Natalia Brzezinski
Klarna
Meet our speaker - Natalia Brzezinski
Natalia Brzezinski
Klarna
BIO
Natalia Brzezinski is the U.S. Head of Strategy for Klarna.
From 2016-2020, she served as the CEO of Brilliant Minds Foundation, an initiative focused on bringing together traditional, long-term business families and major tech founders to debate the convergence of humanity and technology. The Brilliant Minds Foundation focuses on scaling creativity and strong values for global impact. The foundation focuses on uplifting the innovation ecosystem in Northern Europe, specifically Sweden, which has germinated a forward-looking innovation model that can serve as an international symbol for the future in technology, equality and sustainability. The long-term goal is to act as a platform and connective tissue for rising talent and young creators between Europe and the United States with transformative ideas to make the world better.
Brzezinski also serves as CEO for Brilliant Minds annual two-day leadership summit in the creative setting of Stockholm where specifically chosen guests from the worlds of business, technology, art, music and science, meet in a marriage of tradition and disruption, values and innovation, to debate and create . She is the sole content creator for the event and has an expertise in building international content and brand that are globally relevant.
Brzezinski was recently elected to serve on the board of the Norrsken Foundation, Europe’s largest early-stage venture fund focused solely on impact investing.
Natalia is an experienced moderator, journalist, and communications strategist focused on building dynamic dialogue across numerous sectors and cultures. She has held cutting-edge roles in the U.S. Senate Press Office for Senator John Kerry, to The Huffington Post, to the U.S. Embassy in Sweden focusing on the intersect of digitalization and diplomacy, innovation and leadership.
During the Obama Administration, she was the first and only “Ambassadorial spouse” to receive a contract from the U.S. State Department to work in an official capacity alongside her husband, U.S. Ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski, in the areas of tech, women’s economic empowerment and immigrant youth engagement in Sweden. Her work in the embassy helped modernize communications and advance shared goals by leveraging digital technology and storytelling.
Natalia was the host of the podcast series, The Brilliant Minds Podcast, a Spotify original podcast and one of Spotify’s earliest pieces of original content. She holds open and honest conversations with leading entrepreneurs, politicians, artists and activists that share a passion for leveraging creativity for impact.
She is a Global-Editor-at-Large at Thrive, the new lifestyle and media platform launched by Arianna Huffington. Brzezinski grew up on the southside of Chicago as the child of immigrants from Eastern Europe. She was a competitive figure skater for 15 years.
Brzezinski has unique expertise in building and running international boards and teams, an unprecedented eye in scouting talent on the global scale, and building brands that are long-term and impactful. She has worked between the U.S. and Europe for more than a decade now, and her network reaches the highest levels in Scandinavia, Germany, France and Eastern Europe across founders, politicians and business leaders. Her commitment to understanding and speaking the “different languages” of cross-sector, cross-generational stakeholders is very unique.
