Mr Dhirubhai Raichand Shah, Managing Director of Shahlon Silk Industries Ltd., Surat took over as Chairman of The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) in March 2021. Before this, Mr Shah was serving as a Board Member of the Council since 2016-17. He was the Vice Chairman of the Council for the two years prior, actively involved with various activities of the Council including export promotional programmes.

Mr Shah, a graduate in Commerce with Adv. Accountancy & Auditing, was also the Regional Chairman, Surat since April 2017 for two years. During his tenure as the Regional Chairman, Surat, Mr Shah was actively representing the issues concerning exports of MMF textiles in Surat region especially the twin issues hurting the MMF textile exporters i.e. GST and increasing imports of MMF textiles from China.

Mr Shah was President of South Gujarat Texturisers Association, Surat, and an active member of various association/boards such as Excise - Regional Advisory Committee, Development Council for Textile Industries (Ministry of Commerce and Industries - Govt. of India) 2001-03, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Textile Working Group of Gujarat - State Govt. 2001-02. He was a Co-opted Member of Managing Committee of South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Surat (SGCCI) 2018-19, Mentor of The South Gujarat Yarn Dealer Association (SGYDA).

Priyal is a Program Associate for the Climate Program at WRI India. She engages with large businesses and MSMEs, on circular economy initiatives, business climate action and just clean energy transition. She supports work across sectors such as textile & apparel, building & construction, and the automotive sector. Prior to joining WRI India, she worked at Infinitive, a circular economy advisory, where she supported projects on technical communications and awareness building around circular economy. She holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from NMIMS University, Mumbai.

June Park, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Fashion Merchandising in the Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising at Oklahoma State University, USA. Her research focuses on sustainable consumption of fashion products in the consumer-brand relationship context and other alternative fashion consumption modes related to circular business models such as resale and rental. She has examined the mechanism of brand loyalty formation for sustainable fashion and fast fashion brands, the triple bottom line model as it is applied to customer-centric sustainability for fashion brands, and sustainability implications of fashion rental and resale models. Her research work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals including International Journal of Consumer Studies, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, and her work has been also quoted and featured in the media outlets such as The Conversation, Money.com, and Newsweek Japan.

At UKFT Jaki is developing the UK's fashion & textiles industry strategic direction for Innovation, R&D and Sustainability. Sourcing and creating ways to empower responsible & sustainable business growth as we work towards Net Zero and circularity.

She was Project Lead for the recent Sustainable Supply Chain Optimisation £1.4m R & D project with IBM; Sourcing actionable solutions for traceability in the complex fashion & textile supply chains.

Curating opportunities enabling our companies to meet their environmental and social responsibilities and targets and embrace them as impactful and transitional change.

Jaki sits on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's Traceability for Garment & Footwear Expert Committee, & Euratex's Innovation, Circularity and Sustainability Committees.

Jaki has a lifelong interest in design and a commitment to sustainability. She trained in industrial textile design and has worked at both regional Scottish and UK level as a Director of fashion & textile membership organisations for the last 12 years.

Akash is an experienced senior executive with 25 years across global markets with depth across Asia-Pacific. Akash was appointed by Coats Group, the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer, in 2020, to spearhead Coats Digital, a unique, multi-faceted technology business that optimises and accelerates the urgently required digital transformation of the fashion supply chain.

Akash previously played senior global business-oriented CFO roles at Coats Group, centred on executing the strategic agenda, business priorities across all markets globally, leading all operating finance teams across Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas.

Marc Sidler is a young and dynamic marketing professional with more than 15 years of experience in the textile and promotional industry. From 2007 until 2010 he was based in Shanghai and strengthened his sourcing, buying, manufacturing and quality assurance know-how. He joined TESTEX in May 2014 and was appointed to the Group CMO in July 2017. One of his strategic goals is to bring together the brands and retailers with the worldwide procurement market in a sustainable way.

Kutay Saritosun is a textile engineer and sustainability aficionado with a passion for the environmental and social impacts of the textile industry. As CSR Senior Executive at ISKO, Saritosun worked in close cooperation with leading sustainability platforms such as SAC and BCI as well as prestigious certification bodies of Nordic Swan and EU Ecolabel. His public speaking engagements includes guest lecturing at Parsons School of Design-New York, participating in panel discussions globally and presenting at EU Green Week by the invitation of the EU Environmental Commission. Mentorship activities include CFDA+Lexus Fashion Initiative 2018/2019 and teaching the Sustainable Fashion seasonal workshops at POLIMODA in Florence, Italy. Saritosun currently serves as Head of Marketing and Communications at bluesign technologies ag, helping to unite chemical suppliers, textile manufacturers and brands to jointly reduce their impact on people and the environment.

Emese Dobos is a PhD student at the Corvinus University Budapest, Doctoral School of International Relations and Political Science, World Economics doctoral program. Her research topic is the position of the CEE region's garment manufacturers in the global supply chains. She is especially interested in relocation tendencies, global value chains, the role of the states within the fashion industry, industrial policy and regulations and practices towards sustainability. She has also been working as a journalist for almost 10 years and holds lectures in several universities in Budapest. She holds a BA in liberal arts, MA in communication and media studies (with a specialization in cultural industries) and International Studies (with a specialization in Business Diplomacy). Formerly she was involved into research projects regarding the working conditions of the Hungarian fashion workers and the certifications 'guarantee' towards working conditions, and the manufacturing challenges between the local manufacturing companies and emerging designers. She joined the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of World Economics and Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Political Science (both based in Budapest) in 2022.

Radhey has spent over two decades in variety of production, commercial and strategy building and execution roles. His career started as an engineering graduate in textile wet processing, and it provided him yet another opportunity to handle a project with a global leading towel manufacturer. There he worked towards plant commissioning, implementing latest technology, and establishing process routes in continuous applications in the wet process (home furnishing). Later taking up a techno-commercial role in sales and marketing of dyes and auxiliaries he successfully delivered year on year growth in a multinational company. Radhey joined Novozymes in 2010, where he worked in various positions in business development, sales, and marketing in the APAC region. In his current role, Radhey is leading and shaping the business landscape of Novozymes' biological solutions in South Asia as commercial head for technical industries (Textile, paper, leather, and pharma). Radhey has a B.tech in Textile Chemistry and diploma in “Strategy Execution” from Harvard Online Business School.

Carlo Centonze studied Biology and Forest Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich where he graduated in 2003. Shortly after that, he earned his Executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen in 2007. After his service as an army pilot, he started his professional career as co-founder of the carbon certificate pioneer NGO Myclimate, where he took the role of Head of Sales & Marketing between 2002 and 2003. After that first contact with environmental and sustainable organizations, he went on to co-found the material innovation leader HeiQ along with Dr Murray Height, an MIT graduate. Carlo has served HeiQ as CEO since 2004, developing the firm from a two-employee company to a 250-employee company as of today.

Alongside his role as HeiQ's CEO, Carlo Centonze is also proactive with similar projects. He became board of Director of C8 Investments Ltd. for 3 years between 2012 and 2015, and since 2019, he plays an active role as Member of the Board of Directors of Science Industries, the Swiss association for the chemical, pharmaceutical and life science industry as well as Chairman of The Board of the 108-year-old ECSA Emanuele Centonze SA, the largest Swiss owned company specialized in the distribution of chemicals.

Business leader with 20 years career distinguished for driving growth in specialty business through strategy development and execution, technical service and market differentiation while also building high performance teams in Asia. Driving and implementing Sustainable technologies in textile wet processing with key brands, mills & NGO’s. Currently working as a regional technical manager -Northeast Asia & Southeast Asia, Vietnam markets, taking lead for new developments with customers, key accounts planning and technical service. Serving as Board member Indian business chamber -Hanoi, Vietnam from 2020.

Sydney is a materials scientist who is passionate about sustainable materials and processes that harness the resources and principles of nature. She spent nearly 5 years at the global scientific and engineering firm, Exponent Inc., working in the plastics, textiles, and biomedical devices sectors. Sydney is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at the Material Innovation Initiative, a nonprofit working to accelerate the development of high-performance, sustainable, animal-free materials (“next-gen materials.”)

Sydney obtained her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Harvard University with prior materials education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Florida, with research focus in bio-inspired materials including 3D/4D printing, bio-printing, self-healing, and anti-fouling materials.

Muthusamy Gunasekaran manages the technical aspect of the Lenzing fiber business for textiles segment which includes general fashion, home textiles and advanced materials. His key expertise is developing and establishing new innovations for weavers and garment makers across the region of South Asia. He further collaborates with supply chain partners for joint product developments of technical and advance materials like fire-retardant materials and workwear. He is a textile technologist having 20 years of experience in this field.

John Murphy joined Hohenstein on the May 01st, 2021 as Technical Director Europe taking responsibility for the sales, marketing, business development for EU clients with regards to the ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX®. John has extensive experience with Ciba-Geigy, Ciba, and Huntsman in a variety of technical, marketing and sales roles with the last 10 years under Huntsman at senior European and Global roles working with production, sales, R&D, brands and retailers and other stakeholders. John was Vice President of the British Coating Federation and is a Silver Medalist and a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists.

Jean Hegedus is currently the Sustainability Director for The LYCRA Company. Ms. Hegedus has over 35 years of experience in the textile industry, working first with The DuPont Company, and then INVISTA, before moving to The LYCRA Company in 2019. Over the course of her career, she has held a variety of positions in public affairs, marketing, licensing, and branding. She began working in the denim segment in 2007, bringing several important innovations to market, including LYCRA® XFIT, LYCRA® dualFX®, LYCRA® BEAUTY, and LYCRA® EcoMade technologies. It was also her work within the denim segment that heightened her awareness of the need for more sustainable solutions, and in July of 2019 she was appointed Sustainability Director for The LYCRA Company.

Ms. Hegedus has a master’s degree in communications from the University of Delaware. She currently resides in New Jersey with her husband, and her dog Leo, whom she adopted (or who adopted her) from Hawaii. When not working on sustainability, she enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, hiking, swimming, and doing a variety of volunteer efforts for her church.

After graduating from the University of Reutlingen with a degree in Textiles Technology in 1991, Mr. Seiberlich began his business career in a technical weaving mill (Synteen Gewebe Technik GmbH) as an assistant to the plant management and later as Head of Purchasing. In 1995 he joined C.Illies & Co. in Hamburg as a Sales Engineer and since then has been gathering international business experience. Starting from 1999 (rökona Textilwerk GmbH) he has been working for the globally operating textile automotive supplier industry. Mr. Seiberlich joined AMANN in 2007 for the task of building up and managing the automotive division. In November 2021, he has taken over the position as Global Marketing Director at AMANN.

Dr. Tyagi is a seasoned and dynamic leader with rich experience ranging from Apparel, Textile and Retail Industries. His expertise in heading business units boosted teams to develop innovative and strategic Initiatives across functions. Through his deep interest in promoting environmental and social causes, he has carved a niche in diverse fields such as Sustainability, Safety, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He has been instrumental in integrating innovation and sustainability philosophy as part of business operations and thereby paving the way to take ABFRL to greater heights.

Dr Tyagi is an active member, co-chair, and chair on various prominent global and national industry platforms, including the Cotton 2040, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Sustainable Apparel Collation (SAC), Science Base Target initiative (SBTi), and Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF).