Registration, morning coffee, and networking with colleagues.

Gunnar has worked in the banking industry for a couple of decades. He recently made a career change and has been working in the automotive industry for a few years.

In addition, he is actively involved in mentoring, acting as a mentor himself, training new mentors, and contributing to the expansion of mentoring through the Estonian Mentors’ Association.

Berna is the first female president of EAPM and the Director of HR for Genel Energy Plc, based in London, which is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies. She is the international representative of PERYÖN, the Turkish Human Resources Association, where she also served as president for two terms.
Berna says, “With the EAPM Board and Secretariat, we will sail together to create the best value for the member countries and a better world of people management”.

In her presentation, Sirli provides intriguing insights into her diverse and international leadership experience. She highlights challenges, achievements, lessons learned, and thoughts on leadership in the technology sector. In addition, Sirli offers recommendations on how to encourage engineers and technical experts to pursue leadership roles.

Ruben is a Colombian-born-Indonesian-bred-Dutchman-with-a-Swedish-passport. In this talk he will share his own personal and professional journey which has taken him from international diplomacy to leadership training and now working for a global sustainability organisation. He will speak about the importance of knowing your identity as a leader, the values you stand for and how to remain authentic in an ever faster pacing world.

Anna Cau is the Chief Peoples Officer at Telenor, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Sweden. She has led HR teams in several world-changing corporations, such as Ericsson and H&M, and has always advocated for equal opportunities for all employees within organizations. In her presentation, Anna shares her experiences and practical tips on how to create an organizational culture that supports women in becoming leaders and top executives.

This inspirational talk will give you practical insights into how to transform organizational culture to promote more women in top leadership positions. We need to address all the positive outcomes that come with gender balance in organizations and there is much research supporting this! Gender equality brings values to both innovation and to the company economy as well as increases the well being at work. The talk starts in that research and then moves straight into how to get there. Jenny gives you 10 specific things that your organization can do to balance the numbers and get more women into leadership roles. Add Gender has successfully helped the Swedish forestry industry to reach more women than owns land in Sweden and to even the gender balance in who attends forestry fairs. We have produced gender equality guides for the Transport sector with easy step by step guides for their 9000 member organizations to lower the threshold to get started with gender equality and we have also
educated tech companies all over Sweden.
We have 15 years of experience (Add Gender was founded 2008) and while we customize solutions for organizations, some things are the same in many sectors. We give you these 10 things to start working with and what you do to take the work further is up to you. Talk is cheap – let’s do things!

Professor Raili Marling discusses, based on the recent study by the Praxis Mõttekoda and the University of Tartu, why there is still a lack of female top executives in Estonia, how women and men can become leaders in Estonia, and the role organizations play in creating a culture that supports equality.

Panel discussion addressing the gender disparity among top executives: Why are there still more men than women among top executives?

Questions that will be considered: Why do men continue to outnumber women in these high-ranking positions? What benefits come from having an equal number of women and men in top leadership positions?

During this panel discussion, we aim to delve into the nuanced dynamics contributing to the gender disparity at the top leadership level. We will draw upon empirical evidence and firsthand accounts from organizations to illuminate the complexities of this issue. Our panelists will discuss strategies for fostering a more equitable representation of women in leadership positions, reflecting on both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The panel discussion at the PARE conference is supported by the European Commission under the ‘Power of Women Leaders’ project

Estonia’s top leader, Veiko Veskimäe, invited one the most influential HR leaders in Estonia, Estel Pukk, to join his team in developing Verston into the world’s most environmentally sustainable infrastructure company. Humaneness, openness, and inclusivity have been the company’s core values since its inception 13 years ago.

Artificial intelligence is probably the most disruptive technological development in human history. With chat-GPT the powers of AI came even closer to our everyday lives and jobs. The opportunities and challenges are apparently equally abundant. In this talk, we will move beyond the current hype and hysteria to look at the real value that lie within AI, both for businesses, society, and the individual. At the same time, this powerful toolbox brings with it a new set of challenges, such as the consequences of bias, humans as the increasingly weak link in cyber security, and some highly tangible implications for our environment. On top of this, the coming AI Act from the EU will be both an important tool and a troublesome stone in your shoe. How can you, as a leader and decision-maker, ensure that you are sufficiently knowledgeable about AI to remain relevant in your position in the years to come?

At the strategic level of leadership, there are no winners, only leaders, followers, and losers. The situation is constantly changing, and to gain an advantage, one must do things better, more efficiently, or more cost-effectively. To achieve or maintain a leading role, a leader must develop subordinates who are smarter than them and ready to take over leadership at any moment. Human capital is the greatest asset, and mishandling this asset guarantees a decline for the organization. Any organization leader who claims to have a line of people waiting at their door today is either lying or incredibly naive.

In this practical and timely session, Chris delves into the currently misunderstood realm of AI transformation. While the technological aspects of AI are frequently highlighted, Chris emphasizes that the true challenge lies in culture, people, strategy and communication. Adopting and aligning with the promise of AI is actually fundamentally a people-first topic. Drawing from a diverse experience across several leadership roles, Chris will share case studies and personal insights on how to align AI initiatives with company culture and values. The talk will explore practical strategies for leading digital transformation, while maintaining authenticity and promoting equality within the workplace. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how to navigate the human aspects of AI integration, fostering an environment where technology and culture coalesce to drive innovation and growth.

During a period of transition, we have to let go of what is familiar without knowing exactly what the future holds. This is a confusing betwixt-and-between time, when things are neither what they were, nor what they will become. Anthropologists call such messy between-times liminality. Jitske Kramer will delve into the patterns and dynamics of major change, taking the knowledge and tools of social anthropology. Anthropology has the ability to illuminate and lay bare things we knew but could not yet put into words. Jitske offers a vision on how to navigate through the messy middle of change and what kind of leadership is needed in liminal times.