Digital Ambassadors

At the helm of Next Energy Consumer, Marine Cornelis catalyzes the energy and climate discourse with a blend of advocacy, insight, and a relentless pursuit of justice. Her work is not just about policy—it is about people. She champion the unheard, bringing the margins to the centre of the energy transition narrative.

— "It takes power and strength to be empathetic". Jacinda Ardern

Valeria Duflot believes in a green and equitable world. Through her work, she builds solutions, challenges outdated mindsets, and empowers others to make an impact. She is an award-winning social entrepreneur, a passionate advocate of systems transformation and an empathetic adviser to leaders of all kinds.

— For our energy systems to truly go green and digital, we will need to foster systems level change by enabling collective learning and innovation across boundaries and agendas.

Essam Elnagar is a Data Analyst at the Building Performance Institute Europe - BPIE. His doctoral research focused on the impact of climate change on the energy performance of buildings. He is also a Belgium country representative at YES-EUROPE and a Board member at EIT Climate-KIC alumni.

— The energy demand is a call to action. Let our policies be the architects of a sustainable tomorrow, where innovation lights the path to a cleaner, brighter future.

Alexandra Garatzogianni is the purpose-driven Executive and Coordinator of H2020 IA Consortia in diverse domains, committed to driving positive societal impact. She is a strong believer in the transformative capabilities and dynamic potential of innovation ecosystems and particularly motivated to tackle challenges and wicked problems.

— Uniting our richly diverse capabilities and skills, we are uniquely positioned to positively and sustainably transform our living spaces and experiences for the next generations.

Thomas Hillig is the founder and Managing Director of THEnergy, a boutique consultancy established in 2013 focusing on microgrids, renewable energy, corporate PPAs & hydrogen. THEnergy assisted numerous companies in their journey towards decarbonisation and led several large-scale due diligence processes.

— Accelerating the energy transition is about making first-movers adopt new sustainable energy solutions - and helping them to spread the word.

Dusan Jakovljevic is a co-founder and Policy and Communication Director at EEIP, a policy and business platform for industrial energy transition. He is the founder of #EuroBubble Twitter live monitoring free tool at vattel.com.

— The success of energy transition in the EU depends on the broadest open debate of all stakeholders, from NGOs and industry, to financial sector and policy makers.

Claire Roumet is co-director at Energy Cities. Claire joined the team of Energy Cities in 2014 after 10 years acting as Secretary General of Housing Europe, the Federation of social housing providers. Previously she worked on social innovation projects at the European Commission and was a project manager at European Women's Lobby. At Energy Cities, she is part of the Overall Coordination team, in charge of EU Policy and Strategic Partnerships. She graduated in Economics and completed a post-graduate in European policies in Strasbourg after a year of econometrics in Mainz, Germany.  Living in Brussels, she speaks English, Spanish and French with some basics in German.

Diana Ürge-Vorsatz is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the Central European University (CEU). She was elected as Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in July 2023. In the Sixth Assessment cycle she served as Vice-Chair of IPCC’s Working Group III. (Mitigation). She was a Coordinating Lead Author in both the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports (AR4 and AR5) of the IPCC. She is Vice President of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA and worked in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

— "The most sustainable energy, and material, is the energy, and material we never needed."

Kees van der Leun has been working on the energy transition since he joined then-startup Ecofys in 1986. At Common Futures, which he co-founded in 2021, he has worked for global offshore wind developers, gas TSOs, the Biomethane Industrial Partnership, and the Dutch Ministry of Energy and Climate.

— We can reach 100% renewable energy before 2050. If we get it right, with multiple benefits for society, and affordable and reliable too.