The world faces an economic and employment crisis of historic proportions. Pre-pandemic workforce challenges have been exacerbated, and the urgency to improve the relevance, skills and productivity of current and future workers has accelerated. Yet at the same time, the crisis has sparked innovation and awakened a sense of shared commitment and collaboration across business, government, and civil society to build back better, in partnership. The B20 Employment and Education taskforce pledges to harness this moment of awakening by crafting concrete recommendations aimed at upgrading labour market regulations to drive growth and innovation, preparing current and future workers for coming industrial revolutions, and ensuring inclusive opportunities for all in the future of work.
Our taskforce commits to engaging with all social partners in our shared ambition of reshaping the future of work and education.

Chair
Gianpietro Benedetti is the Chairman of Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. (C.E.O. untill the end of September, 2017). He began working in Danieli’s design technical offices in 1961, advanced to mechanical project engineer in 1963 and plant start-up engineer in 1966. He was named Danieli Group Managing Director in 1986 and President & CEO in 1990. He was given three “Honoris Causa” degrees, respectively: in mechanical engineering by the University of Trieste, as well as management engineering by the University of Udine and M.B.A. degree in International Business by the MIB School of Management of Trieste (Italy). In June 2006 he was appointed to the Order of Merit for Labour (national order of chivalry) of the Republic of Italy. Since 2010 is President of the Foundation ITS – Technical Secondary School – New made-in-Italy Technologies, Mechanical and Aeronautics Section. He was member of many Boards of Directors and he holds numerous patents for steelmaking machines and processes.

Deputy Chair
Thomas Parisini received the “Laurea” degree (Cum Laude and printing honours) in Electronic Engineering in 1988 and the Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science in 1993 from the University of Genoa. He was with Politecnico di Milano and he currently holds the Chair of Industrial Control and is Director of Research at Imperial College London. He also holds the Danieli Endowed Chair of Automation Engineering at University of Trieste where he served as Deputy Rector. He authored or co-authored over 350 international scientific publications. In 2018, he was awarded the Honorary Doctorate from University of Aalborg in Denmark. In 2016 he was awarded as PI at Imperial of the KIOS flagship project under the Horizon 2020 WIDESPREAD-2016-2017 programme for an overall budget of over 40 Meuro and in 2020 he was awarded the Project of Relevant National Interest “Monitoring and Control Underpinning the Factory of the Future: Novel Methodologies and Industrial Validation” funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research. Thomas Parisini is currently the President of the IEEE Control Systems Society, a Fellow of the IEEE, and of the IFAC.

Co-Chair
Mr. Zhu Hongren serves now as the Standing Vice Chairman and Director General of China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) since Dec. 2016 and presides over general operation of the confederation. Since 1992, He ever served various economic task positions in respective central government departments including the Division Chief of Economic Operations Department of State Economic and Trade Commission, Deputy Director General of Economic Operations Adjustment Bureau of National Development and Reform Commission, Director General of the Operations and Coordination Bureau. From 2009 through to 2015, He held positions as the Chief Engineer and a member of the Party Leadership Group in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Co-Chair
Renate Hornung-Draus is Managing Director at the Confederation of German Employers (BDA). This is the top business organisation representing the interests of private employers in the fields of employment, labour and social affairs. BDA is based on voluntary membership and covers all sectors of the German economy, in particular manufacturing industry, services, trade, banking, insurance, crafts, transportation, agriculture etc. Via its sectoral and regional member organisations it represents the interests of one million companies employing 80 % of the workforce in the private sector. Renate Hornung-Draus directs BDA’s activities in the international, european and economic policy fields. This includes on the one hand representing the employers’ views vis-à-vis the International Organisations (ILO, OECD, UN Organisations), the G20 and B20, EU Organisations, and on the other hand providing advice and services to member organisations and companies on international issues, such as transnational works councils, international framework agreements, corporate social responsibility, Human Rights Due Diligence, labour law and industrial relations issues etc. It also includes developing and maintaining a wide range of bilateral contacts and networks with other countries. She is Chair of the Committee on Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELSA) of BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, Chair of BusinessEurope’s CSR Committee, Vice-President of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and Employer-Vice-Chair of the ILO-Governing Body Subcommittee on Multinational Enterprises, as well as Co-Chair of the B20 Employment Task Force. From 1996 to 2006 she was Vice-Chair of the Employers’ group of the European Economic and Social Committee. From 2008 to 2020 she was and Vice Chair of BusinessEurope’s Social Affairs Committee. Furthermore she is member of the Advisory Boards of the Birmingham Business School (Birmingham University), of the Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations (IAAEU) at Trier University and of the German-Chinese as well as German-Japanese Societies for Labour Law. Previously she was Director of Social Affairs at BUSINESSEUROPE (1992-1994) and Director of the BDA’s EU-representation, which she has set up in Brussels (1990-1992). She has numerous publications on European and international social policy, CSR and industrial relations.

Co-Chair
David Iakobachvili is one of the founders of the largest Russian company – JSC Wimm-Bill-Dann – the manufacturer of dairy products, juices and beverages. In 2001 JSC Wimm-Bill-Dann issued shares and successfully signed on the in the NISE. For more than ten years David Iakobachvili was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of this company. In 2011 PepsiCo bought the company. Currently, David Iakobachvili is a Vice-President and member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Bureau, Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility and Demographic Policy, Chairman of the RSPP Joint Committee on Corporate Ethics, President and founder of ORION HERITAGE Co, Ltd, Chairman of the Board of Directors and co-owner of Petrocas Energy Group International, President and founder of Research and production group INOIL (the company – manufacturer of high-performance fuel additives), an Independent member of the Sistema JSFC Board of Directors, Founder of Private Museum ‘Collection’ of works of Art. David Iakobachvili is President of the Russian-American Business Council, Chairman of the Nonpartnership Rusbrand Board of Directors (The Association of Branded Goods Manufacturers in Russia), a member of the Business Russia (LLC) General Council. For more than 20 years David Iakobachvili is an active member of the World Economic Forum in Davos as well as ??-?hair of B20 Employment and Education Task Force, a member of the International Business Advisory Council (IBAC), a member of the Association of Franco-Russian Dialogue, a member of the President’s Global Council at New York University (NYU), a member of the Presidium Council of the Russian-Jewish Congress and a member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and ?ommunal Services of the Russian Federation. David Iakobachvili is a founder and member of the Board of Trustees for the following educational, cultural and charitable societies and organizations: the Higher School of Economics, the RSPP Business School, University College of France in Moscow (Collège universitaire français de Moscou), the Mstislav Rostropovich Scholarship Foundation, the State Hermitage Museum, the Faberge Museum, the All-Russia Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Arts, the Maria Charity Society, the Family Educational Boarding House, the Foundation for Support of Children in Difficult Life Situations. Since 2015 David has supported the MBA Grant program of business school “SKOLKOVO”. David Iakobachvili is an active member of the Musical Box Society of the USA & Great Britain and a well-known collector of mechanical musical instruments, watches and caskets, Russian bronze, artistic silver items, Russian and Western European arts and crafts. His collection is the result of a long-term search, attribution and restoration of the works of famous painters and sculptors. Currently, the collection consists of more than twenty thousand units, among which are many rarities, existing in a single sample. Museum COLLECTION of David Iakobachvili opened its doors in the center Moscow in the autumn of 2018. He speaks 4 languages: English, French, Swedish and Georgian.

Co-Chair
CEO of Santa Farma Pharmaceuticals, Mr Kiresepi is also a member of the Governing Body of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK). He was elected President of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in 2017. Mr Kiresepi has served all G20 presidencies since 2011 as a member of the B20 Employment Task Force of which he became co-chair in 2017. He was appointed by the Turkish Government in 2015 as one of the seven members of the B20 Turkey Executive Committee.

Co-Chair
Mthunzi, on his email signature describes himself as a “Deal-Maker, Negotiator, Servant Leader, Global Spirit, Committed Cyclist & Cycling Ambassador”. He is a serial entrepreneur, who has had the rare combination of being in dual roles as a businessman, with vast experience in technology and leading various organised business/employer formations since 2002. He has personally and collectively with his teams, won numerous business awards and accolades as a leader of successful teams. He is a passionate advocate for business in all its diverse forms, across developing and developed nations. He is also a fierce defender of social dialogue, Tripartism, skills development, human capital development in its entirety, productivity, the conditions required for sustainable enterprises, human rights and responsible business conduct. Past successes include:- – ex-officio member of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work which preceded the 2019 ILC and led the Employers Group to successful contributions into the ILO Centenary Declaration), – Chairman of the Employers at the ILO Turin/Torino Centre Board, – Chairman of Council at the University of the Western Cape(“UWC”),one of the top 10 leading African universities), and – Member of the B20 Task Force on Employment & Education since 2008 and cochairing the Germany B20 Task Force on same. Mthunzi believes that his purpose in life is to be part of effecting global change, 2 global impact and global social justice. He was born in the rural village of Coville, Herschel in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. He is a proud father of three children, two grand children and is an endurance sportsman, a cyclist(riding a Pinarello bike which has been ridden all over the world, including parts of Italy), a runner and a swimmer.

Co-Chair
Yves Perrier is Chief Executive Officer of Amundi since its creation in 2010 and Deputy General Manager of Crédit Agricole S.A. since 2015. Amundi is the largest asset manager in Europe and ranks among the top 10 global players. Amundi is listed on Euronext Paris since 2015 with a market capitalization around €14bn.

Co-Chair
Julie Sweet is chief executive officer of Accenture. Prior to becoming CEO in September 2019, Julie served as chief executive officer of Accenture’s business in North America. Before that, she was Accenture’s general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer. Julie represents Accenture in a number of external venues including the Business Roundtable, Catalyst, the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities – Bridges from School to Work. Julie joined Accenture in 2010. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Task Force Manager
Born in 1975, Stefania Rossi works in the Employment, Welfare and Human Capital Department of Confindustria, the Confederation of Italian Industries. She is the manager in charge of EU and international social affairs, with more than twenty years of experience in a broad range of policy areas, notably social dialogue, industrial relations, labour market, skills, international labour standards and social sustainability. She represented the employers’ views in several social partner consultations at national, EU and international level and served as employer spokesperson in a number of social dialogue negotiations. She designed and implemented many projects in the field of social policy in collaboration with social partners’ organizations, public institutions and universities. She is Vice Chairperson of the Management Board of EUROFOUND, the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions. She is member of the European Social Dialogue Committee, of the Social Affairs Committee of BusinessEurope and of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD. She is the Italian Employer Delegate at the International Labour Conference in Geneva and member of the Tripartite Committee for ILO activities at the Italian Labour Ministry. She holds a degree in Political Sciences from the Luiss Guido Carli University of Rome and specializations in industrial relations and human capital management.