BOARD
The Board is the strategy-setting group of SIETAR Europa and the decision-making body between annual general meetings.
The SIETAR Europa Board is composed of representatives of the existing national SIETAR organisations in Europe and representatives of the direct members of SIETAR Europa.
The SIETAR Europa Board is currently practicing a rotating presidency, with each president serving for two board meetings.
Current board members
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Kamila Kowenzowska is an intercultural trainer and consultant. For several years she worked at Shell as HR Services Advisor providing support for expatriate employees in different countries of Europe, Africa, South America and Russia. Kamila holds MA degree in Intercultural Studies, BA in English Philology and post-graduate degree in Intercultural Public Relations. Kamila is a Polish native speaker, fluent in English and Spanish, communicative in German and Dutch. She studied and worked, among others in Colombia, the United States and Austria. She represents SIETAR Polska. |
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Robert Giardina is based in Barcelona and is a freelance trainer and teacher in Intercultural Communication and Conflict Resolution for the Universitat de Barcelona and the Universitat de La Salle/Ramon Llull, as well as private clients. Previously, he directed a non-profit organization in the US food distribution sector. He has an International Masters in Conflict Resolution from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. He represents SIETAR Spain. |
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Mirka Lachka is an event manager working predominantly in the field of arts and partly involved also in intercultural education and training. She joined SIETAR Europa in 2005. She was a coordinator of preparation of congress in Sofia, Bulgaria in April 2007. She is employed as a manager at festival Theatre World in Brno, Czech Republic and works independently as a consultant on issues of cultural policies and fund raising She is a direct member representative. |
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Ildikó Polyák holds an M.A in English Language and Literature from the University of Szeged, Hungary. After working as a teacher of English for more than a decade, she ventured into intercultural communication in 1994, when the College for Foreign Trade first offered such a course to business students. Since then she has been teaching various undergraduate and graduate courses at CFT and the International Business School, Budapest. She has written several articles, two textbooks, and compiled a volume of reading texts. She is the substitute representative for direct members. |
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Dr. George F. Simons is a consultant, trainer and author, the creator of the award-winning diversophy® games for developing diversity and intercultural competence in the training room and for online e-learning and other new technologies. He is a co-author of Putting Diversity to Work and a contributor of eight items in the Cultural Detective™ series of intercultural instruments. He represents SIETAR France. |
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Patrick Schmidt is an interculturalist trainer and advisor as well as author of the books "Understanding American and German Business Cultures" and "In Search of Intercultural Understanding". More information about his work can be found by googling "American-German cross-culture consulting". He holds the presidency and represents SIETAR Austria. |
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Dr. Deborah Swallow is a professional speaker, author and consultant specialising in cultural diversity, intercultural communication, and international business practices. She is a rare academic-entrepreneur who brings a depth of understanding and insight to executives and diplomats around the world. Deborah has authored/co-authored five books on cross-cultural communication, is a regular contributor to business magazines and lectures on intercultural studies at the Diplomatic Academy of London. She represents SIETAR UK. |
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Perihan Ügeöz holds a doctorate in Adult Teaching and Intercultural Education from Berlin Freie University , and has completed post-doctoral studies in Organisational Development and Human Resource Management from KLETT WBS in Berlin. Living in Istanbul, she works as a consultant and trainer in the area of intercultural communication and management, adult education, and organizational development. She has published numerous international articles and books dealing with intercultural communication and comparative educational policies and is co-author of Cultural Detective: Turkey. She is a direct member representative. |
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Marianne van Eldik Thieme is film journalist, trainer and coach, graduated in Human Geography (focus on Cultural Anthropology). In multi cultural training sessions she focuses on increasing competence in dealing with diversity. With her background as a documentary researcher-producer for Dutch TV she promotes the use of documentaries as a tool to contribute to intercultural awareness. She organizes documentary Film Festivals at SIETAR congresses. She represents SIETAR Netherlands, currently backed up by Henning Zorn. |
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Matthieu Kollig is a freelance trainer, consultant and coach. He manages GlobalPilots , a network of intercultural trainers and consultants. Until 2006, he was project-manager in a Centre for the Treatment of Victims of Torture . Before that, he supervised an international team of trainers offering pre-departure programs for German development workers at the Area Orientation Centre in Bad Honnef (Germany). Matthieu obtained an MA in psychology, he holds both the French and the German citizenship and he lived and worked in Belfast (GB) for two years. He is proficient in German, French and English. He represents SIETAR Germany. |
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Svetlana Aladjem is co-owner and manager of ELC Ltd., a small Bulgarian company that offers orientation, training and coaching in Bulgarian culture to expatriates and foreigners coming to do business and live in the country. She is an expert in adult education, mass media and communications, project development and management. Svetlana is one of the founders of SIETAR Bulgaria (2007) and the first president of the national organization. She represents SIETAR Bulgaria. |
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Dr Livingstone Thompson founded in 2007 Living Cultural Solutions, a training agency and consultancy specializing in cultural awareness training and related research. He is is author of two books and several published articles, is a theologian, religion commentator and senior executive with many years experience in tertiary education and non-governmental organizations. He is co-founder of the Africa Caribbean Forum, which is an organization that aims to foster the process of integration in Ireland for African and Caribbean residents. Livingstone, who is originally from Jamaica, is a member of the Irish Ministerial Council on Integration. He represents SIETAR Ireland. |
