Natural Fiber Connect – Program Biella, September 19th, 20th, 2024

As Southern Europe Regional Director, Elisa is responsible for the representation and implementation of the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme in Italy, France Spain and Portugal. In her role, Elisa focuses on increasing the awareness of ZDHC, related stakeholder engagement and scaling the uptake and implementation of ZDHC guidelines, platforms and solutions. She is also supporting ZDHC in building a long-term quality strategy for quality assurance. Visit website roadmaptozero.com

Elisabeth started working in the wool industry in 2011 when she joined the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) as Secretary General in Brussels. This was the time and place where she developed her passion for wool. Before joining Woolmark, Elisabeth consulted with wool companies along the entire wool supply chain, including the Schneider Group where she also helped organise Natural Fibre Connect for 4 consecutive years. It is therefore an honour to be joining the event as a speaker this year and seeing the event and surrounding community grow and continue.

Federico Brugnoli is an innovator, entrepreneur and CEO of SPIN360. He works with his teams to innovate and promote sustainable business models in Fashion, Luxury, Interior Design, Automotive and other important sectors. In his projects, he tries to develop an integrated approach toward “innovative sustainability”, encouraging collaboration between large corporations and small and medium-sized businesses. In other projects, he works alongside public authorities and the European Commission in developing and spread innovative skills in response to fast-changing market needs

Baptiste brings together expertise from all corners of the Apparel and Footwear ecosystem. During his days at Decathlon, an international sports producer and retailer, he held various positions in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, focusing on quality and sustainability. After eight years of field experience, he established and led Decathlon's first global sustainability department. He subsequently relocated to Amsterdam in 2014 and joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, launching their European Office, leading their transparency and European activities, and initiating the Social and Labor Convergence Program ( SLCP ). In 2019, with Bente Bauer, he launched 2BPolicy, a consulting firm at the intersection of sustainability and policy, supporting brands, organizations and actors of the industry ecosystem to understand and operationalize the change brought by legislation. He chairs several Technical Secretariats and Scientific Committees. He is a Senior Advisor at the BCG. Baptiste also works on the family organic and agroforestry wine estate in Southern France.

Bianca Heaney is the Executive Director on Women in Wool Inc. She has worked in the wool industry in various roles over the past 30 years. Her experience covers almost every sector of the wool industry from wool growing to retail. She has played an important part in the Australian wool industry, in particular, with wool industry associations as a Public Officer / Secretary and Executive Manager. Instrumental in running a very successful IWTO Congress in Sydney in 2016, assisted in FAWO winning an Australian Biosecurity Award in 2014, and managing many annual wool industry events to name a few. In 2020 she established a group for women called “Women in Wool”. In March 2024, this group has now evolved into an industry association to empower women in the wool industry. Little did she know then that this would grow with members joining from Australia and overseas. A number of forums have been held initially celebrating International Women’s Day and acknowledging women’s role in the wool industry. Now it has evolved into providing the latest information on issues that affect women in the workplace, including health, work life balance, legal issues and so on. You will hear more about this at the NFC conference in Biella Italy in September 2024.

Bronwyn is a qualified conservationist that has been implementing conservation projects across the private agricultural landscapes of South Africa for most of her career. Her work to date has involved the implementation of projects or programs that span from species driven to landscape and ecosystem focussed projects. Her skillset revolves around developing practical and realistic innovations and tools to implement conservation projects in different landscape contexts and she has a proven track record in developing meaningful relationships with multiple stakeholders to unlock collaboration potentials that support the sustainable use and conservation of these landscapes into the future. Her current role as Land Management Specialist for Textile Exchange sees her primarily focusing on supporting regenerative land management in animal fiber and material production systems as well as supporting the organisation as whole around climate and nature focus areas such as regenerative agriculture, biodiversity and conservation planning, action and monitoring. On production landscapes her role is to help bridge the gap between theory and practice and to bring the contextual information and lessons learned on the ground back into the frameworks, tools and reports developed to address industry needs.

Graduated in Clinical, Forensic and Sport Chemistry at the University of Turin, since 2013 he has been involved in eco-toxicological chemical analyzes dedicated to the fashion sector; since 2021 he has been Manager of the General Chemistry laboratory of the TIL - Test & Innovation Lab.

Roberta Pecci is a prominent leader in the textile industry, with solid experience and a strong commitment to sustainability and innovation. She graduated with a Master’s in Business Administration and a degree in Electronic Engineering, successfully managing family textile businesses since 2003. Since 2003, she has been the CEO of Pecci Filati Spa, a producer of high-quality yarns, she is also the President and Owner of Filati Naturali srl, specializing in the production of natural and recycled yarns. Pecci holds prestigious positions in numerous governing bodies, including Next Technology Tecnotessile, Confindustria Toscana Nord and SMI Sistema Moda Italia. Her expertise extends to public sectors, where she chairs B&C Speakers Spa and serves on the board of El.En. Spa.

Vidhesh Kadam is a textile engineer with a bachelor's degree in textile chemistry, or wet processing of textiles. He began his career in the textile industry more than ten years ago, working for a few years on the shop floor of a textile mill before pivoting his carrier into sustainable certifications (GOTS, GRS/RCS, and ZDHC) working with a certification body. He began as an auditor and worked his way up to become a certifier and then a quality manager before switching over to work as a material specialist for a few years for a not-for-profit organisation. Finally, he joined Textile Exchange more than a year ago, as a Recycled Materials Specialist within the Standards team, supporting the development of content for the environmental, recycling and processing criteria for the Materials Matter Standard. Over the years, he has completed many sustainability courses and gained knowledge over numerous raw materials used in the production of textiles, including next-generation materials, sustainability standards, certification & auditing processes, and colour application, etc.

Pascal Gautrand, graduate in fashion design and textile design, stands out for his passion for the textile-clothing industry. With a post-diploma from the French Fashion Institute in hand, he now works as a consultant and teacher in this dynamic field. His experience as the first resident of the "fashion design" section at the French Academy in Rome - Villa Medici in 2008 opened up new perspectives for research on local production. This is how he founded Made in Town, a platform dedicated to promoting know-how, which supports private and institutional players in the textile sector. In 2018, Pascal Gautrand played a key role in initiating the Tricolor Collective, of which he holds the position of General Delegate. The Tricolor Collective is dedicated to promoting and supporting the restructuring of the French wool sectors. By highlighting traditional know-how, encouraging innovation and promoting collaboration between players in the sector, the Collectif Tricolor contributes to renewing and sustaining the French wool sector. Visit website collectiftricolor.org