NxG Leadership Team

Leadership Team

Tommaso Fossati

GRUPPO SELLA, +G9, ITALY, VICE PRESIDENT NXG

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Tommaso is part of one of the oldest family involved in business activities in Italy, having established their very first company back in the 16th century, now, since 1886, the family has mainly been involved in the financial sector.

Born in Milan in 1994 and raised in Biella, he holds both italian and swiss citizenship. He graduated in law from Università Cattolica - Milano, in January 2020.

He has been involved in the italian chapter of FBN (AIdAF) since 2015, having an official role within the local NextGen Committee since 2017.

In 2016, he spent six months in the United States, studying law at the University of Iowa College of Law. Tommaso has also been involved in the family no-profit foundation (Fondazione Sella ONLUS) since 2015.

Louise Jebsen Smørås

De Bergenske, G5, Norway

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Louise and her three brothers will represent the 5th generation of their family business, De Bergenske, located in Bergen. De Bergenske comprises five unique hotels: Bergen Børs, Zander K, Grand Terminus, Villa Terminus, and Augustin. The family business also operates a number of restaurants and external premises for banquet and conference purposes. Louise partly works in the family business as a receptionist and employee in the department for sales and booking. 

Louise is in the middle of a five-year program in economics and business administration at The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), consisting of three years at bachelor/undergraduate level and two years at master/graduate level. Louise is currently living in Germany, as part of NHHs exchange program. She also completed a year at The Norwegian Business School (BI), where she studied marketing. Louise is an active member of the NxG committee in Norway and has hosted several events at various locations within their family business.  
 

Daniela Cepeda

Cepeda, G3, Colombia

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Daniela Cepeda Tarud is a Political Scientist and Lawyer with an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics. She is third generation of her family's real estate business, and holds positions on both the leadership team of FBN International and the board of FBN Colombia. As a Creative Strategist for Development who has a passion for yoga, adventure, and ecotourism, Daniela is dedicated to driving social transformation in her home country.  She places a strong emphasis on the unique DNA of Colombia's territories and culture as the cornerstone of this development, forging impactful partnerships along the way. Presently, she is an opinion article writer, and spearheads the strategy for the integration of migrant population in Barranquilla, as part of her overarching mission to establish the city as a vibrant Creative City. 

 

Klára Vítková

NWT Holding, G2, Czech Republic

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Klára is a second-generation member of the NWT Holding which operates across many fields and industries ranging from renewable energy and agriculture to electric cars and real estate. Klára is an active member of both global and local FBN charter. She is a NxG president of FBN Czech meanwhile working towards her BSc degree at King’s College London. Her key topics of interests are innovation and ethics and sustainability. 

Mehrad Jaberansari

Sepahan Industrial Group, G3, Iran. NxG Leadership Team President

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Mehrad is a 3rd generation member of an Iranian enterprising family.

Born in Vancouver, raised in Tehran, and having lived in London, Hong Kong, Dubai and Madrid over the past 17 years, Mehrad is a global citizen with a strong belief in the family institution.

Before founding his own social enterprise in the pet industry, Mehrad worked as a Project Manager at Julius Baer in Hong Kong & London, where he was involved in the international acquisition of Merrill Lynch IWM, and later as Business Development Manager for ACC Aviation in Dubai.

Mehrad is an avid snowboarder, and enjoys maintaining a balanced lifestyle via fitness, nutrition, meditation and an active social life. Most notably, he is an ardent dog-lover who enjoys parenting his 2-year old pup Meeko. In his free time, he organises dog-friendly events to raise money for dog rescue & rehoming charities.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Development Studies with Economics from the University of Westminster, an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE) and an International MBA from IE Business School in Madrid.

Roles within FBN-I:               

  • Member, Board of Directors
  • President, NxG Leadership Team
  • Ambassador & Former Chair, Entrepreneurs Community
  • Member, Polaris Committee

 
Key Topics of interest:

  • Social entrepreneurship
  • The environment & sustainability
  • Dogs & Innovations in the pet industry

Nathalie Bongrain

Savencia Group, G3, France

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Nathalie is a 3rd generation member of Savencia Group, which is specialized in Food industry. She is involved in the Family council. She holds a Master's degree in Hospitality Management. After few years working in the sales department of her family business she moved to Spain to open a guest house where she hosts seminars retreats and workshops related to physical and mental health. She lives between Biarritz and Malaga and loves being closed to the ocean. 

María Cecilia Dávalos

NxG Community Coordinator

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Half Ecuadorian half Spanish, as a 3rd Generation member of her family business Florisol&Co, Ceci studied International Relations and just started an MBA in Madrid. She has gained experience working in different areas such as Real Estate, Marketing and Sales. Ceci is a highly active and passionate NxG community member where she first engaged as a NxG leader for FBN Ecuador and joined the International NxG Leadership Team in 2019. We are thrilled to have a great networker on the team, that will bring her drive, enthusiasm, and knowledge to positively impact the NxG Community.

Based in Madrid, Ceci will closely work with the FBN Team, the NxG Leadership Team and NxG leaders and chapter executives around the world to continue to develop our thriving NxG Community

Email: cecilia.davalos@fbn-i.org

 

Gökçe Gülcüler

Gülcüler Insurance, G2, Turkey

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Gökçe works as a liability and cyber security insurance expert in her family's business as the second generation. Her family firm is Gülcüler Insurance, where two generations work together. At the same time, she works at Harvard Business Review Türkiye as a curator, presenter, and writer, where she creates digital content about cyber security and the impact of the cyber world on humanity. She has experience in a range of fields, including aerospace, insurance,cyber security, art and culture. She has an ITU Aeronautical Engineering degree and  MBA degree from KOÇ University. She joined the team working on the entrepreneurship initiative, and after a while she led the formation of Turkey's first local entrepreneurship committee, serving as president for three years. She is currently handling the NextGen Leadership Team's Espresso With Entrepreneurs podcast series. 

Matthew Ayres

G4, UK

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Matthew Ayres is the 4th generation of his family business, The Bennie Group. A multi-industry group that works across the Equipment & Plant, Construction & Manufacturing sectors. 

Matthew joined Bennie full time in October 2018 as Operations Director where he set about creating and restructuring all the businesses central functions in Finance, IT, Facilities, Marketing & HR. He took over the Group Managing Director role in July 2020. 

Prior to joining Bennie, Matthew worked in various operational roles at a fast-growing B2B software start-up where he was responsible for digital integration and business development with high profile retail clients. Before this, he worked at the John Lewis Partnership as part of the team that established the central shared service operations for Waitrose & John Lewis as the group started bringing the two retail businesses together.