Mark Palmer (Ph.D) is a Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). Mark’s research explores institutional behavioural change in industrial markets, and he works with various partners across a range of communities and supply chains, technologists and businesses, NGOs and industry associations, to achieve positive change and triple bottom line impact. Mark has worked with small and large businesses, the public sector and taught on executive education courses as well as MBA programmes. Mark has held full or visiting appointments at Aston University and University of Birmingham, EDHEC in France and SIM in Singapore. At Queen’s Business School, he frequently organises workshops for business and stakeholder engagement on strategic leadership issues. He is interested in leadership development, business developments, policy, strategic thinking, collective visionary leadership, sustainable business model innovation and emergent renewable technologies. Mark has published on these topics in a wide range peer reviewed journals and completed stakeholder research commissioned by the Department for the Economy NI and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. He frequently tweets on leadership, business developments, policy development and the economy. .

Professor Shuang Ren is Professor of Organisation, Work and Leadership at Queen’s Business School, where she serves as Director of Executive Education, International Markets, and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. A thought and action leader at the intersection of sustainability, human resource management, digitalization and leadership, she adopts a multi-level, multi-stakeholder approach to help organisations transition towards sustainability. Her research has been published in leading international journals and has received numerous accolades, including best paper and top-cited paper from prestigious academic associations worldwide. Shuang has extensive experience in executive education. She has designed and delivered ethical leadership programmes for Australian business leaders (Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, Centre for Ethical Leadership, University of Melbourne), and has provided corporate training on gender diversity and inclusive leadership across Australia, China, and Vietnam. She also launched the Business Sustainability Fundamentals programme at Queen’s Business School, supporting Northern Ireland firms in greening their workforce and advancing the circular economy. A respected keynote speaker and internationally recognised authority, Shuang is a leading voice on sustainability, green workforce development, sustainability communication and digital transformation.