Nathan Schmidt

Senior Protein Engineer

Ginkgo Bioworks

Maxine Kennett

Head of Global Trade Compliance

Hitachi Energy

Maxine Kennett is the Head of Global Trade Compliance at Hitachi Energy.  She is a specialist in trade policy and compliance with nearly 20 years of experience in leading trade teams and programs.

She started her career as a commercial lawyer for the international law firm, Allen & Overy, and then worked governments and international governmental organizations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East as a Legal Policy Advisor, Trade Negotiator and Economic Growth specialist. In 2010, she returned permanently to Switzerland to take up the role of Head of Legal Affairs (General Counsel) at the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and thereafter the role of Global Head of Trade Affairs at Syngenta.

In January 2020, she joined Hitachi Energy (a global energy company with 40,000 employees) as the Head of Global Trade Compliance – where she leads the Global Trade team (of approximately 70 team members) to ensure trade compliance and optimize trade related business operations.

She is qualified as a lawyer in the UK, Ireland and Switzerland and an alumna of the University of Bern.