Maayke Damen
Maayke-Aimée Damen worked on the transition towards a circular economy for many NGOs, the Dutch government, the United Nations and other companies. She is very proactive and combines entrepreneurship for sustainability with striving for human empowerment and compassion. She earned her master degree cum laude in Sustainable Development with her thesis A resources passport for a circular economy. It has been translated into EU policy and is currently pursued by Dutch businesses. She also graduated from Singularity University where she entered by winning the Dutch innovation contest. Currently she works as Director of Empowerment for Metabolic, an action agency for societal transformation, and for Ex’tax where she investigates how to change the tax system from taxing labor to taxing resources.
Ralph Thurm
Ralph Thurm is a leading professional in sustainable innovation and strategy, operational sustainability, sustainability change management and sustainability reporting. With more than 20 years of experience in working for major corporates, industry federations, governments, NGOs and advisory services globally, Ralph adds value as a consultant, trainer, facilitator, moderator and writer on a huge variety of sustainability topics. He is the Founder & Managing Director of A|HEAD|ahead, a management consultancy focused on sustainable transformation and strategic advisory. Ralph is a frequent blogger at www.aheadahead.wordpress.com, a very personal logbook on sustainable change.
Gail Whiteman
Gail Whiteman is a Professor of Sustainability, Management and Climate Change at RSM. Prof. Whiteman was a 2011 Global Finalist in the Aspen Institute’s high-profile ranking of Faculty Pioneers in sustainability. Her research aims to help organisations deal more effectively with sustainability challenges, an objective she established during her former career in the private sector. Whiteman combines her role at RSM with that of part-time Professor-in-Residence at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). She is Co-founder and Director of ERIM's Centre for Corporate Eco-Transformation, where she collaborates with multinational companies, to examine issues such as the strategic role of companies in their transition towards low carbon, sustainable cities, the impact of natural resource extraction on local sustainability, and the drivers of sustainable innovation.
Bram Van den Bergh
Bram Van den Bergh researches how we make decisions. Using frameworks borrowed from psychology, economics, and biology, he attempts to uncover the fundamental drivers of our behaviour. As an academic, he explores judgment and decision making, social and evolutionary psychology, and behavioural economics. Bram obtained his PhD in Marketing at KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2009. He is currently an assistant professor at RSM.
Scott Mongeau
Scott Mongeau is Manager of Analytics at Deloitte Netherlands and participating in RSM’s MBA/Master in Financial Management Dual Degree programme. He designs and implements advanced analytics solutions for clients, blending technical and organisational approaches. Scott has more than 20 years of experience in project-focused analytics functions in a range of industries. He has played a key role in two start-up companies and was centrally involved in a number of mission-critical initiatives at biotech firm Genentech. Scott has lectured on business decision-making and analytics at RSM and Nyenrode Business Universiteit. In addition, he is currently completing his dissertation research on organisational factors surrounding business analytics at Nyenrode Business Universiteit.
Robin Slakhorst
Robin Slakhorst has an educational background in aerospace engineering. He holds an MSc in Entrepreneurship and New Business Venturing. He has been an entrepreneur since the age of 20 and has worked as a marketing and sales manager for Plugwise, a company in the energy market. After two years at the organisation, Robin co-founded Symbid. He is currently a highly driven and ambitious professional in sales and partnering for Symbid, a company which matches investors and entrepreneurs, enabling the former to become shareholders in new business ventures. Robin has a keen eye for opportunities and the insight, networking skills and enthusiasm to realize them.