We do things
differently

Learn more about ABIS, the team behind and how we think.

150+

academic and corporate members partnered with 

60+

special Issues, Reports and books published

30

flagship events organized

100+

roundtables, webinars and foresight workshops delivered

Governance

ABIS’ governance model is designed to allow member participation at all stages of the decision making process.

Chairman

Baback Yazdani
Executive Dean

Nottingham Trent Business School

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Members of the Board

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Manuela Brusoni
Associate Professor and Director of Quality Accreditation and Benchmarking

SDA Bocconi

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Joan Fontrodona
Professor and Director

Business Ethics Department, IESE

Leon Wijnands
Léon Wijnands
Head of Sustainability

ING

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Marian Garcia
Professor and Dean

Kent Business School

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Lisa Gring-Pemble
Associate Professor and Executive Director

Business for a Better World Center
George Mason University

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Adrie Heinsbroek
Chief Sustainability Officer

NN Investment Partners

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Joanna Radeke
Executive Director

FUTURE Institute for Sustainable Transformation, ESMT Berlin

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Boleslaw Rok
Professor and Director

Positive Entrepreneurship Research Lab Kozminski University

Meet the team

Meet the passionate team leading the way and its everyday operations at ABIS.

Ivo Matser

Chief Executive Officer

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Ivo Matser

Chief Executive Officer

Ivo Matser (Netherlands, 1961) is a specialist in managing and leading organizational change in the professional corporate world and private academic institutions. He continuously pursues to increase the organizational value bringing both the internal and the external perspectives into the process. He executes his profession from three different roles: as a senior executive manager, as board member and as consultant.

Ivo is an economist, a leadership expert and certified Expert Marketing Professional (EMP). He started his career in sports business and managed real estate, publishing and professional services companies. Since 2001, he has been in the position of CEO/President/Dean of private higher education institutions: SWOT Business School (NL), TSM Business School (NL), ISM University of Management and Economics (LT), GISMA Business School (D, UK). Ivo is also assessor for international institutional accreditations in several countries. Regularly he is a speaker at conferences and board room consultant at companies for designing and implementing strategies.

He has represented for more than 10 year academic institutions as member of ABIS and since 2017, he is member of the Board of Directors of ABIS.

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Karolina Sobczak

Knowledge Manager

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Karolina Sobczak

Knowledge Manager

Karolina Sobczak is Knowledge Manager at ABIS – The Academy of Business in Society, where she is responsible for identifying the most relevant sustainability themes and developing related projects, events and trainings. Passionate about leadership development, she is currently exploring holistic approaches to change, including coaching and awareness-based systems change.

Prior to joining ABIS in July 2015, she worked for a change management consultancy in Milan. Karolina holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Management of Innovation and Technology from Bocconi University and studied as an exchange student at the University of Denver in the US and at the Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden.

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Katarina Haluskova

Project Communication Specialist

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Katarina Haluskova

Project Communication Specialist

Katarina works as a Project Communication Specialist at ABIS, where she oversees the development of communication strategy with the network and its implementation. Her role also includes planning and execution of research and education projects. She also assists in design of collaborative projects and event management that empower change and foster sustainable development and innovation.

Before joining ABIS she worked in a marketing agency as a Project Manager, where she was involved in carrying out marketing strategies, event management and administered an educational platform for CEE countries. Katarina graduated from her studies at University of Economics in Prague in International Trade with a specialization in Commercial Communication. During her studies she had the opportunity to be part of two exchange programs in Germany and USA.

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Antonino Mangano

Office Manager and Communication Support

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Antonino Mangano

Office Manager and Communication Support

Antonino Mangano is Office Manager and Communication Support at ABIS – The Academy of Business in Society.

He develops the best strategies to deliver the administrative tasks of ABIS, dealing with administration, HR management, finance and legal affairs.

He also provides ABIS with communication counselling and management, developing the online and on-field brand awareness, consolidating the network relations.

Additionally, he supports the team in the implementation and execution of ABIS initiatives and event management.

He graduated in International Relations and Cooperation for Development in July 2017 at the University of Messina (Italy), and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Global Marketing, Communication and Made in Italy issued by the Italia-USA Foundation. He is a recognised professional journalist in Italy and has experience in project management and facilitation of participatory community events. Before joining ABIS he worked for the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels and the Italian public administration.

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Giulia Lizzi

Business Development and Partnerships Officer

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Giulia Lizzi

Business Development and Partnerships Officer

Giulia works as a Business Development and Partnerships Officer at ABIS, where she is responsible for the Academy’s market strategy and stakeholders’ engagement, beyond supporting the team in event and project management. 

Here, she coordinates relations with stakeholders and identifies opportunities and strategies for membership growth. 

Before joining ABIS she worked as a Researcher in an international think tank based in Milan, dealing with the 2030 Agenda and SDGs localization, then in Partnerships at the United Nations Development Programme based in Nairobi. She holds a Bachelor’s in International and Diplomatic Studies, a Master’s in International Relations and a second Master’s in Industrial Economics and International Markets. During her studies she had the opportunity to live and study in Tennessee, Spain, France, and Kenya.

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Become part of the team

Check out our open vacancies.

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Spontaneous Application

We are open to applications from more experienced applicants but also applicants looking for a traineeship experience that are able to work independently.

Our business academic network spread across the five continents

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antwerp-management-school
asian-institute-of-management
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candriam
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coventry-university
durham-university
esmt-berlin
george-mason-university
henley-business-school
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ing-bank
Inseec
kozminski-university
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maastricht-university
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mazars
nnip
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ABIS membership benefits

Become part of the ABIS network