WFN "From Potential to Power" Spring Track 2026

Helle Neergaard is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Distinguished Senior Innovator at Aarhus University. 

As DSI her focus is on creating gender intelligent incubator environments to make entrepreneurship a more natural career choice for academic women and other underrepresented, underestimated and underprivileged groups. 

Her initiative builds on more than 30 years research on women’s entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education and on her experience as an entrepreneur herself. 
 

She has published widely on women’s entrepreneurship often taking a critical or controversial perspective and is happy to swim against the stream in her efforts knowledge with an impact.

Marlene Linzner-Scherf is a Global Brand and Marketing Director based in Oslo, with international experience across Austria, the United States, and the Netherlands. She works at the intersection of people, brands, and complex systems, helping organizations turn ideas into action by connecting the right people, insights, and priorities across cultures.

She is the founder of RIPE MCC, where she partners with large international companies in tech and health tech to drive transformation across teams, markets, and disciplines. Her work includes leading marketing, communication, and brand initiatives, combined with building mentorship ecosystems, developing leaders, and creating initiatives that help people grow and step into leadership.

Alongside this, she serves as Director of Communications and Director of Mentorship at WiLD Norway. Marlene is also a speaker and publishes actionable content and resources on mentorship and leadership.
 

Jessica Könnecke is a PhD Student in Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management, Aarhus University. 

Her research is anchored in feminist perspectives on entrepreneurship. In November 2025, Jessica was appointed Junior Innovator at Aarhus University. 

Together with Helle Neergaard, she co-founded LAB99, an experimental, interdisciplinary incubation environment for students in Aarhus. The project supports individuals who rarely find a place in established startup environments with a focus on social, cultural , and sustainable value creation. In other words, those individuals and projects that are overlooked in or excluded from the high-growth unicorn discourse. 

As a researcher and entrepreneur, Ida's career has always been driven by a deep fascination with nature and its potential to help solve some of our most pressing global challenges. 

She completed her PhD at Aarhus University's Department of Ecoscience, where she explored how ants and their associated microorganisms can serve as sustainable alternatives to chemical pesticides. 

Driven by a strong desire to solve real-world problems, she founded the startup AgroAnt, to bring her research from the lab to fruit orchards across Denmark. 

As CEO, she has led research, implementation, customer engagement, sales, and everything in between, and grown the company from a solo venture to a team of four. 

Today, she continues her research in nature-based solutions and continues to push the green transition to politicians and decision makers. 

She remains committed to developing nature-based technology and solutions that support sustainable agricultural systems and bridge the gap between science and innovation.

Genefer is a multi-time founder and program manager at a startup accelerator in Berlin. 

She has spent the last several years doing what she loves most: helping people turn bold ideas into real businesses. 

As co-founder of Naviri, an AI platform designed to support early-stage founders, and now as the architect of a new accelerator program, she has made it her life's work to design the most impactful conditions, helping founders build with clarity and confidence.

Genefer believes that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools a person has to change the world around them. She knows firsthand how hard it is to start (and to keep going), and how much the right support at the right moment can change everything.
 

Amruthaa Kishore is a founder and ecosystem builder focused on turning ideas into scalable ventures. 

As CEO of INSJ, she leads initiatives that help early-stage startups grow through mentorship, funding access, and industry connections. 

She is also the co-founder of Intersikt, where she is building AI-driven tools to reduce administrative burdens in research and accelerate scientific progress. 

With international experience from Boston, Oslo, and European innovation networks, she brings a global perspective to entrepreneurship. 

Known for her execution mindset and leadership in building communities, Amruthaa is driven by one mission: to help ambitious founders build faster, smarter, and with real impact.

Born and raised in Tunisia, Meriem moved to Belgium in 2016 to pursue her academic journey, earning a Bachelor's and Master's in Management and Entrepreneurship.

Passionate about arts and circular economy, she launched Deformup in 2023 ; an upcycling studio based in Wallonia that designs and produces handmade homeware from waste materials.

Alongside running the studio, she works as an Innovation Manager at an automotive company specialising in remanufacturing. She's particularly interested in closed loop supply chain dynamics, strategies to valorize end-of-life products and design for circularity. 

Lucia Arcarisi is an Innovation Manager and Biomedical Engineer. She is the CEO of Weabios, a tech startup and spin-off of the University of Pisa specializing in smart textile technologies and wearable solutions for industry, healthcare, sports, and wellbeing.

She worked for several years in academic research, with which she still actively collaborates, also as a co-lecturer in the Biosensors course.

She is President of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of CNA Pisa and a professor of Interactive Technologies for Fashion at Modartech Institute.

Her work focuses on innovation, open innovation, technological prototyping, smart textiles, and wearable devices. 

She actively collaborates with tech innovation and technology transfer ecosystems.

 She is also a TEDx speaker. She holds two patents, one of which has been granted in both Italy and Europe.
She has received several awards for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Cristina Di Carlo is an entrepreneur and founder of CDC Studio, a company that develops innovative materials from textile and industrial waste, collaborating with companies in the fashion and design sectors. 

Her journey has not been linear: without a background in chemistry and as a mother, she built her expertise through hands-on experience, transforming curiosity and determination into a high-impact entrepreneurial project.

In a field that remains largely male-dominated, she stands out for her practical approach to innovation, combining sustainability, research, and patent development.

Today, she leads advanced upcycling projects, contributing to rethinking how materials are designed and reused, with the aim of creating circular and scalable solutions for industry.

Born in 1987, Francesca is an Italian journalist with a background in law, graduating with honors from the University of Pisa.

After completing a master’s degree in radio and television journalism in Rome and a research fellowship at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, she began her career at the newspaper La Nazione, covering news and current affairs. 

She later specialized in science communication, collaborating with the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the Pisa University Hospital.

Today she is Head of Communications at CNA Pisa, TV author and host of programs on innovation, gender gap and education. 

Since 2018 she has been moderator and host of national conferences, talk-shows, debates and public events, including TEDx Pisa.  

Since 2003, Silvia has been working at Polo Navacchio Spa, where she supports startups and innovative companies in developing their business models, accessing funding opportunities, and connecting with the innovation ecosystem.

In the startup field, she mainly work with teams that need to define their business model and business plan, helping them design sustainable strategies and prepare for interactions with investors and industrial partners. 

She collaborates closely with founders to refine their pitch, identify investment opportunities, and facilitate connections with business angels and venture capital funds.

At the same time, She leads activities in Innovation Financing, which involve not only startups but also more established companies. 

She monitors public funding opportunities at both regional and national levels, helping businesses identify the most suitable calls and prepare solid, competitive project proposals.
 

Over the years, she has had the opportunity to collaborate with a wide range of organizations, supporting them in their growth and in finding the right financial instruments. 

She strongly believes in building bridges between innovation and enterprise, between new ideas and established realities, creating an ecosystem where technology transfer and open innovation can turn into real opportunities.