a helicopter pilot.

Kalistat has held several political posts throughout his career, including serving as the Mayor of Narsaq Municipality from 1997 to 2001, and as a Member of Greenland’s Parliament from 2013 to 2017. He also served as a deputy in Parliament from 2004 to 2006, and as the Chairman of the Self-Determination Committee during the same period.

Karen Ellemann is a politician and the current Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, where she took office on January 1, 2023. Karen Ellemann has served as a minister in several Danish governments, including twice as Minister for Nordic Co-operation (2010 and 2017), twice as Minister for Social Affairs and the Interior (2009 and 2015), and Minister for Fisheries (2017), Gender Equality (2016) and the Environment (2010). She was most recently a member of the Danish Parliament for Venstre, the Liberal Party of Denmark.

Krissie has been Chairman of the Greenland Business Association since May 2023. She is also co-owner and CEO of Pascucci & Esmeralda in Nuuk.

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

Having led network strategy, route planning, and business development for airlines and airports in Canada, the U.S. and Europe for 25 years, Lee is currently Senior Vice President, Aviation Strategy at ASM, the global consulting arm of the Aviation Week Network.

His airline experience includes leading network planning and flight scheduling functions at WestJet, Aer Lingus, and Southwest Airlines. Lee has also been on the airport side of the table and was responsible for air service development for the Vancouver-based Vantage Airport Group’s network of 10 airports in Europe, the UK, and the Americas.

Today Lee works with airports, airlines, infrastructure investors, governments, and other industry clients in airline planning, route development, airport transactions, and aviation-related economic development. He is also a guest lecturer on airline network planning at the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business

Serial entrepreneur, author and designer.

Nominated for the Nordic Council of Ministers’ environmental award 2022.

Board member and shop owner in Nuuk.

Mads Qvist Frederiksen is the Executive director of the Arctic Economic Council (AEC) that is located in Tromsø, Norway. The AEC is a pan-arctic independent business membership organization established in 2014. It delivers policy advocacy, networking and outreach related to the Arctic. The organization facilitates Arctic sustainable economic development throughout the Arctic region.

Frederiksen sits on various boards representing the companies in the Arctic. He is a member of the West Nordic Fund which provides loans to SMEs in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Greenland Foreign Policy Society (Greenlandic: Nunanut Allanut Politikkeqarnermut Peqatigiiffik/Danish: Den Udenrigspolitiske Forening) is an apolitical association that aims to promote knowledge of and increase interest in foreign policy issues, with a particular focus on the Arctic. The society strives to facilitate dialogue on foreign and security policy and provide a forum for constructive discussions for all those interested in these issues. The association is run entirely by volunteers, with a volunteer board of directors.

Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Mininnguaq Kleist is head of office of Greenland’s Department of Independence and Foreign Affairs, and worked as a head of department for the self-government office between 2007-2009.

The Department for Independence and Foreign Affairs takes care of Naalakkersuisut’s foreign policy and advises Naalakkersuisut and other departments in foreign and security policy matters as well as general international matters. The department is also responsible or co-responsible for contact with international actors.

Chairman of Naalakkersuisut since 23 April 2021. Chairman of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party since 2018. Member of Inatsisartut since 2015.

Mute Bourup Egede studied cultural and social history at Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland.

Minister for Business, Trade, Minerals, Justice and Equality.

Member of Inatsisartut for Inuit Ataqatigiit 2009-2016.

Naaja Hjelholt Nathanielsen has a master’s degree in psychology and former director of the Correctional Service in Greenland.

Palle Christiansen has been the CEO of Anori A/S since July 2021.
Christiansen is passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and pushing boundaries in the name of development.
20 years of experience from the private business world and 11 years of experience from the political arena.
This combination has given him an insight into how development is created with the benefit of the entire society in which it is created.

Pernille Lohmann has a master’s degree in political science and has worked in the financial sector since 1994. In 2019, Pernille became managing director of DLR Kredit A/S, which, among other things, funds Danish industries and agriculture. One of Pernille’s primary focal areas is financing sustainable development, which is of central societal importance.

Peter Vesborg is a professor at DTU Physics, where he researches catalytic conversion and storage of energy as well as solar cells, and storage of solar energy.

As a child, Peter built his first electric solar panel and as a PhD project he made photocatalytic energy storage (artificial photosynthesis). After a postdoc at Stanford, Peter founded a start-up company based on a unique technology for large-scale solar installations. Alongside his professorship, Peter is today also scientific director of The VILLUM Power-to-X accelerator (VPX), which supports power-to-x spinouts in spe.

Head of Secretariat at Siu-Tsiu. Former Head Teacher at Nuuk International School and head of department at the Institute of Learning.

Sara Olsvig is the International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Olsvig is a long-time Indigenous Peoples’ rights and human rights defender, and a politician who has served as member of the Parliament of Denmark (2011–2015) and the Parliament of Greenland (2013–2018).
Sara Olsvig actively contributed to the work of the Constitutional Commission of Greenland as well as the Human Rights Council of Greenland. Olsvig holds a Master of Science in Anthropology and is currently a PhD candidate, Institute of Social Science, Economics & Journalism, Department of Arctic Social Science & Economics at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland. Olsvig is a recipient of the 2023 Womenomics Inclusion Award.
Sara Olsvig is Inuk and was born in Nuuk, Greenland, where she resides with her partner and their children.

Snorri Tómasson is the Director of Network Planning & Scheduling at Icelandair, overseeing Icelandair’s route network and flight schedule which covers over 50 destinations, including four in Greenland.
Snorri holds an MSc degree in Operations Research from Columbia University and a BSc degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Iceland.

Entrepreneur.

Former Minister for Education and Research and former member of Danish Parliament for Venstre.

Professor, Department of Economics, Aarhus University. Chairman of the Economic Council in Greenland. Former chairman of the Welfare Commission and the Economic Council of Denmark. Torben M. Andersen has an M.Sc. at the London School of Economics and lic.oecon. at Aarhus University.

Troels Ranis is Senior Vice President at Danish Industry and is responsible for green transition, climate, and energy. He is a recognised thought leader in energy and climate policy, holds a master’s degree in public administration, and has achieved the CBS Executive High Performance Leadership Certificate. 

He was raised in Greenland, partly in Maniitsoq in the 1970s and since then in Nuuk, where he finalised his primary education from Ukaliusaq in 1986.

Owner of the consultancy TUC Greenland, which works with employee and management development.

Previously worked at Air Greenland and Kalaallit Forsikring.