Dr. Barbara Paldus is the Founder & CEO of Codex Labs – a Silicon Valley-based company with proven clinical results founded on sustainability – from formulation to packaging. Barbara holds over 40 U.S. patents and is an investor and serial entrepreneur, having started companies like Picarro, which detects greenhouse gas for climate change, and Finesse Solutions, which specializes in biotechnology equipment for vaccines, cancer therapeutics, and cell therapy.

Canadian-born of Czech parents, Barbara was raised in both Europe and Canada, is fluent in five languages with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and considers herself a global citizen. As a scientist, she believes in data and biotechnology.

April Franzino is the Beauty Director of Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and Prevention magazines at Hearst Magazines. She produces and oversees each book's beauty editorial content, including pitching, reporting, writing, editing, and market work, culminating with yearly Beauty Awards specials, and also oversees beauty content on Goodhousekeeping.com. April represents the brands on television, radio, industry panels, and online, appearing on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, The View, CNBC, NBC New York Live, The Dr. Oz Show, PIX11 News, and Today.com. She is also a host of the podcast Beauty Is Your Business.

Jasmina Aganovic is a cosmetics industry professional who is driving innovation in beauty. As the CEO of Arcaea, she leverages the power of expressive biology to create a new wave of beauty products that provide consumers with innovative and sustainably sourced ingredients. Prior to launching Arcaea, she was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Gingko Bioworks and the President of Mother Dirt, a skin microbiome brand that developed the first live probiotic and biome-friendly products for the skin. Jasmina has a degree in chemical and biological engineering from MIT.

Paul Baek is the founder and CEO of MATTER OF FACT, a clinical skincare brand focused on efficacy and innovation. He founded MATTER OF FACT in 2018 with the goal of developing novel delivery vehicles for well-researched ingredients. The first of these is a Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) technology that is able to solubilize high concentrations of ascorbic acid without the use of water, resulting in a highly stable, yet completely non-gritty and high-potency solution of Vitamin C.

Prior to founding MATTER OF FACT, Paul was involved in the startup and technology spaces, having worked at Atom Factory (investor in Warby Parker, Spotify and Ritual, amongst others). He is also a former recording artist, with 4 major releases in South Korea. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, his MBA from The Wharton School, a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and studied cosmetic formulation under the tutelage of a veteran product developer.

I’m very lucky to have a career that I love – combining my background in science with my passion for cosmetics! I went to University College Dublin and achieved a BSc in Pharmacology before landing my dream job as a Graduate Scientist in Oriflame Cosmetics in Dublin. Today, I am a Senior Scientist in the Scientific Communication team, translating the science behind cosmetic technologies into exciting product claims and communication. This involves a huge range of activities which makes each day different and exciting – from claim substantiation and efficacy testing to video production, creative storytelling, social media demonstrations and more! I have been working in the cosmetics industry for over 5 years now and I specialise in the science behind colour technologies.

Rachel ten Brink is the General Partner and Co-Founder of Red Bike Capital. Named Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2020, Rachel is a Founder, Board Member, Investor and Growth expert. Rachel was a Partner at Five Four Ventures. She was Co-Founder and CMO of Scentbird, a Y-Combinator backed ecommerce startup that raised $29MM in venture funding. Rachel led growth, brand and revenue, scaling the company to over half a million monthly paying subscribers. Before this, she spent 20 years at top global companies building billion-brands at Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, Gillette and L’Oreal. She is a mentor at Y-Combinator, 500 Startups, Techstars and others, and was recognized as Top 50 Latinx Tech Leaders in the US.

I have a BS in chemistry and I’ve been working in the beauty/personal care industry for just under 2 years. I began working as a technical service chemist at a raw materials supplier and now I’ve found my place as an associate scientist in analytical chemistry at J&J Consumer. On a typical day you can find me in the lab developing a test method for active ingredients in skin health product prototypes. You’ll also find me tuning into a project meeting for a new product launch and giving updates on how stability studies are going to support the product’s shelf life specifications.

Jen Novakovich is an independent cosmetic scientist, science communicator, and director of The Eco Well, a science communication platform and formulation development consultancy. With her work as a science communicator, she's interviewed hundreds of scientists from diverse fields for her podcast, hosts regular interdisciplinary e-panels on her YouTube channel, and has launched several larger-scale scicomm conferences, including the Green Beauty Night series. Jen has two BS degrees, a diploma in cosmetic chemistry, and is in the process of completing a master's in environmental science.

Meghan Maupin, who goes by “Meg,” is the CEO and Co-Founder of Atolla, a revolutionary custom skin health brand that combines patented technology, effective ingredient combinations and virtual expert consults to make a skincare system that takes the guesswork out of your daily routine.