Professor Dana Redford is recognized as an international expert in the area of entrepreneurship and public policy with a specific research emphasis on education and training in the European Union. In 2010, the OECD recognized his entrepreneurship course at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto as one of eight best practices in the area of entrepreneurship education.

Professor Redford has worked for the European Presidency, the US Department of Commerce, the Portuguese Ministries of Economy and Innovation, Education and Labor and Social Security as a public policy specialist. He has also worked with civil society on matters of public policy and is an Associate and Strategic Consultant for the Luso-American Foundation. His current goal is to develop a national strategy in entrepreneurship education and training in Portugal in collaboration with the public and private sectors.

Professor Redford did his Post-Doc at the Institute for European Studies and the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley and currently does international development and is a Faculty Director at the Center for Executive Education and serves on the Board of the Portuguese Studies Program. He received his PhD from Lisbon University Institute and spent half of his tenure as a PhD candidate at UC-Berkeley as a Visiting Scholar.

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Milton Berle (1908-2002)

Michael Norman DaCosta Babb has worked within the creative industries for over twenty years. He is a global marketing strategist normally working within the fields of youth and emerging cultural trends. His specialist area is the establishment of sustainable partnerships between commercial and creative brands.

Michael was co-chair of the 2003 World Creative Forum conference, at Bloomberg London HQ, during the first ever London Design Festival. The event attracted global media coverage. This included ‘conversations’ in front of specially invited audiences with Turner Prize award winning artist Antony Gormley and celebrated Ground Zero architect Daniel Libeskind. (www.londondesignfestival.com) plus a personal endorsement deal with BMW Z4.

He was a founder member of the advisory council for Arts and Business whose patron is HRH The Prince of Wales, a board member of IXIA the Public Art Think Tank and a member of a Portuguese Ministry of Culture structural funds steering committee. He also lectures and is a contributing editor to Art and Architecture Journal.

Michael also co-chaired alongside Lord Chris Smith the Great Artistic Metropolis, National Public Art Conference, London in November 2005 and co produced the inaugural Conversas Unicer and Laboratorio Criativo events in April 2005. From 2006-8 chaired the international Transforma Think Tank in Portugal and abroad. In 2008 Michael also participated in the Re-creating the City series of conferences organised by One Dot Zero and the British Council in South East Asia. In 2009 he chaired the Lisbon Transcultural Platform Think Tank at Culturgest in Lisbon. Later that year he became the CEO of ADDICT – the lead Portuguese Creative Industries agency. In 2010 Michael became the President of Consultative Commission of ADDICT and special advisor to its board