Photographer

Gradiola Kapaj

Project Manager | Head of Steering Committee

Gradiola Kapaj is a post graduate in International Business Management. She is an intercultural training manager and a project manager organizing several international congresses. She is currently a board member of SIETAR Italy, project manager of SIETAR Europa Congress in Belgium and team member of IÉSEG and IACCM congress in Paris. She is specialized in virtual team management and voluntary team management.

Carla Cabrera

Head of Communications and PR committee

Carla was born in Valencia, Spain, where she started her studies in International Business and International Management. In Germany she finished the double bachelor and worked in international sales between Germany and the USA, while she got gradually more involved in SIETAR Europa. She is currently studying a master in Intercultural and International Communication at the School of International Service in the American University in Washington D.C. She is a Research Assistant and the current Community Development Director of the Graduate Student Council. She speaks fluently Spanish, English and German, and has a conversational level of French, Portuguese and Italian.

Marlies van Exter

Head of Congress Assistance Committee

Marlies is an experienced communications advisor and coach, with specialism in interculturalism and storytelling. She lived, studied and worked abroad for almost 20 years. Mainly in Brazil, but also in Suriname, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, England, the United States and recently Palestine.

Pascale Sztum

Finance and Budget Committee Member | Board member

Raised in a bi-cultural family, educated in Belgium and in the United Kingdom, Pascale has worked in Spain, in France, in the United Kingdom, in the Netherlands, and in Belgium. She has been living and working in the Sudan, in Senegal, in Zambia, in Uganda, in Ethiopia, in Kenya, in South Africa and in Israël. After a career in international trade, in executive education and in Not-for-profit activities, Pascale has returned home and is an intercultural trainer, consultant and coach specialized in enhancing the cultural differences for an improved performance. Pascale has authored several papers on intercultural collaborations published in both business magazines and in scientific journals. On the Sietar Europa Board, she represents the direct members. Besides her work activities, Pascale enjoys opera and painting. She is involved in a number of charities.

Rossella Gramegna

Member

An Interculturalist with experience of working and living in China, Iran, Germany and Spain. Bachelor in Comparative Languages and Cultures and Master of Business Administration, member of Young SIETAR and SIETAR España.

Dimitris Polychronopoulos

Head of Finance and Budget Committee

Dimitris Polychronopoulos is a multilingual professional in innovation, entrepreneurship, and the intercultural space, with an MBA from Norwegian Business School in Oslo and a Master of International Studies from UP Diliman. Dimitris is currently working on the Diversophy Norway edition and is in the process of setting up the Oslo chapter of the Silicon Valley startup accelerator Founder Institute. He is a founding member of The Institute of Human Conductivity where he engages in issues of sustainability, governance, accountability and transparency at the local and global level.

Georgiana Kivu

Executive for the Buddy Connection Program / Member

I fell in love with intercultural studies during my BA. I got my degree in communication an PR with a thesis on intercultural workplaces, based on the experience I had as an intern in a multicultural company in Hamburg, Germany. Driven by passion for culture, organizations and management, I followed with an MA in Intercultural Management at the UNESCO Chair on the Study of Intercultural and Inter-religious Exchanges from the University of Bucharest. Currently I am attending an MBA in Corporate Management at the Hamburg School of Business Administration. During my studies and beyond them I have been working for several years in marketing, communication and PR.

Marie-Therese Claes

Head of Academic Track

Dr. Marie-Thérèse Claes, PhD, is a professor of cross-cultural management at Louvain School of Management, University of Louvain, and at AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) in Thailand. In addition, she holds guest professorships at several other universities in Europe, Asia, and the United States of America, and has been Dean of the Faculty of Business at the Asian University Thailand. Marie-Thérèse is also consultant and coach for relocation, diversity management, and global leadership. She is a former president of International Association of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management (IACCM) the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR Europa), and the European Women's Management Development International Network (EWMD), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Fulbright and a Japan Foundation alumni.

Ria Mukherjee

Member

Intercultural and Language Faculty. Creating and conducting Business English and Intercultural communication courses in TCS. Designing language and culture courses, digitizing content, planning the curriculum based on business requirements. Also coordinating other language requirements (training/translation).

Sunaina Vij

Head of Pre-congress Workshops Committee

Indian-French language and cultural expert/ Professor FLE Alliance française de Bombay. I work with expats coming to India and Indians going to the U.S and Europe. I teach French, English and spoken Hindi. Teaching languages is my forte but cultural sensitization and intercultural communication is a major part of my workshops. I'm keen on taking cultural awareness forward in India.

Livingstone Thompson

Head of Programme Committee

Livingstone Thompson is an experienced intercultural trainer with specialism in world religions and interreligious dialogue and conflict resolution. He has worked with a variety of international companies delivering training in cultural competence and leading global virtual teams. In his over twenty years of involvement in education and training at local and international levels, Livingstone has traveled to over 50 countries. From his experience, gained in cross-cultural contexts, he brings both common sense and critical learning to the areas of intercultural communication, cultural competence training and diversity management.

Anke Lindemann

Head of Registration Committee

Project manager and Scrum Master in multicultural/remote IT projects in a global company. M.A. Intercultural Communication and Cooperation. Interest in academic research of multicultural, remote and agile teams in particular which are relevant/beneficial for practice.

Papa Balla Ndong

Member

Papa Balla Ndong, from Senegal, is a Human Migration Expert and holds a Masters degree in International Migration from the faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia. He has worked in Solans Lawyers Office, specializing in Foreign Law and participated in training courses in the General Council of the Spanish Judicial Power (CGPJ). Currently he performs the following charges: President of the Alternative Forum on Immigration, Coordinator of the Citizens Assembly Against Racism, Accredited Intercultural Mediator from Valencia Government, General Secretary of SOS Racisme Pais Valencia, Vice President of the Local Council of Immigration and Interculturality of the City of Valencia.

Marianne van Eldik Thieme

Manager of the Film Festival

Marianne van Eldik Thieme, SIETAR Europa Film Festival Coordinator since the congress in Sophia 2006. I am from the Netherlands, currently living in Amsterdam and Nigtevecht. I graduated in Human Geography, worked as high school teacher and later-on also as trainer/coach for more than 35 years. Since 1986 I have been a SIETAR Europa member and I have acted as board member in SIETAR Nederland and in SIETAR Europa. Although I have been working mainly in the Netherlands, the most exciting moments to work were in Yemen where I was invited to conduct a training on Educational Television for the national and local TV crews…. great experience. the contract with the recent disaster can't bigger. My most relaxing moments are behind the glassblowing pipe, working with the glass makes me forget about the world around me.

Pranav Agarwal

Film Festival Assistant Manager

I'm Pranav Agarwal from Amritsar, Punjab, It's a very spiritual with good street food around the city. I did my boarding (schooling) from New Era High School, Panchgani, a hill station in Maharashtra, India. There I developed my love for acting over the years for 10 years and later moved to Mumbai for my Jr. college (Commerce) and the bachelor's degree (Arts). After spending 3 years working in the film industry and festivals, I have started doing my masters in Film Making from London Film Academy in London, where I got an opportunity to work for SIETAR Europa.

Christine Niemi

Webmaster (Head)

Christine has finished a media operating degree in her home country Germany, in which she worked in for five years. In 2010 she decided to move to Jyväskylä, a beautiful city in Central Finland. She graduated in International Business (B.A.) specializing in cross-cultural and high-tech management and in Educational Leadership (M.A.) concentrating on the needs of students in international higher education programmes. She is currently combining her media and business education working in marketing. She speaks German, English and Finnish. She joined SIETAR Europa after being a participant (2013) and presenter (2015) enjoying the atmosphere of working in a pro-active international team.

Noureddine Erradi

Member

Noureddine Erradi has worked as teacher & trainer of migrants and refugees. Worked as an advisor for the Dutch Ministry of Education and Integration on Social skills tests for newcomers. Noureddine Erradi has developed a concept over the Intercultural communication and competence teaching issues. Has made 5 documentaries on integration and how to get out of the box. These documentaries received 8 European Awards. Used in more than 1000 European Organizations. Noureddine Erradi is Trainers/teachers trainer. He has given many conferences on the failure of integration in Europe and the existing answers to be implemented.

Steve Miller

Webmaster

Steve is from upstate New York in the United States and has had the privilege to live and work in Poland, Portugal and now Germany for the past 20 years. His background is in Information Technology consulting, where he gained experience in project management, intercultural communications and leading virtual global teams. He is an accredited executive and team coach and enjoys working with clients to develop a more inclusive, effective, and engaging work environment. Steve speaks English, Portuguese and German and is delighted to be able to contribute to the SIETAR community as a member of its committees.

Anna Zelno

Experienced intercultural trainer and Diversity & Inclusion consultant. Current president of SIETAR Spain and co-founder of SIETAR Poland.

Patricia Malidor Coleman

Advisor for the Buddy Connection Program

Patricia Malidor Coleman, is a coach, trainer and international speaker specializing in International Business, Cross-Cultural consulting and Diversity training in the Travel Industry, International Education and Global Talent acquisition and Management.

She is a dual citizen of the USA and Europe, born in France and lives in Florida, USA. She speaks English, French, and Spanish. Her countries of expertise are located in Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

She is the founder of Globaliscious© intercultural and travel retreats, Global Moves© intercultural dance activities, a Cultural Detective African American co-author as well as the author and lead facilitator of the seminars series: "Face of Women around the world", "Doing business in the Caribbean is no vacation", "Living in the Caribbean is no paradise", "Successful communication across cultures with just a smile".

She is a past President of SIETAR USA and Sr. advisor to SIETAR Florida, mentor of Young SIETAR as well as a committed supporter of SIETAR France and SIETAR EUROPA.

Elena Shliakhovchuk

Member

Intercultural and Soft Skills Trainer, Video Games-based Learning Expert, Researcher, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant.

Lidi Van Gool

Member

Lidi is a cross- and intercultural trainer and consultant, born in Belgium. She studied Communication Sciences and Political and Social Sciences at the University of Antwerp.

Lidi enjoys helping people explore new ways of coping with cultural differences starting with cross cultural training and language training. She has also 10 years of experience in re-orientating small organizations, solving conflicts in global teams and bringing them back on track. She is often invited as keynote speaker.

Lidi has lived and worked in international and multicultural environments during 20 years. As a trainer and consultant, Lidi has working experience in Asia with focus on South Korea, China and Taiwan; in India, Western Europe, North Africa and Turkey. She has a further 11 years experience in contract management and managing international teams, mainly North American, European and Asian in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Volunteering as President of Artemis (a network for female entrepreneurs and professionals) and for SIATER; she still finds time to enjoy the outdoors running and skiing. Studying Mandarin and a special interest in the history of the VOC complete the hobby picture.

Agnès Domercq

Member

Agnès has worked in the intercultural field for more than 15 years. She lived and worked successively in the United States, Spain, Mongolia, Brazil. Since 2017, she is back to Japan where she is delivering intercultural training and accompanying individuals.

Judit Végh

Future Project Manager / Scholarships

Expert in Intercultural Psychology, PhD student in Psychology.

Helga Schepers

Member

Learning is change, change is learning. 

I’m fascinated by powerful learning environments and driven by the wide range of different ways of learning. That is a common theme in my way of work. 

During my Japanese studies I was already working as trainer in the field of intercultural learning, training for trainers and team development. After graduation I started my professional career as a teacher for Dutch as a second language. In this environment I learned especially to work together with the group and used a lot of methods to learn by experiences. Besides that, I have a lot of relevant cross-border practical experiences through living and studying abroad.

As a facilitator I’m always trying to reach a widespread supported agreement. During a typical decision-making process I’m continuously monitoring all perspectives, ideas and opinions that live inside a group. Actively working with changes and searching for anchor points and learn from positive experiences.

Leveraging group potential in search of another view on decision making through the process of Deep Democracy.

In short, looking for solutions together.

Manfred Forstinger

Clara Schulte

Nora Schulte

Amina Hatem Onsy

Evi Salimans

Aude Wagemans

Michelle Lau

Leyla Falhan

Joana Raquel Silva Neto

Cedric Reichel

Nicolas Neumann-Micheau

Photographer

I was fascinated by photography for as long as I can think. My first tries were done at the age of 9 with a box camera I received from my grandmother, and which I loved to take on every holiday. Still, this early passion did not lead very far and almost got forgotten, until I got my first digital camera in 2008 when I travelled to Thailand. And so the journey began.

In the following years, I was fortunate to live every photographer’s dream, travelling a lot in South East Asia while being based in a beautiful place at the borders of Austria, Italy and Slovenia, developing my photography along the way. While I still have many things to learn, this is one thing I love about photography: that you never stop learning.

In my work I am trying to do what may be the motivation for many photographers: to capture the beauty and preciousness of this world, which is intrinsic in everything and everyone – if we take the care and the time to see it.

– Nicolas Neumann-Micheau | nickmcclick.com