Sophie Bai was selected to enroll in the National Science Program at the age of 14 to compete in science internationally on behalf of China. She discovered an anti-aging compound at the age of 16, and a minor planet (Planet No.25045) was named after her by NASA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory to recognize her scientific accomplishment. She studied chemical engineering with a focus on biomedical engineering at MIT where she worked with David H. Koch Institute Professor Robert Langer developing various drug delivery technologies to find cures for prostate cancer, lung cancer, and type I diabetes. Sophie has invented, co-invented, and patented multiple proprietary molecules to provide cures and treatment for atopic dermatitis (eczema), skin cancer, and skin aging.
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Prior to founding B.A.I. Biosciences, Inc., Sophie was a healthcare and life sciences investor at Bain Capital Private Equity and a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group advising pharmaceutical and beauty companies. Sophie received her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from MIT and her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She was elected as the Blavatnik Fellow in Life Sciences Entrepreneurship at Harvard University shortly after founding B.A.I.. Sophie is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Deborah is the founder and Managing Partner at Willow Growth Partners, an early growth investor in the next generation of transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. Having achieved a 10.6x MOIC, Deborah’s investment thesis is to leverage her 20+ years of operating experience by helping founders rationally, effectively, and optimally scale their businesses. From 2012 to 2014, she was President and Chief Operating Officer of Nasty Gal, an online women’s fashion brand where she led the team that grew annual revenues from $20MM to almost $100MM in two years. Prior to that, Deborah was the Chief Operating Officer at ShoeDazzle, an online women’s brand, growing annual revenues to approximately $85 MM in two-and-a-half years. Prior to that, she was the Executive Vice President of inside sales and operations at Teleflora.

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson is an internationally acclaimed thought leader. In demand for her strategic vision and attention to brands that want to grow to scale quickly and sustainably, she is a sought-after speaker and C-suite board advisor. Kendra's ecosystem of leadership is rooted in her global conglomerate BrainTrust—including a global brand marketing firm, BrainTrust Founders Studio, the largest membership-based platform for Black beauty and wellness founders, and the adjacent BrainTrust Fund. She hosts the Business of the Beat podcast, offering insights and behind-the-scenes stories from BIPOC senior executives and operators as they navigate the journey of building and exiting their companies. As one of the first 200 Black women to raise over $1MM in investment for her debut company, she is a trailblazing three-time founder with two exits. Her first book, The Beauty of Success: Start, Grow, and Accelerate Your Brand, launches on February 13, 2024, through Wiley Publishing.

André Branch is a general manager with a strong marketing core who is a passionate brand builder. André is currently Senior Vice President and General Manager, MAC North America at Estée Lauder Companies (ELC). Prior to joining ELC, André worked at several world class consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. At L’Oréal, he ran Digital and Ecommerce Operations for the US. He also led some of the company’s most iconic luxury brands such as Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, Stella McCartney, and Ralph Lauren.

After L’Oréal, André joined The Nature’s Bounty Co. as part of the executive team put in place by private equity firm, The Carlyle Group. He was there in various roles: as the Chief Marketing Officer of the CPG division, a $2 billion entity and finally, as the President of E-Commerce. Before L’Oréal, André spent eight years at Diageo where he oversaw some of the world’s leading spirit brands, including Cuervo tequila, Smirnoff vodka, and Johnnie Walker scotch whisky. In his final role at Diageo, he was Global Marketing Head of the Diageo Reserve Portfolio, a $700 million collection of luxury spirits.

André holds a BA in economics from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Kristine is a seasoned executive who assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer at Dieux Skin in 2022 after serving as an advisor to the company since 2018. In her capacity as COO, Kristine plays a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations of the company while also leading the execution of its long-term strategic objectives. With two decades of diverse experience encompassing start-ups and large corporations, Kristine brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to her role. Beyond her impressive career, she is deeply committed to criminal justice reform and cultivating a more just and equitable society.

Brad Farrell is the Chief Marketing Officer at Beekman 1802, an independently owned beauty company founded in 2008 by Dr. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell. Brad joined the team in early 2020 to help lead overall brand strategy while managing creative, marketing, social media, product development, public relations, and beauty retailer sales and education.

After starting his professional career in San Francisco with apparel retailer Gap, Inc., Brad fell in love with the world of beauty during an internship with L'Oréal Paris during business school. After receiving his MBA from the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business, Brad returned to L'Oréal full time, and spent the past 14 years building his career with the company holding positions across the consumer, luxury, and professional products divisions. His tenure at L'Oréal included roles such as Senior Vice President of Seed Phytonutrients, Vice President of Global Marketing for Pureology, and Global Brand Marketing Director for Kiehl’s Since 1851. Given Brad’s passion for skincare, clean beauty, and environmental sustainability—especially having grown up in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, he was more than excited to join Beekman 1802 during this period of anticipated growth for the brand.

Don has over 35 years of experience in the personal care and cosmetics business and currently serves as President and CEO of the IBA. His experience has primarily been in R&D including formulation, package engineering, safety and toxicology, consumer insights, and regulatory and claims development/substantiation. His professional experience has spanned many companies and brands, both large and small, including Procter & Gamble (P&G), Cover Girl, Gillette, Jafra Cosmetics, Avon, Method, and The Honest Company. He also has experience both domestically as well as internationally including living and working in Japan for two years to help build out P&G’s Asian personal care business. Don has been active in industry organizations having served as Membership Chair and Supply Chain Sustainability Resource Chair for IBA, President of the board for Beauty Industry West, and currently serves on Cradle2Cradle’s Standards Steering Committee. 

Nyakio (pronounced Neh-Kay-Oh) Grieco is a beauty entrepreneur and advocate for clean, inclusive beauty that suits all skin types, tones, and needs. As a veteran beauty founder and trusted voice in the industry, Nyakio has launched two successful businesses: Her award-winning eponymous brand Nyakio, based on her family’s Kenyan beauty secrets and launched in 2002, and the inclusive beauty e-commerce destination, Thirteen Lune, launched with co-founder Patrick Herning in 2020.

It was during the racial reckoning of 2020 that Nyakio was inspired to launch Thirteen Lune. She observed the continued misconception that BIPOC beauty founders were only creating product for BIPOC consumers. Thus, Thirteen Lune launched as the first-of-its-kind, e-commerce destinationdesigned to inspire the discovery of beauty brands created by BIPOC founders that resonate with people of all colors.

Continuing her commitment to inclusive beauty and with a deep understanding of where the niche was in the market, Nyakio created Relevant: Your Skin Seen—a clean, science-led skincare brand that works for all skin tones and types.

As a dedicated activist and mentor, Nyakio sits on the boards of Girls Inc. Los Angeles, Legacy Youth Leadership, and BeautyUnited.

Carrie Gross began her career in the fashion world as a merchandising director overseeing both domestic and international women’s fashion markets, tracking trends and analyzing consumer behaviors. After 12 years in the fashion industry, Carrie was inspired by the birth of the famed Alpha Beta Peel to change career paths. She left her position to co-found a cosmeceutical skincare line with her husband, Dr. Dennis Gross, that developed innovative products featuring clinical ingredients and offering in-office results. She continues to draw inspiration from her global travels and meeting people who are seeking answers to aging, confidence to show off their skin, and craving a regime designed for both preventative and corrective concerns. Carrie is an active member of the International Spa  Association (ISPA) and Cosmetic Executive Women and has spoken at national Sephora events and Women’s Wear Daily forums across the country. 

Leslie Ann Hall is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Iced Media, the agency she made famous for helping to build, grow, and exit some of the most beloved beauty brands in the world. She has guided Iced Media to become peerless in its acumen using content, creators, and media in paid social. Leslie is the foremost expert on social media advertising in the beauty industry.
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For two decades, brands ranging from L'Oréal, Walmart, Louis Vuitton, Paula’s Choice, Moroccanoil, SkinCeuticals, Kristin Ess, and so many more have relied on Leslie and Iced Media to compete and win in the increasingly saturated beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories. 
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Through Iced Media, Leslie supports organizations that align with her values as a BeautyUnited partner, Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Small Business Advisor, and Andreessen Horowitz Talent x Opportunity (TxO) Initiative Mentor. Leslie is a mom of two boys, Jordan and Jude. She splits her time between suburban, NJ, and Cartagena, Colombia. She volunteers for social justice and is a devoted beauty junkie, jogger, and yogi.

Maya Kosovalic is the Vice President of Digital Innovation and E-Commerce for NYX Professional Makeup at L’Oréal USA. She is a seasoned executive with over 19 years of experience across international markets including Canada, China, Brazil, Argentina, and the US in brand management, digital marketing, e-commerce, precision advertising, content partnerships, and digital transformation leadership. Maya is now leading the innovation agenda for NYX Professional Makeup and connecting the dots between the beauty consumer, commerce, and technology as the brand continues to take a leadership role in beauty tech.

Named one of the “Global Top Five Luxury Key Opinion Leaders to Watch,” Daniel Langer is the Chief Executive Officer of  global luxury and lifestyle brand strategy and activation firm Équité, the Executive Professor of Luxury Strategy, Disruption, and Pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He is also a Professor of Luxury at NYU, New York. With his team at Équité, he supports many of the world’s most iconic luxury brands as well as mid-sized brands and start-ups in achieving a step change in brand-positioning, brand-messaging and activation, pricing power, revenue growth, and profitability. Daniel is the author of several best-selling luxury management books in English and Chinese, a sought-after global keynote speaker, and is frequently booked for master classes on the future of luxury, disruption, pricing, A.I., and the metaverse in Europe, the US, Middle East/Africa, and Asia. He is regularly featured as a luxury expert on TV and in the global media including Bloomberg TV, Forbes, The Economist, The New York Times, the Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Jing Daily, and The Wall Street Journal. The Economist calls him the “authority in luxury.” He holds a MBA and a PhD in luxury management, and his education includes Harvard Business School. 

Christophe Laudamiel is a master perfumer in fine fragrances and molecular design at Osmo Labs, PBC, following positions at Procter & Gamble (EU, US) and International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. (IFF) NYC. He composes for BélAir Lab Tokyo and The Zoo NYC and is the initiator of www.perfumeryethics.org. Christophe has created bestsellers for Abercrombie & Fitch, Béyoncé, Clinique, Thierry Mugler, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, and numerous niche brands. He is the recipient of perfumery and science awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Institute of Art and Olfaction and has been a vocal defender of olfactory art at institutions such as Harvard University, Cornell University, and Sorbonne University as well as The World Economic Forum.

Bridey-Rae Lipscombe, a seasoned and dynamic leader, co-founded the UK's pioneering social media agency, Rabbit Agency, embarking on her marketing journey at 23. In 2012, she co-established CULT with Cat Turner, merging strategy and creativity for groundbreaking solutions. With an unwavering commitment to innovation, Bridey spearheads culturally astute campaigns for global beauty, fashion, wellness, and luxury brands—including Shiseido Group, Marc Jacobs, Sally Hansen, Colgate Palmolive, Agent Provocateur, Nike, Amazon Fashion, and Milani, among others. Under Bridey's leadership, CULT is thriving in its 11th year, achieving remarkable sustainable production strides resulting in CULT becoming a certified B Corporation.

A standout in Bridey’s journey is her role as co-founder of Metaverse Beauty Week, an inaugural event spanning Spatial, Decentraland, Roblox, and IRL. It reached over two billion people through press coverage, featured in 240+ pieces from 22+ countries, and drew the attention of 30,000 attendees across 50+ countries, featuring brands like Neutrogena, LUSH, Glossy, IAMPROUD, and Lottie London, among others. The success of MBWeek led to Bridey’s latest endeavor—MBWorld—emerging as the voice of new realities for beauty brands.

Emily MacKinnon is a Senior Strategic Account Manager at social media management platform Dash Hudson, where she’s been driving success since 2017. With a keen passion for the beauty industry, Emily works closely with some of the world’s largest beauty brands, helping them achieve their business goals through strategic support in today’s ever-evolving social media landscape.

Moj Mahdara (they/them), is an entrepreneur and CEO. Currently a venture capitalist at two funds, they have been a partner at Intuition Capital for the past two years. Recently they co-founded a new fund, Kinship Ventures, focused on bringing more inclusion and diversity to the cap table. They have invested in over 100 companies, in high-tech growth, consumer packaged goods, and the future of health.

Formerly, they were CEO of Beautycon, a globally recognized community for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. Moj is an accomplished speaker and business figure with international recognition.

They are focused on bringing the industry together via BeautyUnited, a non-profit focused on bringing community, education, and access to support the next generation of beauty and wellness leaders. They recently co-founded The Iranian Diaspora Collective, a nonpartisan, multifaith group aiming to support the demands of Iranians in Iran who want a free secular democracy. 

Since 1992, Cosmetic Chemist Richard Parker has dedicated his career to creating skincare formulations that are considered the platinum standard in protecting and restoring the skin’s natural luminosity and beauty. His pioneering research into the relationships between skin genetics and epigenetic environmental influences led to Parker’s development of the RATIONALE Essential Six Collections—a daily skincare ritual built on the six facets of skin vitality and radiance. In 2012, Parker pioneered a new skincare paradigm with the introduction of his revolutionary Skin Identical technology; formulations intuitively recognized and optimized by human skin. Based on Parker’s profound understanding of skin anatomy and physiology, the Essential Six Collections offer superlative resilience, vitality and brilliance by day, and rejuvenate the skin’s integrity, clarity, and renewal processes by night. Today, Parker remains dedicated to inspiring and directing the talented team of RATIONALE research scientists, distilling and expounding decades of definitive research and wisdom.

Carolina Reis is the CEO and co-founder of OneSkin, a fast-growing longevity company developing products to target skin aging at the source with its proprietary peptide, OS-01. She holds a PhD in stem cell biology and tissue engineering and has spent the past seven years researching skin aging and cellular senescence. She is a co-inventor of five patents and co-author of numerous scientific publications. She relocated from Brazil to Silicon Valley in 2016 to found OneSkin. Carolina and her team of aging and skin biology experts are disrupting the outdated anti-aging skincare industry with the development of their groundbreaking research around skin age reversal and longevity.

In addition to creating and managing his latest venture, Opulus Beauty Labs; Dr. Robb has had an exciting career. Co-founder of Clarisonic, Dr. Robb helped develop clinically proven sonic devices that make a clear difference in skin health and appearance. Dr. Robb held several Clarisonic positions: initially as VP of Clinical Research and later as Global Brand President and Global Brand Representative.

Robb obtained his BS in Biology (UT, Austin), MS in Botany/Mycology (Texas State), and his Ph.D. in Microbiology (Immunology and Infectious Disease, Texas A&M). With over 25 cumulative years in medical and global health, including 10+ years spent on HIV/AIDS research. He was also a senior scientist in oral healthcare during the early days of sonicare®. Robb is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, and the Independent Beauty Association (board member).

Suveen Sahib has championed innovation in the biosciences space, with past experiences across technology and consumer products for over 20 years. In 2015, Suveen was introduced to the world of haircare by his business partner, Britta Cox, founder of AQUIS hair, only to realize haircare was a daily struggle that needed a hair routine and products.
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With his belief that nature is the best designer and engineer in an industry desperate for innovation, Suveen saw an opportunity to bring biotech with simplicity and speed to the haircare space. He worked with top scientists to map and test the entire protein expression of the keratin genome. After several years of R&D, K18 Biomimetic Hairscience was born.  Launched during the pandemic, within two years, K18 has already expanded its footprint to over 100+ countries, fast gaining iconic status as the #1 haircare brand on social media and buzz from the pro community and at-home users alike—inspiring hair expression without compromise for all hair artists, hair types, generations, and genders across the globe. The venture has raised over $44MM from growth investors.

Ajay Salpekar is the Head of Beauty and Personal Care for TikTok Shop, where he has led the growth of the beauty category on the platform. In his role, he works with key national beauty brands to craft their TikTok Shop strategy, explore creator- and content-led e-commerce, and grow their TikTok Shop sales. Ajay is a longtime digital commerce leader with experience scaling brands on both the brand manufacturer and platform side. Prior to TikTok, he was Vice President of e-commerce and digital at Unilever, and prior to that, he held multiple positions within Amazon's retail organization and Microsoft's technology teams.

Agustina Sartori is currently Senior Director of Digital Innovation at Ulta Beauty and Managing Director of Prisma Ventures. Agustina has experience in both start-up and corporate worlds driving innovation, having founded GlamST—an augmented reality company focused on virtual try-on—which ULTA Beauty acquired in 2018. In her current role, she leads a team of engineers, designers, and beauty enthusiasts who develop and experiment with emerging technologies to bring new guest experiences such as AR, Metaverse, robotics, and new ways of doing commerce to life. In addition to her responsibilities, Agustina is the Managing Director of Prisma Ventures, Ulta Beauty's venture fund focused on early-stage start-ups in the retail technology space— including AR, AI, Metaverse, and robotics. Agustina holds a telematics engineering degree from the University of Montevideo in Uruguay, where she grew up before relocating to San Francisco.

Charlotte Watson serves as the Chief Marketing Officer for OLAPLEX where she is responsible for leading a dynamic team across marketing, social media and communications in over 100 markets worldwide. She brings a unique global perspective to her role having led marketing departments at leading organizations across Europe and the Americas with a proven track record in both omnichannel and prestige. Prior to joining OLAPLEX, she served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Hourglass Cosmetics, part of the Unilever Prestige division, and held senior leadership roles in marketing at global CPG and retail brands including Pandora, Michael Kors, Kurt Geiger, Links of London and Louis Vuitton. She is a Fundraising Committee Member of Girls Inc. in Los Angeles and a member of Chief. She graduated with a master’s degree from The University of Edinburgh and undertook post-graduate studies at Columbia University in addition to an executive leadership education program at Harvard Business School.

Charlotte lives in in Los Angeles with her 2 dogs Honey and Minnie. In her free time, she likes to draw and paint. 

Michelle Wlazlo is the Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer at JCPenney. Michelle joined JCPenney in February 2019. In this role, Michelle is responsible for leading all the company’s merchandise offerings, focused on building a balanced assortment of the best private, exclusive, and national brands including operations of the company’s Merchandising, Product Development and Design, Sourcing, and Planning and Allocation teams.
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Before joining JCPenney Michelle spent nearly 22 years in various merchandising leadership roles, most recently as Senior Vice President (SVP), Merchandising-Apparel and Accessories at Target. In that role, Michelle led brand launches along with reimagining the in-store experience.
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Prior to Target, Michelle spent 19 years at GAP Inc., in a variety of roles, most recently as SVP, Global Merchandising, GAP. Over the course of nearly two decades, she held multiple merchandising roles of increasing responsibility for GAP Inc., inclusive of Old Navy and Outlet. Michelle began her career at Saks Fifth Avenue as a Department Manager before assuming store leadership and buying roles at Bebe Stores Inc. She currently sits on the board for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, along with serving on the Fashion Institute Council and most recently joined the Fashion Scholarship Fund board.