SPEAKERS

Director General and Artistic Director of the Kyiv Opera, Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine, and producer. Since 2018, he has led one of Ukraine’s leading musical theatre institutions, driving its artistic development and expanding international collaboration.

During the war, he has been a strong advocate for preserving Ukrainian culture and national identity, highlighting the vital role of theatre in fostering social cohesion and cultural resilience. Under his leadership, Kyiv Opera has continued its creative activities, expanded its Ukrainian repertoire, and represented Ukrainian culture on the international stage.

Researcher, writer, educator, and multidisciplinary thinker dedicated to fostering people-centred change in today’s world. He is the co-founder of DisCO.coop (2018) and the Guerrilla Media Collective (2013).

Stacco researches, teaches, and writes about commons governance, peer-to-peer (P2P) politics and economics, open culture, post-growth societal models, platform and open cooperativism, decentralised governance, blockchain technologies, and related topics. He develops and promotes these ideas through his work with DisCO.coop, Commons Transition, and Guerrilla Translation.

Alongside his research and international collaborations, Stacco places great importance on music, art, and poetry, viewing them as essential to social development, creativity, and community building.

Suzana Durão is currently Executive Director of Companhia João Garcia Miguel, a Portuguese Contemporary Theatre Company with more than 20 years of activity. She is known for Mockingbird, a consultant specializing in the management of digital transformation projects in the field of Culture, particularly at DGARTES where she has been accompanying the technological modernization of management support platforms for 6 years. With an international career in global markets, she worked at large multinationals such as Avast Antivirus in Prague, with extensive experience in management, marketing and digital areas. She holds a degree in Art History (NOVA University of Lisbon) and is pursuing a master’s degree in Culture, Communication and Information Technologies (ISCTE, Lisbon). She also holds a Leadership in Innovation certificate (INSEAD).

With over 30 years in the Estonian music scene as both a musician and entrepreneur, Lauri Laubrehas shaped the region’s cultural landscape. He is the founder of Piletilevi, the largest ticketing network in the Baltics and Eastern Europe (including Biļešu Serviss in Latvia). His career spans creating some of Estonia’s most iconic live music and dance clubs, founding the country’s widest-reaching commercial radio network (B3), producing over ten pop albums, and managing artists.

Lauri has brought world-famous stars to the Baltics, including Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, and Queen. He is currently developing Polaris Arena, a large nature-based venue set to open in 2027. In 2023, he released Northodoxian, a unique progressive rock album entirely written and produced by himself.

One of the leading figures in Latvia’s startup ecosystem, Anna is the CEO and Chair of the Board at Riga TechGirls, and Co-founder and Executive Director of StartSchool. Her background includes founding design and technology companies such as FROONT, berta.me, and HungryLab. She has also played a vital role in supporting the startup community by establishing the co-creation space THE MILL, serving on the board of TechHub Riga, and advocating for gender equality in tech. Under her leadership, the Riga TechGirls community has supported over 50,000 women in developing IT skills.

Since 2018, Pauls has been actively involved in Latvia’s startup and IT sectors. He has worked for organizations such as TechHub Riga, TechChill, and Helve. For the past four years, he has been a key team member at Riga TechGirls, where he has led a variety of projects – from monthly community meetups to digital skills training programs with over 2800 participants. He currently serves as a board member and project director.

Before entering the tech and startup scene, Pauls worked as an event coordinator and producer – both in event agencies and at the National Library of Latvia. He also has a background in music journalism and is currently part of the Radio NABA team.

Helmuts Bems is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in developing companies from an idea to international success. He stands out with excellent strategic planning, team-building, and visionary skills, as well as previous experience in venture capital.

Co-founder and CEO of Sonarworks – a multi-award-winning music technology company whose innovations are used by over 200,000 recording studios and numerous Grammy Award–winning sound engineers. The company offers software tools for music creatorsand an app for listeners.

Helmuts has grown the company from its very inception into a globally recognized brand.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and has also studied physics. Driven by big challenges, outside of business he is a passionate mountaineer, kite-surfer, and yoga enthusiast.