75th Anniversary – Speakers

Philippe Henri (France)

Graduated from ESSEC Business School Paris, Philippe HENRI began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he held various positions in the Sales and Marketing Departments.

He continued his professional path in the agri-food sector, heading a cooperative group specializing in fresh product distribution. Under his leadership, the group became a market leader in France. He then founded his own strategic consulting firm.

Highly involved in national and international professional organizations, Philippe HENRI was notably one of the founders, in 2001 in Brussels, of the association representing the fresh fruit and vegetable sector to the European Institutions, “Freshfel Europe,” where he served as Vice-President and later as President.

Elected in 2008 as a board member of Banque Populaire, of which his company is a member, Philippe HENRI has been President of Banque Populaire Méditerranée since 2018, after serving as President of Banque Chaix. He was also President of the Banque Populaire National Corporate Foundation from 2019 to 2024 and is currently a member of the supervisory board of BPCE.

Sabine Calba (France)

Holder of a Master’s degree in Financial Management from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and an MBA in Finance from the Institut de Haute Finance, Sabine CALBA has spent her entire career within the Banque Populaire Group, where she found the values that drive her: cooperation, proximity, solidarity, and an entrepreneurial spirit.

She began her professional career in 1993 in Metz as a Business Account Manager, and then progressed within Banque Populaire Alsace Lorraine Champagne as Head of the Marketing and Communication Department, then as Group Director. In 2018, she was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the bank.

She left her home region in 2019 to take charge, within BPCE, of all Banque Populaire development divisions.

In April 2021, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Banque Populaire Méditerranée.

Committed to supporting women in their fight for professional equality in leadership roles, Sabine CALBA has served since September 2021 as President of “Elles de BPCE.” This network now brings together over 400 female senior executives and aims to promote gender diversity within the Group.

Valeria Rutgers (Belgium)

Valeria has been working at CIBP for more than 10 years now. CIBP has been the opportunity to learn and connect to with the cooperative business model. An inspiring and diverse world opened to her.

This job opportunity facilitated her to both connect with people from all cultures as well as to improve her language skills, while enjoying the management of projects based on best practises exchanges and complex events due by the fact of reuniting so many different organisations at the same time. Truly, an enormous learning experience. Working with colleagues from different departments and rich insights, the CIBP member banks employees and CIBP Ambassadors have become over the years close colleagues establishing trust and respectful relationships.

Valeria has a Master’s degree in political science (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and has been living nearly 30 years in Belgium after having travelled during her youth in several parts of the world.

She has worked many years in the banking, consultancy, legal sectors, and stainless-steel industry, mainly in the HR departments with a favorite pool for Training and High potential management.

Another important aspect of her life are her two daughters, nourishing the common curiosities throughout photography, arts & philosophy as they are a way to discovering our human nature.

Photo by © GLEAMLIGHT

Marco Almada (Brazil)

Marco Almada is an Accounting Technician and Graduated in Business Administration.

He has an Executive MBA in Finance from IBMEC, Lato Sensu Post-Graduation in Improvement in Strategic Management from Fundação Dom Cabral and immersions in Strategic Custody Management from the Oklahoma Baptist University (Oklahoma Baptist University), in the USA, and in Project Monitoring and Evaluation by the German Society for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ), in Germany.

He is currently CEO of Centro Cooperativo Sicoob – CCS, made up of the Confederation, the Cooperative bank, the Insurance Company and other Entities that form the third degree of Sicoob.

Christophe Carpentier de Changy (Belgique)

Christophe Carpentier, a finance executive with nearly three decades of experience, joined CPH Banque in September 2023 as a member of the Executive Board. He oversees key strategic departments, including Accountancy, Treasury, Credits, Logistics and Buildings, and Digital Banking, playing a central role in shaping the bank’s transformation and operational excellence.

Prior to joining CPH, Christophe spent 28 years within the KBC Bank Group, primarily at CBC Banque, where he held leadership roles in the Dealing Room and Treasury departments. His extensive expertise in quantitative finance and international treasury operations, developed over 14 years in each of these domains, underpins his capacity to navigate complex financial environments with precision and foresight.

Deeply committed to aligning professional purpose with personal values, Christophe approaches each new challenge with enthusiasm and a collaborative spirit. He thrives in environments where ideas are exchanged—whether in formal boardrooms or informal outdoor settings—believing that dialogue and shared vision are the catalysts for innovation and progress.

Driven by a positive outlook and a passion for finance that makes a difference, Christophe brings both strategic insight and human-centered leadership to his role, determined to contribute meaningfully to the bank’s evolution and its long-term impact.

Gerald Fleischmann (Austria)

Gerald Fleischmann started working in the banking industry after completing his technical mathematics degree. Before becoming CEO of Volksbank Wien in 2015 and speaker of the Austrian Association Volksbanken, he has headed group treasury at ERSTE Bank and acted as CEO of Salzburger Sparkasse in the saving banks sector.

Siria Jeldes Chang (Chile)

Siria Jeldes Chang has been President of Coopeuch since 2015.

She chairs the board of the Coopeuch Foundation and serves as Director of the cooperative’s insurance brokerage subsidiary.

At the international level, she is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Popular Banks (CIBP). She is Chile’s official representative on the Board of Directors of Cooperatives of the Americas, the regional representation of the International Cooperative Alliance.

She represented Coopeuch on the Capital Markets Advisory Council of the Ministry of Finance, whose goal is to institutionalize public-private dialogue and interaction regarding the development strategy for the local financial market.

Siria Jeldes has received various awards throughout her professional career, including being recognized five times among the 100 leading women in the country. She was named one of the 10 most influential CEOs in Latin America by América Economía magazine and was honored with the “Executive of the Year 2018” award, presented by EY and El Mercurio. She also received the “Influential Woman in Senior Management” award from Mujeres Influyentes, the Elena Caffarena Award from the National Women’s Service, and the “Outstanding Woman DIRECON 2017” distinction.

In terms of professional training, Siria Jeldes has studied abroad and visited various German, Canadian, Argentine, Uruguayan, and Brazilian cooperatives. She holds postgraduate diplomas in administration and management training from Adolfo Ibáñez University.

Marija Kolak (Germany)

Marija Kolak is President of the National Association of German Cooperative Banks (Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken – BVR). After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, she worked for Berliner Volksbank and held several management positions before returning to BVR as Head of Marketing. In 2015, Marija rejoined Berliner Volksbank, first as general representative before becoming a member of the Executive Board. In 2018, she returned to BVR, this time as President.

Marija is a member of various supervisory boards, including those of DZ BANK AG, R+V Insurance, Union Invest, and BSH Building Society. She also serves as a member of the Council of Economy for the Holy See.

Marija is married and the mother of three grown-up daughters. In her free time, she sometimes plays the organ in her parish community.

Michael Migendt (Germany)

Michael is the Head Digital Projects Cooperative Financial Network within the Strategy & Group Development department at DZ BANK in Frankfurt, Germany. He is responsible for several digital initiatives and leads strategic projects across the DZ BANK Group.

With his team, Michael oversees DZ BANK’s role within the strategic portfolio of the German cooperative financial network and is dedicated to building cross-company collaborations. His expertise encompasses the execution of groundbreaking projects and the integration of innovative strategies to drive growth and transformation in the financial sector.

Nicolas Namias (France)

Nicolas Namias is CEO of BPCE.

He began his career in 2004 at the Treasury Department of the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance. Initially responsible for preparing international financial summits, he was then appointed deputy government commissioner at the Autorité des marchés financiers. In 2008, Nicolas Namias joined Groupe BPCE, where he was head of Retail Banking and Insurance until 2012. In the same year, he was appointed technical advisor to the Prime Minister on economic financing, companies and international economic affairs.

Nicolas Namias returned to Groupe BPCE in 2014, becoming Chief Strategy Officer and then Chief Financial Officer of Natixis, and a member of the General Management Committee. In 2018, Nicolas Namias was appointed member of the BPCE management board, first in charge of finance and strategy, and since August 2020, as chief executive officer of Natixis.

Nicolas Namias, 49, is a graduate of the École Nationale d’Administration, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (Executive Program), ESSEC Business School, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po).

Virginie Normand (France)

Virginie Normand has been Chief Executive Officer of the Fédération Nationale des Banques Populaires and General Delegate of the Fondation Nationale d’Entreprises des Banques Populaires since October 2024.

She joined the group in 1995 and has spent her entire career within it. She began in the corporate banking division at Banque Populaire Rives de Paris, later serving as a member of the Management Board in charge of Regional Corporate Banking at Caisse d’Epargne Languedoc-Roussillon. She then joined the Banque Populaire Development team at BPCE as Deputy Director. Most recently, she was Director of Commercial Acceleration, focusing on transformation, transition, and diversification for the Local Retail Banking and Insurance division.

Virginie Normand, 54, is a graduate of INSEEC Paris and has completed the group’s executive leadership training programs.

Louize Oliveira (Brazil)

Louize is a master’s student at the University of São Paulo (USP) and has been researching customer financial literacy and over-indebtedness.

She also specializes in business management, with meaningful experience in the cooperative business model.

She has worked for more than 10 years in the financial market, specifically in a credit union, working in the areas of credit and risk, legal and recovery, strategic projects, and social investment.

Rodrigo Silva Iñiguez (Chile)

Rodrigo Silva Iñiguez has held the position of General Manager of Coopeuch for the past 10 years.
He has over 30 years of experience in the financial system, 15 of which he has spent at Coopeuch. He actively participates in key business circles, such as the board of Fundación País Digital and Chile Pay. Rodrigo recently joined the CM50 circle, which brings together the CEOs of the world’s leading cooperatives and mutuals.

In the Chilean cooperative movement, he serves as President of the National Association of Cooperatives and of Coopera. He is also a board member of the Business Forum. Additionally, he chairs the National Institute for Associativity and Cooperativism (INAC).

Internationally, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Popular Banks (CIBP). He chairs the Regional Committee of Financial Cooperatives and Cooperative Banks of the International Cooperative Alliance in the Americas Region (COFIA), a sectoral organization supporting the cooperative financial sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is also an official member of the Board of Directors of Cooperatives of the Americas, a body of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) for Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean.

Rodrigo Silva is an Industrial Civil Engineer from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso and holds a degree from the Senior Business Management Program at the University of Los Andes.

Loïc Fauchon (France)

Loïc Fauchon is President of the World Water Council and President of the Water Supply Company of Marseille. He was President of the World Water Council from 2005 to 2012 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022. He directly contributed to the organization of the World Water Forums in Marrakech (1997), The Hague (2000), Kyoto (2003), Mexico City (2006), Istanbul (2009) and Marseille (2012).

Loic Fauchon graduated in 1970 from the Institute of Political Studies of Aix-en-Provence. He began his career working as a civil servant in public services and several local authorities – the Verdon River Syndicate, the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the Departmental Council of the Bouches-du-Rhône and the City of Marseille, where he served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Marseille and as Secretary General. He was elected Mayor of Trets from 1989 to 1997.

Appointed as General Director of the Water Supply Company of Marseille in 1991, he became Chief Executive Officer in 1997, leading a group of 15 companies with 1,800 staff.

Understanding the vital importance of water throughout the world, and after having led several humanitarian field missions, he created the NGO “Trans-Sahara Caravanes Sans Frontières” in 1977 to respond to humanitarian emergency situations. He also created a specific emergency response body with the Water Supply Company of Marseille, called “Waterhelp.” He is a member of several international and non-governmental organizations and of the High-Level Expert and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP).

He was appointed CEO of SAFIM (Marseille International Exhibitions LLC) in 2014. He was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 2003.

Ariel Guarco (Argentina)

Ariel Guarco is the President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). He is a cooperative leader that has undertaken a cooperative movement development process in his country, Argentina, and has built strong bonds with the rest of the cooperative movement in the American continent and worldwide.

Guarco started in the cooperative movement over 20 years ago in his home town Electric Cooperative, in Coronel Pringles, Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), holding different positions until the presidency, which he holds since 2007. He is President of Cooperar, the Confederation of Cooperatives of Argentina, since 2011 and he has been a Board member of the International Cooperative Alliance since 2013. Cooperar works with 74 cooperative federations, 5,000 cooperatives, and ten million members.

Guarco is also the President of the Federation of Electric and Public Services Co-operatives of the Province of Buenos Aires (FEDECOBA) since 2008. He is the author of the book “The Argentine Cooperative Movement – A hopeful Look into the Future”.

Frédéric Lavenir (France)

Frédéric Lavenir has been President of Adie (Association for the Right to Economic Initiative) since 2016.

A graduate of HEC and ENA and an Inspector of Finances, Frédéric Lavenir met Maria Nowak, the founder of Adie, in 1991. Inspired by the mission and values of the association, he became actively involved. A long-time volunteer and supporter of Adie, he joined its Board in 2000 as Vice President, first alongside Maria Nowak and then Catherine Barbaroux, whom he succeeded as President in 2016.

Alongside this nonprofit involvement, he held various public positions, including Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for Industrial Restructuring (CIRI) in 1995 and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry in 1997.

In 2001, he joined BNP Paribas as Chairman and CEO of BNP Paribas Lease Group, later becoming Head of Human Resources and a member of the Executive Committee. He then served as CEO of CNP Assurances from 2012 to 2018.

Pierre-Mathieu Nicolaï (France)

Pierre-Mathieu Nicolaï has a background in law.

He began his career as Public Procurement Officer at the University of Corsica, before joining the President’s Office as Project Manager for Resources. In this role, he contributed to the implementation of major joint research and development projects between the University and the CNRS, such as the Myrte/Paglia Orba technological platform focused on renewable energy.

He initially served as Head of Administration and Strategic Management of the Stella Mare Joint Research Unit—another platform dedicated to the sustainable management of Corsica’s marine and coastal resources. He is now the Director of Stella Mare. He also acts as the Director of the Support and Research Unit (UAR) 3514 STELLA MARE (University of Corsica and CNRS). To clarify, Stella Mare is a research platform jointly managed by the University of Corsica and the CNRS. Stella Mare is a Support and Research Unit, UAR (according to the CNRS nomenclature). Its identification number within the CNRS is 3514.

The platform aims to enable the transfer of technological innovations to marine professionals, while also developing processes that support responsible fishing, sustainable aquaculture, and the ecological restoration of species in their natural environments.

Inaugurated in 2011 and also committed to raising awareness among younger generations, Stella Mare has grown rapidly: from a 500 m² facility with just 3 staff members to a 2,500 m² site with a workforce ranging between 40 and 50 people. The platform has mastered the reproduction of numerous species (such as dentex, brown meagre, lobster, European flat oyster, and sea urchins) and has gained international recognition, particularly for achieving the remarkable feat of producing juvenile specimens of the Mediterranean red lobster (Palinurus elephas).

Bastien Romain (France)

Romain Bastien holds a degree in Biological Engineering and Quality from the University of Corsica.
After a six-month internship at the Thau Lagoon (Hérault) in the field of oyster farming, he spent nearly five years away from his native island, working in the three largest oyster hatcheries in France. He eventually became Quality Manager and Production Assistant at France Naissain, a prestigious hatchery in the Vendée region.

After dealing with a severe herpes virus outbreak that struck the Pacific oyster, he returned to Corsica to take part in the Stella Mare scientific platform project—a joint initiative by the University of Corsica and the CNRS—which he joined in 2011 as an engineering assistant.

Stella Mare aims to ensure the sustainable management and integrated control of Corsica’s fishery and coastal resources. It supports the transfer of technological innovations to marine professionals while developing processes that promote responsible fishing, sustainable aquaculture, and the ecological restoration of species in their natural habitats.

Thanks to his commitment, Romain Bastien is now Head of Engineering and captain of the Stella Mare research vessel (UAR) 3514 STELLA MARE (University of Corsica and CNRS), authorized by the CNRS to lead scientific diving missions. To clarify, Stella Mare is a research platform jointly managed by the University of Corsica and the CNRS. Stella Mare is a Support and Research Unit, UAR (according to the CNRS nomenclature). Its identification number within the CNRS is 3514.

Stéphane Windsor (France)

Tedd George (UK)

Born and bred in London, Tedd has long had a passion for travel and foreign languages which has taken him across Europe, Latin America and Africa.

A linguist by training, he is fluent in Spanish, French and Portuguese and regularly works in these languages. Tedd has a diverse range of specialities, including African markets, disruptive technology (fintech, blockchain and trade tech), soft commodities (especially cocoa), agribusiness, trade and trade finance, supply chain integrity and ESG.

Tedd is well known as a speaker, appearing regularly as chairman, keynote speaker and moderator on the world conference and webinar circuit and as a commentator in the media.

Host Speakers

Member Speakers

Guest Speakers

Master of Ceremony