Sir Oliver Letwin

Oliver Letwin

former MP and cabinet minister

Sir Oliver was the Member of Parliament for West Dorset from 1997 until his retirement in 2019. From 2010, he was the Minister for Government Policy and subsequently Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in David Cameron’s coalition government. After the 2015 General Election, he continued as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and was in overall charge of the Cabinet Office, until July 2016. Before 2010, he held the positions of Shadow Home Secretary, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Shadow Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs and Chairman of the Conservative Party Policy Review. He is also currently Vice-President of the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), Chairman of the Red Tape Initiative (RTI) and Senior Advisor to the Faraday Institute. Educated at Cambridge University, Princeton University and London Business School, he has also had a varied career beyond front-line politics – having been a research fellow at Cambridge University, a civil servant and a bank director. He is the author of several books on politics, economics and philosophy, as well as many pamphlets and articles. He became a privy councillor in 2002 and was knighted in 2016.

Dr David James

deputy head (academic), Bryanston School

Dr David James is deputy head academic at Bryanston School, an HMC boarding school in Dorset. He has previously worked in a number of high-profile public schools including Wellington College, and was seconded to the Department for Education to work on an independent/state schools partnership project. David is a team inspector for ISI and was recently appointed to their Education Advisory Forum.  He is a columnist for the Times Education Supplement, and has co-edited two books: World Class and, more recently, The State of Independence: key challenges facing private schools today, both published by Routledge.  He is an editor for Cambridge University Press’s ‘School Shakespeare’ series. David was appointed the first Zagat Global Fellow at Riverdale School in New York, an initiative to promote closer links between schools across the world.

James Troup

Brewer and Yacht Broker, Lymington Yachts

James has served as an Army Officer from 1978 to 1987 in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. On retiring his commission in 1987 he joined the drinks industry in 1987 as an Area Manager for Whitbread running Pubs, Hotels and Restaurants. He then moved to a regional brewer, Maclays of Alloa, in Scotland as retail director and then as managing director. In 2004 he retrained as a yacht broker and became managing director of the yacht brokerage arm of Dubois Yachts – specialising in the design, build and sale of sailing super yachts up to 60 metres in length. He left this post in 2008 and worked for a variety of yacht companies under the banner of his yachting consultancy business, Lymington Yachts. He moved to Dorset in 2017 when his wife became Head of English at Sherborne Girls School. He is now launching a new beer brand. He has enjoyed working alongside his wife judging debates over the past 2 years.

Crispin Weston

Writer on education technology

Crispin manages oXya UK, which provides technical IT support to companies running SAP business software. An ex-teacher, he also writes and speaks on the theory and philosophy of education, particularly with a view to making better use in the sector of digital technology and blogs on technology and education at www.EdTechNow.net.

Dyane Neiman

Speaker coach; choreographer & director

Dyane Neiman is New York-bred, Berlin-based speaker coach and a former award-winning dance choreographer and theatre director. With her company Moving Speaker, she helps people share their ideas on public stages such as TEDx, Berlin Science Week, Creative Bureaucracy Festival.


Dyane also directs the non-profit event THE bEAR. true stories. erzaehltes leben. which is a popular open stage where ordinary Berliners can share the extraordinary moments of their lives. The next show is on June 24th in the Danzigstr. 50. Join us!

Siobhan Bruns

editor in chief, Read On, die Sprachzeitungen at Carl Ed. Schünemann KG Verlag

Siobhan works for Die Sprachzeitung at the Carl Ed. Schünemann KG publishing house where she is editor in chief of Read On.

Die Sprachzeitung has language-teaching newspapers in French, Spanish, German as a foreign language, and English Read On and World and Press.

Read On is written in easy English and, together with its educational material (audios and worksheets), it is ideal for middle-school students.

World and Press is a compilation of original newspaper articles from The Times, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others.

A premium subscription to World and Press (newspaper with educational material) is perfect for students preparing to take the Abitur exam in English. It’s also perfect for students preparing for Debating Matters.

That’s why die Sprachzeitung is rewarding the winning school of the Debating Matters Berlin Championship with a premium subscription to World and Press for one year!

Niels Betori Diehl

artist and architect, NBDBKP

Niels Betori Diehl was born in Rome in 1975 and has lived in Berlin since 1999. As an artist with a background in design and architecture, he works in a variety of media such as video, sculpture, installation and writing. Since 2005 he collaborates with Barbara K. Prokop as NBDBKP. Together they work on interior design projects, interdisciplinary large-scale exhibitions and publications, and organise panel discussions based on topics arising in their individual research and practices. Currently, NBDBKP is working on an online web shop project that blurs the line between art and marketing, combining political and social issues with easy-to-wear pieces. Niels has a BFA in Architecture from Università degli Studi di Roma and Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee, and a BFA/MFA in Visual Culture Studies from Universität der Künste, Berlin.

Tamara Paquet

head of legal department, Syndikusrechtsanwältin, H2air

Tamara works as the head of legal department for H2air, a French company dealing with renewables energies. 
She was admitted as Rechtsanwältin to the German bar in 2003.

Phoebe Blackburn

freelance communications & circular economy consultant, Phenomenal Words

Born in the UK, Phoebe grew up in Paris and returned to the UK for her secondary education and university, where she read French and German literature at Oxford, Bonn and Hamburg universities. She has worked in communication roles at energy group EDF in France and the UK, and for the cultural attaché at the French Embassy in London. In 2012, she undertook a solo tour of Russia and Asia, photographing dustbins across a dozen countries, for an exhibition shown in Paris and Berlin. Today she works freelance as a communications & circular economy consultant in Paris and Berlin at Phenomenal Words. She also coaches for public speaking and pitching, and has supported TEDx speakers and many startups. Her interests include singing, travel writing and new words.

Hannes Putzig

managing director, MR WOLF

Hannes Putzig is the director of MR WOLF Consulting, a marketing consulting start-up of the VOK DAMS Group. VOK DAMS is one of the leading agencies for events and live-marketing. 
Hannes studied business administration with a focus on marketing in Germany and Hong Kong. After graduating he went to work for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany supporting the experiential marketing department. In 2013 he decided to follow his passion at the consulting department of VOK DAMS with a focus on strategic event communication. Hannes has developed and created a vast number of studies and concepts regarding 360° communication, digital / hybrid events and the activation of events and sponsoring deals for clients such as BMW, Commerzbank, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, BASF, and Swarovski.