Eight new Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassadors (PHOTO)

San Francisco (ots) -

The Greater Zurich Area has awarded eight U.S. executives,
entrepreneurs and influencers as new Greater Zurich Honorary
Ambassadors. The program is vital for building a network, promoting
the region and identifying suitable companies.

"The dialogue with industry peers is a top influencer on
perceptions of a region. It's therefore an important site-selection
driver," explained Sonja Wollkopf Walt before appointing eight new
Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassadors at the Swiss embassy in San
Francisco. The award program was launched three years ago and
recognizes the outstanding achievements of personalities as well as
their merits for the Greater Zurich Area in Switzerland.

The Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassadors of 2019 on the West Coast
are:
- Liz Chien, Vice President of Global Tax, Ripple Labs
- Warren DeSouza, Chief Financial Officer, Sila Nanotechnologies
- Douglas Ebert, Senior Advisor, Greater Zurich Area
- Alexander Fries, Partner, Alpana Ventures
- Raffael Marty, Vice President Research and Intelligence, Forcepoint
- George Scangos, Chief Executive Officer, Vir Biotechnology
- David Tucker, Vice President of Finance, Atara Biotherapeutics
- Dean Zikria, Founder, DZ Advisors

After the ceremony, Raffael Marty, Vice President Research and
Intelligence at Forcepoint, commented, "in cyber security we are
facing a significant talent shortage. Enterprises cannot find enough
qualified and experienced talent to help them secure their data and
intellectual property. Only through significant global collaboration
and breaking down international barriers, will we be able to continue
the fight against the various cyber adversaries. The Greater Zurich
Area is a unique place where highly qualified experts and a vibrant
security culture come together. As a GZA ambassador, helping bring
companies to the Zurich area and connecting them with the local
community has been very rewarding. It's only through those global
collaborations that we can make progress in the war against cyber
crime."

Ripple Labs is another Greater Zurich success story: Liz Chien,
Vice President of Global Tax at Ripple Labs, described her experience
with the region saying, "Switzerland is a technical leader with
extensive experience in distributed ledger technology and digital
assets. Switzerland is a pioneer in architecting a clear regulatory
framework, and identified the potential and opportunity in this new
technology far earlier than most. The regulatory clarity, in addition
to the unparalleled sense of community and the deep talent pool,
evidenced in our research partnership with ETH, are among the reasons
why Ripple decided to establish a presence in Switzerland."

"In 2010 we established the European headquarters of Onyx
Pharmaceuticals in Zug, Switzerland. In a company that was patient
centric, valued innovation, trust and integrity being located in
Zurich area aligned with our core values. I am humbled by the honor
conveyed on me and I look forward to representing the Greater Zurich
Area as an Honorary Ambassador to ensure that entrepreneurial nature
of the area thrives," said Warren DeSouza, CFO of Sila
Nanotechnologies and former Vice President of Finance of Onyx
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

"I have had the privilege and honor to represent multiple cantons
and regions in Switzerland for the past three decades. One thing that
has stood out regardless of the canton or region was the willingness
of the project team to find innovative solutions to meet a company's
project need. Each project was viewed with an eye toward finding a
way to meet the company's need, company by company, project by
project and canton by canton. This individualized service provided
tailor-made solutions and not a "cookie-cutter" approach," Douglas
Ebert, Senior Advisor at Greater Zurich Area, summed up his years of
experience working for the region.

Pressekontakt:
Lukas Sieber
Executive Director USA
Direct +1 646 586 5507
lukas.sieber@greaterzuricharea.com

Original-Content von: Greater Zurich Area AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell