For the last eight years, David has been the President of the European Small Business Alliance which represents approx. 1million small and micro businesses from across Europe and is based in Brussels.

He previously sat on the UK Federation of Small Businesses English and National Policy Committees chairing the Environment and Energy Policy Unit and then the EU and International Affairs Policy Unit, he also has been a member of the Executive Board of the Flock Association of Europe since 2005.

David is a member of West Midlands Business Forum, a group representing all the major business organisations in central England.

Eva Merloni is the President and chief project officer of Area Europa, with 10 years of experience in the management of European projects.

With a background in Applied Ecology (Biological Sciences), an international master’s degree in Sustainable Local Development and a PhD in Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences and Technologies, she’s a senior expert in coordinating projects (LIFE, Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, Interreg) at international level.

She is currently the Project manager of WEgate on behalf of ESBA.

Gabriela has more than 16 years of experience in business and innovation support activities for increased competitiveness of the business sectors and overall sustainable development. She is the executive Director of the Foundation for Management and Industrial Research, North Macedonia. With background in mechanical engineering, managing an IT business incubator, and acting as the president of the Macedonian national council for women entrepreneurship.

Vice-chair of the Women entrepreneurship group within the largest European business support network, the EnterpriseEuropeNetwork, and WEgate community coordinator.

Tom is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Technological University Dublin, Academic Director of the Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship and Adjunct Professor at the University of Turku (Finland). He is a former President of the International Council for Small Business (2012-13) and of the European Council for Small Business (2009-11), and was Chair of the ICSB 2014 World Entrepreneurship Conference.

He is a policy advisor to Governments, European Commission, OECD and other international organisations. He is a Director of four enterprises and works in various capacities with a range of businesses. He has published 9 books and presented widely on the topic, particularly in the area of minority entrepreneurship.

Jan is Head of Operations at Business Angels Europe (BAE), based in Brussels, Belgium. BAE brings together the most active angel networks in Europe to foster cross-border investing between the networks, advocate for measures that support angel investing (co-investment funds / tax incentives), and to provide training, data and expertise on angel investing.

He has previous experience as an angel investor network manager in the Netherlands and as a trainee at the European Commission. He has studied History and Political Science at the University of Leiden, Paris-Sorbonne and Oxford.