Agenda

Tina C. Ambos is Professor of International Management and the Director of the Center for Innovation and Partnerships at the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the University of Geneva.

She is also a member of the Expert Network of the World Economic Forum and a founding member of the Geneva Innovation Movement. 

Before joining the University of Geneva, Tina was a professor at the University of Sussex and the management faculty's Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange. Earlier she held the chair of the Department of International Management at Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria), as well as positions at WU Vienna, the University of Edinburgh and London Business School.

Her research and teaching interests include global strategic management and innovation in the context of multinational corporations, technology start-ups and international (non-for-profit) organizations. She has published widely in the academic journals and is a regular speaker at international conferences and practitioner forums as well as leading executive programs.

Prof. Bruck studied law, economics, sociology, and communications at the universities of Vienna, Iowa and McGill. He holds doctorates in law and communications and has taught at universities in Canada, the US and Western Europe plus Israel and Poland holding chairs in communication theory, mass communication sociology, media economics and new media technology.
He has nearly 40 years’ experience in founding and managing academic and business-oriented research centers and IT companies. He created the University of Applied Sciences with a focus on information economy and multimedia in Salzburg and has acted as business consultant and policy advisor in digital technologies in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, the US and Canada.
Prof. Bruck received numerous awards and fellowships in Europe, the US and Canada and is listed in the Canadian and Austrian Who’s Who. He has been one of the founding directors of the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights.
His rich experience includes working as the Chief Content Officer as part of the Board of management of the Telekom Austria Group where is also lead the business unit on Interactive Media. He founded and managed for 20 years as CEO and Chief Researcher the Research Studios Austria FG, bringing digital innovations from universities into markets. 
Prof. Bruck successfully started up several companies in the research and educational tech space and effectively concluded M&A deals. He founded the World Summit Awards as Austrian Member State’s initiative for the UN World Summit on Information Society in 2003, with a current reach in and participation from 182 UN member states and around the globe. 

Dmitry Mariyasin was appointed Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe on 1 March 2021.

Prior to joining UNECE, Mr. Mariyasin was the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia (since December 2018, after being Deputy Resident Representative in 2017-2018) leading a team of 120 people.  From 2011 till 2016 he was the Regional Partnership Advisor and Team Leader in the UNDP’s Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy covering the Europe and the CIS region, based in Istanbul.  In this function, he led a team of 20 that supported UNDP’s partnerships with new development donors and partners in the region, including strategic partnerships with Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Slovak Republic.

Earlier, Mr. Mariyasin had worked in the UNDP Regional Support Center in Bratislava, Slovakia (2011-2014), the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS at UNDP headquarters in New York (2008-2011); and in the UNDP Country Office in Moscow, Russia (2002-2008).

Mr. Mariyasin holds a PHD in Economics from the Moscow State University, a Masters in Public Administration degree from New York University (Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service), as well as a degree in public administration from the Moscow State University and in international economics from the Russian Foreign Trade Academy.

Mr. Mariyasin is a national of Russian Federation, is married and has two sons and one daughter.

Alex Wong has over 30 years professional experience in a series of leadership roles that has consistently focused on building partnerships to address the world's biggest development challenges. Alex currently serves in the Executive Office of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, where he is responsible for developing and managing key engagements between the ITU and its partners, and overseeing ITU wide initiatives such as Giga and Partner2Connect. From 2019-2022, Alex served as Senior Strategy Advisor and Chief, Special Initiatives, in the Office of the Director of the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT).

Prior to joining the ITU, Alex worked in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. From 2018-2019, he served as President of CG/LA Infrastructure, a US based company that promotes and develops infrastructure projects around the world. From 2000 to 2018, Alex was a member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, an international organization for public private cooperation with a mission to improve the state of the world, where he held several leadership roles including the development and rollout of the Forum’s Global System Initiatives; heading the ICT, Media & Entertainment, Basics, and Infrastructure industry teams and related projects; and heading the Center for Global Industries Geneva. From 1988-2000, Alex worked in a variety of professional roles at Accenture as a Strategy Consultant, General Motors as a Quality Control Engineer, and the US National Parks Service. 

He is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Ieva Žilionienė is an experienced digitalization policy and strategy expert, with broad experience in national and global ICT trends, initiatives and use cases.

She has been working for the Lithuanian Government at the Information Society Development Committee, from the very start of this institution responsible for State’s digitalization, overseeing the development and implementation of Lithuania’s information society and electronic governance strategies and programs, and developing and implementing the framework for the use of EU structural funds dedicated to Lithuania’s public ICT sector. As the Director of the Strategy and later - the Deputy Director General at the Communications Regulation Authority of the Republic of Lithuania, she was responsible for coordination of economic and technical regulation of electronic communications, postal services, and rail transport sectors, and supervision of digital trust services, such as e-signature. And now she‘s putting her experience and knowledge into leading the consulting business branch of NRD Companies.

Ieva has an extensive experience working in various multi-stakeholder, nation-broad and international groups and committees, she has experience in developing and handling teaching and training programs, in both academic and organizational training, as well, she's an author of various publications on State’s digitalization and electronic governance.

From 2012, Ieva is Lithuania's WSA national expert, responsible for organizing Lithuania's national contest of digital innovations “Naujasis knygnesys” (“New Enlightner”), and is part of global World Summit Award Jury.

 
Jon Mark Walls is a social entrepreneur, lecturer and speechwriter focused on simplifying the complexity around some of the world's biggest challenges. He has worked for a range of United Nations agencies as well as various governments and NGOs on innovative ways to approach issues ranging from global health, human rights and sustainable development to climate change, child labour and economic development. In 2012 he co-founded GovFaces which aimed to improve interactive communication between citizens and elected representatives. He has served as a panelist and speaker in a range of fora including multiple TEDx events. He serves on multiple boards and has been cited in media including Forbes, BBC and Figaro.

Chris Earney (@chrisearney) co-founded the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) innovation team and currently serves as the deputy of UNHCR’s Innovation Service. He has 14 years of experience working across the humanitarian sector in operations such as Kenya, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, and Switzerland.

Dr. Katherine Tatarinov is a Founding member and Managing Director of the Geneva Innovation Movement, Assistant Professor of Strategy at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Lausanne (UNIL)

Expert in Intrapreneurship and Social Innovation in International Organizations with experience in improving tech productivity in SMEs. Passionate about social innovation, digital transformation, and solving grand challenges through innovative thinking.

Katherine Tatarinov’s research focuses on social innovation, digital transformation, and managing the grand challenges. Her work empirically analyses the understudied context of the United Nations organizations and their strategies to better solve the world’s biggest problems – through innovation, technology, and collaborative ecosystems.

Before joining HEC Lausanne, Katherine was Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Director of the Center for Innovation & Partnerships at the Geneva School for Economics and Management at the University of Geneva. She was lecturer for Corporate Strategy in the Masters for Managing Technology and Entrepreneurship at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) from 2021-2022. Katherine holds a PhD in Management from the University of Geneva; Masters’ in Management and Marketing from Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and ESADE respectively; and a Bachelors in International Relations, Global Business from the University of Southern California.

Her academic research is regularly presented at leading conferences, published in top international academic journals, such as Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Management Studies, as well as practitioner journals, such as AIB Insights and Stanford Social Innovation Review, and received several prestigious awards such as the Peter J. Buckley and Mark Casson AIB Dissertation Award (2022) and the GSEM Young Researcher of the Year Award (2021).

A global pioneer in impact investing, Jean-Philippe has dedicated +30 years to developing the field and structuring 9 emerging market impact funds that collectively raised over $2 billion. He is a co-Founder at BlueOrchard Finance and Bamboo Capital, and has worked with McKinsey&Co, the UN and various NGOs.

Entrepreneur ¦ Author ¦ Keynote speaker on Leadership, Innovation & AI ¦ Edison award winning innovation ¦ Led Daytime Emmy nominated 3D animation series ¦ WEF Global Leadership Fellow ‘12 ¦ WEF Davos, Cannes Lions, TEDx

Vijay loves creating things and has been part of several 'first of its kind' global initiatives. Edison award winning business model innovation to enable low income patients access expensive therapies. Led India's first computer animation series that won a Daytime Emmy nomination. Founding team of Global Shapers Community for WEF launching it in 450 cities. A social venture to enable teen mothers access the world of work in Mexico. Author of a book. Speaker at WEF, Cannes Lions, TEDx. WEF Global Leadership Fellow. Mechanical Engineering with a Ship for World Youth Fellowship from Govt of Japan.. MBA from Japan with a Monbukagakhusho scholarship from MEXT, Japan. Masters in Global Leadership jointly offered by INSEAD, LBS, Wharton, Clumbia and CEIBS.

Thomas is a human resources management leader with more than 25 years of international experience in different
international organizations (UN Secretariat, UNDP, UNSSC, UNV and OSCE) both at the field level and at
headquarters. He has been informally coaching managers, colleagues and team members since the early 2000s.
At UNOG, He introduced the internal coaching programme in 2009 already when coaching was not yet as
established as it is today. Since having earned certification in professional coaching he has increased coaching of
UN staff considerably. While he enjoys coaching staff on career issues and younger staff to orient themselves in
the organization. He does focus on senior officials in his coaching practice based on his expertise in leadership
and management development over the years.
Through knowledge of modern human resources management theories and best practice of application in
international public-sector organizations, he has a proven track record in directing large multinational teams,
formulating and executing human resources strategy including organizational development, advising on delicate
performance management, recruitment and staffing issues, effectively mediating conflicts, top-level executive
coaching (USG/ASG level) and implementing complex organizational change projects.
Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Tübingen (Germany) and acquired
postgraduate certifications in Human Capital Leadership from the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania; Strategic Human Resources Management by the University of Cornell, Strategic Public-Sector
Negotiation by the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, etc

Dr. Alexandre Hedjazi has received a doctoral degree in Urban Planning from University of Grenoble in France and a Ph.D from School of Public Affairs – University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Hedjazi's started his research career on the financing of urban infrastructures and Public-Private Governance which contributed to the final document of OECD's Conference for Partnership in the XXI Century. In 1997, Dr. Hedjazi joined UCLA to conduct research on regional development and security where among many courses and seminars he lectured on Regionalization and Energy Security at the UCLA Global Studies program. Since joining the University of Geneva in 2007, he has taught many courses on comparative politics, and organized multiple seminar series on the Caspian Sea, Regionalization and Urban development bringing scholars and practitioner to explore and discuss the nexus of development, security and the environment. Bridging his academic research and his knowledge of Central Asia and the Caucasus, his latest work concerns the impact of emerging economic and political insecurities on regional cooperation and development.

At the ICRC, Nan works on some of the most interesting initiatives in humanitarian action. She served in Bosnia with the International Rescue Committee, subsequently led the Sphere Project, worked for UNHCR, served as International Director of the American Red Cross and as the Executive Director of International Council of Voluntary Agencies. She received the Global Leadership in Emergency Public Health award from the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine; was a Champions of Change (Obama administration); served 5 years as the Steering Committee Chair of the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP). In 2019 Nan joined the Grand Challenges Canada Program Advisory Board; in 2020 became a founding member of the Geneva Innovation Movement Association and in 2021 served on the MSF Scientific Days editorial committee. Her Master’s in Public Administration is from Harvard University.

 “I work with the design and production unit every year to produce the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization. They are extremely professional, provide a very quick turnaround, and have great attention to detail. As the client, I like that it’s always a two-way conversation; both sides suggest ideas, and it’s very much a partnership. This report is mandated by the UN Charter and presented by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly every year, so it is important we get it right. The last report was the best one so far. That’s the feedback we’ve received, that it continues to improve every year. The layout and design were excellent and I’m extremely impressed with the consistent high quality of the products.”

Gilbert is Honorary Professor and Director of Public Private Research Center at Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva. Former Chairman of the Board of BCGE, Swiss Bank of Geneva. Vice-president of Swiss Board Institute and Swiss Institute of Directors.

Managing Director, Leadership Office, at the World Economic Forum (2007-2016). Co-director of the Executive-MBA at University of Geneva 2001-2017. Former faculty member at University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, The Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, International Management Institute (IMI/IMD), Geneva.

Founder of Geneva Knowledge Forum, Center for Organizational Excellence (St Gallen/Geneva) and Strategic Knowledge Group, Zürich. Served as a Board member for companies in retail business, building materials, travel, aluminum profiles, complex extrusion, haute couture, high tech. Publications in the field of “Managing Growth”, "Knowledge
Management", "Tackling Complexity”, "Governance".

Programme Manager | Giga 
Giga is a joint ITU and UNICEF initiative that aims to provide connectivity to every school in the world. Giga’s goal is to bring the power of meaningful connectivity to fast track young people’s access to educational resources and opportunities. 
https://gigaconnect.org 

UNICEF Montenegro
Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Social Policy OfficerSocial Policy Officer. PodgoricaPodgorica

Project manager, UNDP Montenegro
Ensure overall implementation of different aspects of the anti-corruption projects; Advise UNDP on strategic matters related to the fight against corruption and organized crime and related capacity development activities; Act as the focal point in the office and ensure that anticorruption issues are mainstreamed in all relevant projects; Provide support to partners in implementing the Open Government Partnership commitments; Develop new project ideas and take part in resource mobilization; ensure visibility of projects’ results and advise partners on communications and advocacy; Provide policy advisory support to partners.

Deputy director, Directorate for Anti-corruption Inititative
Strategic planning and management, as well as direct execution of some of the most complex tasks in the organization’s remit; Planning and coordination of diagnostic tools to measure corruption (in order to strengthen evidence-based policy making); Policy making in the area of anti-corruption; Monitoring implementation of the national anti-corruption policy, in the capacity of secretary to the high-level National Commission for monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan for fighting corruption and organized crime; Implementation of international anti-corruption standards (UN, Council of Europe, etc.) .

Head of the Department for Promotional and Preventive Activities
Podgorcia, Montenegro; Tasked with both managerial and programmatic issues; Team building, effective planning and delegation of tasks; Providing constant support and feedback to staff; Proactive and effective communication within the team; Heavily involved in the European integration process and assessing compliance of Montenegrin legislation with both UN and Council of Europe conventions; Implementation of an EU-funded Twinning Project “Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime”.