Willem Ruster studied Economics at the Tilburg University, with a specialization in development and resource economics. Between 2007-2017, he worked at Steward Redqueen, an international consultancy on sustainability strategy and impact measurement. In this role, he served many international companies and development banks and executed projects in Europe, Asia and Africa. Through these years, he ran several complex, informal project structures and guided consultants and researchers in projects with for example IFC agribusiness (part of the World Bank group) and European sector associations in Brussels. Between 2015-2017, he acted as manager of Steward Redqueen’s agrifood and biotech cluster. In 2017, Willem joined Wageningen University & Research as business development lead on societal impact management at the economic research institute.

Derek Eaton is an economist and currently works as an independent consultant. He has held a variety of positions in research institutes, thinktanks, government and international organizations. Most recently he was Vice President of Research at Global Footprint Network, and previously Executive Director of the Centre for International Environmental Studies at the Graduate Institute, Geneva. He has undertaken a number of studies on international policies concerning genetic resources and the agricultural biotechnology sector for a range of clients, including the FAO, the World Bank, Oxfam, and a number of private sector companies. Originally from Canada, Derek is also a Dutch citizen. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Wageningen University in the Netherlands where his thesis examined the effects of IPRs on the international plant breeding sector.

Grega Kumer joined the IFPMA IP and Trade team in September 2016. Grega is responsible for outreach to relevant multilateral organisations with focus on IP issues and leads IFPMA work on biodiversity. In addition Grega provides strategic support to IFPMA DG and handles any outreach activities. Since 2009 Grega has been engaged in multilateral negotiations at WIPO and WTO. Before joining the IFPMA he represented the interests of the UK on all Intellectual Property files across Geneva. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the WIPO Advisory Enforcement Committee. Prior to that, he performed the duties of the Slovenian Deputy Permanent Representative to the WTO and the WIPO Regional Coordinator for Central European and Baltic States. He also worked as a Legal Adviser to a start-up company, with a focus on patent and trade mark protection.
Grega has studied Law in Slovenia, Spain and the UK and holds a Master’s degree in the European Union Law.