The 2020 jury will gather in September at Natixis Investment Managers in Boston Back Bay. It is composed of experts and executives from sponsor companies and representatives of last year's winner companies:
Jérôme BARTHOUIL, Head of Finance Multiple Sclerosis, Oncology & Immunology for Sanofi Genzyme After a first experience in HP, Jerome joined Sanofi where he held various positions in Corporate Finance and Internal Audit. He then took the responsibility of Finance for the European sites network. In 2015, he moved to Shanghai to oversee the R&D financial activities of the Asia Pacific Region. Jerome joined Sanofi Genzyme in 2017 where he’s in charge of Finance for the Multiple Sclerosis, Oncology and Immunology Franchises.
Darina BASHILOVA, Senior Counsel for Veolia North America Darina is a multi jurisdictional corporate lawyer with over a decade of combined private practice and in-house experience advising clients in North America and Europe. She currently oversees Veolia North America’s litigation and corporate matters for the Canadian Municipal, Commercial and Industrial divisions, navigating US and Canadian legal and regulatory landscapes. Before joining Veolia and moving to Boston, Darina spent 20 years navigating legal matters in Quebec, Canada. Darina is a qualified lawyer in England, USA, English Canada, and French Canada. She completed her civil and common-law degrees at the Université de Montréal, where she also completed her master’s thesis on Comparative Conflict of Laws Relating to Security on Movable Property under the Civil Code of Quebec, the Ontario Personal Property Security Act and Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Darina has taught at McGill University, appeared as a speaker on cross-border finance issues, and published several books and articles in academic and professional journals.
Warren BESSER, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development for Natixis Investment Managers Warren Besser joined Natixis Investment Managers in 2007 and has held strategy positions in both the U.S. distribution group and at the holding company. His current responsibilities include Co-Head of the global M&A focused on expanding and strengthening Natixis’ portfolio of investment managers and strategic development of the business. While part of the U.S. distribution group, Mr. Besser was responsible for industry and competitor analysis and strategic planning. Prior to joining Natixis, Mr. Besser worked at Fidelity Investments and Northern Trust in various roles. Mr. Besser holds a BS in business administration from Wittenberg University and an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Mr. Besser serves on the the board of directors of Ellis Memorial in Boston.
Jean-Baptiste DUCERF, Finance Director for Essilor After 3 years spent in a French Pharmaceutical company, Jean-Baptiste joined Essilor International where he has occupied various roles in corporate functions (Paris) and as Finance Manager in Thailand. He currently oversees plants and facilities in the US, Mexico, and Brazil.
Igor FEINBERG, CEO for Insidevision, Inc Igor Feinberg has been in the assistive technology field for the last 10 years providing technology to people who are blind or visually impaired. Initially with the ABISEE Inc., makers of the Eye-Pal OCR-based reading devices, then with Perkins School for the Blind and Orbit Research. Currently, Igor is CEO of Insidevision Inc., a subsidiary of the French manufacturer of insideONE Windows 10 tablet with an integrated 32-cell refreshable Braille Display. Insidevision Inc. is a proud 2019 FAB Award Winner.
Marianne KANE, Principal, International Tax for RSM Marianne has more than ten years of experience advising clients on federal and international tax issues. Her focus is on both inbound and outbound tax-efficient planning, with experience in tax structuring for private equity funds (domestic funds, offshore funds, fund of funds and real estate funds) and multinational corporations, including advising on taxable presence, choice of entity and choice of jurisdiction considerations, IP migrations, mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, Subpart F and GILTI taxation, foreign tax credits, and withholding taxes. Marianne has extensive experience advising both financial institutions as well as non financial multinational groups regarding compliance (registration, diligence, documentation and reporting) with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Marianne leads RSM US northeast region’s inbound tax practice group, with a focus on foreign investment and ownership of US companies. She is part of RSM US’s France business service sector. Prior to joining RSM, Marianne was a tax attorney with one of Boston’s largest law firms. Marianne received a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude in psychology from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Kristin KEATING, Audit Partner for EY Kristin is an Audit Partner with over 25 years of experience serving a range of clients in the New England area. She has experience with both privately-held and publicly-traded companies in the life sciences, services, retail and manufacturing industries. She has worked with many growing companies throughout all stages of their life cycles including the capital raising cycle. Kristin has worked on multiple IPOs and has extensive experience with both public and private equity and debt transactions and the related SEC filings processes. Her clients have included: Verastem, Quanterix, Flex Pharma and Avedro. Kristin is the Chair of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program in New England.She has also served as a judge for MassChallenge and the Boston College “BCVC” Elevator Pitch and Venture competitions. Kristin is a frequent guest lecturer at Boston College and has served as the EY campus recruiting partner at Boston College. She is a graduate of Boston College and is a CPA in Massachusetts. Kristin serves on the Advisory Council for Camp Harbor View, on the Advisory Board for the YMCA of Charlestown, is a member of the Boston Club and is a past President of the Business Associates Club of Boston.
Brian LANDRY, Partner for Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr Draws on a broad base of intellectual property experience to help clients identify, protect, and enforce their intellectual property. Has significant experience in the medical devices field as well as consumer products, building materials, and devices and software having research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.
Franck LAVERGNE, Sr Director, M&A Sales Integration for Dassault Systèmes Engineer with a passion for innovation and strategic transformation, leading newly acquired companies sales & distribution channel integration. Combining acquired companies expertise, solutions and value to customers, with Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, providing businesses with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations in manufacturing, life-science and infrastructure sectors.
Veronique RIETHUISEN, SVP Global Head of Business Development for Ipsen Véronique brings over 20 years of experience in Business Development and Alliance Management across the healthcare spectrum including pharma, biotech, medtech, e-health and academics. At Ipsen, Véronique oversees all global business development efforts bringing innovative medicines and novel platforms to augment Ipsen’s pipeline in Oncology, Rare Diseases and Neurosciences. Veronique is also managing the Strategic Alliance Management team to ensure the successful implementation of global strategic partnerships throughout their entire lifecycle. Prior to joining Ipsen, Véronique was VP of R&D Business Development at Takeda, responsible with her team for establishing partnerships to support GI and Regenerative Medicine as well as overseeing all out-bound transactions for Takeda's R&D assets. Prior to Takeda, she held various BD, M&A and Alliance Management roles of increasing responsibilities at Pfizer, Teva, BMS and Monsanto both in the U.S. and Europe. Véronique also served as Observer on iCardiac, Aviir and Portal Instruments ‘s Board of Directors. Véronique holds a BS and a MS in Economics from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.
Juliana RISSI, Global Executive Recruiter for Pact & Partners Group Juliana is a trilingual Environmental Chemistry Technologist from Brazil. Throughout her career, she has worked with e-commerce, marketing, operations, finance and business development. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Juliana has co-founded and launched companies with global presences. Today, she holds a position at the Pact & Partners Group, consulting for Life Sciences Executive Search and also for Blue Ocean Recruiting, in Hospitality, Luxury Retail, Cruises, IT, Cosmetics and Real Estate.
Larry SCHWARTZ, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer for Seaborn Networks Larry is Chairman & CEO of Seaborn Networks, the preeminent developer-owner-operator of submarine fiber optic cable systems, including Seabras-1 which is a multi-award winning, 11,000km system between the U.S. and Brazil. Seaborn built the Seabras-1 system with Alcatel Submarine Networks, and with significant financial support from the French Export Credit Agency and with Natixis as lead lender and equity advisor. Larry previously served as CEO and co-owner of one of the world's largest fleets of cable ships and a leading installer of submarine fiber optic cable systems. Before that, Larry served as a Senior Vice President of Genuity, a Fortune 1000 wholesale telecom carrier with a global network infrastructure. In 2017, Larry was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful people behind the global telecoms industry by Global Telecoms Business, and then again in 2019 by Capacity Magazine. He was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum and he also served as a board member of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council. Seaborn Networks is a proud 2019 FAB Award Winner.