Keynote Speakers

Robert Kennedy, PhD

Former Dean, Nanyang Technological University’s College of Business

Robert E. Kennedy is the former Dean at Nanyang Business School and assumed office on January 1, 2018. He came to NTU from the Ivey Business School in Canada, where he was Dean and the Tapp Chaired Professor since 2013. Under his leadership, the school increased research output by more than 30% per faculty member and improved its global rankings. The school was twice ranked as the top “international” program in the BusinessWeek MBA rankings (2014 and 2015), and improved its FT Research rank from 44th to 26th. Kennedy is a well-known scholar, speaker, and educator. His research focuses on business strategy and policy issues in developing countries and has been widely published in leading economics and strategy journals. He has authored more than 120 articles, chapters, notes, and case studies on emerging market issues. From 2002-2016, his teaching materials were used at every one of Business Week’s top 25 U.S. business schools. Prior to Ivey, Kennedy was the Tom Lantos Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business – where he led the school’s international programs. He was also Executive Director of the William Davidson Institute. Prior to Ross, he was an Assistant, and then an Associate, Professor at Harvard Business School. Prior to his academic career, Kennedy worked as both a strategy consultant (late 1980s), and as a partner in a Private Equity firm in Poland (1991 – 1995). He holds BA degrees in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, an MSM in Management from MIT, and a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University.

Zvonimir Ratkovski, CFA

Head of Unit, European Investment Fund

Zvonimir Ratkovski is a Head of Unit at the European Investment Fund (EIF), in charge of design, promotion and roll-out of financial instruments (portfolio guarantees) which aim to support access to finance in the areas of skills and education as well as culture and creative sectors. He spent seven years in the EIF, working with financial institutions, national promotional players and alternative lenders to deliver financing to SMEs with a pan-European geographic focus and across policy areas such as innovation and digitalization. Prior to joining the EIF, Zvonimir was providing valuation, financial modeling and project finance advisory services in one the Big Four advisory firms.

Romana Stanciukaite, MSc

Transaction and Relationship Officer, European Investment Fund

Romana Stanciukaite is a Transaction and Relationship Officer responsible for implementing EIF portfolio guarantee products across various policy thematics in all EU countries. Her primary focus is promoting and advising both financial institutions and alternative lenders on the guarantee products targeted at skills and education as well as cultural and creative sectors. Romana holds an MSc Political Economy degree from LSE. Prior joining EIF she was working in horizontal banking supervision at the European Central Bank.

Monika Blodgett, MA

Program Manager, EIT HEI Initiative

Monika Blodgett is the Programme Manager on EIT Manufacturing’s Education team for EIT’s HEI Initiative, which aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurial capacities in higher education institutions (HEIs) while also improving their integration into the Knowledge Triangle. She holds a Master of Arts in Higher and Post Secondary Education from the University of Columbia in the city of New York. Monika has over 7+ years of experience in the field of higher education with previous roles at Columbia University and UNESCO’s International Institute of Education Planning (IIEP). Her overall professional emphasis is in the construction and execution of multi-dimensional international higher education projects.