MWC19 Los Angeles #BetterFuture Seminar

Mitra M. Best is an entrepreneur, technologist, and innovation leader. As PwC’s Lead Principal for Strategic Innovation and Technology, Mitra is responsible for ideation, incubation and development of new technology platforms and business models that solve critical challenges faced by organizations, the ecosystem of stakeholders, and the workforce.

Mitra’s commitment to fueling innovation through diversity inspires her leadership of several initiatives inside and outside PwC, particularly in promoting gender parity in STEM professions. Additionally, she is a frequent speaker at corporate conferences, leads C-Suite workshops with clients, mentors startups and entrepreneurs across industries, and guest lectures at major universities.

Mitra holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science & Linguistics from UCLA, Graduate Management Certificate in Innovation & Strategy from MIT Sloan, and an Innovation Masters Certificate from Stanford University. She is a lifelong learner who values continued education as an imperative for growth and development.

Amanda Gardiner is the Director of Social Responsibility at Verizon where she is responsible for integrating social and environmental issues into business strategy, practices, and processes.

Before joining Verizon, Amanda spent 7 years leading Sustainability & Social Innovation at Pearson. She drove the development of Pearson’s 2020 sustainability plan (the first of its kind for the company), founded a company-wide incubator to innovate for ‘Tomorrow’s Markets’, and created Pearson’s signature ‘Every Child Learning’ partnership with Save the Children to support Syrian refugees in Jordan. Amanda previously worked at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) leading the ‘Business Call to Action’ and supporting multinational companies to advance the Sustainable Development Goals through business model innovation. She also spent 7 years in London as Program Director at the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), advising executives from companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Pfizer, Shell, and Rio Tinto Alcan on sustainability strategy and responsible business practices in emerging markets.

Amanda chairs the Board of Directors for Children in Conflict, an NGO delivering support to children affected by war, and serves on the Board of The Partnering Initiative, an NGO dedicated to driving effective cross-sector collaboration. She has a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), and an MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (Washington, DC). She is a dual US-UK citizen and lives in Maplewood, NJ with her husband (Ryan) and sons (Findley 11, Rhys 8).

Heather Johnson is Vice President for Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility for the Ericsson Group worldwide, and has worked for the Ericsson Group in Sweden for over 20 years. Since 2007 her work has focused exclusively in support of Ericsson’s sustainability and corporate responsibility efforts.

Ms. Johnson’s focus is on advocating the role that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play in addressing global sustainable development challenges in areas such as access to education, climate change and humanitarian response and preparedness. She manages relationships with the key sustainability stakeholders, including investors, UN and other international organizations, NGOs, and partnerships including the World Economic Forum.

Joan Krajewski is the President and founder of One Planet LLC, which assists public and private sector businesses to bridge to a sustainable future. Embracing sustainability is an opportunity to drive value. One Planet, LLC invests heavily in understanding the social and environmental impacts of multi-sector businesses and delivers blueprints and implementation assistance to realize successful outcomes that engage stakeholders.

Prior, Joan was the General Manager of Safety, Compliance and Sustainability at Microsoft Corporation where she leveraged evolving technology for 14 years to successfully meet the challenges of constant change in regulatory compliance, product safety, and sustainability throughout the value chain. She also held roles as an environmental and regulatory Chief Counsel to American Airlines and law firm environmental Partner representing technology, oil and gas, mining and transportation businesses.

Joan is a frequent speaker on sustainable supply chains, responsible sourcing, sustainable development, and use of information and communication technology to increase the value and sustainability of products and operations.

Masaaki Koga is the General Manager of Industry Standards Department at KDDI. He joined KDDI (DDI at that time) after graduating from Kyushu University with a Masters in Electronics. He has been involved in cellular technologies since the era of the 1G analog cellular system and, since then, he has worked as a senior manager of technology strategy, technology planning and technology development. He received a 3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award Industry Leadership in 2006, and he is a Technology Group member of the GSMA.