Conference Speakers
2024
September 18-20
We’re thrilled to share our diverse line-up of speakers from some of the best known brands in our industry. Some you may know. Others you’ll be discovering for the first time here.
Chris De Santis
Speaker
Chris De Santis is an independent organizational behavior practitioner, speaker, podcaster, and author with over thirty-five years of experience working primarily with clients in professional services firms both domestically and internationally. While he often speaks on behalf of embracing generational diversity as discussed in his new book, “Why I Find You Irritating: Navigating Generational Friction at Work,” He is also conversant in multiple topics relevant to developing and sustaining long term relationships both inside an organization and with the clients they serve. He has an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in business from the University of Denver, and a master’s degree in organization development from Loyola University. He lives in a quiet corner in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Rafi Tahmazian
Speaker
Senior Portfolio Manager & Co-Managing Director, Energy Team
Rafi joined Canoe in 2010 and is the co-lead Portfolio Manager for Canoe Energy Alpha LP.
Rafi is an award-winning portfolio manager with over 30 years of investment management, corporate banking and oil and gas experience. Previously, he spent 13 years at First Energy Capital, a leading investment dealer focused on the energy industry. He left the firm in 2008 as Vice Chairman and Managing Director. Rafi has held numerous public and private, charity and government board positions.
He is currently on the Boards of Directors for Artis Exploration Ltd., Aureus Energy Services Inc., Well Ventures Corp., Chance Oil and Gas Ltd. and Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund.
Rafi has a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Calgary.
Dr. Amrita Sen
Speaker
Amrita Sen is the Founder and Director of Research at Energy Aspects, a global research house that advises over 500 companies globally on energy markets and geopolitics. Amrita leads development of Energy Aspect’s views on crude, oil products, natural gas and carbon markets, as well as wider energy transition, policy, politics and macroeconomics landscape.
Amrita’s deep understanding of the complex relationships within the global energy sector, her wealth of industry contacts, and over 15 years of market experience enable her to have a unique perspective on international energy markets. She advises central bankers, OPEC+ energy ministers with close relations to the GCC, and CEOs of energy companies around the world.
She holds a PhD from the University of London, an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University, and a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick. She was formerly Chief Oil Analyst for Barclays Capital and is frequently featured in leading media outlets. She has served as a research fellow at both the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and the Atlantic Council and is currently a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Amrita is regarded as a leading authority on energy markets and is a sought-after speaker for company board meetings and top industry conferences.
Mike Baker
Speaker
During a career spanning almost 20 years as a covert field operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Mike specialized in counterterrorism, counternarcotics and counterinsurgency operations. He engaged in, organized and supervised operations around the globe, working in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. He was recognized professionally for outstanding performance and for operational achievements in hostile environments.
After leaving government service, Mike co-founded Diligence with the goal of building the premier intelligence and risk management firm. As a principal partner over the years he worked to grow the company as it expanded around the globe. He also worked to establish the company’s security operations in Iraq in 2003, as Diligence built a team of over 300 expat and local personnel involved in security and information collection. In 2019, after a management buyout of the business, Mike rebranded the company as Portman Square Group (www.portmansquaregroup.com) adding crisis communications and policy work to the company’s service lines. PSG now maintains offices in London, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix, Monterrey Mexico and Mexico City, providing information, intelligence and investigative support to Fortune 50 companies, leading law firms and high net wealth individuals.
Mike is a regular contributor in the national and international media on intelligence, security and counterterrorism issues. He appears regularly on a variety of news networks including Fox News, CNN, Newsmax and the BBC, as well as other major media outlets. He is the host of the top daily news podcast, the President’s Daily Brief, and has hosted television series for Discovery, BBC and the Travel Channel, including the popular Black Files Declassified series on the Discovery network.
Dr. Anas F. Alhajji
Speaker
KEYNOTE SPEAKER, AUTHOR, ENERGY MARKETS EXPERT, INFLUENCER
Dr. Anas F. Alhajji is a world-renowned energy markets expert, researcher, author, influencer (ranked 3ed in the world on social media), investor, and a speaker with more than 1,000 papers, articles and columns to his credit. He advises governments, companies, financial institution and investors on various energy markets issues. He focuses on oil, gas, and energy markets outlook, energy geopolitics, energy security, and the impact of disruptive technologies on the supply and demand of energy.
Before his recent role as a Managing Partner at Energy Outlook Advisors LLC and Editorial Advisor of Attaqa, he was the Chief Economist of NGP Energy Capital Management. He led the Firm’s macro-analysis of the oil, natural gas and related markets as well as the overall economic environment. He was responsible for the short-term and long-term outlooks for oil, natural gas, NGLs, and LNG markets.
Along with his team, Dr. Alhajji publishes two influential newsletters: The EOA Weekly Energy Newsletter and the EOA Daily Energy Report.
Dr. Alhajji’s articles appeared in numerous countries in more than 10 languages, and his work is cited in over 60 books. He has addressed numerous companies, institutions, and national and international organizations. He also serves on the board of several energy-related publications. He is a contributing editor for the one of the industry’s premier publications: World Oil. He is also the moderator of the industry’s oldest virtual Forum: Oil, Gas, & Energy Law (OGEL)
Prior to joining NGP, Dr. Alhajji taught economics at the University of Oklahoma (1995 to 1997), the Colorado School of Mines (1997 to 2001), and Ohio Northern University (2001 to 2008), where he held the George Patton Chair of Business and Economics. Dr. Alhajji taught courses in economics, energy economics and policy, and energy geopolitics.
Dr. Alhajji was educated in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. He holds M.A. in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oklahoma, with a specialization in energy economics and policy. He received many awards including the Teaching Excellence Award and the Outstanding Mentor Award in addition to many prizes in woodworking.
Andrew Busch
Speaker
Andrew Busch is the former 1st Chief Market Intelligence Officer for the US government and economic futurist at AndrewBusch.com. For the CFTC, he was charged with improving and enhancing the government’s understanding of the markets and the economy. His job was to take all the news, information and data on the economy and markets; and filter it into condensed, easily understood research; then communicate it to the government and public.
Andy provided economic and market briefings to White House, US House, US Senate, the SEC, the Federal Reserve Board and the US Treasury staff on a wide range of issues including interest rates, inflation, China’s influence on trade, and the impact of technology on the economy.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Busch was CEO and founder of a boutique financial markets and policy research firm, Bering Productions, Inc (BPI). Before BPI, he was the Global Currency and Public Policy Strategist for Bank of Montreal (BMO) in Chicago. He is author of the book “World Event Trading” covering large crises, like infectious disease outbreaks and war, and their impact on the economy and markets.
Today, he’s a consultant and keynote speaker with a wide range of clients including chemicals, financial services, energy, real estate, manufacturing, construction and agriculture.