Over his 40-year professional career, Dean Angelides has worked with thousands of organizations to implement GIS for improving operations and decision-making. 35 years ago he co-founded a GIS services start-up. Dean joined Esri in 2005.

Dean has worked with organizations across dozens of industries. He has helped them devise strategies that leverage GIS in their business, and to successfully apply new methods that transform their organizations.

Dean is Corporate Director with responsibilities for overseeing all aspects of Esri's international business. Dean serves on the World Geospatial Industry Council Executive Board. He is dedicated to ensuring that the Geographic Approach is applied to successfully overcome our world's toughest challenges.

Judith DelZoppo Pryor, appointed by President Biden, serves as First Vice President and Vice Chair of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) Board until January 20, 2025. With over 25 years of leadership in multinational businesses, she specializes in corporate and marketing communications, public affairs, and business development. Pryor previously served on EXIM's Board and held roles in the Obama Administration at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Her career spans from Fortune 500 companies to startups in broadcast, satellite communications, and international finance. A Cleveland native, Pryor holds a B.A. in Communications from Bowling Green State University and studied at the Universidad de Madrid.

Marc Prioleau, a seasoned business development executive with over two decades of experience in the mapping and location industry, is the new Executive Director of the recently launched Overture Maps Foundation (OMF). The OMF is an initiative launched by the Linux Foundation, focusing on creating high-quality, interoperable open map data for organizations that use the data to develop mapping and location services.

Prioleau's extensive experience in the industry includes his most recent role as Head of Business Development for Mapping at Meta. There he led Meta's involvement in founding OMF along with Microsoft, Amazon, and TomTom. Before Meta, Prioleau was the Head of Location Partnerships at Uber as well as VP of corporate and business development at Mapbox. Prioleau's passion for open map data has led him to promote its use across the mapping industry. He has been a contributor to the OpenStreetMap project since 2006.

Mr Tan Boon Khai was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of JTC Corporation on 1 Sep 2020. Prior to this, he was the Chief Executive of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) from 1 May 2015 till 31 August 2020.

Mr Tan joined SLA from CapitaLand Limited, where he was with since 2010. In his time at CapitaLand, he held several portfolios, including as Regional General Manager (Singapore and Malaysia) for The Ascott Limited from April 2011 to 2014.

Before joining the private sector, Mr Tan served as Justice's Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court, as well as District Judge in the then Subordinate Courts of Singapore. He is also called as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore. In 2006, he was seconded to the Ministry of Health as General Counsel and Company Secretary for Ministry of Health Holdings Pte Ltd. His last appointment in the Public Service was as Deputy Senior State Counsel / Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore.

Adina Gillespie is responsible for key strategic initiatives of the Geospatial Content Solutions business unit within Hexagon's Geosystems division. Her priority is establishing collaborative programs and partnerships for delivering large-scale geospatial initiatives. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the space sector, where she delivered innovative programs and strategic advice in the application of small satellite technology, including for governments and commercial users. Adina is a Fellow of the UK Royal Aeronautical Society, has served on various government and corporate committees and is a board member of the World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC).

Ingrid Vanden Berghe holds an agricultural engineering degree specializing in soil sciences from KULeuven. After some years in advisory roles in politics, she was appointed General Administrator of the National Geographic Institute of Belgium in 2002, a function she still holds today. Ms. Vanden Berghe was President of EuroGeographics from 2012 to 2018, is visiting professor at KULeuven, board member of several research organizations, and chairs the board of technology research organization VITO. She has represented Belgium on the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) since its establishment in 2011 and was elected co-Chair at the 2020 session.

Prof. Dr. Paul Becker is a German meteorologist and President of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy. He is also a professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and a reserve colonel in the German Bundeswehr. His main interests are the applications of digital twins for climate change adaptation and the further development of satellite positioning services.

Sean Wiid is the CEO of UP42. Sean is a surveyor and computer scientist with over 20 years of experience solving real-world problems with geospatial data across multiple industries and countries. His current focus at UP42 is to build a platform that helps the earth observation industry reach its full downstream socio-economic potential by removing commercial and technical barriers to leveraging geospatial data at scale.

Geert De Coensel is the CEO of the Merkator Group, headquartered in Belgium, that includes operations in Europe and Middle-East. Geert is responsible for the execution of the Company's vision to serve diverse markets such as Governments and Private Sector with Software, Data and Expertise. Those 3 elements combined contribute in building true Digital Twins.

Cora Smelik is a Member of the Executive Board of the Netherlands' Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, in short Kadaster. Cora is responsible for execution of the strategy of Kadaster including the key processes of Land Registration, Topography and Geo-Information. She has extensive experience in the world of diplomacy. Her focus on collaboration is a sound basis for bringing a range of partners together in further developing 3D modelling and its legal aspects.

Eng. Ali AlAwaji is an accomplished Executive Director for Geospatial Governance at GEOSA, Saudi Arabia, specializing in integrating geospatial data and advanced technologies to advance resilient infrastructure and digital twins while developing and maintaining geospatial governance frameworks, policies, and standards.

Sarah joined the Geospatial Commission after four years in science policy - including leading the creation of and setting up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the sponsorship of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and developing the €14.8 billion Pioneer research and development programme.

Sarah has worked in policy and delivery roles for over 23 years across economic departments, HM Treasury and No 10. She has been responsible for the implementation and delivery of the government's Industrial Strategy, led on manufacturing policy and delivered the apprenticeship levy. Her educational background is in industrial economics; she holds a diploma in management accounting and is a trained work coach.

Denis Hains is the founder, President & CEO of H2i. He is the former Director General of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, and Hydrographer General of Canada. Currently, he is the Community Co-Lead of the Global Hydrospatial Movement Club. He also contributes actively in a "Pro Bono" manner as Member of the Strategic Advisory Group of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, President, Board of Directors CIDCO, Special Senior Advisor Canadian Ocean Mapping Research & Education Network, etc.

Ronda Schrenk is the Chief Executive Officer for the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and leads the Foundation in its mission to promote the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and develop a stronger GEOINT community among government, industry, academia, professional organizations and individuals whose mission focus is the development and application of geospatial intelligence to address national security objectives. In this role, Ms. Schrenk sets the strategic direction for the Foundation to effectively enable each aspect of mission accomplishment. Previously serving as the Vice President of Programs of the Foundation, she led the content development for all events and programs, serving as the primary spokesperson for the Foundation.

Ms. Schrenk is a recognized leader in the field of Geospatial Intelligence and has been on the leading edge of the geospatial intelligence tradecraft for most of her career, including 25+ years in a variety of leadership and analytic positions at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), private industry, non-profit, and even academia.

Before joining USGIF, Ms. Schrenk was the Senior Fellow for Public-Private Partnerships at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA). In this role, she advised the president on challenges the intelligence community faced and coordinated activities such as INSA's councils on Technology and Innovation, Acquisition Management, and Intelligence Champions (workforce of the future). As a career GEOINT professional, she has served in a variety of analytic leadership positions at NGA, including Mission Requirements Program Manager of NGA's Mission Talent Alignment office, Chief of the Counterterrorism Airborne Analysis Center, and Chief of the Time Dominant Operations Center, and while on a joint duty assignment to NSA, Deputy Chief of the International Affairs and Policy Office.

Deb Davis is a Vice President & General Manager with General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) and a member of the Intelligence and Homeland Security Division Leadership Team. Ms. Davis is the P&L Executive responsible for the Mission Solutions Sector (MSS), to include Geospatial and IT Mission solutions and services. Deb is passionate about people, team and community development. She is the Chair of the GDIT Program Management Council, and is engaged in providing STEM opportunities for underserved students in the regions where her team lives and works.

Deb serves on the Board of Directors for both the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), and was recently selected as a 2023 Virginia Business Women in Leadership Award winner.

Prior to her selection as the Sector VP & GM, Ms. Davis was the Business Area Vice President of Geospatial Solutions and Services (GSS), responsible for P&L and portfolio performance across the Geospatial Mission and Enterprise. Ms. Davis was previously the NCE Active IT Program Manager under BRAC, responsible for cost, schedule, technical performance, and service enhancement throughout engineering, build out and transition to full-scale operations.

Before joining GDIT, Ms. Davis was a Principal with Booz Allen Hamilton, and she began her career as an educator, providing instruction in computer science, core subjects, and remedial mathematics.

General Dynamics Information Technology provides information technology (IT), systems engineering, and professional services to customers in defense, intelligence, homeland security, federal civil, international, and commercial sectors. The company provides leading edge expertise managing large scale, mission critical IT programs delivering IT services and enterprise solutions.

With a global footprint, XR 2 LEAD, Marryam Chaudhry stands at the forefront of defense and aerospace innovation, specializing in state-of-the-art training and mission-critical technology solutions. Renowned for their expertise in crafting AI-based Intelligent Simulated Solutions, they excel in adaptive training and rapid decision-making applications. Pioneering in mission-critical solutions such as Data Analytics, Modelling & Simulations, and Digital Twins, XR 2 LEAD ensures cutting-edge capabilities in Predictive & Preventive Maintenance and Model Based System Engineering. Their comprehensive training solutions encompass AR/VR/MR, Curriculum Design, Serious Game Concept-Design-Deployment, and AI-Powered Virtual Instructor, providing unparalleled support to the defense and aerospace sectors.

Ms. Sandra Auchter serves as the Director, NGA-Denver (NGA-D) at the Aerospace Data Facility - Colorado (ADF-C). She leads a diverse team of over 500 personnel. As NGA's only senior executive at the ADF-C, she represents the interests of NGA-D as a member of the ADF-C's Denver Leadership Team (DLT), which includes the ADF-C site commander, NRO's senior representative, the Director, NSA Colorado (NSAC) and their deputy directors. As a DLT member, she concentrates on a range of issues that focus on exploring and improving how the three agencies integrate and collaborate across mission areas and across each agency's distinct personnel skill-sets.

Ms. Auchter received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Regional Studies, Africa, from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and is an alumnus of the National Defense Intelligence College/National Intelligence University.

Miriam Daniel is the Vice President and General Manager of Google Maps for consumers where she leads the teams responsible for Google's iconic Maps experiences, catalyzing positive social and environmental impact at scale using Google's geospatial technologies and understanding of the real world. Her team helps over 1B+ people around the world explore, navigate and get things done.

She was previously one of the creative minds leading the development of Amazon's Echo Devices and Alexa Assistant - innovations that changed the way we interact with the world around us. Miriam was also at the forefront of several consumer tech transformations at Intel Corporation, from the first unwired laptops to Intel's first mobile devices.

Over her career, her leadership across product, engineering, and building high-performing teams has been instrumental to inventing and scaling innovative technologies to meet emerging consumer needs. She strongly believes that when a talented, passionate, diverse team collaborates, they don't just invent - they touch people's lives in ways that haven't yet been imagined and will leave a lasting impact.

Dhananjay Deshmukh (DD) is a veteran with 30+ years of expertise in GIS, Engineering, AI, and Crowdsourcing Data Collection. He heads the GIS practice at Tech Mahindra based out of Troy, MI in the US and specializes in Aerial Photogrammetry, Map Digitization, and Geospatial Technologies.

DD has led a large global team for a significant AM/FM GIS project for a Global Telecommunication company, mapping the entire Telephony Network for North America. He has also collaborated with the government, public sector organizations, and multinational corporations like Caterpillar for their Digital Twin creation of manufacturing plants.

DD possesses extensive knowledge and expertise in GIS data acquisition, pre- and post-processing, building enterprise-grade, consumer-centric GIS applications and driving GIS adoption and policy creation for geospatial data usage.

Ola Rollen has served as the President and CEO of Hexagon, as well as a member of its Board of Directors, since 2000. As President and CEO, Rollen is responsible for driving the company's growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions that continue to transform Hexagon into a leading global provider of information technologies. Prior to joining Hexagon, Rollen held the positions of President of Sandvik Materials Technology, Executive Vice President of Avesta-Sheffield and President of Kanthal. He also previously served as a board member of Vestas Wind Systems A/S. Rollen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.

Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, graduating with a Master's degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has had an accomplished international career in space, combining more than 35 years' work experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.

As Chief Executive Officer of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe's space infrastructure and activities, which include launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronauts working on the International Space Station. He is responsible for an annual budget of €7 billion and a workforce of 5500 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.

When taking up office as ESA Director General, Dr Aschbacher published a new strategy for space in Europe, called 'Agenda 2025', aimed at accelerating significantly the use of space in Europe through major new initiatives and programmes.

In 2021, Dr Aschbacher became 'Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana', the highest recognition accorded to non-Italian nationals.

Beatrice Moulianitaki brings over two decades of extensive experience in the agriculture and food and beverage sectors, spanning commercial, sustainability, and social impact domains. Pioneering pre-competitive collaboration and innovation within the cocoa industry, she is a driving force in fostering positive change. She has worked with esteemed organisations, including Heineken, UTZ Certified, Solidaridad, and The Hershey Company.

Since September 2022, Beatrice has assumed the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Meridia, a leading agtech company specialising in smallholder data verification and compliance in cocoa, coffee, and palm oil. In her leadership, she continues to champion sustainable supply chains and propel meaningful transformation within the agricultural landscape.

Currently employed as Vice President - Consulting at Geospatial World, Ananyaa Narain, an economist by education, is a leading thought leader in the socio-economic and market research space for geospatial, BIM, and frontier technologies worldwide. She was recognized as a 40U40 geospatial professional for 2020 by xyHt, and a Geospatial Rising Star 2022 by Geospatial World. Over her eight years of experience in the geospatial technology domain, she is recognized for her result-oriented approach to exploring the impact of the cross-linkage of technology, economics, and policy using varied qualitative and quantitative tools and frameworks. Her professional expertise includes working with cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary stakeholders across technology, academia, and government stakeholders for market size and forecast assessment, socio-economic impact evaluation, developing national policy and governance frameworks, and initiating and contributing to global technology and policy dialogue and debates through research reports and articles, and conference convening.

Allan addresses data gaps in service delivery for refugees and host communities in Uganda, collaborating with NGOs and the Government on disaster preparedness projects. Specializing in mobile data collection, he designs questionnaires, codes for ODK Collect, sets up servers, and creates manuals for international NGOs. Additionally, Allan runs a daily map-making series, sharing topic-based maps on social media to enhance public information dissemination, showcasing his commitment to bridging information divides in the humanitarian sector.

Feye is dedicated to enhancing government and youth capacity in disaster risk reduction and management through GIS. Since 2013, she has championed FOSS4G tools like OpenStreetMap and QGIS, reaching over 2,000 participants across ages and sectors through training workshops. As one of the first GIS women in the Philippines promoting open mapping, Feye has established 12 YouthMappers chapters in Asia. She develops geospatial tools crucial for local governments in preparing and responding to hazardous events at the National Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) Center.

Mantas has founded a company that aims to make aerial mapping more affordable. AISPECO's business idea is to productize the integration by creating a geospatial platform where you can plug and play any sensor, resulting in precise and time-synchronized output. Five out of six AISPECO's clients are new to this business, with most coming from drone or ground survey backgrounds. All of them have mentioned that the ability to grow sensors as they grow their business, along with the ability to not own aircraft, has significantly reduced barriers to entry.

Samantha contributes to Pima County's comprehensive plan update for 2025 through interactive maps, dashboards, and storymaps. She is actively engaged in URISA's Vanguard Cabinet and volunteers with the Arizona Geographic Information Council, showcasing her commitment to mentoring and conference planning. Elected as the vice president of Women in GIS, Samantha plays a pivotal role in fostering a supportive community for women in the field, coordinating events and developing the organization's infrastructure.