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10 September
10:00 AM – 11:59 AM
Environmental economist. Senior Lecturer in Economics at Kingston University and a visiting fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute.
Dr. Shaikh Eskander is an environmental economist with research expertise in climate and energy policy and sustainable development. His influential research on climate policy has appeared on journals like Environmental & Resource Economics, Nature Climate Change, NBER, World Development, Journal of Cleaner Production, Land Economics and Ecological Economics; and he has extensive consulting experience with international organizations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the UNDP. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Kingston University and a visiting fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute. He also has external research affiliations with the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis at Australian National University, Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability at Monash University, and the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University.
Member, Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affair
Member, Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affair
Member, Climate Parliament Bangladesh
Managing Director, Startup Bangladesh Limited
Sami Ahmed is the Managing Director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited (SBL), a flagship Venture Capital Company of Government of Bangladesh. Startup Bangladesh Limited invests in startups in the seed and growth stage and is also involved in policy formulation, supporting targeted and strategic impact investments for the Government, and in supporting the growth of the startup eco-system. Prior to joining Startup Bangladesh Limited, Mr. Ahmed was the Policy Advisor and team leader of the Leveraging ICT (LICT) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council, ICT Division. Mr. Ahmed’s core responsibilities included Bangladesh IT-ITES Industry promotion and talent development. He has also played a vital role in many policy reforms for the ICT sector. He was the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Association for Software and Information Services (BASIS) and was instrumental in many policy reforms for the industry and in organizing key ICT events in the country. Mr. Ahmed also worked at the a2i Project of the Prime Minister’s Office where he was part of many national initiatives under the Digital Bangladesh platform and played several roles including leading the Innovation team. Mr Ahmed has also worked in the private sector in various roles: as Chief Operating Officer, Head of MIS and as a startup co-founder.
Mr. Ahmed is also a member of the Smart Bangladesh Taskforce, which is chaired by the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Co-Founder & CEO, Jahaji Ltd.
Kajal Abdullah, a tech entrepreneur of based in Bangladesh. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Jahaji Ltd., E-logistics and tech startup for inland water transport of Bangladesh. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Dhaka at the Dept. of Peace and Conflict Studies. Before starting Jahaji, he has severed as the CEO of 1971: Genocide-Torture Archive & Museum, the only genocide museum in South Asia. He also worked for Bangladesh government’s a2i programme, BBC and BRAC. He pursued his graduate studies in Finance at the University of Dhaka and two media fellowships at RNTC, Netherlands on digital media, campaign strategy.
Besides, He is an independent director of Prottasha Community Enterprise PLC by BRAC. Also, he is a founding mentor at “Amra notun Network by BRAC” at Khulna Cluster.
He is a columnist at Whiteboard Magazine and bdnews24.com.
Head of Operations, Innovation Design & Entrepreneurship Academy, ICT Division
Siddartho Goushami is currently working at Innovation Design & Entrepreneurship Academy, ICT Division as Head of Operations. He is now leading the country's biggest Startup Competition BIG. He was the coordinator of the Digital Khichuri Challenge; a special social impact-focused entrepreneurship program of the United Nations Development Program.
He is an innovation expert with more than 15 years of professional experience with National and International organizations in the field of Startup ecosystems, youth employment, and peace development.
Siddhartho was the finalist of SAARC Startup Ecosystem Hero of the year 2020.
He is the co-author of Essentials of Modern Marketing-Bangladesh Edition Book, written by Philip Kotler.
He is the advisor of the Innovation and Research Centre of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries.
He is the advisor of Bangladesh Institute of Modern Marketing.
He completed his MBA in Strategic International Management from the University of Dhaka. He also holds a post-graduation diploma in Genocide and Mass violence from the same institution. He also studied Design Thinking for Innovation at the University of Virginia.
